Blogs from Meknès-Tafilalet, Morocco, Africa - page 5

The journey from Rabat to Meknes is a short one, only some 150 km, but it is a large distance culturally and architecturally. Rabat is a large, mostly modern city. There is a fairly small medina, but most of the city is more modern Other than the redoubt of the Udayas, there is relatively little of great historical significance as far as extant structures are concerned.. Meknes, on the other hand, is much more rich with historical structures, and is frankly, to me at least, a much more vibrant city for the visitor. Our visit began with a visit to the Royal Granaries and Stables, established by Moulay Ismail (Ismail ibn Sharif). By all accounts, this man who ruled Morocco during the years 1672-1727 was a man who lived large. Known as the "Warrior King", he ... read more

Ausflug in die Wüste Die Wüstenregion in Marokko liegt ca. 10 Autostunden östlich von Marrakech. Aus Marrakech starten regelmäßig 3-tägige Touren dorthin, in dessen Rahmen auch die Schlucht "Gorges du Dadès", eine kleine Village "Aït-ben-Haddou" und die "Tifilalte" Oase besichtigt werden können. Was eine Schlucht ist, ist selbsterklärend, das Dorf Aït-ben-Haddou diente für einige Filme als Kulisse, und wurde von der UNESCO als World-Heritage eingestuft. Es leben nur noch wenige Familien dort, die meisten sind ins nahe Neudörfl umgezogen. Da das Dorf unter dem Schutz der UNESCO steht, dürfen für die Filmproduktionen keine Gebäude umgebaut werden, deswegen werden neue Kulissen aus einem mit Ton überzogenen Bambusgerüst gebaut, und nach den Dreharbeiten wieder entfernt. Als wir am Abend des zweiten Tages Merzouga erreichten, haben wir den Minibus gegen ein Kamele (Dromedare) ... read more

Alte Steine Roman ruins of Volubilis, UNESCO World Heritage Site wer's genauer wissen will: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volubilis Das spannendste an diesem Ausflug war die Busfahrt dorthin :-) Von einer kaum gekennzeichneten Bushaltestelle in Meknès (denn man weiß eh, wo die Busse halten) mit einem Bus der ausser einer Nummer keine Angaben hat (denn man weiß eh, wo welcher Bus hinfährt). Ich frag mich heute noch, wie ichs überhaupt geschaft habe, auf der richtigen Strassenseite zu warten! Die wichtigste Ausrüstung war das Handy mit GPS-Support, um zu wissen, wo ich aussteigen muss... Ausgestiegen bin ich schlußendlich ein einem kleinen Dorf namens Moulay Idriss und von dort war es noch eine kurze Wanderung zum Ruinen-Städtchen Volubilis.... read more

Well today went as well as yesterday, even if I feel like we pushed a bit too far at the end, it does mean we have gained another day. The morning started of ok and we started our accent of the Dades gorge in search of the off road crossing that goes between the two gorges. The first time I thought we had reached the turning, we came to a dead end within 200 meters. The turning didn't seem right when we took it, but because they were constructing a new road crossing, I just assumed this was the reason, not that it was wrong. Luckly a local guy had seen us and told us we hadn't reached the turning and that it was actually another 2km further up the road. This time it seemed more ... read more

Fes was an amazing experience and a very long day, as our guide was ready for us at 10 and continued to show us around until 6. But it was worth it as there is no way we would have found all those things alone. The next day we took a short country route to Ifrane to see the town and also sort our internet out. After a long time in the phone shop we then headed to a campsite near Azrou. Last time we camped at Amazigh as the original campsite we headed for at euro camping, had a crowd of touts outside. This time round there wasn’t a single person, so we headed in and dumped Dads truck. We then headed back up the road to find the Barbary Apes that live in the ... read more