Hotel Kenzi Azghor 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...

... are based around some (vaguely) nearby mountain streams and areas for the animals so that the length of treks do vary. We are of course in the 'middle of nowhere' so you have to relax in camp with the bed rolls & some rocks to lounge around on.
One day the stream is full enough for the cold water hair wash and clean up, otherwise it's mainly wet wipes & the bush for the toilet stop. Impromtu English/Berber lessons continue as do the stone ...

The drive from Taroudannt gets more and more barren and the road deterioates to a single lane of bitumen and becomes more mountainous. Taxis and trucks play chicken with Terry so we spend a fair it of time in the dust. Fortunately there is not much traffic. We are staying out of the town again in a kasbah, which is a large house with four towers built around a courtyard ...

... finished her packing. Thursday the 26th of March 2009. Train from Woking to Gatwick.We finally came up with a name for the tent. OCD short for Operation Certain Death. A fella that Helen just starting to see calls the MDS that so we thought it was appropriate.We met Myles, Amy, Jaco, Johnathan along the way at Clapham. Farewell to the others as I had a different flight to catch. Helen had joked it was to meet my film crew, amazing ...

... to those of us from countries where there are such things as sand bags and alternative routes. But in Morocco, the dammage done by a day or so of rain is fixable only by Allah and we were at his whim. While brainstorming about our next course of action we were approached by a man who got our attention by with a "Hey! You are the two French and two Americans who are going to the dessert with Hassan. Abdo is waiting for ...

... that Abdul took us to was upstairs and freezing and we couldn't really find any vegetarian options, so Mike, AJ and I decided to try a small local cafe across the road. We had the best meal - soup, freshly cooked chips (not like the greasy, day old ones we've had previously) and the best fresh orange juice (so good we had 2 glasses each). We wandered through a local market with antiques as well as pottery etc then back in the bus to visit ...

... side of the bus announcing it to be the Sahara Voyage which kind of made you feel you were on a good bus but it was all words. There was a women breastfeeding a large child behind us so we had to keep our seats upright and the people in front of us had theirs back as is their right. We were squashed. A guy had a go at Nadine for having her knees exposed because the legs are considered private here. Oohhh..... the knees.... scary bits. We spilled ot at the Quazazate bus ...

... to seed immediate roots for future growth. Further east can be found valleys filled with industrial citrus farm, new and old. Farther east down the Souss valley, the land flattens out, and the disconnected kasbahs and sizable farms give way to suburban regions, mixing field and city, with definite urban downtowns complete with Volvo dealers and souqs. Downtown Agadir is a resort like that rivals any club med equivalent.

... who are also dealing with this sad news. Rest in peace Clarrie in the beautiful arms of our god father in the skies overlooking this amazing world. ---------------------------- Today was spent travelling to Ouarzaate, a desert outpost which houses the Atlas film studios. We also travelled to Ait Benhaddou, the Kasbah town that has featured in many of my favourite movies such as Gladiator and Jesus ...

... me of what the American southwest might look like. It is almost frustrating writing about this now because I can't convey the image correctly. I wish I wasn't under the weather. When I return I plan on posting as many pictures as possible. I took a lot during this 3 day trek. At the end of the day we stopped in the Dades Gorge in the Dades Valley. It was a pleasant hotel right inside the gorge itself. Outside was a terrace and you could walk down to the ...