Morocco is amazing!!!

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Arrived in Marrakech at dusk, just in time to see the Djemma el-Fna (the large square in the middle of the market area) transform into an explosion of sensoral stimulation- dozens of food stands selling cous cous and tajines; spice stands; mint tea; snake charmers; monkeys; dancers; drummers; henna painters; acrobatics-- completely and utterly fascinating and overwhelming! We then spent the next hour finding our riad amongst the maize of small alleys that make up the medina where getting lost multiple times is to be expected. However.... when we did find it, it was completely worth the effort! We settled in, then headed back out to the square for dinner and Kevins go at snake charming (again;;; the pics will (eventuqlly ) explain a lot!)

The following day we took a road trip to the coastal town of Essaouira (where we were briefly afraid of being stranded upon realizing that none of the towns atms seemed to be working (thankfully a very unfriendly french woman stumbled across a functioning bank!) We toured the souks (markets_shops); relaxed on the beach and picked out fresh seafood at the port that we then enjoyed cooked on the spot.

On our third day in Morocco; we were picked up at 9 am by our driver (Brahim) for our trip to the Saraha desert and camel trip. We drove through the Atlas moutains (beautiful!!!), Melinda enjoyed a dip in Dades gorge, and we visited the sites where Lawrence of Arabia and Babel were filmed.Braham was a wonderful guide- buying Melinda small gifts for her birthday and taking us to eat at his mothers home (delicious!... and she even taught Melinda how to apply Berber eyeliner which she will never do again! -- imagine putting a bit of rose petal ash into your eyes!) After a night in the Atlas moutains, we arrived in Merzouga, grabbed our camels and headed out into the Saraha desert where we watched the sunset from the top of a huge sand dune in Erg Chebbi - absolutely breathtaking.

On return to Marrakech, we enjoyed a proper Moroccian meal ( 6 courses) and our first wine since leaving rome; We spent our last day touring the sites, and exploring the souks (which after learning to dodge motorbikes and donkeys are not too terribly difficult to navigate.)

Morocco truly is one of the most incredible places we have visited ( even with the constant harrassment to "come into my shop, i have the best quality and prices- i love Obama!")

On to see Fes before heading back to the States to end our vacation in DC....

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Comments

[jaspreet]

Wow
Could not have expected a more descriptive entry from Morocco! So glad you had a blast and sensory stimulation (why does that sound dirty). Happy B'day Melinda! Can't wait to hear all the stories in person soon!!