It was a beautiful drive from Rabat to Todra Gorge, it took us just under two days of driving to get there. We saw monkeys on the side of the road, and villiages in places you wouldn't expect to see villiages. In a seemingly endless expanse of nothingness would emerge villages made of mud bricks surrounded by palm trees and corn fields. Irrigation is amazing. When we arrived in Todra Gorge we started in the incredibly touristy portion along with hoards of French and Spanish tour busses. It was a pretty cool view from the centre of the gorge, but for us, the fun was only starting. We camped further up the gorge at a small hotel away from the crowds. For the first time on the trip we were away from city lights and campground ... read more

Volubulis dates back to 2nd or 3rd century AD. All that remain are ruins, which some have been reconstructed by the french, to give us an idea of what it may have looked like way back then. There are also still some beautiful mosaics, which unfortunately are fading fast in the heat of the sun. Some people think that Volubulis was abanded because too many people were dying from lead poisoning. The water pipes were made out of lead. Here are a few neat pictures, again the truck kitty paid for a guide. Unfortunately the guide was not very enthusiatic due to the heat, and the lack of food and water (Ramadan). The tour lasted no more than an hour.... read more

Moulay Idriss is a smaller city of about 20 000 people that dates back to approximately 780 AD, from my recollection of what the guide was saying, the King has a special fondness for Moulay Idriss, and therefore prohibits the people from making any changes or upgrades to the city. It was founded by a descendant of the prophet Mohammed. When our big truck arrived in the tiny market place square, it had only a little trouble backing up in to a parking place. Immediately there was somebody at the truck door offering to be our guide to show us around for 20 Dh each, me and Jordan and a couple others opted out, and just sort of wandered up towards the direction the look out should be. Some old guy kept following us and pointing ... read more

While in France we were lucky enough to be invited to attend Fabien (Kathie's "brother" from France) and Gwen's wedding. The wedding was awesome, the food was incrediable, we ended up partying until 5am. Here are a few of the pictures. Thank goodness Jordan spoke some french, and my french seemed not too bad, at least we were able to understand, and communicate with everybody else. It was a great opportunity to see everyone again, I haven't been in France since 1999, so it was close to 8-9 years since I'd seen my family from France. Jordan was happy that the french ladies seem to enjoy the Canadian accent as much as we enjoy the French accent. Nous voulons dire encore merci pour nous inviter au marriage. ça nous a fait beaucoup de plaisir de tous ... read more

Monday Travel Day! Today we set out on the train to travel to Mont St Michel. It was a workout lugging around our packs again, but we made it. On the train we talked to a nice man from Chambord. He has 3 kids and was born in Evreux. It was a great opportunity to practice our french. He even invited us to his house for dinner (or so we understood). People in France are so nice! :-) We checked into our hotel in Mont St Michel at around 5:30, used the internet at another hotel for a bit, then went for supper. Our first restaurant meal in France! I (Jordan) had steamed mussles, lamb curry, and frozen nougat (all the local fare). Tonight we also discovered the locally brewed cider, tasted much like Strongbow, but ... read more