Les Amis Essaouira

... man after his bath with the locals. Apparently you go into a big room and they put local soap all over him and scub he said that a layer of skin came off and then they put big buckets of hot water all over him to make him clean. As I could not go Mohammad brought me back some local clay that you mix with water and put on your hair to make it really clean and nice so will have a girly night when we get home and we can try it out.<br><br ...

... out, a bit of a swim out to the "Castle in the Sand" (a natural stone relic immortalized in a tune by Jimmi Hendrix in the 60's who used to hang out - no doubt in a tie-dyed T-shirt - nearby).<br><br> Prudently turning away from such georecklessness (nay possibly a watery geocide!), my guide Mohammad instead turned our trusty "chevals" inland at my direction, as I waved my GPSr and vainly tried to explain (in French!) the ...

... him how to work the reigns &#8211; he&#8217;s left to his own devices. We file out of the ranch and into the sand dunes &#8211; its not long before John looks completely natural and like he&#8217;s been doing it for years, he wasn&#8217;t brave enough to go any faster than a walk on his horse (Nassib), but I felt really pleased for him cause every time I looked at him he was grinning from ear to ear!! Alex is already an accomplished rider and has been for many years so she ...

... covered with goats eating it. So strange show=) Look it;)<br><br>We had a lot of day free ahead of us so after a little dinner at the hotel I decided to go to our former hotel, Agadir Beach Club with newly found friends=) We sat here listening by beautiful singer, she was performing great, known by everyone, oldies songs, I talked with some french pair sitting next to us=) And when she was ...

... this place in case anyone asks you).  Matthew made a friend in an instrument shop, who invited him to come back to their jam session later that night.  It was a lot more laid-back of a spot than Marrakech.  The vendors didn't accost the tourists here.  We got invited to have tea with a man who ran a spice shop.  He made a lovely concoction for us with spices from his jars.  This is the first on the list of places we need to revisit. On the way in, we stopped for a ...

... the middle ages and no cars or motorcycles are allowed in the medina. Even if you have a shop or move into a house, there is no exception, so everything gets transported by wheelcarts. It is a friendly city where you can peacefully stroll through the streets without constantly being hassled by vendors. I checked into Riad Baladin, a wonderfully restored old house with a central courtyard and ...

... stalls near the port. There is a deceiving priced menu out front of the stalls but when you go to buy something you find that you pick from a display filled with fresh seafood like seabass, dory, whiting; squid; lobster, crabs and sardines. Next they weigh your catch of the day and you haggle over the price and get them to throw in a free salad and soda. You end up spending way more than you thought but it is still a bargain. We ate little lobsters, calamari and ...

... the advice of two guys from switzerland. Once installed in our rooms, we went out for a beer and met Tarek, who lead us all night long. After the bar, we went to "le trou", a local down-market bar, and ended in a hotel night-club. Une fois levés, et après un peu de rangement et un remplissage d'huile moteur, nous sommes allés à la plage pour une petite baignade et une douche très agréable. Ensuite, nous ...

... Afriquia, and then went out to dinner, at a terrace restaurant, where I had my last Moroccan pastilla. Then I bought some postcards, and we made one last tour of the souks, before walking to the mosque and spending some time sitting in front of the minaret. When we returned to the hotel, I had to pack up, and set my alarm for the next morning, when I would have to take a taxi a l'aeroport, and fly back home to London. And that was my last night in Morocco.

... has sustained it, largely unchanged, for hundreds of years. Just behind the fish stalls are the fish grills which became our daily ritual. For just change you can chose your swimming around this morning fresh fish, live crab, scampi or saucer full of prawns and have it char-grilled and served simply with salad and bread. The tables are outdoors, you eat en famile, mostly with your fingers, there isn't much elbow room. It's the simple meals, often ...