Tangier
After a morning flight from Madrid we landed in Tangier around noon to find that the trains were not running due to recent flooding. Our taxis drivers dropped us instead to the CMT bus station. Unfortunately the next bus was not until 7pm / it was only 4pm when we found this / so we purchased tickets / checked in our luggage and set off to explore Tangier.
We had heard that Tangier was a ‘get in / get out’ sort of place so were nicely surprised by what we found. We climbed up into the medina and were hit by a number of smells / sounds / sights. Sam went straight for the olive stand and we also found some bread / snacking in the central square next to the courtyard.
Eight foreigners sitting on the fountain grazing attracted a bit of local attention / or maybe they were just as curious of us as we were of them. We were fascinated by all the djellaba wearing jedi / long hooded robes like those in Star Wars seemed to be common dress.
After the snack we continued to explore the medina and headed up to the edge of town / looking across the Straits of Gibraltar to Spain. To fuel us for the bus journey we stopped at one of the seaside cafes and had delicious fish tagine before embarking on a very cold / long bus ride!
Fez
We arrived in Fez at 3am / the train would have arrived at 10pm / luckily we were still able to arrange a taxi pick up and the driver was kind enough to guide us through the Medina to our accommodation / we would never have found it without help.
After a sleep in and a delicious breakfast of olives / apricot jam / bread and pancake we sunned ourselves on the roof terrace and planned out our day. Once everyone was up we headed up to the hill to get a view across the medina. The medina in Fez is completely pedestrianised / apart from the leather laden donkeys. The tiny streets and alleys make it very difficult to navigate around but we eventually made it up a hill / even if it was not the one we intended / for stunning views.
Our next stop was the tanneries / which proved illusive. After walking around in circles for awhile we stopped for a tasty lunch of chicken and olive / prune and lamb tagines. Here we met a true-to-life American Jedi who was very helpful and guided us to the tanneries.
The tanneries were a sight and smell. For centuries they have been using the tanneries to treat and die leather hides. The colours were intense with red dye – poppies / yellow – saffron / green – mint. Sadly the men that work in the tanneries have a short life expectancy.
Having been lead through the workers and giant coloured wells / we were taken to a viewing platform and a leather shop. We succumbed to temptation and between us walked out with a leather jacket – Michael / wallet – Sam / bag – Liz.
Grinning with our first purchases of the trip we continued to wander lost in the medina labyrinth until dusk when we found a lovely café to sit and watch the sunset while drinking sweet mint tea / aka Berber whiskey. Determined to find our accommodation again we set off / after ending up down a number of dead ends we ended up paying a boy to take us back and settled down for a five course meal finished off with orange dusted in cinnamon.
Tangier to Tinerhir
On our second morning in Fez we headed out to Hertz to pick up the cars. After the usual paper work we started the drive to Tinerhir. We found the roads were good to drive on but lacking in turn-off signage. Unfortunately due to recent heavy snow the route we wanted to take was closed. This forced us on a major detour costing an additional three hours of driving. The mountain pass was very windy with large pot holes and a few slow trucks.
The scenery was amazing from dry barren red soil landscapes / to thick snow / to lakes with palmeries. It was amazing staring out the window at the people going about their daily business pulling donkeys along with them.
We restricted stops along the way and stopped for dinner just as the light was starting to dim. We inhaled a speedy dinner of Moroccan pizza / bread / olives before making one last push to reach Tinerhir. Thanks to better roads we arrived around 11pm / arriving to a second chicken tagine dinner.
Tinerhir
After a good nights sleep and tasty breakfast in the sun on the terrace / we headed out to the Todra Gorge for a hike. Using a suggested walk in the Lonely Planet / we climbed to the top of one of the summits in the Gorge. At around 2000 metres up we felt slight effects of altitude. The walk was supposed to take us 1.5-2 hours but ended up taking around 4 hours.
Once descended / we stopped at a lovely hotel for lunch / dinner and they kindly offered to open the restaurant for us. We shared a spicy tomato / onion / olive / prune omelette cooked in a tagine of course. We then collected our bags and drove onto the Valley of the Roses to meet up with Sri and Sarah.
Valley of the Roses
Arriving around 9pm we had a late dinner and shared stories with Sri and Sarah who had arrived in Morocco the day before and been out to explore Essaouira on the coast.
Waking early we set off down to Zagora / driving through oases and passing crumbling kasbahs. Unfortunately we had a tyre puncture on the way which required a change of tyres and changed our plans. Fi was quick on the phone to companies recommended in the Rough Guide and arranged a change of cars in Zagora to 4WDs and a night in the desert complete with camel trek.
Sahara
About 2 hours after leaving Zagora by 4WD we found ourselves at a camp ground in the Sahara Desert. It was fantastic and as darkness fell the sky lit up like a snow globe with all the stars and constellations clearly visible.
The camp housed a crazy Englishman who had come out to get a feel for the place before competing in the Marathon des Salbes in April / 5 marathons over 7 days in the Sahara. We have his details so will keep an eye on his progress when the race begins.
With all the driving and eating / we felt a desert dessert walk was in order / heading up into the 300m sand dunes of S’Giga with the Englishman acting as guide.
The next morning we woke at dawn to ride on camels. They were a lot more comfortable than we had been advised and a bit of fun.
After breakfast we headed back to Zagora stopping en route at the sacred oasis. Back in our cars we headed to Ourzazate to talk to Hertz and get a new car tyre.
Ait Benhaddou
En route to Marrakesh that evening we stopped in at a world heritage site / Ait Benhaddou / for a photo stop. Ait Benhaddou is an impressive preserved Kasbah on a hill and a film set for Laurence of Arabia / Jesus of Nazareth / The Mummy / amongst others. Ignoring the offered 10 dirham donkey ride across the ankle deep river / we wadded over and took many photos.
Back in the cars we started our climb over the challenging Atlas Mountain pass / pot holes / narrow roads / clouds / hairpin bends / large trucks. Full credit to our drivers for getting us at our destination safely. We arrived in our Riad in Marrakesh late evening.
Marrakesh
We had one full day in Marrakesh during which the team split up / some went sight seeing while others shopped the souks. We purchased / one large tagine – dinner for 6 people / two small ornate yellow tagines / one iron lamp / one large green engraved plate / one leather hold-all / a pair of leather sandals for Anna. The most we have ever bought on a trip but it was too tempting due to the selection of goods and the affordable prices. Sam really got into bargaining / and was even trying on 2 dirham (18p) postcards!
Tired from a day bargaining / we relaxed on the Riad’s terrace sipping tasty wine and popcorn. The Riad was owned by a lovely French couple who joined us for a glass of wine. They had only been in Marrakesh for one year but in that time had done a fantastic job on the décor.
Suitably ‘chillaxed’ / new word for us / we headed to the central square for dinner and bargained our way to having 4 free meals. After some last minute shopping / bargaining / it was time to pack all our wares and head to bed before a mid morning flight back to London.
Summary
All in all it was a fantastic trip / although it would have been nice to have two weeks instead of one. Everyone got on well and we had many laughs together. Things that we will take away are the fantastic scenery / gourmet feasts / friendly people who went out of the way to help / and the shopping in Marrakesh.
Wandering words 