Ksar Bicha Hotel Merzouga

... all the road signs just sticking out of this desolate, barren plain. V**y uncomfortable ride. Finally we made it to our aub**ge right on the edge of the dunes.

Th**e was just enough time for a mint tea before we got to our camels! Smelly, unpleasant animals, really, but I still think they are cute. We all named our camels. Mine was Jasp**. My saddle kept sliding to the right.

Nearby, a large woman atop a camel kept screaming at ev**y move ...

... him off and took a ticket instead, which cost him 400 dirham. We felt so bad, we took up a collection to help him pay for it. Hamsa refused our offer saying he'd help the driver cover it, but one of the ladies snuck the envelope to the driver later. He was so nice and we didn't want him losing any income from the trip. This was the first time I'd seen this type of corrupt police activity in action - had only heard ...

... shooting stars. Somehow, the desert makes you high and happy. Later in the evening we heard a distinctive Aussie coo-ee!! from some dunes quite far away. I reply with one back. The calls get closer and closer. Then a few minutes later out of nowhere a random Australian guy appears wearing no shirt and carrying no water. We chat for awhile and and he turns out to be a cool cat world traveller who has been wawy from home for years and tells us many stories of life on ...

Dzien wczesniej podczas zachodu Slonce rozladowal mi sie akumulator w aparacie... postanowilem to nadrobic i wstac nastepnego dnie zeby zobaczyc wschod i bylo warto :D Oprocz mnie tylko Piortek mial jeszcze tak silna wole zeby sie zebrac przed 4 rano.

... atlas mountains filled with sheep, goats, mules, wheat, and nomads. Also in the middle atlas mountains are French built cities that look like swiss chalets and cedar treee forests, after leaving the mountains you drive into this huge city (1.5 million) which is Fez. The Hotel had a 5 star view of the city. Even though adam hated this hotel, I appreciated the hot shower, air conditioning, pool, and well lit room.

... just like most other Moroccans, the police want you to feel special, so they tell you the usual fine is 400 durham and that they will give us a special deal. Since it is the police, you can not argue with them and tell them that they are full of %&@!. So as the police pocket your money, they begin to shoot the **** with you. Meanwhile, our temperatures are boiling because we had to pay a fine because the police mad up a lie ...

... children add on the house, so in the end it grows very large. Some are very modern and done up nicely, however this one was an original one, complete with all the dirty children and locals running around the rundown buildings. It felt like well and truly like I was back in Africa. Rashid had organised a desert tour for us that started with lunch in Rissani. First we had to be shown some carpets and antiques that we did not want to buy, before we served Morrocan ...

... and what a home!...We were the only tourists in this beautiful place (later joined by one lone, and slightly crazy, Japanese girl) and I swear it was heaven! This place is a beautiful palace of sorts, probably 30 rooms in all, long corridors beautifully decorated with Moroccan rugs, pillows and cushions. Our meals were served to us in a lovely dining room by a sultan-looking man who brought us hot tea and Tagine and bread as we sat on our cushions in front of ...

... the lunch came back to haunt Prashant, Kath and myself... Midelt is dry outpost south of the Atlas mountains, the whole town is a dry sandy colour, with green fields cutting their way into parts of the town and the Atlas mountains (over 3,000 metres high looming in on the horizon. Our reason for stopping in Midelt was to do a 4WD tour of the nearby atlas mountains which included having lunch with Berber nomads in their tents. At dinner Kath started to feel sick and ...