Internet access isn´t very traveller friendly in Spain (that´s where we are). So we´ve got pics and stuff, but we can´t upload yet... soon!

Have a happy and safe New Year! (We´ll be partying in Seville).

 

We’re at the edge of the Sahara Desert and it’s absolutely stunning. There is a big set of huge sand dunes here, it’s called an Erg. From what I understand, the Sahara isn’t all sand, it’s mostly mountains, rock and dirt and from the top of the big dunes we got a good look in all directions. There do seem to be some mountains and while we can see more sand dunes on the horizon, the space in between is mostly rock and dirt.

The dunes here are amazing. I think I read that the big dune here, called the High Dune, is the biggest in Morocco. The sand is really nice, so nice that any beach resort in the entire world would want this sand if they could get it. It’s a nice color, a little pink from a distance and it’s the kind of sand that just falls off of you when you stand up. It does tend to collect in your shoes and pockets though.

We climbed the high dune today - not easy, but once we were on top we were able to walk around the whole thing, from peak to peak, on rather hard sand. We really enjoyed causing sand slides and running down the slopes of soft sand. I tried to get a snowboard for the day, but I couldn’t find one. I think it would be fun though.

The town here, Merzouga, is at the foot of the dunes in a dry lake bed. Strangely enough, it does rain occasionally and it actually rained both days we were here. Apparently, the town gets really wet and it suffered a nasty flood a while back.

The people here are Berber, not Arab. They sell all kinds of souvenirs, including rugs. The desert is full of minerals and semi-precious stones, so we’ve seen everything from jewelry to tea sets in silver and turquoise and a million other stones I don’t remember. They also use camel bone and leather for other things.

It gets really cold here at night, probably close to freezing some nights. Really it wouldn’t be so bad, but there’s no heating in our room, so it gets down to 13 Celsius in there. Richard made a little tent, I wore my toque.

We’re moving on today, heading north for Fes. Not sure when we’ll have internet again, but Quarks battery seems to be working again and we have a car, so it’s easy to seek out unsecured signals.

Hope Christmas is going well for everyone – no coal in your stockings… we have sand in ours!

Eid El-Kebir turned out to be much less terrifying (also less interesting) than we’d expected. Most of the shops and restaurants closed for two or three days while people feasted on sheep to honor Abrahams willingness to sacrifice his son. We did notice a lot of sheep leading up to the feast. Every grindstone in Marrakech had been dragged out to the street so people could get their knives and hatchets sharpened at the last minute. On the morning of Eid, we saw a lot of sheep on motorbikes. I know that sentence may invoke a certain image, so I’ll clarify; the sheep were not driving, I doubt they could handle it with their hooves, though I’m sure if they’d known where they were going, they would have tried to flee the city to escape their demise. No, the sheep were riding on the backs of the motorcycles, either tied on or being held. I noticed that not one was wearing a helmet.

By 10 AM on Eid, there were no more bleating sheep about, just bloody sheep skins and burning sheep heads. I don’t know why they burn the heads, maybe to keep them from rotting, but even after seeing them in fires all day, we were a little surprised to find a box of burnt sheep heads in the lobby of our hotel upon our return.

We didn’t stay in Marrakech all that long. We rented a car and took to the highway to see more of Morocco. We drove through High Atlas Mountains, The Dades Valley, Todra Gorge and now the edge of The Sahara Desert. We’re having a great time.

We know it’s almost Christmas, though it was nothing here that tipped us off. It’s chilly in some places (cold at night) but it’s not cold like we’re used to at Christmas. Certainly not white. And Christmas isn’t celebrated here. Actually, we’ve heard little mention of it. But we will have a nice Christmas just the same and we hope you do too!

 

The wind really picked up yesterday and I’m thoroughly impressed by the result. Our little stretch of land juts out into the ocean enough that if we stay on the beach, the dust and sand aren’t too bad, but if you go up to the road it’s nasty. We can see that further down the coast the people have it worse. It looks like fog, but with a sandy brown tinge. We’ve kept the doors closed, but it’s only a matter of time before we have sand dunes in the hall.

The power keeps going out. It’s a wonder they bother to turn it back on. It went out at least 5 times during the night - it was off more often than it was on. I know because I couldn’t sleep. There was a lot of banging and thumping. I got up to close our shutters, which got rid of one rattle, but it only made it easier to hear the tapping, scraping and howling. Richard not only slept through the night, he’s still asleep.

I can’t stop staring at the patio doors. I knew glass was technically flexible, but I’ve never seen it bend like this. It is a little nerve-racking as it can only bend so much…

I’m glad we have such nice patio doors to look through. I do like watching the seagulls who, by the way, love the strong winds. They float past the window going backwards and I could swear they’re smiling. The gulls haven’t done much more than stand around on the beach for two weeks and now they’re swooping, diving and soaring all day long. I’ve seen some interesting aerobatics in the last 24 hours.

For those who are less amused by the gulls – the die hard surfers for instance – the wind is a real drag. The ocean is white capped and rough, and the surf has been chopped up by the wind. It’s a mess. I saw a lot of bummed out surfers yesterday, standing on patios and rocks, staring out at the sea with their arms crossed. It’s looking even worse today. But, oh, wait, there are some surfers out there! They’re not surfing exactly. I think they’re just trying not to drown. It looks rough. I was hoping to spend the day body surfing, since it’s our last day here, but I think not.

Yes, sadly, it’s time to pack up and leave this lovely apartment in Taghazout. No more surfing, no more strolling on the beach, and no more staring mindlessly out at the ocean. It’s been nice, but the apartment is reserved over Christmas and we’re being evicted.

It isn’t the best time to travel in Morocco, actually. Eid el-Kebir starts tomorrow, and everybody is trying to get home in time to enjoy the festivities. We’ve got bus tickets to Marrakech already, so we’re set, but I’m not exactly sure what to expect when Eid starts. It’s basically a huge four day feast, but the only food feasted on is meat. We’ve seen hundreds of sheep being herded in the last couple of days and I don’t think they’re being shipped to petting zoos. But I hope they are. Richard says they’re going to the petting zoo in the sky.

Anyway, Marrakech should be interesting during Eid and after that we’re planning to rent a car and see more of Morocco the way we like!

Hello from paradise. We found ourselves a great apartment with a view of the ocean and we’ve decided to stay here a couple of weeks. We need the rest and relaxation, but we also need some time to think. I’m homesick and at the same time I’m afraid to go home because after all I’ve seen and done I know home will never be the same again; I’m a little worried that I might not like it.

At any rate, this village is perfect for me right now and I’m really enjoying every minute of every day. We have a great sitting area with sun and fresh air where I can watch the fishermen, surfers and birds. We have a fully stocked kitchen, washing machine, TV/DVD/VCR, satellite (1000 channels and nothing on – there are a lot of Arab sex channels and they’re weird, plus most of the ‘babes’ are blonde). There are goats that hang around town and I love feeding them carrot tops. Come to think of it, I’ve been eating a lot of carrots lately. The town is tiny and it’s a really relaxed atmosphere. There are a lot of surfers here from all over the world

I rented a surfboard and wetsuit and I’ve been trying to surf on the beach below our building. (In the water, not on the sand, I’m not that pathetic). I can surf! I’ve figured out how to paddle out when it’s rough: I just ditch the board and dive under the big waves, which means less pain and less ingested sea water. Once I’m out past the breakers, I’m great at sitting on my board and looking cool, which is important. Catching waves and steering are easy now. I’m sure I’ll figure out how to do it on my feet eventually! Doesn’t matter anyway, I’m having fun. I drank a lot of sea water, ate plenty of sand and exfoliated my face a few times (some of the waves are big) but I kind of enjoy getting crushed by the big ones – the ones that curl over your head and swallow you whole. I’m probably not going to drown or anything, it’s not very deep, just rough. I have several bruises, a really nasty one on my chin. As you can imagine, I’m hoping to avoid board-to-face contact from this point on.

Not much else to tell you, but we have internet now so I’m online everyday and I’m trying to ‘catch up’ with the world back home.

We’ll be back in a month – not long now!

I’m happy to say that Morocco is really quite pleasant. It doesn’t seem anything like India (so to those of you who said it was – thanks for scaring us half to death). It’s really been friendly, comfortable and (I dare say) relaxing thus far. We’ve only had one fight in three days and that was with a taxi driver, so it hardly counts.

We landed in Marrakech a few days ago and were surprised to see snowy mountains in the distance, not so much because there were mountains or because they were covered in snow, but because we could see them so clearly from the steamy parking lot in which we stood. Not that it’s all that hot here this time of year. It gets to the high teens and low twenties during the day, but the sun is really strong, probably because the skies are so clear. And when the sun sets, it suddenly feels like winter.

We took a city bus from the airport to town. It was a decent bus, maybe it’s nicer to cater to tourists, but we were the only people on the bus, so we can’t be sure. It dropped us off close to our hotel and we didn’t have too much trouble finding our way there. Our hotel was a traditional Moroccan Riad. It’s a home with 6 or so rooms opening into a central courtyard. Inside the riad, we were completely closed off from the city, unless you go up to the roof. The place was really unique. The walls were two feet thick, all of the surfaces were concrete. We had big wooden doors and a padlock over the doorway to our room, but I think they may have added them for us foreign guests who don’t trust a curtain to keep out thieves.

We checked in to our riad and stayed just long enough to identify the smell before heading out to check out the action in Jamaa El F’na, the infamous centre square of the city. The square did not disappoint. Within a couple hours of our arrival in Morocco, I’d seen snake charmers, been offered hashish by more than one old woman, had a monkey sitting on my shoulder, tried the mint tea and watched acrobats do kart wheels past me as I ate my Tajine to the beat of a thousand drums. Seriously! Well, okay, there were only about 10 drums, but they’re loud and the noise bounces off the walls and creates quite an effect. The square is full of locals trying to make a buck and they’ll do nearly anything to tempt you to watch and they’ll sell anything they think they can sell. Boxing, fortune telling, henna tattoos, massages. And then there’s the food; dried fruit, nuts, fresh squeezed OJ, escargot, cookies and more.

Some of the performers are quite talented, particularly the musicians. When they’ve caught you watching, they’ll hit you up for some cash. And if they catch you taking a picture, you’d better have a pocket full of cash. Actually, in one instance, I wasn’t taking a picture of the ‘guy’, but of the whole square. It was way zoomed out and I showed the guy the picture to prove it. He pointed out that he was in the picture so I complained that he was always “getting into my shot” and that he should move out of the way. Just as I was deleting the picture, the guy suddenly backed off and I noticed the tourist police rolling by. Too late, but it wasn’t a very good picture anyway.

The only not so interesting performers in the square were the snake charmers, believe it or not. I believe the snakes are toothless, but it doesn’t make much difference either way because the snakes are stoned. I mean, they just sit there, doing nothing, staring off into space. Occasionally the ‘charmers’ will play their flute or clarinet or whatever it is and the snakes don’t even blink. They don’t do anything. They just stare off into space but they move just enough to let you know they’re alive.

The old city in Marrakech is incredible. The streets are narrow and shaded and while we wandered around I felt like I was in a maze. We got lost every single time we went out. Fortunately, the local people are always pointing in some direction or another and I don’t think many of them were lying. It also helps that every road leads to the main square. Walking in the old city isn’t too bad. There are no cars on the streets during the day, just mopeds and donkey drawn carts.

We also visited the tanneries where goat, sheep, cow and camel leather are processed and dyed. I was fascinated by the big vats of pigeon poop - apparently a good source of ammonia. We got coaxed into a leather store after our tour and while the sales tactics were a little ‘high pressure’ they let us go without too much of a fuss. We liked some of the stuff, but it wasn’t nice enough or cheap enough for us to make room in our backpacks for it.

After just a couple of nights in Marrakech, we left for the coast. We’re now in Taghazout, a small fishing village north of Agadir. The bus trip out here was great. We took the state run bus that is generally used by tourists and it was quite comfortable. The scenery between Marrakech and here was unbelievable. We went through the Atlas Mountains and, as Richard said, it felt a little bit like we were on Mars. The ground is covered with red rock and sand and against the blue sky, it was remarkable. There are also a lot of trees on the plains, probably oranges and olives for the most part, though some trees looked a bit unusual. Speaking of unusual – I was trying to take a picture of a village when something odd appeared briefly on the camera screen. I turned to Rich and said, “It went by too fast for me to have seen it right…”

And then I saw it again. “Oh,” I said. “I did see a goat in a tree!”

“Yeah,” said Rich. “I saw a couple.”

“They can climb trees?”

“Apparently they can.”

The trees were quite short and the goats were standing on the lower limbs, but there were indeed goats in trees, munching on the green leaves. There isn’t much else to eat out there. But, no pictures. As I said, it went by pretty fast.

 

Let me apologize again for not posting an update sooner… for some reason internet has been a huge problem for the last few weeks. We can’t find any; we find it and it doesn’t work; we find it on an old 286 that can’t load a web page; we find an internet café and can’t install any of the necessary software… It’s ridiculous! This is Europe!

Anyway, tonight we’ve got a bit of internet. It took hours of fiddling to get Quark connected, so we’re just going to upload it all!!!

So, we’ve seen a bit of Spain. As usual, it’s just a bit. To be totally honest, it’s even less than usual. I guess we’ve finally burned out. We’re both finding that any city is like every other city, every church looks like all the other churches and museums… they’re okay, but they cost too much. It doesn’t matter that we are in Spain – we could be anywhere right now and we’d feel the same way.

I’m a little surprised by my attitude lately. Sure, I knew a year was a long time, but I thought it would be easy for me. I was worried I’d never want to go home. At least Richard hasn’t been hit by any sudden mood changes. He wanted to cancel the trip before we left.

But the end is near. The actual end comes January 15^th and we’d like to stick it out until then just to be able to say we made it. But the immediate end comes tomorrow when we fly to Morocco.

Now, let me explain… Richard is worried sick and dreading everything about Morocco. I will admit, Morocco isn’t going to be a lovely, civilized place and it hardly sounds like the right destination to hit given our current state of minds. However, I found a nice little fishing village on the Atlantic coast of Morocco that is supposed to be great for surfing, snorkeling and just chilling out. And the promise of chilling out on a beach has convinced Rich that Morocco won’t be so bad. I really hope I’m right.

Anyway! About Spain… Um, it’s okay. It’s not that much different from the rest of Europe for the most part, except that there is a lot of very dry, deserted land in the middle of the country. Lots of olive trees (I mean millions and millions).

The trains in Spain aren’t all that great. The trains are older, (brown tweed? Seriously, how is that even possible? Don’t they have to reupholster every decade or something?). They’re also a little louder and there seem to be more people on them. We got a couple of meals on the trains here, which should be a good thing, but I guess I don’t really like calamari in brown gravy. And the cold salmon in clear jelly didn’t go down without a fight. They did serve alcoholic drinks before, during and after the meal and we tried to get our money’s worth in that department, but I don’t think we even came close. You see, the trains would be fine, I’d even say great, but I’m complaining about the little stuff because the trains are really expensive even with the rail pass. For the Barcelona – Cordoba trip we paid 24 Euros each as a supplement to our rail passes! For brown tweed and jellied salmon! As it turns out, every train in Spain has been expensive for us. We aren’t really sorry we got rail passes, but there are certain countries where train travel isn’t free or even cheap with a rail pass. If we’d known about all of the ‘supplements’ we’d need to pay, we would have given the rail pass a second thought.

As far as our sightseeing in Spain, Barcelona is nice, but expensive and I don’t even remember much of what we saw there. The opera house and the port and a bunch of the ‘old town’ are all that come to mind. Oh, and we found out that Barcelona has a lot of pick pockets. At the train station, the information people told us to ‘take care’ of our money and belongings before leaving the train station. They told us to be careful at the metro station. We always are careful, but we double checked that our pockets were empty and zipped up just the same. When we arrived at the metro station, it didn’t look too ominous. It’s probably all brand new since the Olympics were in town. We got tickets and made our way to the platforms. I heard Richard causing a commotion; bashing his bags against the turnstile – this happens from time to time. I spun around to make sure he wasn’t stuck and saw Rich scowling at another guy. When Rich caught up with me he said, ‘That guy was patting me down!”

“Wasn’t he just trying to sneak through the turnstile with you?”

“No, he was trying to figure out what was in my pockets!”
”Really? Are you sure?”

“Yeah! He did it twice! Seriously, if the pick pockets here are that incompetent, this city has a real problem.”

Richard has considered putting wieners in his pockets to give the pick pockets something to think about. An interesting idea, but I don’t want his pants to smell like wieners.

From Barcelona we went south to Cordoba. It was a little more memorable because there are so many old alleys and streets that cars don’t even fit on, which makes wandering a little more fun. And one of the best things I’ve seen in a few weeks is the Mezquita. It’s a huge (3^rd largest in the world), old mosque with a church built in the middle. It looks like they actually poked a hole in the roof of the mosque so they could put the traditional high cathedral roof in. Of course, there was scaffolding and we couldn’t go into the church part, so I don’t really know what that looked like, but I really liked what I did see.

In Cordoba we spent some time on the internet trying to figure out what we were going to do next. Once we agreed on Morocco we had to agree on reasonable travel. We found a cheapish flight from Madrid to Marrakech and we booked it. We’re now in Madrid and we’re flying out tomorrow.

Oh, and Madrid… I really like the old part of town. We haven’t done much, museums are closed today and there isn’t much else. But it’s a great place to walk around and we went to a huge park – that was fun.

So here we are. Where? Good question. We thought we’d take the train through Spain to Gibraltar and then take the ferry to Morocco, stopping along the way to see some of the sights. That’s what we started off doing, but we’re a little tired of sightseeing. We’re doing well if we manage to spend five hours out and about. So blogs? Well… I’ve just run out of things to say and since we haven’t done much… there isn’t much to write about.

Anyway, there is the whole Morocco issue that has had Rich and me arguing for a couple of weeks. He doesn’t want to go anymore and meanwhile I found out that there is some great surfing along the Atlantic coast so I really, really still want to go. My birthday is coming up, so we agreed we’d go, find a nice apartment for a week and just stay there. But we also agreed that 24 hours on a bus was out of the question and the place we're going in Morocco is rather far south. The train, ferry, train option is okay, but Morocco isn’t as cheap as we’d been led to believe and it turns out that for a little more, we can fly.

So we’re in Cordoba now, but we’re heading to Madrid where we have to catch our flight 2 days from now.

I will post a blog about Spain tomorrow and we do (of course) have pictures, but I haven’t sorted them out yet. We’ve spent every available computer minute working on flights and hostels… and there is no computer time on the train since Quark’s battery is dead and there are no electrical outlets. I will tell you all about the trains in Spain… in time.