Maroc - Serie Un

Marrakech to Todra Gorge

Aimes on top of Ait Benhaddou

Having done one Christmas in London we thought it best to try and escape the cold this year and headed to Morocco for a couple of weeks of relative warmth and most importantly big blue skies! Unfortunately the trip inevitably started at a London airport, where despite staying overnight at the new novel Yotel (capsule hotel) in the terminal, the length of check-in and security queues meant that we had to run to our gate, arriving just a minute before we were due to take off.

Our mint tea friend in Djemma El Fna, the big square in the centre of Marrakech medina

Djemma El Fna in the early evening before the frenzy of food, snake charmers, storytellers and henna artists

Anyways, we eventually made it to Marrakech and spent the next few days getting lost amongst the narrow winding laneways of the Medina and avoiding the attentions of the carpet sellers in the Souks. Amongst the highlights was the evening spectacular in Djemma El Fna (the main square) where a big food market springs up surrounded by snake charmers, story tellers and henna artists. Most of the culinary highlights of Marakech were experienced here, from the super-sweet mint tea, to escargot, harira (Moroccan soup) and brochettes (and surprisingly we both managed to not get sick??).

Yummy harira and way-too-sweet mint tea (my head looks really long doesn't it?)

Ornate archway in Ben Youseff Merdersa

Blessed rays of sun - it had been way too long!

For Aimes's birthday we went to one of the many fancy Riad restaurants, which provided a slightly more refined than the Riad we were staying in which could have been described as 'rustic'? Although the food and wine were probably most notable for their quantity, with all the Moroccan favourites (tajine, couscous and pigeon pastilla) making an appearance. Slightly less common lambs brains and livers kept it interesting too.

Hobbes chillin' in our riad suite in Marrakech

Setting up for dinner in Djemma El Fna

Sampling the oh-so-sweet ginseng tea - this country has got a massive sweet tooth

Mosques with tall minerets scatter old town and echo over the city with prayer calls

Christmas Day was an exciting affair (note sarcasm) consisting of a bus ride across the Altas Mountains from Marrakech to Ouzazate. However this was more than worth it as the next day we picked up a car and had the best part of the trip driving along the edge of the Sahara though little Oasis towns of the Dades and Ziz Valleys to Fes. First stop was the kasbah of Ait Benhaddou (of Gladiator fame) supposedly one of the best preserved in the area.

Looking happy and thoroughly enjoying himself at Yves Saint Laurent's Marjorelle Gardens

Marjorelle Gardens

We rocked the ol' Ait Ben Haddou kasbah...

From here we headed north up the Dades Valley though numerous little palm filled oasis' striking in their green-glory after the barren rocky plains which make up most of the landscape in this area. Towards the end of the day we made a side trip up the Dades Gorge, notable for some strange rock formations and one of the windiest hairpin filled roads we've ever driven. We finished up our day in the small town of Tinehir, of which we weren't expecting much, but proved to be a very pleasant place to spend the evening with our hotel perched on top of a hill overlooking the town.

Look at the palm trees! A ribbon of green palms weaving up to the Todra Gorge

Road trippin' the edge of the Sahara desert

Looking chuffed with himself for being able to stick to the right hand side of the road

Near Tinehir we drove up the Todra Gorge, following the gradually narrowing valley with it's dense cover of palms spouting between the rocky mountains. At it's narrowest point the gorge is quite impressive, with the vertical walls some 300m high and less than 30m apart. From here we pushed on through the vast barren plains of the pre-Sahara towards the begining of the desert proper near the Algerian border.

The windy road through Dades Gorge

In Todra Gorge

The little Punto in the middle of nowhere

Our smallest hotel room to date, the new Japanese capsule hotel at Gatwick airport www.yotel.com

Maroc - Serie Deux

Merzouga to Essaouira

Erg Chebbi sand dunes outside Merzouga

The reason for driving to Merzouga on the edge of the Sahara was to see the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. Supposedly at their best at sunrise we arranged for a pre-dawn camel trip into the heart of the dunes (Aimes hadn't thought much of the option of spend the night in the dunes with temperatures hovering around zero...). Fortunately the clouds of the previous evening had departed and we were rewarded for our early start with a beautiful sunrise.

Aimes feeling the cold in the early morning
Follow the leader

Camel train

After warming up over breakfast we departed and commenced our trip up the Ziz Valley headed for Fes. We began climbing up the eastern side of the Atlas with the mid-afternoon sun lighting up the rugged cliffs of the valley, which when combined with the winding road made it one of the most enjoyable drives anywhere. We broke our journey in the small town of Midelt, which being relatively devoid of tourists made us appealling targets for the local carpet salesmen which we spent most of our time out of our room avoiding.

A quiet moment away from the touts
Leaving the dunes for the barren rocky plains

The road to Meknes (and Fes)

Aimes' overlooking the Ziz Valley

As it was only a couple of hours drive to Fes we decided to check out a bit of the countryside around Midelt, and in particular to see how the Punto went off road. In addition, as the local guardian (car minder) had kindly washed the car over night (it was looking pretty grim after the desert) it also gave us the opportunity to cover up a few of the scratches with a nice new dirt layer... Anyways, after driving down a dirt road heading out of town for about half an hour we decided that we probably weren't heading to Fes, and asking a couple of farmers that we passed resulted in head shaking and pointing back in the direction in which we had come. As such, we had to retrace our tracks, scraping the underside of the Punto a bit more, before getting back on the tarmac and continuing to Fes. On the way we passed trough the extremes of the Moroccan landscape as the rocky desert of the previous day was replaced by snow capped mountains and cedar forrests.

Apparently not the road to Fes...

Us
Snow on the Anti-Atlas
A stork nesting in the Roman ruins of Volubilis

Hobbes in tourist mode
Sunset over Fes from the Saadian Tombs
Fes' Medina

Fes made quite a change from the scenery we had been passing through for the previous days with a return to the hectic crowds and smells of a busy city. To ease ourselves into it we decided to stay in the Ville Nouvelle which was much more appealing and accessible than the Marrakech equivalent. It also allowed us to experience a different, more cosmopolitan side of the country. Although, this wasn't to say that we didn't still spend most of our time in the Medina, which made Marrakech's seem relaxed and easy to navigate in comparison.

'You wanna see the tanneries?' - a constant call from the numerous touts

Myriad of colours at the leather tanneries

In the maze of Fes's Medina
Leather drying in the sun

Pink leather

From Fes we took a day trip to the neighbouring town of Meknes and the nearby Roman ruins of Voloubilis. We were quite impressed with Voloubilis, as not expecting a great deal, we discovered a pretty extensive area of ruins, which apprently represent only a quarter of the actual extent of the town, particularly considering the distance from Rome.

Eating at the seafood grills everyday - we had finally arrived at the coast!
Essaouria's Medina walls

Fishing boats

Seagulls

Big wave watchers on Essaouira's ramparts

Our final stop was the coastal town of Essaouira, which unfortunately required a full days travelling from Fes, starting with an 8 our train ride to Marrakech followed by a few hours on a bus - why didn't we keep the car? As luck would have it the rain which we hadn't seen since our first day returned just as we were hoping to spend a few days on the beach, although this just meant we had more time to over indulge in seafood!

Essaouira was notable for it's population of seagulls, this is a relatively clear sky :)

The Essaouira Medina was a picture of calm when compared with Marrakech and Fes

Essaouira's fishing port by sunset