Marvelous,magical, mindblowing Morocco!!!!!!

Before I set off, my knowledge of this exotic, fascinating country was quite limited... I'd been told by many trusted seasoned travellers, that it was one of their travel highlights, one of my favourite places to gorge on good food in Melbourne is the Moroccon Soup Kitchen, and I'd been advised not to travel to this elusive country alone.

So, after a drunken, excited conversation,which thankfully soon became cemented as a real life plan,I found myself at Marakesh airport waiting to meet up with my dear friend Boomer (aka-James, he he...)

We caught a cab to our hostel, which I'd randomly selected off a site which I should really be getting commision from by now- Hostelworld. And this time, it truly delivered what it promised. After being safely escorted right to the front door by an eager little local boy, keen to practise his English ('gday mate,skippy'), we arrived and both stopped still in amazement. It felt as if we had just jumped on a magic carpet and sailed right onto the set of Aladdin or Arabian nights. Exotic, colourful carpets lined the walls, colourful stained glass lamps glowed and polished silver teapots winked at us invitingly. Grinning, not quite believing our luck, I suddenly forgot how tired I'd been earlier, and we ventured out into the streets to explore.

Having travelled to Asia, I was marginally prepared for the roaring motorbikes carrying whole families, the streetstalls boasting every treat imaginable and the all encompassing atmosphere that seeps into your veins. Even though we only had the energy for a short stroll, already this felt like the perfect mix of Asia, Africa and Europe all crazily rolled into one! We loved it ...

We awoke to a home cooked meal of Morrocon pancakes dripping with thick cinnamony honey and the local tea which is sweet and pepperminty and delicious. For lunch we stumbled across a gem of a local cafe; Seated on a balcony overlooking the whole city, we feasted on Morrocon style tapas, rich flavoursome eggplant, crusty bread and crushed carrot dip, mmm. That night we hunted out a Lonely Planet reommendation, which soon become our 'local.' Surrounded by draped silks and swinging lanterns; we sipped strawberry cocktails and watched the stunning sunset, as the amplified prayer chants rang out over the whole city. Then to the glorious , exciting, overwhelming markets, which we visited and went a little crazy at for the next few nights. Unable to resist the rows of stunning silver jewellery and bright fabrics, we bought gifts and treats, got dragged into a family's personal silk factory, and drank fresh o.j packed in amongst the locals- Wonderful.

Before we knew it, our time in this crazy, addictive town was up and it was time for the next adventure... the Sahara!

We were up early and rearing to go . Packed into a bus, with a group of Spanish, French, Dutch and our local driver, it made for an entertaining ride! Everything the bus driver said, was then translated into French (the second language in Morocco after Arabic, is French) , then English - then Spanish! My many years of charades practice sure came in handy...

We drove for a whole day, stopping off to expore sandstone ruins, eat a feast at a local cafe and stop at a family business which hand wove rugs. I couldnt resist and bought a small one for Brad and I; its bright red and made from Poppies and Camel hair and signifies love and good luck and... fertility (!?)

That night we stayed in yet another amazing Aladdin-esque place where they loaded us up with a feast of chicken and chickpea tagine and fresh melon for dessert. Unfortunately Boomer developed 'Moroccon belly' that night, but managed to still make it for the next leg. More driving , we visited our bus driver's family home and were served tea and home made Moroccon sweets and then finally we saw them- stretching out infront of us, the huge ,rolling, peaked sand dunes...with lines of blinking camels patiently waiting.

Without any hesitation, we were loaded onto these gentle giants and before we knew it we were off. It was the most surreal, amazing experience. On top of these incredible creatures, bobbing up and down; through endless sand, watching the sun set over the plains. Incredible. It was dark by the time we arrived at the ready made camp. Before long we were sitting on cushions in the sand, festing on yet another delicious tagine, playing bongo drums and smoking some sneaky Morrocon hash (strong stuff!) Just as we were all getting ready to pass out, our guides suggested a walk up the dunes. Unable to resist we did and my god... I thought I was pretty fit! But woah... By the time we reached the top our legs were aching and we had well and truly worked off the tagine! But the view.. wow, that was worth it. We were literally sitting on the peak of this gigantic sand dune looking out over the lights of far off towns, surrounded by a sea of stars ...magic!

On the walk back a mini sanstorm started up and it was pretty painful and made us wonder how the hell people ever trekked through the whole Sahara..amazing...

That night we slept outside under the stars on thin matresses in the Sahara sand.

(Thought that deserved a line of its own!)

Amongst the perfectness,unfortunately I too developed this so called 'Morrocon belly', which is not the nicest thing to have in the middle of the desert! After many a tummy pill though, we were up before sunrise , on our trusty camels again and back to the bus.

We drove with the others to a small town, where upon bidding them goodbye,we were stuck in a dirty,smelly station , with our dodgy bellies, feeling sorry for ourselves because we'd be misinformed and had just found out we would have to wait 14 hours for a bus! Thankfully an extremely helpful policeman took pity on us and somehow organised his ' mate' to sort it out! Which is how we found ourselves being shoved onto the back of a small , VERY hot mini bus, jampacked with noisy locals, whose kids stared unabashedly at us-the weird looking ' whities!'
They dumped us on the side of a road, where a guy picked us up in his ' private taxi', who then took us to a ' secret' meeting place where he met his other mate in his 'private' taxi. We guessed some sly money had exchanged hands, but went along with it, as the price was reasonable, and we were now facing an 8 hour trip in airconditioned, private comfort( instead of a sweaty, noisy, squashed public bus.)
The driver took us to a little local town on the way, where all our fragile bellies could stomach was a banana and a plain cracker or two. But that didnt stop our guide, whilst he plyed us with sweet traditional mint tea, he howed down on fresh goat and bread. This was slightly disconcerting to see, because right next to our table hung three freshly skinned goat carcesses, with furry heads intact and dripping blood. eeewww.. if our tummies weren't already a bit off, well this sealed the deal!
Many hours and snoozes later, we arrived in the bustling, humid Fez, and by god we were glad we had decided to lash out and spoil ourselves.
After the amazing, but slightly sweaty and gastro-ey desert, it was bliss to arrive at a slightly swanky,(but still so Moroccon) clean hotel room, with a strong hot shower and a view over a mammoth pool.
We stomached plainish but delish hotel food and slept like babies in the freshly made beds that night...
The next morning we both woke up grinning at the fact that we were hungry and starting to feel normal in the tummy region again. Hurrah!
We feasted on the free hotel brekkie and set off to explore. Hitching a ride in the back of a hilariously dodgy trailor attached to a motorbike, we arrived in the medina ( centre of town.)
Yet another mindblowing Aladdin-esque treasure trove, where we went a little crazy on well priced gifts and were befriended by a little local boy who insisted on giving us a 'free' tour of the sights. He took us to his father's business, the 'tannery' where we saw how they make all their leather goods, then to his 'uncle's' restaurant, where we feasted on delicious Moroccon salads, and then were dragged to his ' other uncle's' rug making shop. I proceeded to be railroaded ( not entirely unintentionally into buying a stunning raw silk bed spread made with camel hair and natural poppy dyes. It looks like a Moroccon sunset and I AM slightly in love with it.
We then were guilted into tipping our 'free' little boy tourguide. ( when we first gave him a few coins he glared at us and wailed , " But this is NOTHING!" Remembering he SWORE to us, his company was FREE....freely conned! ah well : )
That night we ate fresh pasta at a lovely little Italian place(go figure!) and relished drinking alcohol on our newly mended bellies.
The next day we experience THE HOTTEST, SWEATIEST trainride in THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD! We arrived after 4 hours, dripping, exhausted, but excited to be there....in Casablanca!
Frankly my dear.. I DO give a damn!
Our hotel room was bright and carpeted and lovely, and we freshened up before walking through the local haunts , to a roadside stall selling fresh pita bread stuffed with freshly grilled green peppers and potato patties( me) and spicy ,tasty meat(Booms.)
We took these and cold drinks back to the top outdoor terrace of the hotel and ate them overlooking the nightlights of Casablanca reminiscing about all of our shared adventures.
The next morning, we didnt need to bother setting our alarms..the loud, city- wide , projected prayer calls woke us. A fitting end to an amazing cultural experience.
We packed up our bags, went downstairs for a complimentary brekkie of fresh bread and mint tea, and were on our way to the airport.
A quick squeeze and a fond farewell, and there we both were again...lone Aussie travellers....with VERY special shared memories and many more special solo adventures in store... For me...back to sunny ol' Spain! OLE! xooooox