Hotel Belere Erfoud

... en route to Essaouira, precisely so I could dump the rugs and most my belongings there and travel w/ but a small satchel here to Essaouira for my near final 3 nts.

Uh, but - sadly for you All, I neglected to toss in the USB cord for my camera so...

The bad news is - no pics of me on that camel quite yet.

Oh I have them - youbetcha. tons of great pics including yours truly resplendent w/ requisite Berber turban atop that ...

... you know what I mean. The labarinth of alley ways; smells, sights were a bit over the top but the quiet here in the desert is wonderful. Tomorrow night we camp in a tent in the desert so we can experience the sunset/sunrise in the sahara. The Moroccan countryside is more beautiful than I'd expected - we had to take a detour yesterday around the middle atlas mountains due to ...

... was a wind up one - you turn the crank and the petrol would come out... Along the way we also past a huge mountain that had Arabic writing along the side of it - same as Turkey - very patriotic here. At one of our photo stops these 4 or 5 kids came running over - one holding a dead bird - the way she was flinging it we were surprised its head didn't fall off. The kids had found it today and it was their ...

... Mali and Mauritania. We went to the end of the world, and found people fighting over it. Very odd, because there seems to be lots to spare. * * * Our desert safari to Merzouga was definitely a huge highlight of this trip. There were so many interesting stops packed into the three day adventure as well as such good company we travelled with, that it was impossible not to have had the time of our lives. We were eleven travellers from all over the globe ...

... is unbearable. With no other option to deal with the upsetting scene earlier, we have turned it into a joke. While we were again sitting in the garden of our Kasbah, eating dinner and drinking wine, a few more stray cats come wondering up to our table. However, this time, Jeremy turns around and sternly tells the cats, "Come back and see me when your paw is on backwards!" Without being able to contain our laughter, we all ...

... division. The first T juntion after that was posted only in Arabic. Go with your instinct.... turn right. Next T junction, not even an Arabic Squiggle to help us! SO we just laughed, ploughed on for another 30 minutes on Hampshire like farm tracks, through olive plantations and herds of goats until we hit some beloved tarmac. Point the bikes West and after our 2 hour detour we find a sign to Fes and stick to it like varnish. The scenery throughout this ...

... feel we all became very close on this trip. When we got to Merzouga after a combines total of about 8 hours on the bus we loaded into 4x4 range rovers and land cruisers and headed out for the desert. The sun was setting on us when we were on the hour ride through the beginnings of the desert on the way to the hotel. Hasan, our driver insisted that we listen to Moroccan music the whole way which was like arabian rap or something, but he was ...

... studios in the town. There are alot of Hollywood movies filmed in the area because of the natural backdrop and because it's so cost efficient, like Gladiator and Alexander. Lee (brit) got the great idea to rent some bikes and peddle to Ait Benadou, which is an ancient Kasbah used in several other movies as well; it just so happened to be 22km away across arid desert badlands. It was a great ride, but the bikes had no padding on the seats so it was a painful one. 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 ...

... the adventure. But we are all exhausted. The night sky is stunning, you can see all the stars, the milky way and everything. It's incredible. At one point we all get out of the car to take it all in. It's so quiet and calm and beautiful. When we get back in we start to see the other people heading back into town in their land rovers, we can just see the headlights in the distance of about 6 cars. It's kind of eerie but nice. Today was a really good day.