Today I am in Chefchaouen, it is a town in the Rif Mountains and is quite beautiful. A lot of the town is painted blue and the streets are narrow and wind their way up the hills. A lot of the men still wear the Moroccan Burnoose round town which is very cute if not a bit klanish. The mountains surround you and at this time there are wild flowers in the fields.

But what did I get up to before this?

Mo and I got a lift to the border with the customs dude (I have had such good relations with the police and border guards on this trip - it is very strange) and drank tea with them before getting a ride with a truck driver to Dakhla. Yes, we did ride in the back of the truck for a bit but after the Moroccan border got to move to the front. Our truck driver was much the same as truck drivers everywhere with an unfortunate (but common in this part of the world) liking for Celine Dion. Sadly I had already had the opportunity to hear her new album prior to the long long drive to Dakhla but I tell you I still find myself humming one of her songs from time to time!

The Western Sahara really reminded me of Burroughs badlands. It is desolate but beautiful.

We only stopped in Dakhla for a few hours before heading to Agadir. I think that the teenage boys in this town are very bored but have fullfilled my wish to be called cherie many times over. Another thing I have loved about this trip was the opportunity to hear the words oh la la and for this to seem a perfectly natural thing to say. Just brilliant.

I stopped in Agadir for a night at Mo's boyfriend's place and lazed on the beach for the day before heading off to Marrakech. It is a pretty wicked town. There are traditional dancers and snake charmers in the medina at night and loads of food stalls. I tried to get lost in the souk and hung out in the Hammans. It was pretty fun. From there I headed to Casablanca where there is just the most amazingly huge mosque. I thought that I had been a bit mosqued out but this one was definitely an exception. Then I went to Fes. The tanneries look just like a postcard and the souk had even more twists and turns than Marrakech. And so today I got to Chefchaouen where I will spend tomorrow before heading off to Tangier. From there it is on to Gibraltar and Spain.

I am starting to dread the end of my little holiday as I have just had the most wicked time. It really has been quite amazing. And one side effect of travelling in the desert .......... a new found love affair with Toyota Land Cruisers.

ros from URL @ 11:07 pm