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Published: September 24th 2018
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Our “battered suitcases”
On the cart to be taken to our riad Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life. - Jack Kerouac
We are now back in Marrakech for the last night of our tour. I woke up this morning feeling like crap, and unwillingly dragged myself out of bed about 9:30. Susan was feeling better this morning, and she went down for breakfast, which I skipped. She brought me back some yogurt and bread. I slowly got ready, packing up and showering. I felt a bit better after the shower.
Our group has been dropping like flies. Practically everybody has gotten sick, to various degrees, even Abdul. Four of the group had to go to hospital for treatment, all with gastrointestinal problems.
After Susan got back from breakfast we headed off on the 10 or so minute walk to the silver store. By that time the sun was breaking through the fog that had rolled in over night. It had been an extremely foggy morning. At the silver store we had the chain lengths adjusted on our necklaces, which are our names written in Amazigh Berber. We also found the energy to do some
additional shopping. I got a small hand of Fatima pendant (with a peridot), and a small Berber symbol pendant (it symbolizes Berber freedom), we each got a ring, earrings for Mom and for us, and a bracelet for Susan’s Mom.
We walked back to our hotel, and rested in the room for a bit until it was time to leave Essaouira at 1 pm. By then I was able to eat a bit - I had the yogurt and a bit of bread. We drove directly back to Marrakech, making a WC/coffee stop after a couple of hours. We entered Marrakech from a different direction than when we came from Ourigane. We passed through the upscale Gueliz neighbourhood, with some lovely buildings from the French period, all in that pretty shade of orangey-pink.
We were dropped off in the medina a short walk to Riad Challa. It is a very cute riad, with a small pool in the courtyard. We have a nice room (complete with swan towel art with rose petals!). Abdul is heading home shortly so he can have two days at home before his next tour. We said our good byes to Abdul and to
Barb and John, who are leaving early tomorrow. We were really sorry we didn't feel well enough to join Barb and John for dinner and for a few farewell drinks. We really enjoyed travelling with them and now count them as friends. We hope to visit them (and other past travel companions/fb friends) in Australia someday. We’ll see the others at breakfast tomorrow, before we get picked up for our transfer to the train station.
We are just going to rest in the riad this evening. We need to recover and regain our strength for Paris. See you back in Casablanca!
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alex waring
Alexander Waring
Travel Sickness, and Souvenirs
Oh no, I'm sorry to hear you also became ill on the road. Not nice at all... Glad you were able to find time to a rest a bit and recover. I love the souvenirs ?