Atlas Mountains, Sahara Desert

Just hangin' out here in Marrakesh, you know... standard stuff really. My time in Fes, Morocco was definitely enjoyable. It's a massive city with pretty much zero city planning behind it. I'm told about 300,000 people live inside the old/medieval city, or Medina, making Tangier's medina look like sleepy hollow. On the first morning I met up with some Brazilian, German and Austrian guys who invited me along on a tour they had booked. Our guide, despite being official or so we were told, still took us to the carpet, leather and trinket shops (where he of course receives a commission for every item purchased). Not that I'm complaining, really - we still got to see a lot of the city - the tanneries where they make leather, and which smells like hell on earth, the place where they make tiles and bricks from mud, one of the current King's palaces, and various others. My two new Brazilian friends, Daniel and Gustavo, and I ended up leaving for a 3 day trek into the Atlas mountains and the Sahara desert for 3 days with our guide and a model human being, Namir. If you are ever in Morocco, get in touch with this guy for a tour (website).

I cannot emphasize how amazing this experience was. It was THE most beautiful scenery I have witnessed in my life.

The first day we had a pancake breakfast in a small village. Deeeelicious. We stopped for a bit in a town that looked like an authentic Swiss village (clearly a skiing playground for rich Moroccans - yes, there is lots of snow here in the mountains). Before the end of the day we had cross the Middle Atlas mountains. The pictures will speak for themselves. By the end of the day we could see Saharan sand dunes on the horizon. Did i mention we were doing this journey into the desert in a really nice Mercedes? So just before sunset we got onto our camels and had a guide take us 2 hours into the desert, a few Km away from the Algerian border. We stayed in an authentic Berber camp (the peoples who first settled Morocco, long before the Arabs or even the Romans). I picked up a drum and had a jam session with them. Sleeping in a tent under the desert stars is freakin' unreal. It gets near freezing at night but with 5 blankets you manage. The food and the hospitality was amazing. When the women went to bed we had 'man talk', them inquiring about whether it's cool to sleep with women before marriage, to have more than one wife, and the average price of a hooker where we live. Apparently masturbation jokes are universal.

Trekking out of the desert at sunrise was equally phenomenal. Getting back into our chariot we covered more of the Atlas mountains, hitting a place called 'Todra Gorge' which is indeed, a gorge. The river than runs thru it literally begins out of the ground at a point within the gorge. Cool pics but unfortunately a bit touristy. On the third day we make the final push to Marrakesh thru the High Atlas. The Grand Canyon is a piece of shit compared to what I saw here. The roads became treacherous and winding and as we descended the snow disappeard, the rocks became redder and the landscape lush and green. So very impressed.

Marrakesh is not quite what I expected. It's been defiled by tourists over the last decade and the hustlers in the main square (which is massive) are suicide-inducing. However, it's not to the point where it's lost all of it's medieval charm and a lot of the stereotypes still ring true, whether it's a show for a tourists or not (I don't believe it is entirely). The locals still make up the 95% majority of people that actually hang out in the square. Snake charmers, that crazy snake charming music, food stalls everywhere and mass confusion and chaos. Today we checked out some tombs of princes from the Saadian Dynasty, as well as two palaces, one more of a ruin really. Interesting places to check out for an hour or so but nothing to write home about.

I haven't quite decided yet but i'm likely to head off to Casablanca tomorrow and spend a day and a half. Then perhaps Rabat, and onward to South Africa from either Madrid or Frankfurt (Who knows). And now I'm going to go get some street meat and get drunk on Anise with my (now 4) brazilian and 1 Australian friends on the roof of our hostel. Peace out.

ps. the internet here has decided to screw me so no pictures available at this time, sorry!

*update Jan. 25 - pictures are now up, here