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Published: March 4th 2010
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Leaving Boumalne Dades, we then headed for M'Hamid which is literally at the end of the road. We had no idea that this would be another 14 hour day of buses and taxis - our guide book was wrong as was the person who we purchased the ticket from. Anyway to cut a long story short we took 2 taxis, 2 buses and then after waiting on the bus for 20 minutes while new passengers jumped on, we were driven around the corner all told to get out and were then filed into a minibus (if it could be called that) for the next 2 hours. We were crammed in like sardines, people were even sitting on plastic stools in the aisle and 2 people were sitting to every seat. My knees banged against the seat in front while Matt sat with his knees up round his ears - needless to say it was very uncomfortable but we had to keep in mind that this was how the locals got around - without complaining. In any event, the scenery was stunning and the road hugged the cliff as we went round the mountains and down into the dry valley.
After
a good night's sleep to refresh ourselves we jumped on a camel and headed into the desert. The trip we originally intended to do was a full day on the camel, stay overnight then head back to M'Hamid the next day. Thank goodness we did not do this option. After one and a half hours on the camel, we could barely walk! We were guided out to a Nomad settlement where we were picked up by a 4 wheel drive and taken out to the sand dunes of Erg Chigaga which is where we spent the night.
Erg Chigaga was spectacular and our accommodation far exceeded our expectations - there was even running water and flushing toilets. We spent the rest of the afternoon by the dunes with two Americans - Jesse and David. In the evening we were joined by 3 French families and their 2 dogs - yes they brought their dogs over from France - 12 injections later......
Unfortunately the weather turned later in the afternoon so there was no sunset or sunrise which was a shame but it was lovely nonetheless.
The four of us headed back to M'Hamid and took a taxi
to the next big town. The taxi was completely falling apart - I cannot believe it made it all the way. None of the doors opened, the boot was kept shut with a coathanger, the windows were jammed and the speedo did not work! In Zagora there were no buses or minibuses leaving that day so we decided to share a taxi to the next town where we would spend the night. What a performance. We haggled for about an hour - we were blatantly being ripped off and being charged far more than the locals. Our American friends dislike haggling more than we do but we had nothing else to do. Before long we had quite a group of onlookers - the Moroccans love Westerners that haggle - they see it as a sport and entertaining. Most westerners would have given up long ago, us included but we had nowhere else to go. In the end we agreed a price, got a slap on the back, a handshake and then everyone had a good laugh! I think we were haggling over US$2 per person!
We are now in a little market town of Taroudannt and we head back
to Marrakech tomorrow before flying to Turkey via London.
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Scott McGregor
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Love those turbans
Conned?? No way!! Looks like you got good value from the turbans!! Looking at those sunny desert photos makes me wish I had gone to Morocco!! Its snowing here (again). The camels look really cool :) What a great trip you are having. Awesome stuff