El Ati Erfoud

... I so long lusted after. But I'm afraid pics will have to wait. Perhaps on Tuesday when I'm back in Marrakech. Sorry. Lo siento, je juis desolet. ;(

So suffice you'll have to put up w/ but just my blather on how absolutely PERFECT my dream of riding a camel in the Sahara turned out to be.

As always it seems - with much serendipity involved.

It all began w/ that 11 hour bus ride into the night. The bus very modern, a/c ...

... ice but saw the eastern edge of the country that we wouldnt have seen otherwise. The food is okay - though the tajine overcooks the vegetables for my taste. Our group is fun and the guide is terrific. I probably wont have computer again until Marrakech so I'll wish everyone a MerryChristmas and hope all is well at home with the cold weather and snow you are getting. Love, Kayti

... and joy - new toy. Our lunch stop was made at a town called Er-Rachidia where we picked up some fresh bread, tomatoes, and cheese and fruit for our picnic lunch. We stopped about 1/2 hr out of town at a fantastic view point overlooking a village surrounded by palmeries and all ate our goodies. More driving we turned off the road at Merzouga and drove along the ungraded road to the Erg Chebbi dunes - an ...

... Holland, USA, France and Japan - with one thing in common: the desire to venture east across Morocco's High Atlas Mountains until we reached the small section of Sahara Desert which butted up to the Algerian border. Along the way we saw every different type of desert and mountain landscape: enormous 4000m high grey mountains; hills which looked like they were made from red dirt spewing out of the centre of the earth and then baking in the hot sun ...

... to giggle until we cried. Now, whenever an animal is complaining, one of the five of us will turn to it and inevitably say, "Come back and see us when your paw is on backwards!" After a few bottles of wine and few more beers, we were getting loud and could not stop making light of some of the unusual things that we had all experienced together in this strange country. The two men that worked at the Kasbah had befriended us and offered ...

... all of the trip down to Fes has again been amazing. When God was taking orders for landscapes, I think Morocco opted for the buffet and got a little bit of everything on its plate. So far we have had mountains, forests, canyons, ocean cliffs and fertile farmlands all in less than 800 km. Fes appears on the horizon and it looks mad even from a distance. Going in there and its a barrage of people and horns and hustling. The great thing about being on a bike ...

... enjoying it and thought we did also so we let it slide. We arrived right after dark at the desert hotel in Timbuktu. I had heard of Timbuktu as a joke somewhere but I couldnīt believe that I was actually there. The hotel was actually really cool. It looked like a big sand castle on the edge of the little town which was just a couple of little houses and miles upon miles of sand dunes. I have never seen a brighter moon than I did that night.

... was worth it, it's a big mud-brick fortress town on the side of a hill surrounded by lush palmtrees and greenery because a river runs through the area. After Ouarzazate, it was on to Erg Chebbi, which is the small town at the edge of giant sand dunes that are the start of the sahara desert. The local bus driver gave us the run-around, so we ended up walking for an hour with backpacks on across a dirt road in the middle of nowhere to the town itself. We tracked down a ...

... to turning to speak to people face to face "Mohammed!" "Yes!?" "Argh! (as we swerve) No, don't worry, Mohammed. Pierre, as front seat person you have to do ask all the questions" I soon realise it's not a good idea for me to call out from the backseat! I wanted to ask him about the desert marathon. The Marathon Des Sables a 6 day marathon where competitors run 243km (151 miles). It's the equivalent of running 5.5 marathons back-to-back. Competitors carry all their ...

After three lovely days of chilling on the beach and enjoying the great shopping and hassle-free environment of Essouiara, we took a bus to Marrakesh. We spent the day and night there, and checked out the main square. It was just as I remembered it from five years ago; Berber acrobats, snake charmers, trained monkeys, storytellers, old ladies trying to convince you to have your hands decorated with henna, and tons of people. It is crowded to the ...