Hotel Belere 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 ...

... busting heights. Despite our improved fitness and new trim physiques this dune climb nearly killed me. It was probably only 400m or so, but by 80% of the way up most of my insides wanted to be my outsides and I no longer cared about the sunset, which I missed entirely. Bah. (But I did get to the top, pride causing me to run the last 40m to beat Claudie up. One hour of nauseous penance for that.) On the plus side, I found an Israeli shekel coin on the dune ...

... out on our camel trek! Because it was so hot in the desert, the hotel only allows white people to go on two day, one night treks. We had originally wanted to go for three days, but we understood the reasoning behind their rule. Our guide, a nomad who grew up in the desert, walked on foot leading us through endless sand dunes. When asked, in French of course, how he knew where to go. He said he had a map of the desert in his head. I ...

... 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 ...

... had to walk on the side of it - narrow walkway with a 200m drop off the side. - They had built it in to the side of the hill, very smart as it went from the source of the river along, so they could get water up the hills from the main valley/river. Our guide and local guide had gone on ahead, so we were alone on the walkway. Good for a secluded peaceful walk, bad if you slipped, they wouldn't find us! At the end of the valley up a hill (river flowing ...

... 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 ...

... disconcerting to see black rock juxtaposed against the orange sand dunes in the distance. The wind whipped up and even though we think we're driving on rock, the sand is everpresent. We can do nothing but roll up the jeep windows, don our scarves, cover our mouths and squint against the sand and sun. Mohammed, our Berber driver in the front seat, looks enviably cool in his RayBans and red headscarf. He knows this area like the back of his hand, but has the disoncerting ...

... 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 ...

... stopped at the local station, Nat had to run into the washroom, I quickly followed as the place was sketchy. After that we loaded up again and we a few hours from Rissani, we pulled into another bus station(rather small, in a back alley) as we waited for some people to got off, I happened to notice this younger man helping a old man, walk down into this alley. Both men had the traditional moroccon outfit on(big long dresslike pjyamas). As we ...