Auberge La Terrasse des Delices Ouarzazate

... interiorior of Morocco - in a nice new Toyota 4x4. We sped though Todra Gorge, the Dades, Valley of the Roses et al, and landed for the night at a lovely little riad overlooking the city. Had a beer (along w/ my Muslim guide!) on the rooftop terrace, dinner, and then set off for Marrakech the next morning.

Will fill in the blanks/post pics later...

... the family and get the tents up whilst Ahmed produces that Lamb Casserole with soup.
The goats live pretty much by daylight so it's an early night before the 5.30 dawn chorus.
The next 6 days then follow the pattern of early starts and trekking up to 6 hours and a lazy afternoon waiting for the goats to catch up. We climb to 3200 metres & experience the temperature swings at that height as well as some residual winter snow.
Overnight ...

... with our guide who wants to charge double for this unwanted service. In another valley there are roses growing. They make rose water from the roses which are grown around the edge of other crops. There are lots of old kasbahs in the area, many in ruins and we wander through one of them. Its dark and cool inside as the clay walls are very thick and the windows small.

... rumours go on as someone asked me about the film a few days later! Slight panic until Sam tuned up as no one else in the queue looked like they were doing the race. Sarah from Best of Morocco had said this flight was for Facing Africa runners, what she meant was those she couldn't fit on the other flight. 5 of us in total. I convinced Sam to jump the queue and check in with me so we could sit together. Her ticket had been canclled so ...

... brown mud rushing over the road. There were cars parked on either side but it was impassable. We got out to survey the scene and take pictures. We started asking people how long they thought it would take to clear the road. The responses were varried but always with an in'sh'Allah (God willing) at the end. "Four hours, in'sh'Allah!" they said. "Maybe six, in'sh'Allah, or tomorrow in'sha'Allah!" This of course came as ...

... they kneel on their front legs so i almost did a complete face plant off the camel. all is well though. there were a number of tents in the camp, there was even a nomadic family not far away. as it got darker, some people played the card came *******, while others like myself actually enjoyed seeing the stars that are not visible in ny or nj. after a wonderful dinner of chicken tagine and mandarins for dessert, we lit a fire and just enjoyed the night. it ...

... hills, it is like being on a live roller coaster. Hang on! We also stopped at a huge gorge where I met some boys who showed me how to throw rocks across the river. They were very nice. And we met a lady named Aisha that Khalid said lives in a cave up in the gorge. She was loading her donkey with water and a bag of rice and things to take back up to her family. I could not imagine living in a cave. We had to change cars to a 4x4 and cross ...

... only to find the price had doubled & jumped out of our budget. So, off to another joint around the corner at half the price, but after inspection, were a little concerned we might be carried off in the night by the bed bugs and if any of you have seen Trainspotting you'll have an idea of what the bathroom & loos were like! So off to find another abode and finally find a place to rest our heads in meagre clean comfort. Find ourselves adopted on the morrow by Hassan ...

... comes quickly and we have some tasteful soup in the village. In the evening, nearly all Moroccans are busy watching Africa Footbal Cup and are looking forward to a game agains Ghana two days later (spoiler: Morocco lost it;)). In the absolute darkness there are so many stars on the sky it's hard to believe. In 30 minutes we reach Ouarzazate, one of the greater cities in the south. There's one kasbah and that's nearly it. The main reason for us to stop there is ...

... guys squeal for mercy. What a great experience though! The girls also had a similar time being exfoliated by a 450lb women. Following the Hammam, the six of us (the 2 other couples) went to Amands friends house for dinner. We were served dinner at around 10:30, so needless to say we were starving! We had couscous, a tradition meal. it takes around 3-4 hours to prepare it properly. It was very good. We listened to some drumming and then headed back tot he hostel.