we're back in madrid! after 6 crazy days in a whole other world. we spent 3 days on the desert tour through the Atlas Mountains, the desert towns of Ouarzazate, Rissani, Merzouga, Todras Valley, culminating in an unbelievably perfect evening riding our camels into the dunes, arriving at sunset upon our camp, eating a delicious dinner of tajine chicken made by our desert guides, then enjoying a jam session of Berber drumming, singing, and dancing by our multi-talented tour guides.
we met and became friends with a great group of people who were on this tour with us - adventurous and fun folks from North Carolina, British Columbia, The Canary Islands, Luxembourg, and Portugal. not least of all were the desert-raised boys who led our camels into the desert and hung out with us on the moonlit dunes after the "programmed" activities ended, smoking cigarettes and sharing their life stories. it was a fine evening in the Erg Chebbi dunes of the Sahara.
not to say that our travels were a piece of cake. to begin this leg of the trip, we flew into Tangier from Madrid, then took a 10 hour overnight train to Marrakech, which wasn't so bad since we had a couchette all to ourselves - with bunk beds, compact couch, sink, storage, and reading lights. even a window which we could fully open to hang out heads out and take photos. i did this at one of the stops, only to see when i turned around that a few other people from their couchettes were hanging out the windows with their cameras pointing in my direction.
in the morning, we arrived in Marrakech and were picked up by a white Landcruiser, met the 2 over SUVs full of people, and were on our way.
after getting back from the desert, we stayed at the Moroccan House Hotel in Marrakech, where Federico and Domingo from Las Canarias were staying. the next day was spent seeing the sights around town. arriving by cab in front of the Menara Gardens with Federico and Domingo, we ran into the gang from Lisbon and Luxembourg, also on their way there. we walked around the gardens and then back into town, marked by the large mosque in the center. the Medina, with it's labryinthine alleys packed to the hilt with souks selling everything from baby squirrels to cheesy souvenirs to beautifully woven rugs and herbal medicine. oh yea, and thousands of miles of colorful Saharan scarves so you'll never find yourself in a sandstorm without one.
the shopkeepers are relentless businessmen. some will not let you leave until you've haggled and come to an agreement that both parties are satisfied with. they LOVE to haggle, and it turns shopping into a game to try to beat your last great bargain. it's really fun, but gets tiring after a while. i haven't spent my life practicing the art like they have.
there was so much about the Moroccan experience that would take pages and hours to tell. i'll just put up some photos now...
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