Morroco

We arrived at Casablanca airport in the afternoon (how civilized) and took the cheapest way to get to the hotel, train (bugger just missed it and the next one arrived 100 slow minutes later) ,then mini cab to the hotel. A lesson to the wise. We were told to negotiate everything - wrong - you pay on the meter which would have been half the cost of what we paid. So much for the cheapest possible transport to the hotel. Casa is a big commercial city, nothing like in mums favorite movie but the mosque is enormous, yes we went and saw another bloody mosque! The next day we travelled by train 2nd class to Meknes 4 hours in the train 1.5 standing squashed together in the isle, but we had fun getting to know the other 6 people on the tour all English speaking - hooray! That night we walked 1 hour to our dinner at the old imperial city - yum.

In Meknes we roamed the old city, exploring the grannery (every old city must have one of those. How else could one eat), a Muslim training centre for the olden days, and of course the suk (bazaar) where we had lunch. We were warned not to eat the salads in this area as we would have about a 50% chance of getting very sick for about 4 days. We ate cooked meat! Then another train trip 2nd class to Fes. This time we sat down. Oh I forgot to tell you that Drew and I got hopelessly lost walking back to the hotel before the train trip. As we were nearly out of time to get back before the train left we hailed a cab which took us 7k out of our way, Drew saying the hotel name over and over again. When we got back everyone was waiting for us and to our dismay we got into the cab around the corner from the hotel - very frustrating!

Fes was great. Alot of history and a day with a guide to get us through all the alleys, each specialising in different things, eg. jewelry (goodie). Another dinner 1 hours walk from our hotel. What is it with our guide, always marching us so far for our tucker? I must admit it was yummy so I forgive him.

The next day we travelled by bus to Midelt, which is in the mid Atlas mountains. The scenery is spectacular and the drive comfortable. Mid afternoon we went on a small? hike 3.2 hours and back for dinner and dancing - yes dancing ,Burber belly dancing. Drew had a ball and I must admit I enjoyed myself as well.

We are now getting higher into the mountain range. Stopped at Todra Gorge for a walk and then stayed at Dades Valley. In this valley are 1000 Kasbahs and to walk a small section of the valley was fantastic, Kasbahs and greenery everywhere. The villagers use the valley to grow food for everyone who cannot afford to pay for it. There we went for a half day walk of the gorge - beautiful, beautiful. Before we get into the high Atlas mountains we spend a night at Ait Benaddou where there are many Kasbahs. Many movies were made around here, eg. Gladiator and Lawrence of Arabia.

The nest two days were spent in Imlil, a village in the High Atlas mountains where the Berber people have always lived. There we went on a days hiking about 14ks of up and down, slippery donkey tracks. When it was over Terry, another woman on our tour and I went into the village and had a traditional humum (steam room wash by Berber women ) My muscles were aching before I went in but much better when I left. They then invited us to have tea and walnuts in their home - a mud hut two storey - animals underneath and a T.V.. That was a memorable experience and I flopped into bed early exhausted.

Off to the coast next to the tourist town of Essouaira where we walked on the beach and purchased jewelry (at last) then to Marrakech. This city, like Casablanca was a bit of a disappointment but only because Meknes, Fes, the atlas mountains and Essouaira were so very, very wonderful. The highlight of Marrakech was definitely the atmosphere at the huge market (souq) In there you will see Berber musicians, snake charmers, witch doctors and an assortment of food stalls. Yes, I know, I am always talking about the food.

The tour ended there but Drew and I took a train to Rabat. The capital city was memorable for the Chellah, an archeological site of old Roman ruins and Muslim tombs. With beautiful scenery and gardens it was well worth the visit.

In Casablanca we had another experience - we were walking around the city when we decided to head to the waterfront. As it was a bit far we were looking for a taxi when 2 guys driving an old truck stopped next to us at a traffic light and when we said hi and started to chat they offered us a lift. We jumped in and headed for the beach but then decided that we would have a few beers with them down at the waterfront. By this time Chris is getting very nervous. Anyway we stopped at a bottle shop for a couple and before we new it we had a dozen stubbies and a small bottle of Scotch. With Chris starting to getting a little scared we headed for the beach. The guys started drinking very quickly and we thought we better leave them to it. Although they asked us to come back for dinner we thought we might escape instead and left them to it.

With another long walk had great two days there before we headed back to Casa where we took a long walk down to the beach, past enormous Mumslim cemeteries (in prime beachfront real estate) and on to Ricks cafe. Although itr was closed and isn't the one used in the movie Casablance it was still worth the long long walk to see it.

The next day it was on the plane again to fly back to Madrid and onto U.S.A. What a great adventure we had!