Kasbah Tizimi Hotel Erfoud

... hopped on a trusty camel, and galomphed off into the dunes for an hour and half into the sunset.

I was quite lucky as the folks I chose to do it with was a private camp all by itself, and... there was only one other tourist lad (from Germany, very quiet, gentle, and spoke a good bit of English) Often, there can be large groups that o/n in large camps - all that yapping amid the splendor of the dunes - ack, la, la shukran - no thanks ...

... it was dig in and hack away. Oranges for desert we relaxed and were treated with some local Berber music by 3 men singing, clapping and playing the drums. We all crashed pretty early - some in the camel tents and others outside under the stars - you could see the stars through the tent though :) Out here they are so bright... I hopped in my sleeping sheet and had 2 blankets on top of me... was nice and cosy.

... past Meski Oasis, the so-called 'Blue Spring' which borders the desert, and on to Erfoud. Was amusing when we stopped and walked along part of the Camel Pass, as one of the guys decided he would climb up into the rocks across the road to answer a call of nature. He was an Aussie who sounded just like Cliff Richard and had plenty to say for himself and an opinion on everything. Everytime he thought he had found a private place, screened from view, somebody shouted "We can see you!" There ...

... flow next to their patch. This area also had larger plots of farmland which produced olive trees, date palms, fig trees, small corn fields, apricot trees and wispy almond trees. It was interesting to see these plants thriving in their sweltering natural environment. We made the obligatory stop at a rug seller's house (hey it just wouldn't be Morocco if we didn't) where we were shown how the wool is manually separated and spun into different thicknesses of yarn ...

... about what had happened. The next morning on our drive back, Jeremy tells us that he does not want to continue on our adventure and will take a train home from the next big city we arrive in. He was very upset by what had happened and felt completely responsible for putting Matt and I in danger because the lake trip was his idea. We tried to assure him that we had all decided together and it was no fault of his. However he insisted ...

... question approach. We were trying a variety of responses: Victim: England thanks Captor: Oh England! Lovely Jubbly ho ho... you come look at my carpet / jewellery / poorly crafted hash pipe? (Insert would be form of offloadable tat here) Victim: Italy, Grazie Captor: Oh Italy! Spaghetti, Ferrari ho ho... vuoi vedere mi... Victim: Australia Captor: Oh Australia! Kangaroo, Koala ho ho... you come look at my... The answer to this conundrum was sublime in its ...

... we would be making on our drive down south. Our first stop was the a town our guide called the "Switzerland of Morocco". Situated high in the Middle atlas mountains, the town felt more like a European ski resort than desert town. In fact, there is even a Ski resort just outside the town. Very hard for us to imagine snow on the dry hot mountains surrounding us. We carried on weaving through the Middle Atlas mountains admiring the view before Rashid ...

... desert (oh please) and they had paid the full amount. We left with a couple of local children who had decided to beg from us for the rest of the day and try and get us to give them our jewelry. They were better company than those guides. Another sleepless night as a something like a sandstorm kicked our butts all night. The family slept outside while sand whipped everything around. I was happy to get on my camel the next day. A different saddle had been put on him though and it was ...

... in an orange blur. There'll be no camel-riding this sunset. Instead, bottle-top tiddly-winks, an early dinner and hilarious attempts at Berber folkdancing. By the time the festivities are over, the wind has dropped and the night sky is clear. Those of us who decide to stay at camp and catch the Sunrise A La Camel, retire to the Berber tents. Under the Sahran spotlight of the moon, we drum and sing silly songs. Though not quite Alpine in their proportions, the dunes ...

... about 35 dollars each, we got our camels, a guide, meals, and a tent at the oasis. We headed out at around 5pm, and rode for about two hours. I must admit that the actual riding of the camels isn't particularly fun. In fact, it is pretty painful, especially when the camels are going downhill. Camels just weren't designed to carry humans. And they make really crazy noises when they are angry. I had been warned that the ones behind you might try to ...