Hotel Kasbah Caravanes M'Hamid

... would be stayingin a very basic camp where we may even have to set up our own tents. We were amazed and pleasantly surprised when we reached our camp, there were many large canvas structures set up in a cirlce. A large communal tent was where we were to have our meals. The ground (sand) was completely covered in carpet. The walls had carpets and pieces of material hanging from them which gave a very cosy effect. There were tables and chairs and out melas were served to us on ...

... brick walls or through the heavy doors. I yelled some more. I was concerned about the random men hanging around the front of the hotel thinking they may start to harass me and there was nowhere to escape to and also started to think i would be out all night with the cats. After 45minutes a local man from the big Kasbah palace came over to offer me his room there for the night. Turns out he was a driver for a wealthy tourist who had paid for a room in the palace for him to ...

... of Moulay Idris, named after the founder of one of the main dynasties (Moulay is roughly equivalent to Saint). Idris founded both this town and his tomb is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Muslims. From a distance it looks like many other hilltowns around the Mediterranean, and it even has a large piazza around which people are strolling and surrounded with cafes with tables outside. Among the sea of men sitting at tables Alison spies one woman sitting with her husband ...

The road ends at M'hamid. There's a sign as you roll into town stating that the furthest place of my imagination is 50 days to the east by camel. A town named Timbuktu. But the times are a changin and the Algerian border put a stop to the ancient camel caravan routes of the Tuareg people. The locals aren't insane either. Of course they prefer their new Landcruiser to the old beast of burden. So I hop in the 4X4 ...

... au bord d'la route" disent les marocains). Un guide nous fait visiter la ville, qui est construite sur 3 mini-étages souterrains. Comme il y a très peu de pluie dans la region (il n'a pas plu depuis 4 ans, nous explique le guide) l'activité des habitants est centrée sur la poterie. La production de Tamegroute est célèbre pour sa couleur verte très particulière,à base de cuivre et ...

Mzian, mzian, safi. Seir, seir, seir thlaab. SEIR THLAAB. Incha Allah. Seir thlaab. [bien, bien, ça suffit maintenant. Vas t'en, vas t'en, dégage. DEGAGE. Oui c'est ça, à la grâce de Allah. Degage.] I'm no punk i'm just raging. Dans les ruelles, sous les sourires, le carnage. "Tout va bien, pas de problèmes, mouchki mouchkin": l'hallucination est collective, mais est pleine de faille. Si Allah est la face brillante qu'on pose devant soi pour se prot ...

... the interesting mix of people amongst the 4 others with us.There was the Dutch man who had married a Moroccan and lived near Meknes, speaking Dutch, and fluent French and Arabic. And the Moroccan journalist living in the Netherlands who spoke Arabic and fluent English, Dutch and French. And the property developer from Fes who spoke Arabic and fluent French and English. Conversation was lively with animated discussion ...

... be keeping this online journal with pictures of my travel adventures. Now to the good stuff...... In order to catch our flight to Casablanca, Morocco, Lindsay and I few to New York City's JFK airport early Sunday, May 27th. We both had stayed up late the night before, so we slept all of our first flight. Because our airplane hanger was occupied, the flight was delayed as a result of its inability to land. By the time we got off the plane, our Morocco ...

... and it is definitely the least touristy place we have been so far. We wandered through the souks this morning and I have almost become vegetarian after nearly tripping over mutilated cows' heads and other discarded body parts lying around...there were also stalls with live chickens and rabbits on display where you choose your animal, it is weighed and then killed and plucked and all the rest right before your eyes so you can guarantee the freshness. Lovely. On a more ...

... It's rutted, dry, hard-packed moonscape, a sort of pinkish creamy mud colour, dotted with tenacious, scraggy bushes. There are lots of rocks too. Then, all of a sudden, it's coppery gold, powdery and drawing you towards towering hills of sand, sharp ridged against a cobalt sky. About then we ground to an ignominious halt as the front wheels started to scrabble and slowly sink into a ludicrous quagmire smack in the middle of the second driest place on earth. Mr Iriqui ...