Meknes+-+Sahara

= RABAT – MEKNES = We left Casablanca by train for the capital Rabat after a morning being guided through the huge Hassan 11 Mosque – third largest in world. Rabat is much quieter, cleaner and more laid back than bustling Casablanca and we explored the Kasbah and markets – they sell everything here! – before boarding another train and heading for Meknes. As the train was rather crowded we all split up and Gail and I got to share a carriage with 2 young women and a 7 year old hyper-active boy. It was sort of fun trying to chat with the women but 7 year old demanding boys are not what we old retired teachers really need right now! The hotel has been rated by one and all as THE noisiest anyone has ever stayed at. It sounded like one long argument/party/smash yard/ whatever that just went on all nught in the streets around us. Despite that we soldiered on next morning exploring the medina (yes, another one) and a few other quite interesting sights before all meeting up for lunch of camel burger. I thought it was quite nice and really, if you hadn’t been told, you’d assume it was beef. In the afternoon we were met by our small bus which will transport us for much of the rest of the trip (not much public transport from now on) and traveled to the Roman ruins at Volubilis. They were really great and our excellent guide gave a wealth of detail etc and answered everything with authority (I won’t bore you with details).


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And finally, after a pretty long day, off to Fes and a meal in a restaurant that serves alcohol (a number of the party were getting desperate – us included!)

= FES =

What a great place (not even including the alcohol which was well received). We wandered the old medina (one of the oldest and largest in the world) and didn’t get lost – mainly because we had a local guide who kept ua all together (not an easy feat!). There are thousands of narrow alleys which branch off in all directions and shops etc which sell everything imaginable (including camel’s heads, with or without the skin) Because of the narrowness of the alleyways donkeys are the main form of transporting goods and we got very adept at jumping sideways against the wall or into an open doorway when we heard “ballak ballak” – roughly translated as “get out of the way – donkey coming through!) We visited carpet making shops, traditional clothing shops, pottery sops/factories etc etc plus, of course, the famous leather dyeing pots. = MIDELT = Some fantastic scenery today on our way to Midelt – the apple capital of Morocco (yes, I know, you didn’t really need to know that but????) Passed many shepherds out with their flocks of sheep or goats – time must go really slow when your only companions all days are a bunch of scruffy sheep! We walked to a small mud village nearby our accommodation – pretty interesting but, oh what it must be like when it rains! The kids were shy at first but soon warmed to the idea of having their pics taken and then giggling when shown the results.
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After dinner (another tagine!) we were entertained with barber singing and dancing which we were invited to join in – lot of fun little style though from us!

= The SARAHA = Long bus ride before we met our camels (Gail named hers Cuthbert – I think mine was “Stinky”) and an hour long ride into the desert to the Berber camp for the night. The ride was fine – pretty easy although going down sand dunes can be a bit nerve wracking. The camp was basic Berber (ie toilets behind the nearest sand dune, no showers, the blanket you rode on is the blanket you sleep with etc) but the meal was fantastic (OK, tagines again but a few varieties and prob the best we have had).


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A rough night’s sleep - hard “mattress”, rock pillow and camels grunting all night tends to make it difficult to really relax. But, a pre-dawn start to catch the sunrise, and back up on our new-found friends for the ride back and breakfast. A few sore thighs (and other places too I gather) and an understanding why Arabs have such patience – camels aren’t exactly the fastest movers – it’s a slow plod plod plod but it does get you there eventually. The sand dunes are amazing, the dark and quiet (well, relative) and the starry starry sky made it a great experience.