Ksar Tinsouline Zagora

... avec les mecanos mais c est bon on en a un bon sur marrakech maintenant. En attendant de recuperer notre quatrequart nous avons fait faire une tente pour se mettre a l ombre un super travail et une bonne affaire, le troc ici marche super bien. Le vendredi soir avant de repartir nous avons vu Sekou qui etait venu pour une representation de theatre avec son ecole. et samedi retour a marrakech.

... system is ground to a halt. That means no taxis, no buses, etc. As you can imagine that is going to cause a bit of a problem with me getting around and out of here. But as the Morrocans say, Imshallah, there is nothing you can do but hope for the best. Hopefully I will be moving on from here soon, but if not there are worse places in this world to be stuck. I hope everyone had a nice Easter, pleast stay in touch.

... the nearest dune, and skipped up it, sitting at the top running my fingers through sand and marvelling at the curves created by the dunes. I just sat there for ages until other people woke up, thinking how great the desert was. When Mum got up I made her come over and make sand angels ...

... It was dotted with helpful sandbags to act as stepping stones. Their slippery nature did nothing to inspire confidence, and actually reminded me of that game on Takeshi's Castle where certain stones sink when you stand on them, plunging you into the depths below. The next barrier ...

... noises whilst being half awake in a trance. It was only when Mitch commented on the disturbance that I actually remembered the incident and realised that it wasnt a dream. We woke at 6 and Mitch took a classic photo of me arising from my slumber, I think it capturesd the pain I go through every day when I am interupted before miday, Ill let you be the judge. After some quick brekky we hit a small shop intent on buying a head turban each for our safari. Mitch ...

... the home, gave us a gracious welcome and stayed for a brief time to watch the news. He left when dinner was announced. A small low table was brought in and we were served mint tea. The making and serving of mint tea is a ritual itself, and we experienced it many times during our time in the country. Then a young girl arrived bearing a pitcher and basin for traditional washing before the meal. This was again ...

... made us a delicious dinner of tajine (meat & vegetable dish simmered slowly in a special clay pot). That night we fell asleep under the stars while listening to Mohammed and his brother playing drums off in the distance. We woke shortly after sunrise and were fed the typical breakfast of bread, jam, cheese and mint tea. Around 9am we headed back to our starting point. It was already hotter than it gets mid-day in Arizona ...

... old. Jaded, me? Mike covered the drain with an ashtray and we went to sleep. In the morning, the hotel owner told us another guest was driving to Zagora, our much anticipated destination on the Sahara's edge. From here we'd take a camel trek and camp in a Bedouin tent. It's one of those "must do's" when traveling in Morocco. But it wasn't meant to be. We went out for breakfast just in front of the hotel and when we got back, the manager said the ...

... river), children scampering down the lanes from school, donkeys threshing the wheat, stalks drying in the walled yards and on the terraces, grandmothers chatting by the doorway. Berber villages with ancient and crumbling kasbahs were around each vista. We stopped and toured the ___ Kasbah and from its terrace we could see the village water tower of Ouled Larbia (where Benjamin lived his first three months during Peace Corps training) Signs for rose water were ...

... everyone in his car - wondering how much, he said only for petrol money! We managed to negotiate a price and all of us managed to squeeze into the back of his car. Off we went - this guy was quite a character, and he turned on the radio and let the Moroccan music sing out of the speakers - he was merrily singing away as he drove. The rest of the gorge was quite impressive and after all piling back into his car, we arrived back at the top of the hill, where he invited us all into his ...