Morocco?

[creaturecat]

this should be a great trip.
enjoy.
looking forward to some pics.

[imcarthur]

This is our 2nd morning in Marrakech. Yesterday we wandered the souks shopping. Bought more carpets. Actually a better selection of goods than we found in the bazaars of Istanbul. We had dinner in the Jemaa el Fna square which changes from snake charmers & monkey keepers to food stalls which are only open at night. It was a hoot. The medina has very narrow roads & is plagued by a constant stream of scooters.



Our hotel(riad).




In the souks.



Tasty kefta kabobs.



Jemaa el Fna at night.



Alleyway near our riad at night.



On the street.

Ian

[imcarthur]

The medina streets at night (with motorcycles). A picture doesn't capture the mania of the streets.

Ian

[motion]

Looks awesome! Keep em coming!

[FLYGEEZER]

Sure glad the military paid for all my travels to third world schiet hole countries. I would really be not be wanting to spending good money to see Morroco and a lot of other places again. Now europe or south america would be another story.

[creaturecat]

nice.
got any hash/hash farm pics?
moroccan hash is supposed to be top notch.
you gotta do it.
: )

[imcarthur]

No. I guess I am no longer the demographic for kif. I have not been asked once.

A few more from today . . .



Ben Yousef Mederasa





Marrakech museum



Tanneries. It was Berber day so camel & cow hides. Seriously smelly.



Berber market day.



Street scene.



Saadian Tombs.

Tomorrow we head up into the High Atlas Mountains & the plateau beyond.

Ian

[tevake]

Wow Ian, great pics. I love the night images, and the beautiful architecture. Your hotel looks very nice. Hope the trip continues so well for you!

Thanks for taking us along with you. I can almost taste the food and hear the sounds of the market at night, I'll just tune out the smells of the tannery. :-)

Cheers Richard

[Joeaksa]

Sure brings back memories. One thing you cannot duplicate are the smells.

One thing, hope the two ladies in the souk pics are NOT with you? They are simply asking for problems in a moslem country, especially the young one on the right. That is NOT acceptable and can really cause problems or get one/both arrested/kidnapped or worse.

If they are with you please have them at least wear long pants and long sleeve shirts. Its their country and their rules...

[imcarthur]

No they were not with us, Joe but Marrakech is pretty much wide open. Women - Moroccans & tourists seem to wear whatever they want. Sure you still see the head to toe covered Muslims but no one hassles anyone - except for picture taking. That is still very sensitive & you must ask before you snap pictures of shops & close ups of people. We were only hissed at once. And everyone told us that it is really safe. We wandered into some non-tourist zones without issue.

All in all a great place to visit but 2- 3 days is enough.

Ian

[imcarthur]

The woman that hissed. A nice guy (no tip required which is very rare) was leading us to the tanneries. People are very friendly. Always helpful with directions & they would often points us in the direction we wanted to go. Some English but more French is spoken.

More later after we drive up & over the mountains . . .

Ian

[creaturecat]

over the mountains........,,,,,,,,,,
hash tour, c'mon.
: )

[imcarthur]

Sorry cc but we went over the mountains in the south. The pot area is in the north.



Heading up.

Ian

Edit: that came out blurry. My editing skills are impaired with the iPad.

[imcarthur]

The high pass. 2260 meters.



Ait Ben Haddou. A ksar built in the 11th century. You have seen it in many, many movies.

Ian

[imcarthur]

Our hotel in a palmeraie in Skoura in between the High & the Anti Atlas Mountains. Much drier here than on the Marrakech side.

Ian

Edit: more tomorrow as we head further south today into the Draa Valley.

[imcarthur]

We drove by a massive gorge in the Anti Atlas this morning. Impossible to capture on film of course.




The Draa valley is a date palm paradise. It is also filled with ancient cabash (fortified homes).



The famous sign in Zagora: 52 days by camel to Timbuktu.

Ian

[imcarthur]

We drove south to the end of the road at M'Hamid & had an obligatory camel 'ride'.



Then it was a 2 hour off road trek into the Sahara over stone & scrub desert to the Chegaga dune area. No cell service, no radio, no Wi-fi. About 30 miles north of the closed Algerian border. Rather refreshing actually. Our driver/guide (born a Bedouin nomad) gave us a great insight into desert life.

And the dunes were magnificent. Note the people on the top of the high dune.



There are numerous camps secreted in the NW fringe run by Berbers. After sunrise it was back into the 4X4s for the 3 hour+ drive to pavement again at Foum Zguid. The dried lakebed of Iriki was the only speedy part of the trip.



Then it was through stunning mountains & into the green again for a long haul to our home for the next 3 nights in a resort riad just outside of Taroudant. With Wi-Fi obviously . . .

Ian

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by FLYGEEZER

Sure glad the military paid for all my travels to third world schiet hole countries. I would really be not be wanting to spending good money to see Morroco and a lot of other places again. Now europe or south america would be another story.

With your attitude you should probably just stay home.

Ian

[tevake]

Ian, good to see the update on your trip. Love the dune pic. Amazing in the low angle light. Also cool that your guide was Bedouin and could share some personal insight into life in the desert!
H ow was the stay in the tent out in the desert? Good night sky viewing?
You have been doing a nice job of documenting the trip for us, Thanks!!

yep some folks are just not meant to travel over seas.

Cheers Richard

[sc_rufctr]

Good for you Ian. Have fun.