Desert Rose

Day One
To round off our trip to Morocco we booked a three day excursion to the desert. Our guide Houssaine picked us up from the riad at 7am and we headed south from Marrakech. Our route took us through the High Atlas Mountains via the Tizi n Tichka pass, 2260m above sea level. We had a great view of the country's highest mountain, the snow-capped Toubkal and even saw some snow at our level. We stopped a few times to take in the amazing views but our first main stop was Ait Benhaddou. Like many Kasbahs in northern Africa, Ait Benhaddou has been used as a film set, appearing in Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia and Jesus of Nazareth among others. After parking the car we had to get a donkey ride across a river – a scary prospect for someone like me who hasn't ridden any animal for probably 25 years! We then walked to the top of the Kasbah to see get a full view of the valley.
Leaving Ait Benhaddou we continued south-east to Ouarzazate, past two studios where films such as The Mummy and Kingdom of Heaven were shot. We stopped for an excellent lunch of kefta tagine and continued towards the Draa Valley. The land was getting more arid, turning into a barren landscape of red rocks and scrubby bushes. We turned a corner into the valley and everything on our right side changed to a greenish hue. Gradually more and more palm trees appeared and we entered the palm grove which stretches for 100km. We arrived in Tamnougalt and Chez Yacob, our resting place for the night at around 3pm.
We were now deep in Berber territory. The Berbers are the native people of Morocco, recognisable by their distinctive headwear and colourful outfits. After a short rest Houssaine introduced us to Abdul who was to show us around Tamnougalt. Here was another famous Kasbah – it has appeared in Babel and Abdul himself can be seen in the background in The Passion of the Christ. He was an excellent guide, showing us around the Kasbah, the village and the palm groves, and despite the fact that he knew little English and we knew little French he was incredibly friendly with a permanent smile on his face. He paid five young girls a few dirham for us to take their photo and they were very excited about seeing their image captured on the camera. After our evening meal we retired to bed – it had been a long day.
Day Two
When we woke the next morning we found it had been raining. After breakfast we headed east, leaving the Draa Valley. We stopped for a break and noticed for the first time a lot of old Renaults covered in racing decals. Houssaine explained to us that we were passing the Renault 4L rally, a race for students from Paris to Marrakech via the Sahara Desert. The rally has a humanitarian aim with participants delivering school equipment to children in south Morocco. We continued onto to Risani, the terrain changing from the lush palm groves back to the barren rocky landscapes we had seen before we reached the Draa Valley. However the land started to flatten out and after we passed through Risani the deep orange sand dunes of the Sahara came into view.
It was quite strange to see those famous sands for real. We arrived at an auberge had a late lunch and steeled ourselves for our camel ride. Houssaine left us in the hands of one of our hosts for the night who led our camels through the desert. It really did feel like being on a film set! An hour later we saw the first signs of civilisation – a small Berber camp. Our guide didn't speak any English so we thought we'd climb a sand dune to take in the view. Walking uphill on sand is very hard work, and as we reached the top it started to rain. We couldn't believe it – we'd come all the way to the desert and it rained! We watched a few sand boarders for a while and trudged back down, a little disheartened. We were sat in the living area, helpfully lit by solar powered lights, when Houssaine arrived. We were also joined by a French couple and their son, and after we all settled down our hosts brought a few drums into the tent. They showed off their skills and then invited us to join them – all manner of glassware and cutlery was involved!
We were served a chicken tagine for dinner then adjourned outside to sit around the fire. It then became clear that the drums we had earlier been given to play were for visitors – new drums were warmed and these were for the professionals. For the next two hours were watched and listened and occasionally joined in. It felt very natural and inclusive, not at all contrived or like they were "performing" for us. When the full moon shone out from the clearing cloud we all cheered. It was amazing how much light the moon creates in this wide expanse with no light pollution. We decided to turn in at 11pm, and were shown to our tent. Our bed was surprisingly comfortable and the huge quantity of blankets we were provided with meant there was no danger of feeling the night-time desert chill – indeed it was hard to move under the weight!
Day Three
Unfortunately the clear skies didn't last until morning. We woke ourselves at 6.30am hoping to see the sunrise over the dunes. It was difficult to tell whether the sky was cloudy or just dark, but as time ticked on and the skies lightened it became clear that we weren't going to see a show. We had breakfast at the camp before setting back off on our camels. After freshening up at the auberge we set off on our long drive back to Marrakech. This time we took a road further north to Ouarzazate stopping at the Gorges of Todra. Houssaine dropped us off at the entrance of the gorge to walk through and take in the majesty of the huge cliff-faces on foot. The road swayed to the left and right alongside a very clear and very pretty stream until it reached a few hotels built into the rock. Here there was a pool of water of the most incredibly bright blue, filled with fish. It was very beautiful, but we couldn't stay long as we still had a long journey ahead of us.
The sun still hadn't made an appearance when we stopped in Ourzazate for lunch. We were then back on the road that leads through the Atlas Mountains to Marrakech – along with hundreds of cars on the final leg of the 4L rally. A combination of the rain that started to fall, the lack of seatbelts and Houssaine's rather impatient overtaking manoeuvres made for quite an unsettling ride! Still we made it back in one piece at around 7.30pm – back in our home from home in Riad Jomana with a cup of mint tea.
I really fell in love with Marrakech. I was less taken with Fes, but I think that was because of the weather. Everyone is very friendly and hospitable, albeit normally because they want to sell you something! It has been amazing to see just how much you can find out about a different country and culture in just a few days or weeks. Houssaine was a brilliant guide, giving us an incredible insight into his Berber roots. We really felt welcomed into a lot of people's lives. And I can't finish my tale of Morocco without mentioning the staff at Riad Jomana and Nabil in particular. They were always friendly, polite and happy to see us. Nabil just couldn't do enough for us, sorting out accommodation, transfers and putting us in contact with Houssaine. Riad Jomana isn't just the most amazing place to stay in Marrakech. It's a reason to go to Marrakech.

As Time Goes By

I was quite sad to leave Marrakech, even though we are returning in a few days. Our next destination was Casablanca by train. Not somewhere I particularly felt the need to visit but Darren wanted to on a whim about the film, and then we heard that it has the world's third biggest mosque (after Mecca and Medina) – the only active mosque in Morocco that non-Muslims can enter.
After checking into our hotel (basic, but fine for one night) we went out for a wander. Not that there's anything to see. Casablanca is the biggest city in Morocco, the sixth biggest city in Africa and essentially nothing more than a business centre. We walked around the big expensive hotels and Darren got his very dusty shoes polished, but otherwise there was nothing of note. Hassan II Mosque is also the tallest religious building in the world, and we headed towards it to get a closer look. We then saw the other side of Casablanca – derelict and half-demolished houses, the very poor almost living in a shanty town under the shadow of a mosque which cost $750 million to build. We couldn't go in at that point as visitor can only enter on set guided tours so we'd wait for that until the following morning. But we got a wonderful view of it as the sun set and could hear the evening prayers take place from outside the open door.
Walking back to our hotel wondering where to eat, all of Darren's wishes came true. There it was – Rick's Cafe. I thought it would probably be a bit of a dingy, touristy dive, but we thought we'd bear it in mind and maybe pop in for a drink later. Making use of our hotel's free internet we found out it was actually quite a posh (but not too expensive) restaurant, a labour of love by an enterprising American woman who was amazed that no-one had done it before. I could protest no longer and it became our destination for dinner. And it was an excellent choice. The staff were friendly, the food delicious, the decor very tasteful and there was a pianist playing all the old standards, including of course As Time Goes By.
The next morning we arose early enough to catch the 9am tour of the mosque. It was completed in 1993 after 6 years of round the clock work. It holds 20,000 worshippers, has an openable roof, and as well as the prayer hall you can view the ablution chamber and the hassans (public baths). It is grand, elaborate, immense and quite an amazing feat of architecture. It is rare to see such a modern religious building and it's ingenious to see how modern technology has been fused with traditional crafts (especially when they show you how they've hidden the hundreds of speakers!). Although the mosque is used daily, it is essentially a showpiece – the public baths have never been used and are just for demonstration. And as beautiful as it all was, this gave me a sense of emotional detachment which was quite strange.
We then returned to our hotel to check out and catch the train to Fes, the next destination on our Moroccan adventure...

Rock The Casbah

Over four days in Marrakech I think we managed to take in more or less all of the sights. Our first venture into Place Jemaa el Fna was pretty scary stuff. It was quite late so all the entertainers were out in force. Everywhere you go is like trying to run the gauntlet, with people trying to persuade you to take their picture or eat their food. Our guidebook recommended Hassan's with "the best merguez sausages" but it was packed, largely with locals. We eventually planted ourselves at one stall and ate well for 90 dirham (DH) – about £6 for the two of us. However, I still hadn't managed to accumulate much change for the entertainers and we had become a bit weary of being hassled and returned to the riad.
On Wednesday we visited the Musee de Marrakech, the Madrassa Ben Youssef and Koubba el Baroudyn. The Koubba was part of the Ben Youssef mosque which was used for ablutions, but was buried for hundreds of years before being re-discovered in 1947. It was the first piece of Arab architecture that we had really looked at and a great starting point – although not elaborate it is the only surviving structure from the Almoravide period in Marrakech and it's design and decoration have been replicated ever since the 11^th century. From there we crossed the track to the Madrassa of the Ben Youssef mosque. Non-Muslims aren't allowed in all but one mosque in Morocco, but madrassas (where religious students live) are often opened up to allow tourists to view. It was beautifully decorated and I've been most stunned by the deep stucco work on many of the buildings. The open courtyard reminded me a little of the monastery at Montserrat, and you can explore the rooms to see the difference between the bad ones (little boxes with no windows) to the best (much bigger with views over the courtyard). The best thing about looking out of these windows was that it gave a closer look at that intricate stucco work.
Next on our ticket was the Musee de Marrakesh. More of an art gallery than a museum, the main piece on view is the building. Like most buildings in the city there is an open courtyard, although this one had a tented roof which gave the roof a strange, yellowish glow. There were quite a few chairs and benches around so apart from anything it was a lovely place to sit and relax and listen to the sound of the water trickling over the fountains. The art displayed was vibrant and wonderful, reminding me that I'd love to find a nice piece from a souk vendor to take home!
We decided to take a break from the Moroccan cuisine and visit an Italian restaurant recommended by the guidebook. It was early so when we arrived we were the only diners, but Casanova was a very nice restaurant with good food (it's great when you order something you've had before and are served with an excellent version of it). Our waiter was intriguing and determined to practice as much English as possible on us, regaling us with tales of how he hated his job, hated the Spanish and was really a very creative and sensitive soul. His accent was heavy and we often lost track of his musings - as sweet as he was we were pleased when more customers came in to take his attention!
For our final day in Marrakesh we ventured to the south of the city – the Kasbah and the Palaces. The first place we wanted to see was the Saadian Tombs. 66 members of the Saadian dynasty (16^th-17^th century) are buried here, and the most intriguing thing (for us Westerners at least) is that the graves are more or less unmarked. Rectangles of mosaic tiles differentiate one grave from another, and even those housed under ornate roofs are relatively plain. Slightly disappointed we walked to El Badi, a Saadian palace. After the Saadian dynasty fell, Sultan Moulay Ismail stole all the marble that decorated it for his palace in Meknes, so essentially it is nothing more than a ruin that is now owned by the many storks who build their nests on top of the walls. But it is huge! There are a few walls along with sunken gardens, ex-fountains and foundations with good signs explaining how the building may have looked, and you can envisage just how grand the parties there would have been. You can also walk around some of the unearthed outbuildings – the ground was very uneven and you would never be allowed so much freedom on a ruin in Rome!
On our way back we decided we had to eat where the locals at. It was relatively early but Hassan's stall at Jemma el Fna was already doing the business. There was no fussing about with menus, just sit down and eat what's put in front of you. The merguez were indeed very good, as was the slightly random (not sure I want to know what was in it) meat stew and with bread and tea it was no more than 40 DH for both of us! Just shows that the locals (and the guidebooks) do know what they're talking about sometimes!

Where The Streets Have No Name

Today we got lost. After two days in a city that we know quite well, we are in what feels like a completely different world. The cacophony of sights, sounds and smells makes Marrakech everything I expected and I’ll try to put it into words. But firstly, I’m getting ahead of myself...
We had a wonderful meal on my birthday but couldn’t stay up too late as we had to pack and leave early to catch our flight. Our hostel was actually just north of Barcelona in Badalona, but still accessible by metro. It was very nice and clean, fine for a couple of nights. While in Barcelona we thought we’d try to see a something we hadn’t visited before – Montjuic. When we arrived on the funicular we found that the cable car to the top was closed for repairs, so instead we walked to the Olympic Stadium and museum. The stadium itself isn’t that impressive, although we were quite intrigued that it didn’t look anything like other ultra-modern recently built stadia. The museum was very interesting, chronicling the history of sport in general as well as the ancient and modern Olympic Games. We then headed back into Barcelona centre to book a few more future travel plans and buy a Morocco guidebook. We thought about eating in a restaurant but Barcelona on a Saturday night is a VERY busy place and we decided to get a takeaway pizza and rest in our hotel room instead.

Our flight left Girona airport at 4pm. As with all Ryanair flights it wasn’t the most pleasant experience but it was clear enough during most of the journey for us to have a good view. As we approached Marrakech we took in the sight of desert and neatly kept plantations, then the red city came into view. For the first time in my life I was out of Europe – and had to queue up to get my passport stamped. We had arranged a lift with our riad, and it’s possibly the best £10 we’ve spent as there is no public transport from the airport and Marrakech is a mish-mash of unlabelled streets. We’ve not yet found a comprehensive map and even if we did I feel it would be fairly useless!

Having visited quite a few European cities in the past, the main thing that has struck both of us is just how different it really is. It really does match up to your expectations in so many ways. The smells are the most incredible – aromas of different foods and spices, the charcoal that much of the food is cooked upon mingling with occasional whiffs of petrol or sewerage. The local music predominates, with a mix of different languages – Arabic, French and sometimes even English – and the calls to prayer booming out over loudspeakers five times a day. Even in cloudy February the heat is intense when the sun comes out. There are few cars inside the city walls but there are countless motorbikes, mopeds and bicycles with apparently no road rules.

We are staying in Riad Jomana and our welcome couldn’t have been warmer. The riad is in a small alleyway and doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside is beautiful, comfortable and very relaxing. It only has four rooms so the staff are always on hand and willing to bring us more delicious mint tea. There is a roof terrace where we had our breakfast this morning and an internal courtyard from where I’m writing this. We spent our first evening lounging here as we were a bit scared to tackle Marrakech in the dark!

So yesterday morning we braved the outside world. We found our way to the famous Place Jemaa el Fna (Place of the Dead) fairly easily and entered the souks. Our intention was to get lost - the owner of our riad said it was the only way to experience Marrakech and it wasn’t difficult. It’s almost impossible to orientate yourself as few streets are signposted and directions are few and far between. Everything is so unbelievably cheap that it’s difficult not to buy a bag full (and of course a new bag to put it all in). When you enter a shop you have to intend to buy something, and as Darren wanted to add to his ingredients collection back home we did eventually succumb to a spice stall. We were treated to some tea and got to smell lots of wonderful spice combinations as well as herbal remedies and essential oils. We left with plenty of goods, some freebies and the knowledge that we’d had a good, traditional Moroccan tourist experience!

After a couple of hours of having no idea where we were, going in and out of the souks by various entrances, walking around in circles and being hassled by EVERYONE (fun for a while, eventually tiresome) we found our way back to the “big square” as all the local children trying to earn a few dirham from lost tourists describe it. We had lunch in a cafe overlooking the square as people started to set up for the evening, but decided to have a fine meal in the riad instead.

It really is a place of contrasts, and you need the wonderfully relaxing side – either in the riad, the gardens outside the city or even in a cafe - to balance the frenetic madness that takes over in the streets and the souks. We have spent today relaxing in the Jardin Majorelle botanic gardens and Cyber Park - a big park with Wi-Fi and computers where it seems most of the local youth hangs out. So tonight we feel relaxed and ready to take on the Place Jemaa el Fna with it's many entertainers and street food sellers.

Celebration

After four weeks of living in relatively basic circumstances, it’s nice to check into a hotel. And our first priority in Hotel Taburiente in Santa Cruz de Tenerife was to have a good, hot, powerful shower. We then headed out for a Canarian meal and to sample a little of the Carnaval. We had drinks in a couple of bars and danced for a while amongst the crowd in front of the stage, but headed back at about 11.30pm. Well, we had been up VERY early that morning and wanted to conserve some energy for the next day, even though it seemed to be just at the point when the party was starting!

After breakfast on Tuesday, we took to the streets for a stroll to get a feel for Santa Cruz and try to find out where to watch the afternoon’s procession which started at 4pm. It travels a long way along the coastal road and must have left its starting point a lot earlier than the scheduled time! After 3 hours we felt that there was only so much procession you can watch so we headed back to the hotel to change for the evening and watch the rest on television. Our plan was to head out for the firework display at 9pm, but at 8.30pm we heard a few bangs – this carnival obviously doesn’t run very precisely to schedule! Still we headed out for some food and to have another boogie in the street. It seemed a lot quieter than the night before though, and we got a sense that we’d missed the main party.
On Wednesday we took the tram to the Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos. It had lots of interactive experiments, and was much like the interactive section of London’s Science Museum but with far fewer kids running around! We then took the tram back into Santa Cruz to have a look at the magnificent Auditorio. Clearly influenced by Sydney Opera House, it gleams in the sun looking like a wave from the Atlantic Ocean. After our evening meal we joined the crowds lining the street for the Burial of the Sardine. Another key event in Santa Cruz’s Carnaval celebrations, it was a short but rowdy group of many men (and even a few women) dressed as widows (although how many people would attend a funeral in this get up I’ve no idea!) The procession hadn’t got far although it was already 11pm, and we decided to head back to the hotel instead of follow it. At about 3am we were woken by some huge bangs – the “mourners” had clearly reached the sardine and the fireworks sounded much more impressive than the previous evening.
I’ve had a nice relaxing birthday today. We first took the tram to La Laguna, the old town of the north of Tenerife. There we visited the Museo de Historia de Tenerife which is based in one of the many beautiful old buildings in the town. We then had a nice wander around – you can see very clearly where the old town starts – and headed back to Santa Cruz. Our hotel sits opposite the Parque Garcia Sanabria which we’ve walked through a few times but I wanted to walk the full spiral of the footpath that runs to the centre. There are many sculptures and exotic plants, including the banyul trees that were so inspirational to Gaudi when he designed La Sagrada Familia. Most importantly we could sit out in the sunshine in t-shirts, something I’ve never done on my birthday before!
Tonight we’re having a meal in the hotel restaurant – the menu has been taunting us every time we use the lift! Tomorrow we leave early for our flight to Barcelona before flying to Marrakesh on Sunday. Finally, thank you all for the birthday messages. It’s been strange not having any presents or cards to open, but I knowing that people remembered is much more important!

Stranded

We had a bit of adventure in our last week in La Gomera. Darren’s laptop caught a virus while we were in Valle Gran Rey and eventually the entire system seized up. All Darren needed was a Windows Vista disc to repare the damage, but La Gomera is not a particularly large or advanced place – everyone is quite happy with XP it appears. Peter and Anna pulled out all the stops to try to find a copy and found someone who could download it for us. When we went back to San Sebastian on Thursday it still had 3-4 days left to download. Not much use when we only had a couple more days on the island ourselves. The last ditch was to plead if we could borrow a copy from one of the many computer shops in San Sebastian, a plea which was reluctantly accepted. We agreed to meet Peter in a bar as he had a little shopping to do, and after 10 minutes we headed off to the bar with a slightly more (if not fully) functioning laptop.

An hour later we wondered where Peter had got to. Surely he hadn’t forgotton about us? Darren went to check if the car was still there and it had gone! In a panic we headed to a phonebox to call Anna who said Peter had called her wondering where we were as well. Back to the bar where we waited another hour, but still no lift. Another call to El Cedro and Peter had just got home – he’d searched everywhere for us and must have just come passed the bar where we were waiting when we were making our phonecall!

So we were stranded. It was too late to eat, but we managed to get a bed in a hotel for the night. Santa Cruz de Tenerife were selecting their Carnaval Queen on a local TV channel, so this gave us a taster for next week. The next morning we found that the first bus back to the centre of the island was at 11am, so we allowed ourselves a leisurely walk around the town, got some breakfast and sent some postcards. The bus journey was fantastic. It is 15km as the crow flies from San Sebastian in the east to Valle Gran Rey on the west coast, but the road winds for 50km up towards the peak of Garajonay. San Sebastian is a very pretty little town to look down on. An hour later we alighted at Parajitos and braced ourselves for the 7km walk back. It was more or less all downhill and meant we had another chance to take in some more breathtaking views. This was actually a much more picturesque walk than the one we had taken to the top before, and we could see Gran Canaria from some viewpoints as well as some jaw-dropping ravines.

We got back at 2pm, freshened up and headed to work, ever so slightly late. We felt we ought to put in a few hours (otherwise we’d be working all day Saturday!) I was so tired and upset the night before, I found it quite unbelievable that such an amazing day could have come from our little misunderstanding.
Peter and Anna have been excellent hosts. They are both fantastic cooks (which always goes down well with us) and we’ve been treated to many German specialities. There’s only so much seclusion that we can take though and we have a couple of weeks “on holiday” in cities to balance all this peace and quiet we’ve had, starting with Carnaval today in Santa Cruz de Tenerife!