Kasbah Mohayut Merzouga

We had anoth** picnic lunch at a nomad tent ov** the Ziz valley. It was a riv** of lush green surrounded by dry, rocky cliffs. Ate v**y well. And I do enjoy the long drives, spending time just staring out the window and listening to music. It gives me a lot of time to think, and just soak up the landscape.

Driving to our aub**ge in the M**zouga area was a little trying. Th**e wasn't really a road, as such. It was v**y bumpy. It was kinda funny to ...

... part. We had to stop once for camels crossing the road outside of Merzouga. Then, we got stopped by the cops for "speeding". How could they tell with no radar detectors? I guess we just looked like we were moving too fast. Our poor driver had to get out and talk to the cops - Hamsa stayed in the passenger seat and explained we were going 62 in a 60 kilometer/hour zone. The cop just wanted money. Our driver refused to ...

... was basically some nomad style tents with rugs on the floor. The tents are made from brown goat hair woven into blankets. We arrived in time to watch the sun set and had a delicious dinner of lamb tajine. The guides brought us mint tea and played some traditional Berber music on their drums. After dinner we climbed the large dune behind the camp and watched the stars, played Berber games and rolled down the dunes. The moon is bright and the sky clear tonight. There are ...

... Waking up at sunrise, crawling up a huge dune, looking around and all you can see is sand, totally surreal. I highly recommend this experience to everyone. Even to a prissy city girl like me ☺ The silent drive back took us through every type of scenery you can imagine. Started in the desert, then through the old Kasbah towns, palmeries that are green, the atlas mountains with hilltop villages, the ...

... hour drive south to Merzouga led us through some beautiful country. We went through gorges, plains, high mountains, forest, and finally desert. Although we had been warned, we also experience the Moroccan police a few times. They stand on random roads and pull random cars over. Then the police tell you that they clocked you going a certain speed, even though you know you were going the speed limit, and there will be a fine involved ...

We had a lazy start to the morning, only checking out our hotel, only getting on our way close to midday. After stopping at an AtM to stock up on cash, we made our way the town of Rissani. First we stopped at the Mohamed V Mosoleum, a place of refuge where in olden times people visiting the town were allowed to use for three days when they were passing through. We then got a tour of a living Kasbah. Kasbahs are basically houses that begin with the parents, and then ...

... an open centre. Along the way we passed many shops selling various rocks and fossils. About 45 minutes prior to our destination, "Auberge Yasmin", a riad near Erg Chebbi (not far from the Algerian border), we left the paved highway to travel on "hammada" or stony desert, a rough sandy track marked at various points with rocks. Poor Arlene came down with the flu on the way and I'm sure that last three-quarters of an hour was pure torture. Yuri was also not feeling well. We have all ...

This is yet another entry updated very late.. and so much has happened in the last couple of weeks its hard remembering exactly what happened when. But its all been a lot of fun and some great experiences. From Chouen we (Prashant, Kath, Kate and I) travelled south through the Middle Atlas mountains to a dry, sunburnt town called Midelt. On the way we stopped at a little town for a few hours for lunch. Nothing much memorable about the town, very slow paced and hot ...