Chefchaouen & Treking in the cold

We cut cross country to Chefchaouen through rural communities along one seemingly continuous winding section of bends. 4 hours of bends & a disorientated feeling of direction later we arrived in the pretty hillside town painted in indigo & pastel blue.

The weather has turned for the first time since we left but looking at the UK forecast we can hardly complain of poor conditions!! Ems hasn't felt too good so decided to stay put in town & recover some strength whilst I went hiking in the mountains with a guide & a travelling acquaintance, Rob who we quite randomly bumped into the day before in Fes & again here in the hills.

The attached pictures show just how rural life is here. Life is very close to subsistance & whilst the Kefa plant only grows between march & august there's precious little work here outside the season.


At times I was uneasy as to how welcome tourists were. It could well have been my own zenophobic fears being fightened by the shear iolation

Fes, the Medina & a litle bit of Lady Luck

Lazy Sunday breakfast in the Jardin de nouvelle ville preceded an aborted attempt to call the UK, all the phones were down for some reason so we made our way to a bus stop for the Old town Medina. The sole other person queueing person was a well dressed gent in his 40 's. We checked we had the right bus number & that we were heading in the right direction. 6 buses later his patience ran out & he volunteered we share a taxi.



The taxi ride initiated a fantastic tour of the Medina. Larbi, a wealthy local businessman insisted on showing us the entire Medina at his own time expense. We explored his business (a fabulous carpet shop), the smelly Tanneries that use all sorts of undecidable ingredients to soft, stretch & colour the leather & the cloth weaving machines of his cousin.

With Larbi as our guide not only did we avoid all the hassle of the faux guides & shop keepers but we effortlessly navigated the maze of streets & alleyways that would have oh so easily had us lost. We shared sublime mint tea & ate fresh shesha styled kebab meat in a local "den" before bidding our friend goodbye at the Medina gates.



Reflecting on the day I would without doubt recommend anyone planning on travelling to Fes to invest in a guide to explore the old city. We hit a huge piece of luck & Marrakech was a doddle compared to the biggest labyrinth in the world. Today we thanked the kindness of people like Larbi who help restore the trust, good will & hospitality we should all show each other. If you want a rug or carpet of the finest quality then feel free to call him 00 212 73 24 55 42 @ Dar Saad Medina ...... & so ends the advertisement !


We head north tomorrow for Chefchaouen & its apparent blue & white streets.

Sahara sand & Salad Language

The adventure had begun in Marrakech but really got going in the desert !



Err - there are times to do things & there are time to not. We put ourselves under a little more pressure than we'd bargained for en-route to the desert, by stopping off in Erfoud, 50kms from Hassi Labiad (our destination right next to Erg Chebbi) & miss judging when night fall would hit us.



We'd crossed the rock desert from the Toudra Gorge via a lesser know road & one not mentioned in the Lonely planet guide. The road was metalled & safe, we'd not have taken it but for the Dutch tour guide's recommendation at Le Festival. At one point we were flagged down by a hitcher but Ems had read not to pick them up as they are often faux & end up being dope sellers. I heeded her advice & we kept going.......Anyway, back to the story. As is always the case I spent far too long on the computer writing up the blog; due mainly to the time it takes to upload the pictures. We set finally off from Erfoud at 5.30.

We sped quickly towards our destination following the Lonely Planet map. The metalled road to Hassi Labiad ran out onto dirt track 25kms along our route. The car leapt from tarmac to dirty in a cloud of dust & we slowed our pace to compensate for the poorer road surface. 2 mins later the road gave out entirely & we were forced to navigate left off route & seemingly off piste. I switched the lights on full beam & we progressed via the green & white piste markers. It was now dark & there were a number of different routes to choose from, all were invisible & none on our trusted guide - Ahh !

Out of the dark appeared a lad on an old, shaky & decrepit pink mountain bike. I cobbled together enough french as to where we wanted to go to Mustafa, a local nomad lad, who was cycling home from Merzouga. We were preparing ourselves to turn around when a tourist mini bus, also heading in the opposite direction stopped & vouched that Mustafa could guide us through to our destination through the soft sand that lay between us & the road we needed (& indeed had thought we were on!)

I made a decision & took his offer of 150dhm to guide us through the night & the soft sands to Hassi Labiad. Ems hopped in the back & said absolutely nothing the entire journey. My heart was in my mouth as we sped through the night cutting left then right at a speed that meant we'd not get bogged down & caught up in the desert.



My heart only calmed down once I saw convergent headlights from the right. We returned to the alternative metalled road & passed through the above gates pictured (on our return). I believe Ems's heart calmed down only once we'd checked-in & we were firmly inside our room. I lightened the atmosphere with my above Borat impression & blocked out our window with my travel towel, black sticky tape & an apparantly handsome moustache. The tape worked so well it took the paint off the wall! Ems's is now investigating it's hair removal properties & currently has it stuck to her legs - Dad'll be oh so proud of pop's lasting family legacy.

& so to the main feature..... the reason we'd braved & tempted so much.

Into the desert

Apologies but again we're starving so will finish describing our desert trip another time - suffice to say it was an amazingly personal & fun experience that you'll just HAVE to put on your own to do list ! Just make sure it's off season otherwise you'll end up sharing the supposed peace with 50 odd noisy Spanish in summer time or 1000 other fun seekers over the New Year _ not my bag my friend !

Up into the moutains & the Toudra Gorge

A final farewell dinner in Marrekech, with the ladies from GB saw us street dining in the market again. It doesn't matter where in the world you are "Chips" are great..... aren't they Sarah !!!



We rose late on the Sunday & meandered over to the Hotel Sofitel through the local traffic to pick up our hire car. Finally there, we started to realise all was not well. The blank expression of the concierge was the first give away... what hire car? from which company? Ah! thirty minutes & an expensive internet surf later we began to realised the error of our ways. I printed out the e-mail Ems had had sent to me from ebookers 2 months before. Hire car 12th Jan to Feb 1st... well Ok today is the 14th & now we understand the blank expression !!! On calling the number printed we get hold of a man just closing up & heading for home (Far from our belief that a Friday is the Arab weekend everything in Marrakech closes on a sunday). The guy on teh phone offers to drive over & picks us up (thinking we're somebody completely different that he has actually been waiting for from the hotel) & very graciously points out we're "only" 2 days late & yes it is "absolutely not a problem" to collect the car today..."Sir."

Finally we hit the road, dodge the locals & set course up into the High Atlas mountains. We passed through the winding mountain range & headed down the other side into Ouarzazate (famed for the film production of the Passion of Christ & Gladiator).

We ate dinner in a lovely Italian restaurant, recommended by the guide book to Emma as being a regular haunt of the Italian film crew. As you can see below .... don't believe all you read, our packed restaurant contained just us! We thus deduced that no films were being made & decided to move on after a highly forgettable night's stop in an extremely "basic" hotel.



& so we headed out across the barren landscape stopping for brekie/brunch, roadside before pushing on to our 2 night destination of the Toudra gorge. We followed the below over-laden mini van up the gorge to our accommodation - Auberge Le Festival


We arrived with just enough time for a quick walk up a dried out river bed to work up an appetite. As the sun sank behind the hills surrounding the Auberge the temperature sank to near freezing. Boy was it cold or what? By gas burner & candle light we were entertained to live Berber music & ate like royalty.



Our hosts Abdul 1 (red) & Abdul 2 (guitar)were superb - no.1 our fantastic Moussaka making chef & no.é our evening program magic man & one man entertainment.

Day 2 in the gorge we hiked, scrambled & rock climbed up the near by mountain side. Once at the top of our 3hr upward marathon we were treated to the attached scenes (but only just!).

Heading for the hills

Once we've picked up our hire car we'll head East, towards the desert, via the High Atlas mountain range that separates the plains from the dry arid interior. A night stop in Ouarazazate plays a staging post to rest & water before a push onto the Todra valley where we'll stay for a couple of nights to Trek the gorge & surrounding countryside.

The dunes of Erg Chebbi are our eastern goal. We'll stopped first & stay just outside the desert at a small hotel in Hassi Labied. The hotel have organised an overnight Trek into the desert via camel & 4x4.

Our route then heads north up through the Mid Atlas through Fes to a recomended destination of Chefchouen, situated in the Rif Valley; we then turn south, arcing via the coastal roads through Rabat & Casablanca towards Essaouria where we'll relax a few days before coming back into Marrakech. Based on our experience of Marrakech as a Moroccan city (not that has was bad in anyway) we'll stay outside the cities, opting instead for countryside locations so we can hike, bike, ride & surf.

As for our time spent here in Marrakech, well it's been an education with more than a few stories to tell too. Having got over the initial shock of arriving in the old town in the dark we quickly realised the Marrakech is actually a viberant & cosmopolitan city with high aspirations of becoming European. We've expored it all & definitely recommend just visiting the old town as the new is a Madrid wannabee.

As for stories then, yesterday's Hamman experience (a total body wash) has to rate in at least the most talked about. The "properness" of English culture met the traditions of Arab hygiene. Whilst i lay in the sun on our hotel balcony Emma, Liz & the two Sarahs went off for a clean up. I gather the woman-handling was slightly beyond the expected body wash boundaries that any of the group had been expecting, but the laughter & the story swapping continued to fill most of the evening's conversation as I tried to enjoy my Calamari!!!

1st Stop................ Marrakech

It was a real culture shock arriving, firstly the terminal exit was closed to be rebuilt & there were no signs to the buses or taxis! Like sheep we followed the crowd around the airport building site & finally found transport in the form of a clapped out Mercedes. Squeezing as many bags & people in as the driver could physically push we then proceeded (per person), to be ripped off for the total fair into town- all of £3.50!


No cars are allowed into the central Medina so my mistaken French translation of "I'll drop you off after this guys" manifested itself into "this is as far as I'm going to take you, now you walk "à tout droit" up that narrow dark alley way. your taxi colleague, he's to turn first on the left (actually it was 1st Right) & then you guys are further up (an ever narrowing,darkening alley), again on the left (meaning unsurprisingly Right!)" Feeling more than a little bit spooked Ems & I ventured out into the Djemaa El Fna, the main square for food. Once there we quickly settled down feeling more acclimatized & less like startled rabbits in the head lights.

We have a lovely twin room+luxury en-suite bathroom. The shower eventually drains away & we have the challenge of jumping through the deeply pooled water to use either the sink or toilet over the following couple of hours. Other than this little blip the Riad is clean & more importantly for our first port of call, safe. There's a roof terrace to view the city & we are close to the main square for food, short exploratory walks & scooter avoidance practice. The mosque next door ensures we are awake long before sunrise, whilst the resident Minaret in it's tower kindly reminds us where he is numerous times a day, most often or not, just after I've dozed off for a quick 40 winks.

Feeling the Ground Rush

Wah..... here it comes & it's moving far quicker than I thought!!

I can't believe my plans are ripping in at such a speed. Firstly it was only a casual conversation "I'm planning on traveling in 07," then it was "oh yeah... after Christmas.... " & now it's just 7 days time until I take off to Morocco.

Whilst Polly trekked to the South Pole(Polarchallenge link) I had a great New Year's in Port Isaac. Karina & I traveled down via Marc, Liz & Rhordi in Cardiff to met up with Seth, Fitz & Toby (+ all his extended family). Many thanks to all for such a fun filled send off...... did we finish the Champagne or the drinking games?