Casablanca, Morocco

BOARDING TRAIN AT MARRAKECH STATION

It's very early in the morning and we took a short taxi ride to the Marrakech train station - gleaming as it is even at this hour of the day. To our horror, the taxi driver charged us 70 dirhams beyond the 30 we would have paid him. Arguing with the man was futile - we have a train to catch and we're short on Moroccan Arabic. He finally lowered it to 50 dirhams and off we went in a huff - a really bad start so early in the day.

Marrakech, Morocco

KOUTOUBIA MOSQUE

We're back to where this trip started last week. We took the Supratours bus from Essaouira this afternoon, arriving in Marrakech early evening. From the mountains to the desert to the sea, we've seen bits of Morocco and it looked like we've been on the road for so long. Our group came from different countries but all have the same adventurous frame of mind - Kathy, Katrina, Joshua, Tanya, Sarah, Leanne, Mangaia, Clemens, Lazarus, Mel and yours truly. Thanks to Steve - our tour leader - he really made sure the trip ran smoothly.

Essaouira, Morocco

BRASS CANONS AT SKALA DE LA KASBAH

 

Exploring Essaouira's medina is best done by foot. Rasheeda, a local guide, met us this morning for a walk around the area. We went first to the Skala de la Kasbah where a climb up the top platform gave us a great view out to sea and the waves crashing below. There are brass canons lined up here, a reminder of the time when Essaouira, then called Mogador, was a Portuguese commercial and military base.

Essaouira, Morocco

KITEBOARDING IN ESSAOUIRA

SKALA DE LA KASBAH

Essaouira is a pretty 18-century port town with impressive ramparts surrounding its medina - considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many have been lured to its labyrinthine alleys where artists, craftsmen and musicians have made a firm foothold. There's a strong coastal wind to keep windsurfers and kiteboarders busy.There's even hashish beyond the daily catch of fresh fish. Just like other parts of Morocco, Essaouira had its share of film shootings with the most noteworthy being the classic Othello by Orson Welles.

Taroudant, Morocco

Kasbah Glaoui, Taliouine

On our way to Taroudant we stopped by for lunch in Taliouine, a village dominated by the Glaoui kasbah. Taliouine is more popular for its saffron and we happen to pass by during their saffron festival. What I found out is the labor involved in producing the world's most expensive spice: it takes 140-230 Saffron flowers to produce a single gram of spice.

Erg Chigaga, Morocco

It's dusk as our 4WDs moved out of M'hamid, a village at the edge of the Sahara where the long road that took us from Ait Benhaddou literally disappears in the desert. Two more hours of off-road journey on a rocky hammada desert and we finally made it to our desert camp at 8 pm. We're all tired, hungry and sore on our butt but Alhamdulilah, we made it to Erg Chigaga, Morocco's largest sand dunes. I could barely see the outline of the dunes at this time but a sunrise view tomorrow ought to be perfect.

Ait Benhaddou, Morocco

If this grandmother of all kasbahs look familiar, it is because of the films shot on location at this UNESCO World Heritage Site: Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, The Jewel of the Nile, The Mummy, Gladiator, and Alexander the Great to name a few. But beyond Ait Benhaddou's Hollywood veneer lies a historical importance during the days of caravan trading between Marrakech and the Sahara. These days, excursionists from Marakkech invade this mudbrick wonder the same way the Macchu Picchu in Peru and Angkor Wat in Cambodia get the daily busloads of paparazzi treatment.

Aremd, Morocco

 
At 1920 meters above sea level, the Berber village of Aremd sits at a valley hemmed in by the High Atlas Mountains. Trekkers pass by here on their way up Mt. Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa (4167 meters). We're not climbing the big mountain but at least we get a sense of what lies ahead as we walked uphill for an hour from Imlil to get to this area that became a set for Kundun, Martin Scorsese's movie about the Dalai Lama.

Marrakech, Morocco

The train from Casablanca was delayed last night, something which isn't really unusual for Moroccan trains. We even had to stand part of this journey as all seats were occupied. Worse, some passengers were generous enough to puff their nicotine into our nostrils. We arrived in Marrakech close to midnight only to find vultures masquerading as taxi drivers preying on weary passengers. Not even our reincarnated Arabic could stop them from their extortionist ways. We finally stumbled into our joining point at the Hotel La Menara, feeling like we've already traveled so far even before our trip with Intrepid Travel has started.

Casablanca, Morocco

Marhaba!
Bienvenue!
It's raining as our plane attempted to land and the pilot decided to circle above Casablanca for almost an hour, blaming poor visibility due to a thunderstorm. It rained too in Madrid where I met up earlier with Mel (my London-based good friend) for our connecting Iberia flight to Morocco. Rain was something I didn't anticipate during my first day into this part of North Africa but this is part of the adventure. Including a delayed arrival.