December 31, 2011
Hotel: Somewhere in the Dades Gorge
Nick and I are up early today for our scheduled 8:00 am pick-up by the guide leading our three-day, two-night trek into the Sahara Desert. The company we used, if any of you should ever feel so inclined to make the journey, was found at http://www.cameltrekking.com/index.html.
We spend roughly eight hours driving today. Along the way we maneuver the winding roads of the Tizi n'Tichka Pass (at an elevation of 2260m) and catch glimpses of the tucked-away Berger villages and snow-peaked mountain tops.
Around 1:00 pm we stop for lunch in Ait Benhaddou, a World Heritage Site kasbah that was supposedly used in more than 20 films including Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator.
After our fill of tagine, we drive on through the town Ouarzazate, home of Atlas Studios, a Moroccan film studio with impressive film sets built in the middle of the desert. These sets have been used to film movies such as The Mummy and Sex and the City II. We continue along through the Valley of Roses, Dades Valley, Skoura oasis and the valley of a thousand Kasbahs before stopping somewhere along the Dades Gorge for the night.
That night is New Years Eve! Nick and I spend it with our 10 new friends from the tour, eating tagines and sipping smuggled, warm champagne by the fire. Pretty sure being in middle-of-nowhere-Morocco was the coolest way I've spent New Years.
P.S. - On a geeky side note, I think it's pretty much the coolest thing ever that the mutually understood language in our car of people from Morocco, the Philippines, the United States and Switzerland was Spanish. I spoke more Spanish in Morocco than in Spain! Loves it!
January 1, 2012
Hotel: Tent in Erg Chebbi Desert
The group is up very early for a 7:00 am departure for another long day of travel. Fortunately, one of our first stops is at the Todra Gorge. The Gorge was one of my favorite stops on the trek. It's true size (300m) can't be fully appreciated until you're standing in the face of it's towering pass. Loved it!
We spend several more hours driving to what we have all been waiting for: the edge of the Erg Chebbi Desert of the Sahara! We arrive at around 4:00 pm and quickly saddle our camels for a two-hour sunset trek into the heart of the dunes.
You can tell how excited the whole group is as we run around like kids on caffeine snapping photos, running up and down sand dunes and laughing at the gurgling noises our camels make.
We reach our home for the night (a cluster of Bivouac tents) after darkness has set. After settling in we all join for a dinner of tagines and bread followed by music around a campfire before snuggling beneath a pile of six camel wool blankets for the night (it was freezing out!)
January 2, 2012
Hotel: Riad Nesma
I'm glad to have gone to bed as early as I did because the group is up at 5:00 am today in order to catch sunrise over the dunes.
The sight is truly breathtaking and totally worth the early wake-up call.
The rest of our day is spent covering what took us two days to drive before in just one. Nick and I arrive in Marrakech that night around 8:00 pm and manage to maneuver our way through throngs of people in Marrakech's frenetic Jamaa el Fna square (supposedly one of the busiest in Africa!) to our hotel. Thank goodness the riad we are staying in is a welcome oasis of calm.
We clean up, seek out our requisite tagine and pass out early.
January 3, 2012
Hotel: Overnight train
Today is our only full day in Marrakech so Nick and I make the most of it. We wake up early to another lovely rooftop breakfast, stroll through the stimuli that are the souks of Marrakech, enjoy snake charmers, shopping and, of course food. Plus, I manage to find a restaurant serving my favorite Moroccan dish: the pastilla. This amazing creation is made of ground meat with raisin and nuts, wrapped in phyllo dough and drizzled with honey. It is heaven.
We take quick nap that afternoon before heading to the station to catch our 9:00 pm overnight train to Tangier.
January 4, 2011
Hotel: Convento la Gloria
Today is another lengthy day of travel. After arriving in Tangier around 7:00 am (yes, you calculated correctly, that was a ten-hour train ride) we grab the earliest ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tarifa, on the Spanish Coast.
With the aid of a helpful local Nick and I manage to find the bus stop we need for the third, and final, leg of our journey to Sevilla.
After a 3.5- hour bus journey we have finally made it! We decompress from our trek in the hotel and then snag some well-deserved tapas and sangria.
January 5, 2011
So, suffice it to say the I adored Seville. It was the most pleasantly perfect weather out, orange trees lined nearly every street and the vibe was just so relaxed (and necessary after the past couple of days).
We start our day with a stroll around Plaza de Espana, a Plaza constructed in the 1920s for the Ibero-American Exposition that boasts stunning architecture, painted bannisters on bridges that cross over a man-made stream, facades dedicated to difference cities and regions of Spain and more. Plus, there are tons of horse-drawn carriages passing by.
After our fill of the Plaza, Nick and I take our time enjoying the shady calm of Seville's parks, taking a tour of its famed bull-fighting ring and, of course, eating, eating, eating.
January 6, 2011
Hotel: Clement Barajas
After a pleasant morning in Seville, it's time for Nick and to board the high-speed train to Madrid. The train is decidedly posh for public transportation and Nick and I enjoy brie and Iberian ham sandwiches as we watch the Spanish countryside whiz by at more than 300 km an hour.
When we arrive in Madrid we hit up our favorite kebab place one last time before making our way toward our hotel by the airport. The night is spent packing and re-packing trying to fit the goodies we've purchased on our three-week trip in our backpacks.
January 7, 2011
After a long day of travel, Nick and I arrive home in Boston around 7:00 pm. Now on to the that pressing matter of school starting the day after tomorrow...
*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern University, its staff or affiliates.
Hotel: Somewhere in the Dades Gorge
Nick and I are up early today for our scheduled 8:00 am pick-up by the guide leading our three-day, two-night trek into the Sahara Desert. The company we used, if any of you should ever feel so inclined to make the journey, was found at http://www.cameltrekking.com/index.html.
 |
| Nick and I in the Tizi n'Tichka Pass |
 |
| Ait Benhaddou |
After our fill of tagine, we drive on through the town Ouarzazate, home of Atlas Studios, a Moroccan film studio with impressive film sets built in the middle of the desert. These sets have been used to film movies such as The Mummy and Sex and the City II. We continue along through the Valley of Roses, Dades Valley, Skoura oasis and the valley of a thousand Kasbahs before stopping somewhere along the Dades Gorge for the night.
That night is New Years Eve! Nick and I spend it with our 10 new friends from the tour, eating tagines and sipping smuggled, warm champagne by the fire. Pretty sure being in middle-of-nowhere-Morocco was the coolest way I've spent New Years.
P.S. - On a geeky side note, I think it's pretty much the coolest thing ever that the mutually understood language in our car of people from Morocco, the Philippines, the United States and Switzerland was Spanish. I spoke more Spanish in Morocco than in Spain! Loves it!
January 1, 2012
Hotel: Tent in Erg Chebbi Desert
The group is up very early for a 7:00 am departure for another long day of travel. Fortunately, one of our first stops is at the Todra Gorge. The Gorge was one of my favorite stops on the trek. It's true size (300m) can't be fully appreciated until you're standing in the face of it's towering pass. Loved it!
 |
| Todra Gorge - that tiny thing in the lower-right corner is me |
You can tell how excited the whole group is as we run around like kids on caffeine snapping photos, running up and down sand dunes and laughing at the gurgling noises our camels make.
 |
| Dinner time! |
January 2, 2012
Hotel: Riad Nesma
I'm glad to have gone to bed as early as I did because the group is up at 5:00 am today in order to catch sunrise over the dunes.
 |
| Sunrise over Erg Chebbi |
The rest of our day is spent covering what took us two days to drive before in just one. Nick and I arrive in Marrakech that night around 8:00 pm and manage to maneuver our way through throngs of people in Marrakech's frenetic Jamaa el Fna square (supposedly one of the busiest in Africa!) to our hotel. Thank goodness the riad we are staying in is a welcome oasis of calm.
We clean up, seek out our requisite tagine and pass out early.
January 3, 2012
Hotel: Overnight train
Today is our only full day in Marrakech so Nick and I make the most of it. We wake up early to another lovely rooftop breakfast, stroll through the stimuli that are the souks of Marrakech, enjoy snake charmers, shopping and, of course food. Plus, I manage to find a restaurant serving my favorite Moroccan dish: the pastilla. This amazing creation is made of ground meat with raisin and nuts, wrapped in phyllo dough and drizzled with honey. It is heaven.
 |
| Souks of Marrakech |
January 4, 2011
Hotel: Convento la Gloria
Today is another lengthy day of travel. After arriving in Tangier around 7:00 am (yes, you calculated correctly, that was a ten-hour train ride) we grab the earliest ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Tarifa, on the Spanish Coast.
 |
| Spain! |
After a 3.5- hour bus journey we have finally made it! We decompress from our trek in the hotel and then snag some well-deserved tapas and sangria.
January 5, 2011
 |
| Plaza de Espana |
We start our day with a stroll around Plaza de Espana, a Plaza constructed in the 1920s for the Ibero-American Exposition that boasts stunning architecture, painted bannisters on bridges that cross over a man-made stream, facades dedicated to difference cities and regions of Spain and more. Plus, there are tons of horse-drawn carriages passing by.
After our fill of the Plaza, Nick and I take our time enjoying the shady calm of Seville's parks, taking a tour of its famed bull-fighting ring and, of course, eating, eating, eating.
January 6, 2011
Hotel: Clement Barajas
After a pleasant morning in Seville, it's time for Nick and to board the high-speed train to Madrid. The train is decidedly posh for public transportation and Nick and I enjoy brie and Iberian ham sandwiches as we watch the Spanish countryside whiz by at more than 300 km an hour.
When we arrive in Madrid we hit up our favorite kebab place one last time before making our way toward our hotel by the airport. The night is spent packing and re-packing trying to fit the goodies we've purchased on our three-week trip in our backpacks.
January 7, 2011
After a long day of travel, Nick and I arrive home in Boston around 7:00 pm. Now on to the that pressing matter of school starting the day after tomorrow...
*The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern University, its staff or affiliates.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteIt was very informative and I also digg the way you write! Keep it up and I’ll be back to read more soon mate.
Day tours from Marrakech