Hotel Tomboctou Tinerhir

... would have just brought my stuff. I think I may try to buy some gear before we get to Mali then see if I can find some climbers to take pity on me. The Americans raved about the climbing in Mali so I think it would be quite silly if I didn’t at least try to get some face time in.

Well the truck dynamic seems to be slowly steering towards chaos. Everyone is beginning to bicker over trash, food, water, ect in the truck and the general disorder of it all. People are even ...

... brother is our guide for the walk over the top of the gorge. Not all of the group decide to take the hike. Those who stayed up late chose to stay in the bottom of the gorge and pretend that they were interested in the area. I think they all found a quiet place to have a sleep. Our Berber guide led us up a long gully that rose almost 500m above our starting point. While the track was not too steep there was very little respite from the constant grind of the uphill slog ...

After climbing the sand dune at sunrise this morning, we got back on the camels and rode back to the hotel. From there we would make our way this morning to Todra Gorge which is about 15 mins away from Jamal's home town Tinerhir. Naturally we had to stop in for tea with his mother :) Arrived late afternoon into Todra Gorge which has some beautiful cliff faces for climbers and just staring at. Finally got to wash "Eau de Camel" off :)

... We got some free time and then had a 3 course traditional dinner in one of the restaurants - soup, tagine and biscuits, along with mint tea. Monday 4th + Tuesday 5th - Fes We had a fairly long day of driving, and the changing countryside was amazing. Always dry and brown, but i have never seen such a variety of shades and textures in my life. And then out of knowhere, huge bright blue lakes. It was breathtaking. We stopped to admire another of the locations that the Romans ...

... filled with floor cushions, and here we stayed playing charades and other silly games, just waiting for midnight to arrive. The problem of not having a drink with which to toast the New Year was solved by me brewing up cups of hot chocolate on my trusty little travel kettle. Hilarious! What a bunch of party animals! On the stroke of midnight we hugged and kissed each other, sang Auld Lang Syne and then scurried off to our beds. Outrageous (if only).

... Nice place to drive the maximum speed of the car;). The only cracks in the moonscape is where there are oasis with palms. Around them, cities are usually built. The shades are still getting shorter and about 9 o'clock we arrive at Tinerhir, a starting point for a drive to Todra Gorge. But before reaching the actual rocks, one has to drive along a valley with a marvelous oasis full of kasbas and palms. Hard to describe, who didn't see will not believe ...

... ladies with interesting tattoos on their faces, some of whom begged me for dirham or bonbons for the babies on their backs but none willing to earn those dirhams by posing for the camera. Numerous young children weren't so shy, though, about wanting to pose for the camera, but one of the things I learned in Tamtattouchte is "don't pay until after services are rendered" as two little girls turned their heads away from the camera ...

... a similar price. Breakfast took an hour and the proprietor was really wierd and a bit scarey too. Now it was getting really hot and we wanted to do a 3-4 hour hike in the Gorge. We walked up into the Gorge following a rough map from Lonely Planet. Todra Gorge was big and brown. I keep getting suprised at how arid this country is. It's so brown and dry. We passed many people herding donkeys and goats through the gorge. Every single ...

... more colour than the Middle East where the only colour used was "au natural" cement! Sandra told us that there is quite a lot of money in this area because of the nearby silver mine and because many of the people living in this area have relatives in Europe who help support them. (It's also very common here for people not to finish their home because they have to pay tax only once the building is completed.) Morocco is headed by a monarchy, the current ...

... tight since I did gymnastics!) If you're still reading this, we'll move on to Fes... Apparently biker boys hassle you to take you to a place to stay in Fes. We didn't arrive until 15 mins before dusk (can you see a pattern emerging?) so the roads were quiet with everyone at home ready to break their fast, which was fine, but we had no idea where the campsite was....so, when a biker boy did ask to help us we jumped at the chance to get there before it was too dark. Fine, but we ...