Blogs from Morocco, Africa - page 198

Well, here we are again, traveling through another country. We arrived in Marrakech on the 9th of December, with a Ryanair flight for only £37 return which was incredible! The tittle of this page comes from a comment that a Touareg person told me, they called Marrakech "L'arnaquech" in the far south of the country, as people are constantly trying to rip off the tourists. Passing though the borders was allright, quick enough except for the fact that there was no one there to mention that we had to fill up a certain border form before getting to our turn at passing it, but once we found out we managed not to loose our space on the queue to get through. My HIV drugs were not questioned, and we just got on with it. As ever, ... read more

Woke up early as I wanted to go to Moulay Idris and Volubilis. There are no collective taxis (i.e. a shared taxi with 7 people in it; 2 passengers in front and 4 at the back plus the driver) to Volubilis but there are to Moulay Idiris. The place to get a grand taxi to Moulay is not from the same place as the other taxi, the place is in the Meknes new city and I was looking for it all over the place but couldn't find it. Finally I met two guys who helped me out and put me into a taxi that dropped me off near the Moulay Idiris taxi stand. I went to Moulay Idiris and then took the same taxi to Volubilis. I could have walked to Volubilis but decided to take ... read more

Siham is hunched over a bowl of harira, her mother snoring under a blanket on the cushion between us, an Egyptian political talk show playing in the background. “I have an idea,” she says in her high, femine voice (well-suited to her small frame and perfect for high-pitched Berber singing). “A small idea.” “I think that everyone who travels cherche something. You understand me?” My sister and I nod encouragingly. We are facing her from the opposite segment of the couch, tucking our feet under the blanket that we share with her father. Before we can respond, she finishes her thought. “They don’t know what it is that they cherche. But it is something.” We have happened across this conversation from the topic of her marriage. Siham, who is 20 years old, will soon be married ... read more

Just a quick one! A few pictures of Tarifa where we are staying in Spain (windsurfers paradise) and a few of our day trip to Tangiers. We had a great time but it was tiring as everyone wants to sell you something! Catherine, Ian and Jamesx... read more

Sorry this took so long everyone...yes, we are alive and internet has been a pain, especially when it comes to uploading pictures. We now have our laptop, thanks to Jason's mom hauling it all the way across the Atlantic for her European Christmas visit, so we will try to catch this blog up to date soon. We'll start with Morocco...our first visit to an Islamic country. We arrived in Morocco via ferry that crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. There are these huge passenger boats that take people back and forth between Spain and Morocco all day long. Morocco was a very interesting experience and it started the minute we hit the border crossing. While all the Moroccan folk were packed in like caged animals in the narrow passageways to go through immigration, we were ... read more