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Too much time in Marrakesh and souqed out, Sue and I went on a trip to the desert. I thought I couldn’t really go to Africa without going to the desert, and the only other desert I’d been to was in Mongolia and that was -20C....
We got up at the crack of dawn and then hung around for an hour waiting for the guide to pick us up and joined our mini-bus. I was really glad I was with Sue as everyone else on the trip was French or Italian (very nice people, but obvious language barriers). We then had an eight hour journey to the “desert”. We kind of expected, as we’d booked a tour through the hostel and by extension a travel agency, that we would have lots of stops and a guide telling us where we were, what we could see and hopefully learn some more about Moroccan culture and people. Unfortunately the driver could speak no English, and only basic French, so that didn’t really happen. Still, it was a good trip. Sue and I had a very good chat and put the world to right on lots of subjects. The scenery on the way out was absolutely beautiful and it was fascinating to watch the landscape change gradually from city to suburbs to mountains to desert.
For the first time since I’d arrived in Morocco, aside from the initial buzz when I arrived in Djemaa el Fna and saw all the crazy sights, I felt like I was travelling again. Something about long bus journeys, it makes you stop and think and become introspective in a way you just can’t be in normal life. It helps to put everything in perspective; you realise how small your problems are in comparison to extreme poverty, and wonder how people can seem so happy when they have so little, and you watch the landscape unfolding before you and remember how big the world is and feel very small.
Sorry! Anyway, so we had a few stops at famous places which are apparently in films like Lawrence of Arabia, unfortunately I haven’t seen any of the films so it was a bit lost on me, but they were very pretty and there were some cute donkeys. We also had “photo stops” where the driver would randomly pull up and herd everyone outside. As we were going through mountains you never knew if it was going to be hot and sunny or freezing cold with a strong wind, which was a bit surreal. There were also lots of stalls selling rocks and trinkets etc. At one stop I had to buy a scarf to alternately cover up my sunburn/protect me from freezing winds, and the driver fashioned it into a turban for me at the last stop. The Italian man seemed quite struck by this look and told me I looked “very well”, which was nice of him, but I was slightly offended as the scarf was actually covering my entire face.
Then the driver went off somewhere and we all got on camels for the last part of the journey. At this point we were still in a town and so not exactly in the “desert” as such. It turned dark partway through the journey so the last half hour or so was pitch black (the guides somehow knew the way). At this point I realised camel rides in the dark are more useful for reflection than bus journeys, and I actually made some crucial decisions while on my camel. I don’t even know his name...
Our new guides took us to a tent and left us there, then appeared with food and told us there would be a camp fire and singing later. Unfortunately, by the time this materialised it was 11pm and we were all tired and tucked up in bed. Other than that we were left to our own devices which was particularly interesting when it came to issues such as what to do as regards toileting. It’s fine, I’d begun to miss peeing outside.
And then the next day we did everything else in reverse. Getting back on the camel was not much fun after the previous day’s ride (we all had very sore bottoms) but at least it was daylight and we were entertained by the line of camels being led by a little dog.
And that’s my desert trip! Not much desert, lots of travelling, made a good friend and did quite a bit of thinking.
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