Auberge Kasbah Derkaoua - Desert Inn Erfoud

Yes, I am still alive and well in Morocco Time has stood still here in many ways and it has been difficult to find internet service Today I rode a camel in the sahara and climbed a large sand dune - just because if youre in the sahara you really have to go ahead and fill your shoes with the fine red sand. Fez was a blur - I went through the motions but was on the travelers diet ...

... an expensive university that people pay a lot of money to go to - usually overseas students. Just out of town there is a single ski lift thats used in winter - must get a bit mundane skiing the 2 runs they have.! We could see some snow capped mountains in the distance - it really must get pretty cold in winter here. At one of our stops we filled up at a petrol station and it was a total step back in time ...

... have Walt Disney World there". Getting home, I thought about the moonscape we had travelled across. Its no wonder European explorers thought the world was flat and came to an end - all the evidence for the Spanish heading south would have proved that point. And yet, we had come within a kilometre or two of the occasionally contested Algerian border. We were also within shouting distance of the world's longest continuous UN peacekeeping mission at the border of ...

... we never saw him again. We sat in silence for a few moments. Then quickly finished our food and paid. As we walked back to the car completely upset, we were bombarded by Berber men trying to sell us things. All we could really think about is the amount of animal suffering and pain that occurs in this country. Although we are all here to make a difference, and we definitely do changes lives on a daily basis, sometimes the pain and ...

... something like "Funny, because that path looked exactly the same as the really good one I was telling you about". Im not sure if it was when we reversed back down the one way goat track, or when a toothless lady pointed in the direction of a blank horizon when responding to our charades of where Fes el Bali was. But pretty early into our foray it became apparent that we were on a path not deemed incredibly important by the good people in the Michelin ...

... buy some peanuts from this guy there and feed them. They were pretty cool. Then we headed to a Kasbah in Medelt for lunch. It was weird being up in the mountains at lunch time where there was snow on the ground and knowing that we would be on the outskirts of the Sahara desert by dinner. By now the the bus rides were getting more interested with people becoming more open with their dietary situations and how the food was affecting them ...

... was so exhausted by the time i got there that i just hit the sack and didnt go out exploring that night. The following morning at breakfast i met a british guy and aussie guy who had hiked up the atlas mountains the day before and were heading for the sahara desert. After talking for a bit i decided to tag along, and we were off only an hour later! We spent two nights in a town called Ouarzazate (pronounced war-za-zat) and during the day there we went to check out the ...

This afternoon's learning curve is in optional tours and arrangements for those that want to go separate ways ... and how to turn a sandstorm into a fun, bonding experience. Some have opted to return to the hotel for an afternoon of relaxation and later to meet us at the Sahara camp for sunset ... little do we know what's in store. The rest of us pile into three 4WD and speed off across the desert, soon leaving paved road behind and zipping across black volcanic scree. It ...

... such a ruckus! We head out onto the dunes! The ride is great, bumpy, not fast but great. We manage to get some really great pictures. We hit the top of some dunes and dismount to get a better view. It is really something up there. The sun is getting low and so we head back down. The sun really lights up the dunes now. When we finish our ride the colours of the sunset are amazing, blues, greens, golds and then purples. Really beautiful! The day has been ...

... perched above in the bus, I noticed the young man turned and walked the other way and the old man lifted his dress and squatted in the alleyway right next to the bus. As he pulled up his pyjamas, his elephant like trunk fell out literally dropping to the ground. He proceeded to goto the washroom (yup, #2) in the street,followed by a nice left hand wipe and then they both continued on there way as if it were your normal place to goto the washroom.