After too long, Madiha and I finally ate tacos for the first time since September! In fact, they were so delicious that I felt inspired to write! This wonderful meal was made possible by Madiha’s parents who sent us a can of refried beans here in Morocco. You see the problem is that taco beans don’t seem to exist in Morocco (although ironically the taco shells do). And trust me when I say that we’ve really looked around for them! And would you expect anything less?!?! Mexican food out ranked all other meals as our number one dinner of choice in America!

Now, that’s not to say that there isn’t delicious food here in Morocco! There’s plenty of it and it’s all so healthy! But as huge fans of Mexican food, we couldn’t help missing our tacos and burritos! And since September we had been craving them! So nonetheless, we were excited when her parents sent us some! But the problem was that we only received one can of beans! And for vegetarians like ourselves, beans is the prime ingredient in any taco! So of course one can is enough for a great meal- but we couldn’t consciously open it up because we knew how fleeting its wonderful taste would actually be! And more to the point, we knew that once we used it, we would spend the rest of our days miserable thinking about how good the tacos were and how we couldn’t make them anymore since we were out of beans. And we imagined that fate to be worse than what it would be if we just didn’t use it at all!

But alas, we received word that Madiha’s mother is coming to Morocco later this week, and she offered to bring more beans. With that in mind, we rushed to our heaven-sent beans and cracked open the can to make what would be one of our greatest dinners in recent memory! Oh and what a great memory it is! I’m still smiling at the wonderful smell and taste that our long missed Mexican food blessed us with!

With our travels behind us, it was time to gear up for the first week as English teachers. We were very excited because this was a unique experience and challenge for both of us as neither one of us had ever taught in a formal class room setting like this before. But of course with our excitement came a whole lot of nervousness too. Although we had experience in teaching groups of people on other topics and had taken TEFL courses, this was completely different and we wondered how quickly we’d ease into our new roles. We overthought everything, from how we would pass the time (3 hours for some classes) to what we would do if we messed up or couldn’t answer a question on the spot. And of course the daunting task of memorizing over 120 students’ names was a petrifying in and of itself.

So when Monday came, Madiha and I set off to welcome our first round of classes. We had looked up ice breakers online and hoped those would cover enough of the time so we didn’t end up with any awkward remaining minutes in the end. Afterall, the first class seemed too early to jump into the book, so we needed to pass the time some other way! We both crossed our fingers and stepped into our class rooms.

Despite all of our worrying, the time passed by quite quickly. Between the two of us, we played games like “2 truths and a lie,” where we write 3 statements about ourselves, 2 of which are true and 1 which is false. When then proceeded to have the class ask us questions in which case we’d have to be good liars to keep them from guessing which of the statements was false. I got them with a double whammy using a statement about getting married in Morocco and about loving soccer. They couldn’t imagine that an American could love soccer or get married in Morocco, so throughout my 7 different classes, all of my students were stumped as to what the truth actually was!

As the week passed by, we both became more and more comfortable with teaching. By our finals classes of the week, we had become a bit confident as we stepped in and introduced ourselves to all the new faces in the room. We had gotten used to the regular routine of ice breakers and introductions.

So when week 2 rolled around and we had to begin with the book, nervousness set in once again. We only knew how to conduct introductory classes-by playing games and joking around with the students. But now we actually had to teach. And as we’ve said many times before- we didn’t yet know how to! But just as with the week before, we quickly learned and by week 3, it had been as though we were teaching for ages.

Now with the semester coming to a close, we look back at all that we have learned and laugh at how uncomfortable we were starting out. And now having gained valuable lessons from the passing semester, we look forward to our next semester in January when we can start fresh with experience, a firm understanding of what it takes to be a good teacher and a whole lot of confidence!

We left Essaouria early in the morning on Friday to catch a bus to Rabat since it was a long ride away. Then after 6 long hours, we finally reached the main bus terminal in Rabat. Along the route, we had actually passed by Madiha’s family’s house on the highway, but when we asked the driver to stop and let us out he told us he wasn’t permitted to make stops on the highway. We had also talked to Madiha’s aunt who lives in Rabat and she had said that if we end up in Rabat we should visit their place. So from the bus station, we made our way over to her aunt’s place. There we met up with her aunt, uncle and cousin. We ate with them there and then they took us over to Temara later than night.

It was very nice to visit Temara after so long of a time away. The last time we had been there was a month before so they were as excited as we were to have us in the house. The next day, everyone dressed traditionally and we had a big breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eating well was a main focus since we had been fasting during the day time for the last 30 days before. And as I learned many of Madiha’s family members were planning to fast for another 6 days after that day. My understanding is that people who follow this interpretted practice believe that fasting an additional 6 days after the Ramadan Eid earn extra reward with God. Either way, after fasting 30 days, having large meals during the day on the Eid, and then to go back to fasting for another 6 days is pure dedication.

Beyond the food and the dress, there seemed to be no particular customs practiced on the Eid. But of course, the food, the dress, and all of the company in the household sure made it a lively holiday. I was a little surprised that some of Madiha’s aunts and uncles actually weren’t around on the Eid. But when I thought about it, it made sense since each of them had other family to visit too. And by Sunday, the day after the Eid, but another day of continued celebration, everyone made there way into the house at one point or another. So in the end, we got to see everyone and celebrate with everyone

Sunday night we left with Madiha’s uncle to spend the night at his house in Rabat. Since we’d be taking an early morning bus, it made the most sense to be close to the bus station. So the next morning, he drove us to the bus station and we had a smooth and quick ride back to Meknes. It took us just 2 hours to get home and the feeling of walking into our place after a VERY long journey was incredible! It was such a relief to have all of our traveling over!

The next morning, we headed to the main bus station to catch a ride to Essaouria. As with every place in Marrakech, there was lots of hassle there. Everyone was trying to sell us a ticket on their bus. Inside the bus station there were actually ticket windows, but before you could even approach a bunch of vulchers would jump all over you asking where we were going. After we sorted through all of the hassle and bother of the station, we bought tickets and boarded one of the local buses.

As we waited to leave, beggars of all kinds came on the bus asking us for money. A little girl that was asking for money saw that I had some peanuts, and since it was food I gave her the whole bag. She seemed appreciative– shaking my hand and then leaving the bus altogether. Even though we had been told the bus was leaving right then, it took a long time before the bus actually did leave.

When we were finally on our way, it still weren’t on our way. We kept stopping everywhere to pick people up– even if it was just to drive them 15 minutes down the road. The bus staff really knew how to pack a bus. He made sure that there wasn’t one seat empty at any time. And there was an empty seat, the bus would stop at some random town and recruit extra passengers. The ride which is normally 2 hours ended up taking nearly 3. Needless to say, we were very happy when we finally arrived.

When we got off the bus, there was a group of women who waited until we got off and then started to beg for money from us. They didn’t ask from any of the other passengers, but instead identified me and Madiha (me mostly) while we were still on the bus and waited until we got off. We just kept on our way though and headed to the street to catch a taxi. When catching a taxi proved to be too long of a wait, we ended up just walking to the old medina.

At one point, we asked directions, and the person who gave them to us told us that there was a lot of traffic on the route we’d be taking. Since we were walking, a lot of traffic on the road wouldn’t be a big deal, but we quickly realized what she really meant once we passed through into the gates of the old medina. The main route through the medina was packed with people. Trying to manuever through it would be a headache if we were carrying nothing, but with luggage, it was even more overwhelming. But we just focused and trudged our way through until the crowds thinned out near the end of the road.

When we looked through our Lonely Planet book, we quickly realized that there were no “cheap” options in Essaouria. There were lower priced options, but nothing compared to how we had been traveling the last few days. But we just picked a place and got it so we could put down our stuff and start enjoying the city.

We didn’t have a lot of time before it would get dark, and we’d be leaving in the morning, so we headed right out to see as much as we could. We walked through the main square, sat down on the rampart walls and watched the ocean, then continued on by the Portugese fortress, the pier, and the popular and well known fish market. There all sorts of sea life being sold, many of which you wouldn’t see in a normal market. We saw eel, octopus and lots of other creatures of the ocean.

The city reminded me of San Juan, Puerto Rico and a litte bit of Asilah. But it had never the charm nor the allure of either one of those places. It was pretty in its own right, and had I not been spoiled by the beauty of Asilah, I might have appreciated it more. Or perhaps if I had come for the Gnaouia festival, the lively excitment of the music and dancing might have captivated my heart and made me fall in love with the city.

However, there was no festival, no lively music, and in place of the rugged Moroccanism of Gnaouia, there was a glow of unnatural whiteness oozing from the tourist invaders of the city (of course I was one of them, haha). The entire night, I was in a never ending shock at the pure numbers of foreigners in this city. At this point, I can say that I have seen much of Morocco and been in some of the more touristy cities too. But never in my life had I seen a place with such a high concentration of tourists. Every where I looked I saw white faces. In every restaurant, on every street corner– any time I looked to my left, right, or center! Probably if I had looked up I would have seen them raining from the sky! One could get lost in thought and imagine that they were in some city in Europe rather 2 hours from one of the major hubs or Moroccan culture– Marrakech!

The good thing about the city being touristy was that there were some good food options to try. After being undecisive for some time, we finally decided on this one Italian place. We got lasagne which I had been craving for quite some time! And it was actually pretty good! We were very excited. Of course the waiter tried to talk to us in French even when it was clear we didn’t speak the language. And of course everyone in the restaurant was white. But the food was good and we were happy to have visited!

After dinner we began thinking about getting to Rabat the next day. So we took a taxi out to the bus station and inquired about tickets. We compared the prices and even inspected a couple of buses. We didn’t want to be on a sketchy bus again especially since we’d be traveling for roughly 6-7 hours this time around. We finally decided on one of the nicer buses that left at 9 am. We bought tickets for the seats where no one would be sitting in front of us (so no one could put their seats back on us!) and then headed back to the old medina.

When we got back, we walked around the old medina a bit and stumbled across a creperie! We were in heaven! We LOVE desert crepes and this place specialized in them! So we ordered our usual– bananas and nutella! And let’s just say that the place did not disappoint The crepes were delicious! After filling ourselves with scrumptious crepes, a wave of exhaustion suddenly overtook us. So we headed back to our hotel room to collapse and rest up before our long trip the next morning.

We woke up a bit early the next morning so we could explore a bit more and take some more pictures before we left the city. Everything seemed so much pretty without the hovering white people and the refreshed and renewed sun in the sky. After we were sure we’d seen all that we had wanted to see, we caught a taxi and headed on the first leg of our journey to Rabat to see Madiha’s family for the end of Ramadan and the celebration of the Eid (or holiday).

After boarding the bus, we noticed that we were practically the only ones on the bus. There were just 4 other Moroccans besides the bus workers. We wondered how the 4 hour trip could even be worth it for them for such a small group of passengers. And after a short time, we dropped off one of the other passengers.

Further along the way, a certain someone asked the bus driver to make a pit stop! We were driving through the mountains and apparently the bladder was quite insistent, so the bus pulled over at a random place along the road. As soon as we stopped the girls ran off to take care of business. Samir was also feeling very sick, so he had asked the bus driver to stop too. And as the girls ran in one direction, he ran in another to a place where he could throw up. Out of our oddly mixed group of Americans, Moroccans, and a Canadian, Eric and I were the only ones still on the bus.

Right before that time, I was trying to take some pictures out the window. The drive through the Atlas mountain was terrific and I tried to capture it on camera. But since we were moving and I was taking the pictures through the window, they weren’t coming out all that well. So after the bus stopped and when we had waited a bit of time, I decided to take a step off and take a picture. Where we stopped was actually very photographic, so I walked off the bus and took out my camera. The bus workers loved it! They began laughing so hard! Out of our group of 5, two were off going the bathroom in the wild, one was throwing up, and then there was me– taking a picture on a bus that is used to just locals! So when I took out my camera, the bus driver ran in front of the bus and told me, “Take a picture,” as he leaned against the bus. I can only imagine that he thinks all tourists love to take pictures of everything! And while Madiha and I are a bit trigger happy with the camera, we certainly didn’t have a need to take a picture our bus or its driver! So I politely declined his offer and turned the other way to take my picture. At that point though, Madiha, Jennifer and Samir all returned to the bus, so I didn’t get a chance to get the photo I wanted before we were rushed on by the bus workers.

Further up the road, the bus stopped once again. We thought it was rather strange because we knew the bus driver was in a rush. But as we peered out the window, we saw that the driver was talking to a cop. So in usual Moroccan style, Samir joined the other Moroccan passengers in going outside the bus and watching the exchange between the two. Of course, we were quite curious too, so we were happy to have a reporter relaying to us the situation. Jennifer became the messenger in this ordeal and after a while of being stopped, she came back to where we were sitting and told us that the cop was saying that we hit someone! Wow! I didn’t expect that! But we all agreed that it was impossible that we could have hit anyone. We would have heard a big thump or something at least! And then I began to imagine us being stranded over night in some small unknown village while the bus driver was taken off to jail! Realistically, I knew that wouldn’t actually happen, but the thought still ran through my mind!

Eventually the problem got cleared up and we were on the road again. It was getting dark and we still had a treacherous drive ahead of us, so the driver was rushing to get through as much of the roadway as he possibly could while it was still light out. We were passing through a very high pass of the High Atlas Mountains. The views were stunning at every turn and the various turns, textures, and landscapes of the mountainsides amazed us again and again. And as we looked down, we could see over 5 roads below us, twisting and turning lower and lower below the mountains. As we wound around the corners at seemingly fast speeds with the mountain’s edge beneath our wheels, we couldn’t help imagine the bus tumbling down. But we quickly put that thought out of our minds and soaked in the beauty for the remainder of the daylight guided drive.

When nightfall came and we got through some of the mountain pass, we stopped at a rest stop to eat. There wasn’t much for Madiha and I to eat as vegetarians, but we ate some snacks from a convenience store. When we were leaving, Madiha and Samir got in an argument about something, and the argument catapulted itself into a larger fight about the entire trip and what had happened at Todra. Since we didn’t get to fully discuss what had happened previously, it had built up with time and finally blown up. Samir and I discussed in detail the situation and I told him everything that I was upset about. Meanwhile, Madiha and Jennifer talked about things too. It was a long bus ride to Marrakech talking about all of these things, but by the time we got there, we worked everything out. It certainly was a relief to put it behind us and just move on with our trip.

When we got to Marrakech, we headed to the old part of the city near the main square to look for a place to stay. Samir invited us to stay with his aunt and cousin, but we were planning to leave early the next day, so we wanted somewhere where we could stay out late at the square and then get up and leave from easily in the morning. Eric wanted to get a place near the square too especially with this having been his first time in the city.

At the place we got dropped off, we saw a hotel that looked decent, so we inquired about the price. It ended up being more than we wanted to pay but the man said they had a sister hotel. So we followed him down the street and around a corner into another place. There was a man working at the reception desk and he brought us upstairs to show us the rooms. Eric was happy taking a single room there and at first Madiha and I thought we would be happy with our room too. But upon further inspection, we didn’t want to stay there. The bathroom was dirty, the water wouldn’t drain, and there was no hot water. Also, the bed looked a little dirty once we pulled back the sheets.

 So we went downstairs to tell the man that we’d changed our minds and to thank him for taking his time to show us the rooms. But when we told him we were leaving, he got really upset. He told us to hold on as he went upstairs. So we waited for him until he came back down the stairs telling us that we had to pay for the room. He noted that the comforter had been pulled back and there was water in the bathroom sink. So he concluded that the room had been used and that we owed him for its use. Unbelievable! We’d never met a person who had the audacity to claim that 2 minutes of inspecting a dirty room could possibly be counted as using a room! So naturally we told him what he did was shameful and left.

Before we had went downstairs to tell the man that we weren’t taking the room, we had said goodbye to Eric. He’d had a long day and to top it off, he realized just then that he lost his camera. He left it on the bus and we didn’t have any contact information for the bus company we took. It was a pretty nice camera and it had all of the pictures he took from the entire trip. And apparently he received it as a gift. So he had a lot on his mind and we could tell he wanted some time to be alone and think. So when we decided to leave and the whole situation with the concierge went down, we didn’t have a chance to let him know.

So on we went to a restaurant we had gone to in the summer a few times with our families. We were frustrated and wanted to just sit down and collect ourselves, so we sat down at the balcony of the place. Even though the restaurant was empty at that time, the waiter approached us and told us that we could only remain sitting there on the balcony where we were if we were ordering food– if we were ordering just dessert, we would have to sit elsewhere. So we begrudgingly asked to look at their menu to see what they had to offer. But then again, to our surprise, the waiter told us they only had a chicken sandwich. Madiha and I obviously don’t eat chicken and neither Samir nor Jennifer wanted a chicken sandwich, so we were told we couldn’t sit on the balcony even if we were getting dessert. So we stood up angrily and stormed out of the restaurant, upset at the horrible customer service.

At this point, I was stressed out a bit and wanted to find a hotel room to put down all of our stuff. So we walked across the main square to a place I had stayed in two years before when I visited. But the only room they had available was pricy because it was technically a triple room. It also wasn’t the nicest place we could find either, so although we were tired of searching, we said no to the room and began looking for other options. Samir and Jennifer had patiently accompanied us through everything so far, and since we were exhausted and stressed, we told them we’d find a place and then meet back up with them for a bite to eat.

After parting ways, Madiha and I sat down at a cafe where we relaxed, drank mint tea, and looked through our Lonely Planet book for a place. We didn’t want to keep walking to places with our stuff and then finding out they don’t have any suitable rooms, so we looked through the book and began calling the places that had nice descriptions, but that weren’t too pricey either. In the end, we found a place closeby and he suggested a good price. And when we walked there, we found the room to be a bargain! It was nice, clean, and very cozy! Now that we were unburdened and had found a place, we headed back out to the main square to enjoy our night!

That night we ended up drinking lots of freshly squeezed orange juice from the juice vendors on the main square. Madiha also bought a CD from one of the music vendors there who actually remembered us and her family since we had bought a bunch of things from him this past summer. Jennifer and Samir had been eating at one of the outdoor benches in the middle of the square, so we joined them until they were finished and then walked them to catch a taxi.

As we were saying goodbye to them, we bumped into Eric. As upset as he was at losing his camera, he was able to put it behind himself and have fun in Marrakech. He was still hungry and we craved a bit to eat, so the three of us went back to the main square and ate at the same outdoor bench that we ate at this summer. The man remembered us and our families also and was very happy to have us eat at his place. And of course, we were happy to eat there too– the food is really cheap and very good! And on top of that, they gave us free tea!

After we ate, it was late and so headed back to our places. Eric’s hotel was on the way to ours, so we walked him there before heading on. Before getting there though, we were stopped by 2 policemen. They noticed that Madiha was Moroccan but that we weren’t so they asked to see her identity card. Apparently the police are pretty strict on both illegal guides and prostitution, so if there is anything they see suspicious at all, they check it out. As soon we began talking to them, they knew that everything was normal with us. I think they even felt embarassed when we asked them why they stopped us and I told them that she was my wife. But in the end, they were really friendly and wanted to know all about the three of us. Before we said bye to them, one of them commented that he needed to find a nice American boy for his sister.

It was on that note that our night in Marrakech ended. We said good night and good bye to Eric and headed back to our hotel where we made plans to go to a nice seaside village named Essaouria the next morning.

The bus ride to Ourzazate was quite uneventful. We had originally wanted to get on the road early while it was still day light so we could take a grand taxi and see the Dades Valley and the Dades Gorge along the way, but by the time we got to Tinghir and found a ride, it was already starting to get dark.

After 3 hours, we finally arrived in Ourzazate. It was only supposed to take 2 or 2 1/2 at most. When we got off the bus, we picked a hotel out from our Lonely Planet book and then asked a man to orientate us as to which way was the main street. He told us to follow him and then he led us down this somewhat sketchy street and through this little foot path until we finally arrived at the street we were looking for. At that point, Jennifer and Samir took a taxi up the street since Jennifer’s foot was hurting her while Eric, Madiha and I walked since it was a nice night out.

Before we even got there, Samir called us to tell us that the rooms were nice and clean. And when we got there, it seemed to be a good hotel and a bit of an upgrade from the night before. And the great thing was that we only paid a bit more than we did at the Todra Gorge.

After we put down our things, we walked around a bit to find some place to eat. The place next door to us was in the Lonely Planet book and was said to be visited on occassion by movie stars who were shooting movies at the film studios in Ourzazate. Although we would have been happy eating there, the price was a bit expensive, so we walked on to see if there was anything else first. Around the corner and in center of Ourzazate’s main strip we found a good option. After we had ordered and eaten, the food ended up not being so great, but the service was the best we had experienced in all of Morocco. The waiter actually cared about taking care of us and went out of his way to accomodate us in anyway that we wanted. It was a breath of fresh air to see that in at least one place in Morocco, customer service actually matters.

After dinner, we all went to a late night internet cafe. They had a camera and microphone, so Madiha and I contacted our families on skype quickly. It was Lailat Qader, a sacred night during Ramadan. Because of this Madiha wanted to get an audio recitation of the Quran to listen to as we went to bed, so before we left, she asked the guy who was working at the internet cafe to see if he had any mp3s that he could burn for her. He said he didn’t have any with him, but that if we came back the next day he could burn her a CD. She explained that we wouldn’t be around the main city then and that she wanted it for tonight anyway. We said goodbye and then headed to the hotel where she asked the receptionist there the same question– again with no luck. So we headed to our room and went to sleep.

The next morning, when we woke up, we found a CD that must have been slipped under our door while we were sleeping. On it was a recitation of the Quran just as Madiha had wanted it. And with it was a little piece of paper with a name and email address written on it. We figured that it must have been the hotel receptionist, since he is the only one who knew what room we were in. But when we asked him, he said that it was from a guy who worked at an internet cafe. We were surprised and wondered how he knew where we were staying. But then we remembered that Samir might have mentioned the hotel before he and left and also figured that maybe since the cyber cafe was just down the street a little ways and across the street, he may have just walked over to the window and seen where we were walking to the night before.

The plan for the day was to visit the Hollywood studio there in Ourzazate and then go to Ait Benhadou which is just 20 minutes outside of the city. We had woken up and got ready so that we could get to the Hollywood studio as soon as it opened. But we were hearing reports that the studio was closed for visitations since they were shooting a movie there. So Samir called the studio only to find out that it had been closed for the past two months and that it was reopening, but not until the next day– and by that time, we’d be long gone from Ourzazate! So we switched to plan B and left our stuff in storage at the hotel while we headed straight to the grand taxi stand to go to Ait Behandou.

Since we have had some bad experiences with grand taxis charging too much, all of the white people in the group hid out (me, Eric, and Jennifer), while the Moroccans (Samir and Madiha) went to negotiate a price. The price was right on target with what the Lonely Planet book said, so us white guys hopped out of hiding and into the taxi. On the road out of the city, we passed by the Hollywood studio, Atlas Studios and another film studio that we hadn’t heard of before. From the road, we could see some of the movie sets within the Atlas studio and were so interested by what we saw that we wished that we could visit.

When we arrived at Ait Benhadou, it was more spectacular than I had imagined it to be. Ait Benhadou is a Berber village built out of clay walls on a small mountainside. It’s so extraordinary that it has been used in movies such as the Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and Lawrence of Arabia as a backdrop. And in many of the movies filmed there, scenes have actually been shot within its walls. Adding to the amazing atmosphere of the village were the outstanding valleys and the mountains that were surrounding it. Walking through the clay walls was a treat to my wandering eyes. Everywhere I looked was filled with so much beauty and I regretted not taking my family there two months before when they had visited Morocco.

Naturally we took lots of pictures and video, and when we left, we went to a nearby restaurant that had a great overview of the village. Then after dinner, we got ice cream at a local store and called the taxi driver that had driven us there. We had orginally thought that we’d easily be able to find a grand taxi back, but it was a slow day there with few tourists, so we didn’t find anyone driving back when we wanted to leave. We decided that we wanted to try to visit the other studio that we passed by and then maybe even try to get into the Atlas studio afterwards even though they said they were closed to the public. So Samir arranged a price with the taxi driver over the phone so that he would take us to the studios and wait for us while we went in.

The first studio that we stopped at, the one we hadn’t heard about before, seemed rather quiet and empty. From peering into the gates, we couldn’t see any film sets or anything worthwhile. I was a bit hesitant to go in and wanted to see if it was worthwhile before paying for the visit. But Samir was very excited about it, so we all decided to just pay and see afterwards what they had to offer.

As it turned out, we didn’t regret our decision. The lady working there led us into one of the buildings which housed lots of movie props. She explained to us that many of the Hollywood films that were shot in the Atlas Studio used the props they had there and told us about some of the new films that were being shot in their studio and at the Atlas Studio. The props were very cool and we had a great time pretending like we in movies like the Mummy and Kundun. As we walked around the building, the woman explained to us all of the movies the props had been used for and suggested ways that we could pose for all the pictures we were taking!

It was getting late, and we were a bit worried about trying to find a ride to our next destination since it was getting later in the day. But the Atlas Studio was right next door to the studio we were at, so we wanted to at least check it out and see if we could get try to get in. So when we pulled up, the workers there said they would be heading home shortly, but that the studio would be opening up to the public again the next day. Samir and Madiha explained to them that we were heading out of town in just an hour or less. And as it turned out, the movie that was being shot there had already finished earlier in the day and since the film crew and the actors were gone the studio was empty. So after some convincing on the part of Madiha and Samir, the staff let us in.

Our guide warned us that while he would show us around the various sets, we were not allowed to take pictures. We offered him some money to let us take some pictures and he just laughed and just explained that it wasn’t about money. He said that some of these sets were part of the new movie that was shot there and that he couldn’t let us take pictures because they might appear all over the internet before the movie was even released. We told him that it was just for our own memories though and he just sort smiled. So then every time we came to a set we asked him if this was from a new movie or an old one. If he told us it was a movie that was already released we got out our cameras and snapped away. By the end of the tour, the guy had become so laid back that we were even able to get away with taking pictures of the new sets too!

We passed through a lot of really cool sets including one of the houses used in Kundun, one of the main buildings used in the Mummy, and the prison that Russell Crowe spent time in during the Gladiator, as well as main others. And from a distance, we could see the guarded fortress that was used in Kingdom of Heaven.

Throughout our visit, we were so excited to see the different sets that we had almost forgotten how late it was. At that point it was past 4pm and we had a long ride ahead of through the High Atlas mountains. And we wanted to make sure we could even get a ride at that time, since it would be a 4 hour ride to Marrakech where we’d be heading next. So we asked our taxi driver to take us back to our hotel where we picked up our stuff while he waited and then hopped back in the taxi and on to the grand taxi stand where we would try to get another ride to Marrakech.

On the way, we saw a bus and the taxi driver asked the bus workers where they were going— Marrakech they told him! So he dropped us off and before we were out of the taxi and onto the bus on our way to our next destination!

When we got to Rissani on Monday, October 8, it was around 1 pm. We had looked in our Lonely Planet books to get a rough idea of how much a grand taxi should cost to go to Tinghir where we wanted to go next. However, the grand taxi person who was willing to drive us wanted to charge a bit more than that. After we had negotiated with him a bit, we would have been paying just $1 per person less than what the book said. And that would also mean that we would be paying for the entire taxi and the driver couldn’t pick up a 6th passenger (there were 5 of us, and normally you pay per seat, and grand taxis fit 6 people–quite uncomfortable I might add).

Samir, though, thought that we could get cheaper if we walked slightly away from the grand taxi stand and asked someone else. So although Madiha and I were happy to accept that price, we followed him to see what he wanted to do. When we walked away, he asked another grand taxi driver what he would charge. But in Morocco, there is a law that certain grand taxis drive to certain places and that a grand taxi that is further behind in line has to wait his turn and can’t just cut in line and take passengers because he is asked to. So the man declined and it looked more and more obvious that we would have to go back and accept the other man’s offer. Samir wanted to wait a little bit more to see if he could find another person to negotiate with. So we wasted time by going to a little shop and getting snacks and drinks. That ended up taking a long time, because the shop owner wasn’t able to give us change right away. Instead, he had to go searching from store to store for someone who could break the bigger bills for him so he could give us change.

Finally when we had finished and a decent amount of time had passed, Samir and all of us went back to the original grand taxi stand to ask about prices again. We were approached by a different man, who was very friendly and when we offered a price, he led us over to the original man we had negotiated with and suggested the price to him. After some negotiations, the man agreed to our price (which was $1 per person cheaper) ONLY if he would be allowed to pick up another passenger if the opportunity arose. While this could go either way for us, and be uncomfortable if he did pick a stranger up, we agreed figuring that the likelyhood of him coming across someone that wanted to go the full way to Tinghir would be very unlikely. We figured if he did pick up someone along the way, the person would only go a portion of the way. So we agreed and we were finally on our way.

It was about a two or two and a half hour drive to Tinghir. We ended up being right in thinking that he wouldn’t find anyone to ride with us the whole way to Tinghir, but he did find someone to ride with us for about 30 minutes. So for 30 minutes we were squished in the back with 4 people crammed in. We had it easier than Jennifer and Samir, though, who elected to squish in the front seat. Jennifer doesn’t like being squished in the back with strangers, so she thought it was better to be up front in case we picked up a sixth person. And while we offered to switch with them half way through, they were kind enough to decline our offer despite, at that point, us not having picked up anyone (and at that point it seemed like we might not pick up someone– even though in the end we did).

When we got to Tinghir, we used an internet cafe shortly so that we could catch up on emails and write our supervisor to see if she could send us our work schedule for the next week. We also wanted to let our families know that everything was going well so far. Then when we had done that, we hired yet another grand taxi to take us to the Todra Gorge, which is a huge gorge outside of the city. The ride there was beautiful and at one point, we were so amazed by the scenery that we had to ask the driver to stop so we could take pictures. The roadway we were on had winded onto a beautiful panoramic of Tinghir and its surrounding country side. The diversity of its landscape and the multiplicity of its palmeries was outstanding.

When we got to Tinghir, we got dropped off at the end of the gorge. So we immediately had the chance to marvel at the huge mountainous walls on both of our sides. It was like the mountain was a huge piece of cake and someone had taken one slice from the middle of it. And it was within that missing mountain slice that we were walking. Adding to the peaceful environment of the gorge was the river that ran through the middle of it and along our side.

After admiring the gorge for a little while, we were eager to put down our stuff somewhere. So we hit up a couple of suggested hotels in our Lonely Planet book, inquiring about prices. The first one was roughly what the book suggested, but slightly above what we ideally wanted to pay. So we tried another place, which was a cheaper alternative. When we saw the rooms, it certainly was a cheaper alternative, as the bed in one of the rooms needed cleaning and the bathrooms weren’t exactly the cleanest we’ve seen. He wanted to charge us 140 dirhams, but when he realized Samir and Madiha had Moroccan ID cards, he charged just 100 dirhams which is roughly $12. And for $12 rooms, we really didn’t have much to complain about.

At that point, it was late (almost 6pm) and the sky was getting dark. So we walked around looking for a place to eat. After following an empty road for 5 minutes, we were about to turn around and head back to the main strip where we knew there were restaurants, but then we saw a hotel to our right and above. Madiha wanted to inquire about it quickly, but we had all figured that it probably didn’t have food or anything worthwhile and that it was too tiring of a walk up the seemingly endless stairs to get there. So Jennifer, Samir and Eric stayed by the roadside as Madiha and I walked up to check it out quickly. At the top of the stairs was an amazing view and we were happy to have had least taken the walk up. After talking to the owner quickly and realizing that they had some good options for food and for rather cheap, we were about to decline anyway since we knew our friends were waiting below. Just then, though, our friends showed up, and having walked up the tiring steps and since the main strip was still 5 minutes away, we decided we would just eat there since we were so hungry.

What we thought would be a short wait for food, ended up being a very long time. But we ended up meeting a French couple who had started a non-profit in Burkina Faso and so most of our group kept themselves occupied listening to stories of how they got it all started and what they did. When it started to rain outside where we were sitting, we moved inside to where they had some tables. Waiting in the inside dining room wasn’t bad at all, because it was like a big living room. We all just lounged around and talked on the comfortable Moroccan furniture until the food came out.

Finally when the wait was over, they brought a tagine plate filled with a gigantic berber omlette for everyone to split as well as another large tagine plate filled with fries for everyone. Later on, after we stuff ourselves with fries, omelettes, and bread, they brought out our main dishes (in our case it was couscous and vegetable tagine). All the portions were very generous and everything tasted great– they really wanted to impress us!

By the time Samir’s dish came out, he was so full that he asked the waiter to put it in the fridge for him and he’d come back and eat it tomorrow. But just then it worked out that another person came in that was hungry and wanted a tagine also and since Samir hadn’t even touched his food, the waiter asked if he could give it to him. So Samir said yes and he agreed with the waiter that he would come back the next day and they would make him another tagine.

When the night was over, we realized that we had spent nearly 4 hours at the restaurant– hanging out and lying around like it was our own place! As we walked back to our hotel, we all agreed that we should get up early the next morning. I had originally suggested getting up around sunrise time to get the earliest start possible, but pretty much everyone else wanted to get a bit more sleep. So we all agreed on 7:30 to be up and ready to start hiking.

The next morning, Madiha and I ended up waking up around 6ish, so we decided to take a walk back to the restaurant that we had eaten at the night before to see the view from there. Since you had to climb lots of stairs to get to it, it was at a high enough location where you could see a beautiful panoramic of the valley that opened up outside of the gorge. Madiha and I sat there admiring the view and taking pictures until it was time to meet our friends.

As soon as we met up with the rest of the group, we immediately began our hike. We walked again through the gorge, but this time, we took our time. It was still quite empty there, since the other tourists hadn’t woken up yet. Once we got through the gorge, there were two ways we could go. There was a road that continued on to a small gorge about 20 minutes away and there was a hiking path off to the left that led up to the gorge’s summit which we were told about the night before. So when we got to that point, we split left for the hiking path.

The hiking path was quite beautiful and we stopped at points to play around as we approached different landscapes. Samir climbed onto a huge rock and posed for all of us to take pictures. Then later up the way, Eric, Madiha and I played a game where one person throws up a big rock in the air and then everyone tries to hit that rock with smaller rocks while it’s still dropping. And when Samir caught up with us, he joined in while Madiha videotaped us. Then afterwards we all tried to throw our rocks and land them perfectly in a small cave opening that was far away. Of course, we didn’t stop playing until all of us had succeeded.

Further up the way, there were two Berber woman leading donkeys down the mountain. It was actually quite a nice site at first as we saw them from below and heard them singing loudly. But as they approached us, they began asking for money. Everyone figured that if we were giving them money, we may as well take pictures of them. So we took our pictures and gave them some of what we had. But they asked for more and more and from each one of us. So we gave them a bit more and we were on our way. A couple of times Samir yelled out in imitation of their singing and we all quickly tried to shush him so that they didn’t hear.

A short time later, Eric saw a route to the top that would divert off the main path. Since there were 5 of us and since Jennifer was wearing just sandles, I suggested we take the easier, regular route. However, Samir and Eric seemed to have a strong preference for the more difficult alternative route. I suggested that we could split apart, thinking that Samir and Eric could take that way and we could take the easier path, but Samir wanted the group to stay together. So Madiha and I agreed and before we knew it we were climbing up the steep rocky mountainside.

As we got up higher, it was clear that this wasn’t a path at all, but that we could probably still make our way to the top. But it was also clear that a person wearing sandles couldn’t make it up this way. There were a lot of loose rocks and the sturdy footing was quite small at times and required good traction. For that same reason, Samir and Jennifer had diverted off to the side of where we had climbed and were still a good distance below us.

When they stopped, it appeared to us that they had given up on the path and we warned them that Jennifer couldn’t make it up in sandles. At that point, it would have been more dangerous for us to come down that same path than to go up, and we really wanted to get to the top. we suggested that they could take the usual path and we could meet them at the top, but it appeared that they wanted to head back down at that point. So Eric mentioned that we would just go to the top and be right back shortly, since the top seemed to be so close and seemingly it wouldn’t take a lot of time. I then mentioned to them that if we didn’t see them on the path down we could just meet them at the hotel, warning them that it might take a couple of hours (since my experience with hiking has been that it’s always a lot longer than you first expect).

So we split our ways and Eric, Madiha and I continued climbing up the mountainside using our hands and feet to make our way to the top. After a little while, we climbed over the mountain’s edge and made it to the top! We stomped our way over to the highest hill of the long, flat, and open mountain top where we celebrated our accomplishment! The view of the countryside that stretched out for miles in front of us was very rewarding and we were all so happy to have made it up.

After taking in the view for awhile, we decided to walk a little bit further to the other edge of the mountain so we could look down the gorge that we had walked through. But when we got over to where we thought the edge was, there was another huge field of rocks and plants in front of us. The was just enough of a decline that from where we were, it had looked like an edge, but alas we were tricked. As we peered out further, the edge seemed to be in sight again, so we walked for another 10 minutes to reach it. But of course, as we approached what we thought was a cliff, another vast stretch of land opened up in front of us. And then again, we saw yet another edge. Admittedly, we were suckers to this endeavor, but we figured that we had already walked this far and if there was a chance that it might be the edge, we owed it to ourselves to see it. So we trekked on further and further, feeling like fools as we reached yet another stretch of trickery in front of us. This continued to happen another couple of times, and I must admit that I was the ring leader of this ridiculous expedition, leading the charge and dragging Eric and Madiha along with me.

After hiking for over an hour, we were all set to give up. But I told Eric and Madiha to let me go ahead to try just one more time to see if this last cliff was the cliff. I ran very far ahead and when I disappeared below the next “cliff” that they had seen, they had no choice but to follow. When finally I reached the edge in front of me, there didn’t appear to be another valley ready to open up. So I crawled towards the cliffside to take a look down. As I looked down and over the edge, I saw two huge cliff walls and I could see the top of a hotel far below at the bottom of the gorge. As I stared down, the magnificence of the height and scale of the gorge next of me overwhelmed my thoughts and I imagined myself plummetting to the bottom. I imagined what I’d be thinking if that actually happened and how people would react to my body splattering on the roof of the hotel. As these visions ran through my head, I backed away from the cliff.

Excited, I ran back the way I came to tell Eric and Madiha that I had reached the cliff and that they only had a little bit further to go! At first they were still out of sight and they couldn’t hear my screams of excitement. But when they heard me and saw me waving them on, they made their way to where I was. And from the vantage point there was also a very worthwhile and gorgeous view of one of the valleys below. So after Eric and Madiha explored the cliff side next to us, we relaxed there taking in the scenery before heading back.

The way back seemed to be endless and we didn’t realize just how far down we had hiked to see the gorge’s cliffs. It took us well over an hour just to reach the regular path down and we were rushing the whole way. We knew that at this point we wouldn’t be getting back to the hotel in the time we expected and we felt bad thinking that Samir and Jennifer would be waiting for us. At one point, we stopped when we saw two people hiking up the path we were heading for. It was still a far distance away, but from where we were, it looked like it might be Samir and Jennifer. So we yelled out to them just so they would know we saw them and that we were heading back. When we waved our hands in the air, they seemed to see us, but they were too far away to hear to make out any of our yells.

As we continued on, we felt a bit better knowing that they had seen us and thinking that we might meet up with them on the trail soon. But when we got to the point where we thought they had been, we didn’t see them. We were tired at that point, so we took a moment to rest, and as we did, we yelled out for them to see if they were closeby. As soon as I yelled out, I immediately heard a yell back. I was so confused at how they could react so quickly and yell back, but I couldn’t make it out. I thought it might be my echo, but Eric thought that it was them. So we yelled out some more. As we yelled louder and louder, the yells came back louder and louder, and as we listened closely, our voices were being echoed from one mountainside to the another and to another, before bouncing back to us! When we yelled out we would hear ourselves echo at least 4 times over! So we started yelling out in excitement, saying silly things and listening to our echoes repeat them! I even took my video camera out to record ourselves doing this as we all got such a kick out of it!

 When finally we had our fill of that game, we were back on our feet and walking down the path again. We were very tired because the hike ended up being much longer than we expected and we hadn’t eaten or drank anything at all. When we got up in the morning, we thought that we could find a shop to buy water from at least, but nothing was open. So we hiked without taking anything. Not the smartest idea– we know.

After awhile, we saw a Berber man coming up and he had a filled bottle of water. So Eric and Madiha asked him for a sip. I was surprising ok without water, but I figured I may as well take a sip too. But after I had, I deeply regretted it because the taste of water after not having it for awhile only made my mouth drier and made me thirst for it in a way that I hadn’t before. Madiha and Eric felt similar too, and as we hiked down the rest of the way, we got very thirsty.

When finally we made it to the bottom, we stopped at the first place we found to buy two large bottles of water and a cup of orange juice. Eric watched in amazement as we practically inhaled the first bottle of water and then asked him if we could have a bit of his! In a matter of a few minutes, we finished both bottles, gulped down the orange juice, and were on our way to our hotel to find Samir and Jennifer. At this point it was nearly 2:30 and we had previously discussed checking out of the hotel and leaving the gorge area around 12 noon.

A short walk later and nearby the hotel, we found Samir and Jennifer. They were upset and worried about us. We apologized for taking so long and explained to them that we didn’t realize how far we had actually hiked and how long it would take to get back. We didn’t talk about the details right then, but instead made plans for lunch. We had wanted to eat quickly so we could be on the road while it was still light out so we could see the scenery on the road to our next destination, Ourzazate. Samir had already paid for a tagine that he didn’t eat at the restaurant from the night before, so Jennifer suggested going there. We agreed and were on our way.

When we got there, Samir ordered something else instead, for the sake of time and we just got something small. We told the waiter that we were in a rush, but it seems he didn’t quite get the message. The food took quite a long time to come and we became terribly behind schedule. At dinner, the whole hiking issue came up and Samir discussed with us his anger for splitting apart. Culturally, his idea of traveling in a group is that when you go somewhere in a group, you don’t split up. Every member of the group compromises with each other so that everyone can stay together and see everything as one. That viewpoints differs greatly from the American standpoint whereby if you travel with a group somewhere, its only natural to split into sub-groups when interests differ– with the understanding, of course, that each of the sub-groups meet up with the larger group at some point later on in the day. That concept seemed foreign to Samir and even to Jennifer, who said that groups typically stick together even in Canada where she’s from.

Samir also told me that he didn’t know we were going to hike the gorge that morning and that he had thought we were all heading down the other road to the small gorge. He thought that I had led the group to the place where I wanted to go without consulting everyone else. Eric spoke up at this point and explained to Samir exactly what I had been thinking– that we (Eric, Madiha and I) were under the impression that everyone including Samir and Jennifer had known and agreed upon hiking the gorge instead of heading to see the small gorge down the other path. Just then, the grand taxi driver that we had called showed up and we were off on our way back to the main city of Tinghir where we planned to pick up another grand taxi to Ourzazate.

When we got to Tinghir, the grand taxis wanted to charge us a ridiculous price to take us to where we wanted to go. So we refused it and looked around for other options. All of the buses seemed to be running later at night and we didn’t want to be stuck driving too late at night. We were all quite restless to get on the road as soon as possible.

After pursuing a few failed options, Samir suggested hitch hiking. However, the highway was still quite a distance away, so we could only really hitch hike on the main road there in that small city. So Samir stuck out his thumb on the side of the road, while the rest of us sat down on nearby stairs. When finally a bus drove by, they stopped and waved us on! They were heading to Ourzazate and would be there in 3 hours– 1 hour longer than we had been planning for, but much cheaper. So we all ran on–happy to be on the road before it got much later!

After arriving at the hotel, we were tired and hungry from the trip there. But since we had been up and working out arrangements since 6-6:30, it felt like it was much later in the day when we arrived at the hotel sometime after 8 am. So at 9 am we ended up ordering lunch. Madiha and I got early morning spaghetti!

 We had a long time to waste before we’d be heading out to the desert, so we inquired about dune boarding. Before we knew it, a man showed up and lead us to his shop where we had tough negotiations before walking away with 3 snowboards for the 5 of us. Then he lead us out to a decent sized dune so we could try it out. Jennifer’s feet were hurting her, so when we got close to the dunes, she decided to wait in the shade until we were. Then we headed further into the desert where we could find a good incline.

Samir had never been skiing or snowboarding before, so he was quite eager to try it out. When we got to the top of the dune, he immediately strapped onto his board and hit the slope! Eric followed suit, and when he was done, I strapped in and headed down! On my first run, I made it the furthest without falling, but I did wipe out near the end. When I walked back up the dune, half my face was covered in sand and I was spitting it out of my mouth!

After I went down, the guy who lead us there showed us how we could go down on the snowboard as though we were using it as a sled. So when Madiha went for her first time, she sat down on the board and sledded down the dune! So for the next 20-30 minutes, we continued to sled down and walk back up the do it all over again. Before we left, Eric and I climbed up to an even higher dune to try something different. But after we had done it, I was so exhausted from climbing it that I felt sick. And before Madiha was finished, she tried using the snowboard in the usual way, and she snowboarded down the whole way on her first time without falling at all!

When we got back to the hotel, we hopped in the pool. But a quick hop is about all we accomplished. The water was FREEZING, even despite how hot we were in the desert! But it felt good to rinse off and be refreshed. And I took a shower afterwards since I was soooo dirty! Then afterwards, we still had nearly two hours to spare before we would leave on our desert trek, so we all went to our rooms and napped.

Napping turned out to not be the best idea. Not only did no one set an alarm clock, but when I woke up, I felt very sick– my head was aching and I felt the way one feels when he wakes up abruptly, having gotten little sleep and perhaps having been a little dehydrated. We were supposed to leave around 4:30 pm and when I woke up, it was nearly 4:30 pm. So I went around to wake up Eric, Jennifer, and Samir. By the time we actually woke up, and packed up the things we needed to take with us, it was nearly 5 o’clock and we were now running late to get to our camp site in time for the sunset.

Nonetheless, we were excited to get on the camels and head out. There was still a decent amount of sun light left, so we got to trek for a little while on our camels while fully admiring the beautiful Sahara. We all had our cameras on hand, and as the sun began to set, we fired snapshots rapidly at the red dunes around us. As the sun sank below the horizon, we stoppped to admire the tranquility of the moment.

At some point, Samir had decided he should get off his camel. His legs were hurting him badly and he thought that walking would be a better alternative. So our trek leader stopped and before he could help him off the camel, Samir swung both his legs to one side and then jumped. The camel made a loud cry and jerked in his place when he felt Samir lunging off of him. Then in his anger, the camel stomped his feet and paced his neck from side to side in frustration. Eric’s camel in the front curled around to see what was going on, ready to protect Samir’s camel if he were in danger. It took a moment, but the trek leader was able to calm down the camels so we could continue on. However, Samir’s camel, which was in back of me, trekked along bitterly and at times, when his face got really close to me, I thought he might misdirect his anger at me and bite me. He looked very disturbed for the remainder of the trek.

In any case, we continued on our way, trekking even when it was pitch dark and all we could see was the dim glow of Samir’s flashlight in front of us. Occassionally the flashlight would suddenly go way off course and Samir’s excited voice would ring out in the night, exclaiming, “Look, it’s a desert mouse!”

A short time later, and few more of Samir’s discoveries and we had arrived to our camp site. As we got off our camels, we stepped right into camel dung. There was so much of it where we were that you could barely even find sand at first. And for Jennifer, who had been riding the camel barefoot, stepping on camel dung didn’t make for a very welcoming arrival.

We were very pleased to see our camp site. It was an open space encirled by tents all around it. In the middle of the tents was a large berber rug and plenty of cushions and pillows for us to relax on. Then a short time later, our trek leader brought us out a table and some tea. Then when we were done with that, we took a walk aroud the desert, guided by Samir’s flashlight. We met a couple of Australian girls and talked to them briefly and then headed back to the camp site. After we sat down and relaxed once again, our trek leader brought us out two amazing looking tagines. One was with meat for Jennifer, Samir, and Eric, and one was just vegetables for Madiha and I. And they tasted almost as amazing as they looked. With our appettites and with how good it was, Madiha and I nearly finished the entire tagine (and it was quite big). Then after dinner, we all lounged around playing the “what if” game, challenging each other on our different views and asking each other how we would rather our children turn out (which always makes for interesting discussions).

Before going to bed, we set our alarm clocks for 5:30, so we could be up in time for the 6:00 am sunrise. There was a large dune that looked over our camp site, so in the morning, we woke up and hiked to the top of it. Now, if you think hiking is tiring, you should experience what it’s like to hike up a high sand dune. Every step seems futile, as you sink deep into the sand and make little headway towards the peak. At first, I was following the lead of another hiker who had gotten on the dune before I had. And stepping on her already laid tracks made walking uphill much easier. But when she got tired and as it got closer to sunrise, I passed her and began leading the way– it exhausted me in no time! I had to stop several times along the way. But we made it up in time to situate ourselves, relax, and take pictures and video as the bright sun peaked its hesitant face over the top of the beautiful sculpted dunes in front of us.

As Madiha and I huddled together, soaking up the romantic serenity of a morning sunrise in the desert, we heard a sudden voice cry out, “Donkey, donkey, look guys, there’s a donkey,” Samir continued on, “there’s a jackass, and it’s heading into our camp ground.” Samir’s wife, Jennifer had stayed behind in the campsite because she didn’t have any good shoes to hike with and Samir came along with Eric, Madiha and I to climb the dune. So when he saw the donkey approaching the campsite since his wife was still there. After his moment of excitement passed, we chilled out for a while before deciding to trek back down the dune.

Eric and Samir decided to go ahead of us. Samir had carried a snowboard with him to the top, so him and Eric used it as a sled and doubled up to go down the dune. As they slid down, we took pictures and video of them. The Australians that we had met were there too, and they stood up taking pictures of them too as they sledded their way down.

Afterwards we talked to the two Australians for a bit. They were working as a part of a UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. They said that Cyprus was a much simpler place to work as a peacekeeper than other places. They also got a lot of vacation time, and spent it traveling to different destinations around Europe and Africa. We told them how jealous we were of having a job with lots of vacation and travel time and then went on to tell them about our situation in Morocco. Afterwards, we ran down the steep slope of the dune, doing cartwells and making huge lunges down the incline! Because it was a sand dune, it didn’t matter how steep it was. Because as you walked or in our case, ran down, you sunk in so much that you never felt like it was dangerous. If it had been a mountain slope of same incline, it would have been difficult to even walk down it and we would like have tumbled down the whole way. But climbing down this dune was so much fun, and we stopped on occasions to take pictures and watch the two Australian women who were having a great time on the incline too!

When we got back, we had a continental breakfast, with bread, jam, oil, and tea, and then packed up our stuff to head out. Before I left, I took plenty of pictures of the site. Then we headed back onto the camel dung and then back onto the camels. It was a long, but gorgeous ride back, and we stopped to take pictures of our dark shadows that were casted artistically on the sand next to us. When we were almost back, the Berber trek leader pointed out a movie set in the distance where a new film was being shot.

When we got back to the hotel, we still had about 3 hours or so before we had to check out. Although we were eager to get on the road to our next destination, we were also quite tired and hungry (once again). So we ordered morning lunch again. While we waited for the food, I went swimming and the rest of the group read or lounged around the pool area. Finally, after we had eaten and packed, we headed out around 12:30 pm to Rissani where we would catch a grand taxi to our next destination.

When we got off the bus, we waved down a grand taxi to drive us to the desert. Then almost immediately after that, before we could leave, we were approached by a man offering us a desert trek. Madiha and I are always wary of accepting the first offer, so we were inclined to say no and to see what other options there were for us when we arrived at the desert. The man said that he would give us a free ride to the desert (normally a 15 dirham per person ride) if we booked a trek with him and that he would arrange for us to stay in a hotel from the time we arrived (around 7 am) until we left for the trek at 4:30 pm later in the evening. However, since we’d be spending nearly the entire day in the hotel, we didn’t want to accept his offer without seeing the hotel we’d be staying in first. So he suggested that we come with him to JUST look and if we didn’t like it, we could decline and he would drive us to where we wanted to be at the desert and we could just pay for the ride. Samir had a strong preference to try this option out and to see what they had to offer, so Eric, Madiha and I hesitantly agreed. So we hopped in the man’s 4×4 along with his friend and the driver, and we were on our way.

The first strange thing that happened along the way was that the man we negotiated with got out of the car just 5 minutes down the road. Now we were riding alone with just his friend and the driver. Then further up the road, as we were crossing over a mini bridge, the driver spotted two policemen ahead. The law in Morocco is that the drivers and people in the passenger side seats have to wear seat belts. So the driver and the other man began to buckle up. But the driver struggled to connect the buckle and as he tried to get it to lock in, he forgot about the road. Just then we felt a huge thump and as we looked up, we saw that the car had sailed onto a very high sidewalk. We were now driving sideways and in two seconds we would have crashed into the bridge’s guard rail if it weren’t for the driver reacting quickly enough to swerve the car back on track. This put all of us in shock and we didn’t know how to react to the situation! Madiha and Samir yelled at the driver in Arabic, reprimanding him for driving poorly. But the only thing that mattered to him at that point was that the cops up ahead saw him hit the sidewalk.

So when we reached the cops, they of course pulled us over. The driver and the other guy got out of the car and were talking to one of the police officers for quite a while. Meanwhile, the other police officer asked to see our passports. He found it rather amusing that two Moroccans in the car were married to two North Americans. And at the time that he discovered Madiha and I were married, he asked us for our marriage certificate. As I begrudgingly reached to get it out, I asked him why he needed to see it. At that point, I think he felt embarassed and he knew I was reaching for something, so he told me nevermind. I’m not sure what happened then, but my guess is that the driver paid off the cops a little bit of money to overlook the fact that he had hit the curb. Then we were back on the road again on our way to the desert.

 A short time later, we diverted from the main road, and were now driving across a vast and open land of arid soil, with no clear path in front of him. The ride was very bumpy and we often found ourselves bouncing out of our seats and swaying left and right as he drove back and forth in different directions to avoid rocks and other bumps that we encountered along the way. As we got closer to the desert, we came to some large declines that we had to drive down. It was a fun, but dizzying ride!

As we approached Merzouga, I got the see the desert for the first time. The desert dunes were like beautifully scuplted mountains of smooth and glowing sand. They sparkled with a shade of red as the sunlight glistened on their magical waves. The strange thing though is that the desert seemed to just jump up out of nowhere. There didn’t seem to be any transition between the dry arid dirt that we were riding on and the mysterious dunes in front of us. The other odd thing is that, as we drove with the desert to our right, it seemed as though we were circling around it. I imagined the desert to be this giant sandbox, which if we continued driving enough, we could circle around completely. And with that thought, the desert seemed almost fake. But I knew in reality that wasn’t actually the case, but as we seemed to circle more and more around it, I couldn’t drive that thought from my mind!

Finally we arrived at our destination. It was a pretty plain hotel with a decent view of a large dune in front of us. But the rooms were very basic and there was very little to do at the hotel. Before getting out of the car, the man had told us that if we didn’t like this hotel, he would drive us to another one. So we left our stuff in the car as we looked around at this hotel. After discussing it and deciding that we wanted a place with a pool, we went back to the guy who was the passenger in the car and told him. He seemed to understand and promised to take us to a place with a pool. But when we looked around, the car that we left our stuff in was gone! We were very nervous, but the guy reassured us that the man had just ran to the store and would be right back. So with each passing minute we got more and more nervous– did he run off with our stuff?!! I had my cameras with me, but my passport was in the bag with my clothes! Finally, after what seemed like 10 minutes, the car came back and we all felt a huge sense of relief flow over us.

So we hopped back in the car and drove for another 20 minutes until we came to the area that was in our lonely planet book. He actually said he was taking us to one of the hotels in the Lonely Planet book, but when we got there, the spelling of the hotel was a little different than what was in the book, so we wondered if it was the same place. But we saw plenty of white faces inside and when we saw how nice it was, we figured it must be the same place. It had a pretty pool and a garden area that was very relaxing. However, as it turned out the hotel was booked up for the night afterall and we found ourselves on the road again in search of another place.

The next place was right down the road this time, and although it wasn’t as nice as the other place, it was still a pretty place in its own way and more importantly, it had a pool too, so that’s all that really mattered at that point. So we agreed on a price, and for roughly $40 per person, we got to stay in that hotel from sometime after 8 am when we arrived until 4:30 pm when we left for the desert trek. The price also included a two hour camel ride deep into the desert, as well as our tent, a big dinner that night, and breakfast the next morning, and finally another two hour camel ride back to the hotel where we would stil have our room the next morning until checkout at 12:30. More than anything though, we were just happy to relax after having drove around from place to place searching for a hotel for what seemed to be 2 hours!

With one week to go before the new session of classes started, we decided that we should take advantage of our free time and go travel around Morocco. Previously, we had been doing tasks around the ALC, such as fixing broken computers, completing paper work, and on one occasion Madiha and I both sat in on a class. But classes from the previous session were over now and we had completed all of the tasks we were doing. The last thing we had to stay around for was our first teachers’ meeting on Saturday.

Our friends Eric and Jennifer, fellow teachers with us at the ALC, and Jennifer’s husband Samir also wanted to use their free time to travel. So on Friday night, we all got together to discuss the possibilities of where we could go. We mentioned all of the nearby places that we wanted to visit but realized that we could see those places during a day trip or on our day off. Instead we thought that because we had 5-6 days, we should utilize that time to travel some place far away that we wouldn’t have the chance to visit during our regular teaching session. After all, our next major break wouldn’t be until Christmas/New Year’s time and we’d probably travel to Europe or sub-Saharan Africa then, so seeing as much of Morocco as possible now was very important.

In the end, I suggested that we visit the desert, since Madiha and I had always wanted to go, and then circle around back through the Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley, Ourzazate, and then back up to Marrakech from which we could either head home or continue our trip on one more stop to see the Ouzoud waterfalls near Benimellal. Eric had similar ideas in this regard and had very much wanted to see the desert too. But Samir and Jennifer had already visited the desert two months before and didn’t want to go again. However the rest of the trip sounded great to them, especially to Samir who had always wanted to go to Ourzazate. And when they went to the desert before, they only went for an hour camel ride, so idea of camping overnight there intrigued them also. So after further discussion they decided that they would join us for the entire trip.

After our meeting on Saturday, we went to the bus station and bought our tickets to Rissani, a city 30 minutes from the desert. The bus was to leave at 10:30 at night and arrive at 6 am the next morning. So with our tickets in hand, we went home to pack and get ready for a week long trip away from home. The end of our trip would coincide with the end of Ramadan, so we made sure that we were packed and ready to visit her family’s place for the holiday/eid celebration. Jennifer and Samir invited us over for dinner, so we ate with them and then rushed home to complete all of our last minute tasks, such as turning off the gas tanks, locking all the windows, and other small chores that needed to be completed before we left. Then with just 10 minutes before the bus was leaving, we ran out of our place to catch a taxi to the bus station down the street. We caught up with everyone, made it to the bus station on time, and were now on our way for an adventure through the south of Morocco!

Our bus trip to the desert was a long over night trip. I tried to sleep but unsuccessfully so. I might have slept for two hours at most, which was better than nothing I suppose. Samir on the other hand was full of energy. He was bouncing around and talking, when he wasn’t playing his PSP (and sometimes he was talking and playing at the same time). Eric probably got the most sleep, but then again, Madiha, Jennifer and I kept him awake for a long time with our loud talking in the middle of the night. Well rested or not though, we arrived in Rissani around 6 am and had to face the day ahead of us.