L'Initiale Hotel-Restaurant Oualidia

... avec
pas mal de gens pour la suite de notre voyage, dont une personne pour
vendre notre remorque. Le vendredi Aziz nous a presente a un
ferronier pour fabriquer un porte roue. Le samedi 16 mai, direction
le souk et ensuite nous avons vide la remorque a ne pas faire meme
dans un petit village il pense que l on va vendre le contenu dur dur
mais bon c est de notre faute.

... from our destination the taxi stopped and the remaining passengers got out. I was told that since I'm the only passenger wanting to go to Oualidia I would have to continue my journey by bus. "But I paid for all the way to Oualidia", I protested. "It's okay. You no pay for bus", tells me my new friend who escorts me to the bus and promising to call me. Every passenger on the bus is a Moroccon villager. I feel like I'm in a movie from 50 years ago ...

We left Essaouira and drove north along the coast to Oualidia, passing fields being ploughed by donkeys and children with school bags, walking along the roadside in the middle of nowhere. They would wave as we passed and we were always unsure whether they were trying to stop us to sell something, or whether they were just curious and friendly. As we drove we looked across at peaceful sandy beaches and fields of crops not far from the sea. I met my new boyfriend ...

Ahhhh. El Jadida was the saving grace of the trip. Since we couldn't do the ever-popular camel trek, a few days on a beach was in order. We follow the travel gods and their signs, and they clearly were telling us to get the hell out of Ouerzazate, or we would surely die. We found a somewhat decent hotel when we arrived. That was after a few Km hike with our packs in the midday sun. We noticed a few taxis driving around but it ...

Clearly the number one highlight of my trip to Morocco has been getting a local Hammam. Probably one of the most satisfying activities this year. A Hammam is a local concoction similar to Turkish baths. I shared this experience with Thomas who was as equally imressed as I was. The Hammam starts with stripping down to your underwear. You go through to a hot room where you relax for about 10 minutes and become ...

We awoke at 6.30am in readiness for our 4 hour trek up the mountain to the Holy Rock. The trek was made increasingly difficult by the sand storm rolling down the hillside. Nevertheless, all of this trekking is helping me with my Inca preparation. It was also made difficult by the donkeys, thin trails and loads of tourists. It was stunning scenery and this in itself made the trek up the hill worth it. I was feeling very ...

(The map pin is slightly off since we headed back to Marrakech) While in Tangier, we researched our options and decided to take the train to Marrakech again, and then the bus to Essaouira, an artsy town set on the Atlantic coast. So after a long journey south and an interesting conversation with a woman from Ceuta in as much Spanish as I could muster, we had another night in Marrakech before taking a bus to Essaouira in the morning. Essaouira is known for its goats ...

12 de Mayo: Escribimos hoy desde una ciudad sobre la costa en Marruecos, un lugar muy lindo llamado Essoueira, si,con las 5 vocales en su nombre! Tomamos un bus esta maniana desde Marrakech luego de habernos tomado el dia de ayer para recorrer la ciudad en bus, Marrakech termino por parecernos muy linda, con sus plazas y jardines bien cuidados y fuera de la plaza principal, la gente era mas tranqui, se ve que esta plaza con su mercado ...

... allons manger un bon poisson et réfléchisson au plan C. Un bus doit passer bientot pour essarouira allez on s en va la bas. Eurreur, en voyant arriver le bus on a bien compris qu il y a aucun moyen dy entrer. Des visages écraser dans les fenetres des gens couché, debout et meme dans la soute a bagages. Bref cétait complet. Plan D, on marche 100 km jusqua essarouira. Bien sur une voiture bien que rare dans se coin sarrete pour nous prendre. Le petit darabe ...