Nomad Palace Merzouga

... br>Emma and I w**e the only ones that actually made it up. And I only made it out of she** stubborness and the fact that th**e was a doctor at the top waiting for me in case I went into cardiac arrest (Emma is a doctor). Well I nearly blacked up at the top, but it was worth it. Amazing view. And to walk along the ridge of the dune as the sand was blowing across it...<br><br>Coming down was awesome! Swoosh, swoosh, effortlessly gliding down the dune. It ...

... begin with, and I don't think he knew what to do when 12 Western girls lined up for hugs. <br><br>We got home at 7:30pm Sunday night. It was a lot of driving but worth every minute. I am feeling so fortunate and thankful. How many people get to road trip across Morocco with the locals, ride camels into the Sahara and camp out under the stars? It was a pure Moroccan experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Hamdullah!

... from a distance and could not believe that they lived out here in these harsh conditions with nothing. On our approach, the eldest child of the seven kids who live there rolled out some carpets for us to sit on and the mother didnt acknowledge us but took off into the haze of nothingness until she was a speck. She appeared to be talking to someone there. She left three of her children to play with us. Nomads move their livestock like goats or sheep to find available ...

... Yes, I was ill last night - it must have been the meal in the hotel." "Come on" said the Aussie Cliff Richard, "18 of us ate the meal and are fine, just you and Kim drank alcohol and you two got sick. Work it out!" As I said, he was a flaming know it all so I flounced past him and asked Mohammed if I could lay down across the back seat of the coach, as I felt so rough. This back seat was to become the hospital area of the coach for the remainder of the trip ...

... tellement basses qu'il faut s'y baisser, un marché couvert géant que l'on dirait faire pour les touristes mais qui est un quotidien pour les marocains. Difficile voir impossible pour le porte monnaie de sortir indemne de cette excursion mais je me suis pas mal débrouillé quand même. Point d'orgue de cette balade en ville, fut le moment où nous nous retrouvimes sur le toit du marchand de tapis, surplombant la ville, à l'heure où les mollahs entonaient ...

... start until the storm had died down. Her body was found a day or 2 later, easily visible from the campsite once the storm had stopped. We tried to fight off sleep as much as we could that night, telling stories and jokes, and playing games and singing songs. Most of us agreeing to just stay up all night, but eventually we all drifted off. the next morning we were woken by the sunlight, and the sounds of the camels grunting and ready to start the day ...

... clothes with me from the OC), and made way to the dunes! They were spectacular, not only a hightlight on this trip so far but a highlight in my life. Seeing the dunes in pictures or TV barely represents the beauty of the dunes. After a 90 minute camel trek we arrived at our base camp. We sat on a dune that looked as if no one had ever sat there before and watched the sunset. Simply ...

... the early morning, we climbed the steep sides of a nearby sand dune to watch the sunrise over the Sahara. The sun rose and the sky caught fire in varying shades of orange and red-a fire that poured out over the endless sandy vastness. For Paul, the lurching motion of a camel plus his poor riding ability always equals painful chafing, so for the return trek he walked beside Mel's camel buddy. We arrived back at our auberge dusty but happy.

It was a long day of driving today where the only memorable stop was lunch in Erfoud. We had some delicious, thin-crust pizza. Really, really good! My travel companions took the opportunity to buy a sesh - required head gear for the desert later this afternoon. I was already sporting my brightly coloured silk one from Fes (smiles). Around 16:00 we came off the main road &amp; drove across the "black" desert on some seemingly arbitrary path to a hostel in Merzouga ...

... line. Camels have large fat deposits on both their feet and humps which helps them retain water; the fat in their feet make it easy for them to walk on sand, much like we would do with snowshoes in the snow. The also have long ear hair and eyelashes to protect their ears and eyes from the sand. It was about an hour's ride to camp and we arrived just in time to climb the big dune to see the sunset. Thought the sunset was less than spectacular, the walk up the dune was a lot of fun. It ...