Columbe Blanche Hotel Moulay Idriss

... they collect the household waste in big baskets attached to their backs and occasionally get to eat some of it too! the locals are very friendly, with many greetings, "Bonjour, ca va?" and not a G'day mate in sight! Local boys were taking their donkey's loaded up with produce to market, in particular, live sheep in baskets, just sitting there bouncing around as if they have no care in the world, taking it all in ...

... incomplete minaret (44 metres) (it was intended to be 60m, but the death of the sultan stopped construction) which overlooks the ruins of a mosque. The Mausoleum is a marble and mosaic building and hold the current kings father (Hassan II) and grandfather's tomb. The Kasabh des Oudaias was next. Walking up steep hills, its the oldest part of the city and surrounded by walls, housing whitewashed buildings ...

... the top well before the young French guy (he's the only other person to make it - forgive my puerile competitive spirit - one of my friends told me years ago that I'm competitive and I didn't believe her, but it seems she's right), and we sit up there for nearly an hour comfortably in silence, each with our own thoughts. Our guides have laid out mats on the sand so after dinner (tagines and mint tea) we lay out on them and watch the stars and fall asleep. Next morning I wake up ...

... site, is the best preserved archaeological site in Morocco. Originally settled in the 3rd century BCE it served as one of the most remote outposts of the Roman ...

... dans une grosse hallucination collective où je ne comprends pas du tout le trip des autres, j'en viens à me dire que soit ils sont tous fous soit c'est moi qui l'est, en tous cas la plupart du temps il est plus sécuritaire pour ma gueule de ne pas trop poser de question, de peur qu'on m'en pose, et de voir le gouffre se creuser au fond de leurs sourires... Cela dit, c'est sûrement compensé par tout ce qu'on a en commun et que je n'arrive pas ...

... all those epic movies that have actually been filmed here. As in so much of the developing world, though, the built environment in rural Morocco is much less sublime than the agricultural landscape. A great many houses in Morocco and other countries I've traveled in are ongoing construction projects, built gradually over long periods of time and added to as additional rooms are needed or funds become available to the family. As I've seen before in countries ...

... the far side by the graveyard. We had to walk all the way around the graveyard to get back to where we wanted to be. It turned out to be the best thing as we came across a viewpoint that looked down into the surrounding valley. The view from there was spectacular. This brings to a close another chapter of this apparently very long book. I cannot wait until our 4am bus ride to Fes so we can get back to Chefchaunen. It should be a very fun day tommorow....

... fit cars - only donkey carts. Visited the mosque school - unused now. Students lived there for 3 yrs before going back to hometowns, students were kept separated from outside world so they wouldn't like the big city and stay. Needed more in small villages. Great view from roof - minarets and satellite dishes. Authentic roof times were made on a mans thigh, so they are all different sizes. can tell if it is original roof by this. Went to carpet ...

... issue pink TP flushed down the toilet. Our delight was tempered when the doorknob in the washroom broke, almost dropping Mel into the toilet. Early the next morning, Hamid, our Moroccan guide, outlined to us that our two weeks in Morocco would be divided between visiting the imperial cities of Rabat, Meknès and Fès (the granddaddy of the imperial wonders); camping in the Sahara Desert; trekking in the High Atlas Mountains; relaxing at the seaside town of Essaouira; and finally spending ...

... jelabba puts him perfectly at home in this more rural town... and nicely matches his coffee-coloured eyes. Rachid goes into great detail as we wander the narrow streets, pointing out the Koranic school that preschool-aged children attend and the different shape of the minaret on the famed mosque. He points out a bakery - here children bring dough that their mothers have prepared. Instead of paying the baker to bake the bread, they make an extra loaf or ...