Dar El Fen 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...

... Jewel of the Nile) and Ali Benhaddou with its famous Kasbah. We also drove through the rose growing area which was quite a surprise.
Ahmed shopped for some initial provisions - so that will be the meat from the hanging sheep carcasses then, plus fruit and vegetables. The snow looms on the mountain tops and a local shop is delighted that we want 36 bottles of water between the 4 of us.
A jolly first evening as we manage some sort of interaction ...

... 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.

... to Ouarzazate. I wondered why Helen looked so blank when I mentioned the bus ticket last night. We had forms to fill in at the passoport control and long queues. We got our bags fine and went through. We found our driver and got money changed as the others came though. Neil from the Isleof Man and David from Ipswitch, he's climbed Everest, not quite to the top. Not sure what the other guy was called. He sat in the front and took ...

... 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 ...

... completely, rolled up our pants and waded across, which turned out to be the best way as Sharon and English Mike ended up falling in and got their shoes wet. Some of the local kids were doing a good business helping tourists get across. The Kasbah is the most exotic and best preserved in the Atlas region and it was a nice walk. We climbed up the hill at the back to the ruins of the fort for an amazing view (and of course photos and another ...

... discussions. Common reasons may include: the price of the item elsewhere or the item not being exactly what you are after. If there is little movement in the price after some time, the best advice is to begin leaving, this often has the result of kick-starting the bidding anew, and if not, it is likely that the merchant is actually unwilling to go further below a given price. Next time the advice we are armed with is that you go in with a price in mind, offer 1/4 of what ...

... nous a prevu un petit arrêt "culture" locale à Tazenaght. La spécialité de la région ? les tapis :) D'ailleurs, nous ne pouvons pas nous empêcher de faire un petit achat ... mais il nous faudra revenir plus tard avec un vrai budget tapis ! On y trouve de pures merveilles, en soie et laine, tissés, brodés ou noués... Nous arrivons sur Ouarzazate ...

... and we had a 45 minute wait for the sun to rise. What a sight that was!! Very beautiful and magical. I got lots of great photos including lots of the berbers with us. They love to pose for photos. I even sparked a bidding war with our guide between Cynthia & I. It was who could get the most camels in exchange for marriage!!! They love playing up to us with marriage proposals and such malarky! After that it was back ...

... countless meals of tagine, the warm sweet soft cake was like heaven. Mel greedily gobbled up 5 pieces, even sneaking one last piece right before leaving. The others in the group were thoughtful enough to bring back an extra piece for Paul. The only thing Mel brought back was a face full of crumbs and a sore tummy from too much cake! The next morning we left the gîte early and hiked back down to our waiting van for the long trip out to the sea.