Moroccan Adventure
Saturday 26th September:
WOke up, did a final pack and check then got a taxi to the train station to catch my train to London then Gatwick for my flight to Tangier, Morocco.
The flight to Tangiers was very uneventful, but I did get dinner on the plane which was Pasta and in a chicken sauce.
Arrived at the Tangier airport to be pickup by by the owner of the Marco Polo Travel agency and driven to the hotel where the tour was due to start - I arrived at the hotel at 10.30pm, after dinner had been had and the majority of people had met each other. I on the other hand had eaten and was very tired and so went straight to bed in my hotel room that I had by myself.
Sunday 27th September:
Woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast. Met a few of hte people who were on the tour over the table during breakfast, then headed back to my room to get my bag and head back downstairs again for the first formal met and greet done by our tour guide (Dean).
We followed this by seeing our truck transport nad home for the next 2 weeks. Jumped/climbed into the truck and headed out of Tangiers. Stopped for a coffee/tea break on our way to Chefchaouen - the first of many that happened during the 2 weeks of travelling. We eventually made it into Chefchaouen, I had decided to join our driver up front (and was the first person on the tour to do so) for the final leg into Chefchaouen - it was an interesting ride up the hill and into the town and camping ground. We arrived for lunch time where we set up and the first team (which I happened to be on) we're due to make - pasta and salad. Unfortunately as there wasn't much else for everyone else to do, they kinda just stood around and watched us make lunch.
After lunch and the setup of tents etc, we were taken on a guided tour around the town of Chefchaouen. We stopped at one point in the first of 3 carpet stores for the whole trip. We followed this by continuing the tour into the Kasbah where the town had started to get quite foggy and eeire. We were then let off our hooks and allowed to tour the town centre on our own. Many of us just walked up and down the main strip, and a few of us had to get our money changed into Moroccan Dirham. Before dinner about 6 of us made it into a hotel bar and grabbed a beer before dinner.
Dinner was at a little cafe/restaurant in the centre of the town and was quite nice. After dinner we headed off again for a bit before meeting up to grab taxi's back to the camp site. As it was Morocco, and only 3 people could fit into a cab, t was safer to have 1 guy with 2 girls per cab. Which worked for the majority of cases except that there were 6 guys (included the tour leader, Dean - our driver Martin didn't come out with us) for 17 girls. Bit of an overlap but it all worked out in the end and everyone made it back to the camp site safely.
Monday 28th September:
Up early for a early start. Had been sleeping on and off since about 3am though when the roosters and dogs all started to stay on Ramadan time instead of reverting back.
From Chefchaouen we headed out to Volubilus which is an old UNESCO-listed Roman ruins site. We had lunch there and then followed it with a tour of the ruins, with some interesting antics once we hit the "dog house", especially between the father - daughter team of Wes and Lexi.
After our time at Volubilus we then drove onto Fes and the campsite just outside of the city.
A number of people stayed at the campsite and ate a camp dinner.
The rest of us went out to a traditional Moroccan dinner, at a restaurant with entertainment, which included one of our group (Sophie) being involved in a fake Berber wedding ceremony.
Tuesday 29th September:
Today we started off at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Fes, after which we headed down to a pottery place to see how they make their traditional Fes/Moroccan pottery and craft work. We followed this by a long and winding tour through the coty of Fes and it's many alley ways.
For lunch we had Berber burgers at another! carpet store.
We then went on towards the famous Fes tanneries, then stopped off at a store where they made and sold scaffs, which the majority of us got one for out trip into the Sahara then next day.
Night was spent around the camp dinner tables.
Wednesday 30th September:
We left camp early this morning as we have a reasonably long trip ahead of us to get to the Sahara. 6.15am starting/leaving time.
I decided as no-one else was up there to jump into the truck cabin with Moartin all morning and got treated to the varied Moroccan landscape changing from Fes, to the mountains and Swiss like ski resort, to desert and platues like in the central parts of the USA.
We stopped for lunch at a night little cafe/restaurant (Midels) for Berber pizza and fruit, drinks etc.
Back on the bus/truck afterwards (sitting in the back of truck) for the long drive to the Sahara. The landscape scenary kept changing al the way down to the Sahara.
We arrived at the edge of the Sahara and got all set for our Camel trek into the Sahara and the berber camp where we were spending the night.
Once to the camp we climbed up a sand dune (almost fainted at the top from the exertion (had a cold since day 2, so my energy levels were lacking).
Once up the to, in time for the sunset we then all started to sand board down the dunes - most people only halfway, as there were only 2 boards, and someone from the riders had to bring the board back to the top.
Having almost fainted, I scored myself a fast track ticket all the way to the bottom - my much prefered option anyway, and only 4 people (2 per board) could do it. So myself and Michelle ended on the first of the board to go, and with about 1/3 of the distance left I gave up steering and trying to control the speed and let us just rip down. Heeps of fun, and so wanted to do it again!
After that we had dinner in the berber tent followed by a night of drinking, partying and then sleeping on the dunes.
Thursday 1st October:
Woken up to see the sunrise over the dunes - spectacular, to say the least!
After which it was packing up and riding on the Camels back to base camp, breakfast and the truck.
Breakfast were berber pancakes, eggs (which I didn't have) and the usual bread and jam/cheese.
Once all this was done we pilled back onto the truck and headed back over the black desert and rough & bumpy ground on towards our next stop for the day.
We stopped about 11am at a place called the Kasbah Hotel where we were able to have a shower (albeit cold - still but refreshing) and a swim in the pool. We then had lunch (tagine again) before heading off again.
Our next stop was at the old wells and Salem (an absolutely mad man, and that's putting it nicely) where we were stopped for about an hour, and he got us to either dance or dress-up before he headed down one of the wells to come back up in another well about 100m further down the road.
Once we said goodbye to him we headed off towards Todra Gorge - Dean then got sick - the first of many and the catalyst of it all - the other couple of us previously only had colds and so don't count). We eventually got to Todra, settled in and had dinner.
While most people decided to sleep in the open air of the roof, a few of us decided to take the beds in the rooms and sleep indoors. Martin, Carly and I we the last one's to go to bed as we were up for most of the night just chatting away.
Friday 2nd October:
Woke up early for a cooking tour with Mohammad - How To Cook A Tagine - he was subsequently a carpet salesman aswell. He taught us how to make a traditional Moroccan soup and Tagine.
After which another group of people joined us for lunch and Mohammad showing off his carpets.
After all this was done we went for a long walk back to the Todra Gorge hotel and onto for some rock climbing - again I wanted to do this but knew my ankle and body wouldn't accept the physical exertion needed for the activity, so instead I just say at the bottom of the cliffs and watched the others participate.
We had tagine for dinner again, from which I left directly after and went to bed early (about 10.30pm) - everyone else slowly filed up the hotel and onto their respective mattresses in the open air.
Saturday 3rd October:
Again we had another early start - pretty much the standard for the whole tour) - of leaving at 7am.
We left the gorge and made our way along the roads to Marrakech for a two night stay. Along the way we pass by the Moroccan film studios, stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant, and then made our way into Marrakech just in time to see the sunset over the mosque.
Once settled into the hotel/raj where we were staying, we headed out to the market place and food stalls for dinner, before being let off our reigns and allowed to wander the city at night - MArtin and I just went straight to a hotel for a couple of drink - I was tired and couldn't be bothered walking) - we were joined very shortly after by more of our group who came to enjoy a few drinks aswell.
WOke up, did a final pack and check then got a taxi to the train station to catch my train to London then Gatwick for my flight to Tangier, Morocco.
The flight to Tangiers was very uneventful, but I did get dinner on the plane which was Pasta and in a chicken sauce.
Arrived at the Tangier airport to be pickup by by the owner of the Marco Polo Travel agency and driven to the hotel where the tour was due to start - I arrived at the hotel at 10.30pm, after dinner had been had and the majority of people had met each other. I on the other hand had eaten and was very tired and so went straight to bed in my hotel room that I had by myself.
Sunday 27th September:
Woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast. Met a few of hte people who were on the tour over the table during breakfast, then headed back to my room to get my bag and head back downstairs again for the first formal met and greet done by our tour guide (Dean).
We followed this by seeing our truck transport nad home for the next 2 weeks. Jumped/climbed into the truck and headed out of Tangiers. Stopped for a coffee/tea break on our way to Chefchaouen - the first of many that happened during the 2 weeks of travelling. We eventually made it into Chefchaouen, I had decided to join our driver up front (and was the first person on the tour to do so) for the final leg into Chefchaouen - it was an interesting ride up the hill and into the town and camping ground. We arrived for lunch time where we set up and the first team (which I happened to be on) we're due to make - pasta and salad. Unfortunately as there wasn't much else for everyone else to do, they kinda just stood around and watched us make lunch.
After lunch and the setup of tents etc, we were taken on a guided tour around the town of Chefchaouen. We stopped at one point in the first of 3 carpet stores for the whole trip. We followed this by continuing the tour into the Kasbah where the town had started to get quite foggy and eeire. We were then let off our hooks and allowed to tour the town centre on our own. Many of us just walked up and down the main strip, and a few of us had to get our money changed into Moroccan Dirham. Before dinner about 6 of us made it into a hotel bar and grabbed a beer before dinner.
Dinner was at a little cafe/restaurant in the centre of the town and was quite nice. After dinner we headed off again for a bit before meeting up to grab taxi's back to the camp site. As it was Morocco, and only 3 people could fit into a cab, t was safer to have 1 guy with 2 girls per cab. Which worked for the majority of cases except that there were 6 guys (included the tour leader, Dean - our driver Martin didn't come out with us) for 17 girls. Bit of an overlap but it all worked out in the end and everyone made it back to the camp site safely.
Monday 28th September:
Up early for a early start. Had been sleeping on and off since about 3am though when the roosters and dogs all started to stay on Ramadan time instead of reverting back.
From Chefchaouen we headed out to Volubilus which is an old UNESCO-listed Roman ruins site. We had lunch there and then followed it with a tour of the ruins, with some interesting antics once we hit the "dog house", especially between the father - daughter team of Wes and Lexi.
After our time at Volubilus we then drove onto Fes and the campsite just outside of the city.
A number of people stayed at the campsite and ate a camp dinner.
The rest of us went out to a traditional Moroccan dinner, at a restaurant with entertainment, which included one of our group (Sophie) being involved in a fake Berber wedding ceremony.
Tuesday 29th September:
Today we started off at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Fes, after which we headed down to a pottery place to see how they make their traditional Fes/Moroccan pottery and craft work. We followed this by a long and winding tour through the coty of Fes and it's many alley ways.
For lunch we had Berber burgers at another! carpet store.
We then went on towards the famous Fes tanneries, then stopped off at a store where they made and sold scaffs, which the majority of us got one for out trip into the Sahara then next day.
Night was spent around the camp dinner tables.
Wednesday 30th September:
We left camp early this morning as we have a reasonably long trip ahead of us to get to the Sahara. 6.15am starting/leaving time.
I decided as no-one else was up there to jump into the truck cabin with Moartin all morning and got treated to the varied Moroccan landscape changing from Fes, to the mountains and Swiss like ski resort, to desert and platues like in the central parts of the USA.
We stopped for lunch at a night little cafe/restaurant (Midels) for Berber pizza and fruit, drinks etc.
Back on the bus/truck afterwards (sitting in the back of truck) for the long drive to the Sahara. The landscape scenary kept changing al the way down to the Sahara.
We arrived at the edge of the Sahara and got all set for our Camel trek into the Sahara and the berber camp where we were spending the night.
Once to the camp we climbed up a sand dune (almost fainted at the top from the exertion (had a cold since day 2, so my energy levels were lacking).
Once up the to, in time for the sunset we then all started to sand board down the dunes - most people only halfway, as there were only 2 boards, and someone from the riders had to bring the board back to the top.
Having almost fainted, I scored myself a fast track ticket all the way to the bottom - my much prefered option anyway, and only 4 people (2 per board) could do it. So myself and Michelle ended on the first of the board to go, and with about 1/3 of the distance left I gave up steering and trying to control the speed and let us just rip down. Heeps of fun, and so wanted to do it again!
After that we had dinner in the berber tent followed by a night of drinking, partying and then sleeping on the dunes.
Thursday 1st October:
Woken up to see the sunrise over the dunes - spectacular, to say the least!
After which it was packing up and riding on the Camels back to base camp, breakfast and the truck.
Breakfast were berber pancakes, eggs (which I didn't have) and the usual bread and jam/cheese.
Once all this was done we pilled back onto the truck and headed back over the black desert and rough & bumpy ground on towards our next stop for the day.
We stopped about 11am at a place called the Kasbah Hotel where we were able to have a shower (albeit cold - still but refreshing) and a swim in the pool. We then had lunch (tagine again) before heading off again.
Our next stop was at the old wells and Salem (an absolutely mad man, and that's putting it nicely) where we were stopped for about an hour, and he got us to either dance or dress-up before he headed down one of the wells to come back up in another well about 100m further down the road.
Once we said goodbye to him we headed off towards Todra Gorge - Dean then got sick - the first of many and the catalyst of it all - the other couple of us previously only had colds and so don't count). We eventually got to Todra, settled in and had dinner.
While most people decided to sleep in the open air of the roof, a few of us decided to take the beds in the rooms and sleep indoors. Martin, Carly and I we the last one's to go to bed as we were up for most of the night just chatting away.
Friday 2nd October:
Woke up early for a cooking tour with Mohammad - How To Cook A Tagine - he was subsequently a carpet salesman aswell. He taught us how to make a traditional Moroccan soup and Tagine.
After which another group of people joined us for lunch and Mohammad showing off his carpets.
After all this was done we went for a long walk back to the Todra Gorge hotel and onto for some rock climbing - again I wanted to do this but knew my ankle and body wouldn't accept the physical exertion needed for the activity, so instead I just say at the bottom of the cliffs and watched the others participate.
We had tagine for dinner again, from which I left directly after and went to bed early (about 10.30pm) - everyone else slowly filed up the hotel and onto their respective mattresses in the open air.
Saturday 3rd October:
Again we had another early start - pretty much the standard for the whole tour) - of leaving at 7am.
We left the gorge and made our way along the roads to Marrakech for a two night stay. Along the way we pass by the Moroccan film studios, stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant, and then made our way into Marrakech just in time to see the sunset over the mosque.
Once settled into the hotel/raj where we were staying, we headed out to the market place and food stalls for dinner, before being let off our reigns and allowed to wander the city at night - MArtin and I just went straight to a hotel for a couple of drink - I was tired and couldn't be bothered walking) - we were joined very shortly after by more of our group who came to enjoy a few drinks aswell.
posted by Matt at Saturday, October 17, 2009
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