Catch up Morocco 2011

Well being slack like I am I didn't really write anything when I was in Morocco.  I was there two weeks and then I was back in Australia again.  I stayed in Marrakech for most of the time but did a day trip to Essaouira and a three day tour through the Atlas Mountains and to the Sahara.  I had a great time and will go back again.  I didn't take the photos that I wanted in Marrakech, especially in the Medina area where I was staying.  In the little alleyways there is so much to take photos of but with so many people you can't avoid taking photos of the them, and of course they don't want you to (which I can understand).  So to avoid confict I didn't take the photos. 

One of the gateways to the old medina in Marrakech

What can I say, goats in a tree

 I stayed in a hotel and then a couple of riads in the Medina in Marrakech.  That was great.  Being in the Medina you were close to the people, architecture, culture, El Fna Square (where everything happens, especially at night), the noise, vibrancy, it's just where you have to stay.  And if you can stay in a riad, even better.  I only paid $30 night and the room was great.

Essaouira

Atlas Mountains

Ait-Benhaddou

Me on a camel in the Sahara

One of the riads where I stayed

The goats were on the way to Essaouira, which is on the coast.  The photo is of the Medina area where I had lunch and wandered around.  Love the Medinas.




















On the three day tour (small bus with approximately 10 people) we went throught the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara.  We were meant to go camel riding to our traditional tent in the sand dunes but that didn't work out.  Instead we stayed at the hotel, on the edge of the dunes, where we were meant to leave from because our driver 'got lost' and we arrived too late.  We were then meant to go for a camel ride in the morning and watch the sun come up over the Sahara, which didn't happen.  The staff decided to have a sleep in and so we missed the sunrise.  At least I did ride on a camel in the Sahara in Morocco.  Not many people can say that, and it does sound so much better than riding a camel in Australia at one of the tourist spots.  Sorry Aussies.

Ait-Benhaddou was one of our stops on the tour.  Another disappointment to a certain extent.  Incredible, fantastic place, but rushed and actually spent very little time there.  Two things that I definately wanted to do in Morocco was go to Ait-Benhaddou, ride a camel in the Sahara, and stay in a bedouin tent in the Sahara.  That was why I chose that tour.  Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic time, hung out with a couple of other people travelling by themselves, great night at the hotel in the Sahara where they played traditional music and danced, rode the camel, walked the sand dunes at night (that is silence for you) etc, but I couldn't really tick the bucket list with satisfaction.

Dancing and singing at the hotel