One more sleep.....

.....and a long and crappy flight plan til I see my big sis!! Lets all pray for an upgrade.

On my haste to get my pictures online (and thanks everyone for your emails and comments, it made the effort worthwhile) I didn't really do Morocco justice in terms of the smells and tastes - some good and some bad, but I wasn't exaggerating when I said it was an assault on the senses.....

It's been great chilling out in Essaouira for a few days - long walks on the beach, long coffees and gelatos at the million cafes through the old medina, checking out the old fort and eating fresh fish BBQ'd on the pier before your eyes has been the name of the game. As has eating at the two best restaurants in town and scoffing more Meknes wine and cocktails with Emma and Elizabeth - no complaints from this brown duck. A two hour massage yesterday for 50 bucks wasn't too shabby either.....

Marrakech - Part 4 of 4

Marrakech - touristic capital of Morocco, but that bird shitting on me in Buenos Airies must have paid off again, as we got lucky. The leader of our group, Atikah, liked us so much she convinced the agency to upgrade us from Hotel to Riad for our stay in Marrakech - so instead of a dive in Marrakech, we got to stay on a sprawling property in the Palmerie on the outskirts of town, with huge marble bathrooms, a massive pool, an in house hammam - a Riad is a big home, and it was like staying in someones big home. Gorgeous.

I don't really like 'touristy' so it suited me fine. It was a busy but relaxing time. The first thing I did was have a hammam to get rid of the Sahara - the lady who scrubbed my tan off (sob!! though Emma says I'm still black and therefore a bitch) was tut tutting her way around me as she'd clearly never seen so much debris come off anyone: anyone who hasn't experienced a hammam (read: entire body degloving) should - you'll never feel so clean. First hot steam, then black soap, then scrubbing by a fat Arabic lady who has NO QUALMS ripping off your knickers and scrubbing your bare ninny with the equivalent of a Jex scourer; then a clay mask all over followed by hair washing and a massage; all the while laying on a heated marble slab in a heated room.... you can amost forgive her for the ninny scrubbing it's that good.

Marrakech proper was a shock after being so remote for days on end..... First stop was the Djemaa El-Fna main square for some gawking and some chow.

Water sellers.....

Sunset over the square..... all of these stalls are food stalls, market stalls.... it's mad, surprisingly mostly locals, and a great people watching place:

We ate at one of the food stalls - you pick your food, they cook it!

Some sights in the old Medina in Marrakech.....

the Marrakech souk.....

The Saadian tombs, where descendants of Mohammed are buried....

And last night, the ladies of our Riad let Margaret, Emma and I in to the kitchen to give us a course on Moroccan cooking. It was a bit odd cooking with al the women who saw me naked (and.....) in the hammam, but that's how it's done in a Riad in Morocco. We cooked 10 Moroccan salads, Chicken with Preserved Lemon, Lamb Tagine, Lamb Couscous???? it was great - I learnt so much I can't wait to try at home (and praise God not one piece of manipulated fruit in sight). So Rob, maybe one day I'll be able to put right for you that Moroccan disaster I cooked......

Zarah - our chef and tutellage-type-person.....

Fruits of our labour - it was delicious!!

So - now it's time to chill in Essaouira with Emma and Elizabeth until such time as I leave for Hong Kong to play with my big sister.... one more Morocco update is in store...... and I'm glad I have some more time for tagines, couscous and Rose.

En Route from Sahara to Marrakech, via the road of the 1000 kasbahs Part 3 of 4

Emma and Kathryn en route to Todra Gorge; covered in the Sahara, with one of the 1000 Kasbahs in the background.

Todra Gorge was beautiful and it was great to see some green after the red sandy Sahara. A wander through the local village was interesting - micro farming is the name of the game here:

The view of the old Kasbah and new (er) village from the farmlands.....

And the next day en route to Ait Ben Haddou, via the Dades Valley - it was back to dry and dusty.....


....with a surprising 'Valley of Roses' halfway - in 1000AD someone bought a rosebush over and it adapted to the conditions - it's impressively, heavily perfumed and everywhere.... but comes only in one colour:



At Skoura we stoped at Kasbah Amerdihil which was an interesting look at how fa,ilies used to live - and many still do - lived in these 'fortified cities':

And xe finally arrived at Ait Ben Haddou - the most impressive Kasbah of all; and the scene of the filming of Gladiator, among other movies. UNESCO have had a hand in here, too to try and preserve it:

We were invited in for tea with this lady who lives in the Kasbah (left - can't spell her name) - and was an extra in Gladiator. She spoke only Berber with a smattering of French and Arabic, but showed us some pictures of the filming.

Partners-in-Rose-drinking-crime at the top of the Kasbah....

The Kasbah from it's highest point on the left; and village where we stayed to the right of the river.....

And the next morning, so began the long road from Ait Ben Haddou over the High Atlas Mountains to Marrakech..... that's snow on the peaks below -

.....and it was easily 40 where we were standing.