Riad Julia Marrakech

Situé en plein coeur de la médina, à quelques pas du port et de la plage, le Riad Chakir Mogador est le lieu privilégié de votre escale à Essaouira.


Cette maison d'hôtes, entièrement restaurée dans le pur respect des traditions et de l'architecture ...

... br>
The city is all
built from the same red mud so it has a gorgeous rosy glow and we loved it
straight away. It was very dusty and dry, lots of people about, and very clean.
We went into the old town, through thick outer walls and were dropped as close
as we could get to our riad with the car. Then we were told a guy would take us
further, and he put our bags on a trolley. Too quick and then we were off,
knowing by the end he would ask for a tip even ...

From the fun flats of Marrakech...we made our way to the High Atlas mountains for well...mountains of magnificent hiking and views.

Jebel Toubkal stands at 4200m above sea level and at that is the highest most point in northern Africa and also a bit of a mission! We made it up the mighty mountain in a few days and did some sleeping, sun burning and Scrabble in there as well. An absolutely incredible adventure!

Back down and all set to embark on a road trip to Fez!

XXX

... reminds me of India and all the experiences i had there that live on in my mind but it is an odd amalgamation of the western and traditional. The main square is a magical place where all is alive by night and oh so chilled and interesting in the day.

We did a couple of days exploration of all it had to offer and then onwards AND upwards...

XXX

... But coins are useless to me; you can’t exchange them. In fact, you cannot exchange Durhams for Euros once you leave. So a little boy was at the right spot at the right time. Connection. (Susan said a man watched all this and said “Thanks” to her. Ha.)

The rest of the day was spent in the Marrakesh airport, in the air, riding various trains, metros and buses in Madrid, and taking a walk through central ...

... museum were all for movies we'd never heard of, which although disappointing wasn't really surprising. However, at the beginning the tour looked like it would be another 5 minute rip-off but in the end turned out to be a good hour of visiting different sets, so it was worth it even though we'll never recognize any of the sets or props since they're all featured in foreign small budget movies. Our next stop was a small town that had an interesting fort, with ...

... ask if you may take a picture, the answer is almost certainly no. If you get a yes, it is because you've asked if they'd mind. If you ask why, they will tell you, it is against their religion. This is hard to argue against. However, one thing would easily change everything: Lots of people will ask for money if you want to take a picture. Maybe I just misunderstood, did they say it's the prophet or the profit that matters?

... e nós nem sequer pensamos no que
vemos em relação a higiene.
O souk (mercado) um autentico labirinto,
vielas que para mim ao principio eram dúbias, deixaram de o ser ao fim
de umas horas...são um povo simpático e afável. O roubo é pena capital.
As lutas de boxe em plena praça, os encantadores de serpentes, as tatuagens, todo um comercio.
Oukmaiden
uma estancia de Ski em pleno Alto Atlas, um ar frio mas puro, pouca
neve, subimos aos 3 ...

... with one or two other tourists in it. Whew! I find my way out by watching the directions the other tourists are coming from. I then head for the Tombs. I follow my map and I see that I am close. I then see a big sign that says "Tombs this way". A guy is sitting underneath it. As I get closer he gets up and says "Tombs". I say "Yes". He says "follow me". I end up in a shop selling carpets and other trinkets. I say where is the "Tombs". he ...

... and we were just about ready to drop by the time we got there. eventually we got there, and the hotel is lovely. it's right in the middle of the souk, or market, and is very quiet. it has an indoor courtyard with little birds flying about and plants, and it is very clean and peaceful. we ventured out for a drink and paul tried the local mint tea -- very refreshing. we went back to the hotel for a nap and then came out again in the evening after the call to prayer at 7 ...