and on to Marrakech ...

3 December
We'd decided last night that we'd just have a slacko morning and wander into the village and maybe visit the school, when Miloud explained the itinerary. Brekky was simple, egg, bread, tea and coffee, packaged juice. Brushed teeth and the water was so icy cold it hurt! Once we put on as much clothing we had, checked out the views from the terrace, a big bank of fog rose in the distance before me and gradually enveloped the village, just looking at the snowy mountains with plumes of snow being blown off their tops in the distance made me cold to the bone …
   We walked over the bottom of the valley to the school, and noone was there, we entered the gates and peeped in a window of one of the buildings, it was very simple, tables and chairs, cement floor, not much on the walls, a teacher's desk and a cupboard, a few lights on the ceiling, with cds glued to crossbeams for decoration; didn't see any technology or heating whatsoever in the room. We looked at the other building too, as simple as the first, and round the corner a more brightly coloured building with "Children's World" painted around the doorway - a preschool? I looked for the toilet and found one WC whose door was open, it had small piles of pooh on the floor and the squat toilet was obviously blocked with debris. The schoolyard itself can't have been much bigger than 10 x 20 metres.
   Walked a little ways into the village, then crossed over to the left side of the valley, passing by some shops, the young men enticing us to come in and "just have a look, just for a minute, no need to buy, we'll still be friends if you don't buy" - how many times have we heard that now?! Stopped at small stall, where they had some woolen hats and I was tempted to buy one as my head and ears were freezing, and a small boy appeared and we asked if he could make a coffee - yes - and so tried on some hats and had a look inside the adjoining shop, with souvenirs, jewellery, clothing, thunder eggs, fossils … had trouble working out with the boy how much the coffee was as he didn't speak any french or english, but the hat he wrote on a piece of paper was MAD100 and the coffee MAD800, which didn't make sense, the hat costing AUD12.50 and the coffee AUD100! Gave him MAD20 for the coffee, which has normally been cMAD15 everywhere, but I didn't have anything smaller and he didn't have any change … oh well, no hat for me, but by that time the sun had finally arrived and so it was bearable …
   We walked further up the hill, looking to go a little further for "views" but came across a bigger 3-roomed shop, run by a very affable fellow called "Robin Hood 2", the original being in England. He told us that it was his father's shop, that he and his brother's took turns in the shop, that his wife, and mother and sister in law didn't work and that the money in his pocket was his family's money. He said that all he needed was to have a rich heart, not to be rich, that the village was his family and that everyone looked after eachother. A really friendly guy, with a big toothy smile and full of info on his and his fellow villagers' lives, that in the main everyone works to put food on the table and that was pretty much it, by farming, being guides, shops, etc. We spent quite a bit of time with him, with Sheryl buying a little souvenir as a momento of our time with RH2, then said fond farewells and wished him and his wife all the best as they were expecting their 2nd baby in 2 week's time.
   Walked back to our lodgings, and after about half an hour had lunch on the terrace, mixed salad and bread as well as an omelette tagine, which was delicious. Once lunch was over, we packed up our backpacks and said our farewells to Houcine, then followed Miloud up the l;eft side of the valley, passing by RH2 - Ibrahim - and saying hi and bye, and then down winding, rocky, hairpin bends down to the village to the hotel where our big bags were stored, passing many little souvenir shops with guys trying to get us in to have a look. Good to see Hassan again, loaded up the van, with a few old men trying to sell jewellery and daggers. And soon we were on our way, destination: the coastal city of Essaouira - said as "ess-oh-wear-a". Apparently hippies discovered it in the 60s, including Jimi Hendrix, who spent some time there.
   It was a tiring drive, I think we're all tired from lack of sleep and the cold from yesterday, as well as tired from the long drives we've had the last couple of days. Retraced our steps past the former Branson mansion, the continuing-to-be-built-road-with-sheer-drops, back thru to a town where we dropped in on a argan-production shop - a nut that is used to make oils for cooking as well as for cosmetics, soaps, etc - thru the grubby, litter-infested outskirts of Marrakesh, and the plains before our destination for tonight. We stopped at a truck stop for drinks, ice-cream and potato chips and facilities too.
   About 5km from Essaouria we paused at a viewing point, where we could see the town and the sea, and the sinking sun. It's not a big place, Miloud estimates 80000 people, but it looked smaller. He mentioned to us that this is the last drive with Hassan, and to consider MAD150-200 per person as a tip. A short drive into the town itself, once the bags were all off, we each in turn shook hands with Hassan - with tip - and thanked him for his driving and company, then we had to walk a handful of streets to our hotel, Riad Dar el Qdima, where we allocated our rooms on the 2nd floor, and to meet in the lobby at 7pm for dinner. The stairs were spiral and narrow, and it was also dark, having problems with finding the light buttons, and a relief to get to our spacious room #7, which has a queen and a double, and a nice bathroom - yes, hot water tonight! Decided not to have a shower just yet, just to freshen up, and dumped our bags and sorted ourselves out. Sheryl went downstairs to get a toilet roll as there aren't any in our room.
   Once assembled, Miloud led the way to the restaurant, which is in the old part of town, it almost felt like a part of old Europe, Malta as we drew closer to the restaurant - went up to the terrace - after shaking hands and greeting a couple of guys who I guess will be our hosts/waiters - where we would get great views of the sea if it was light, and could see part of the old fortified wall. Looks a nice venue, a quality place, and led to our table, and ordered, so much to choose from … I decided on grilled fish, Moroccan style, and Sheryl some gnocchi; I also ordered a juice of seasonal fruits, and Sheryl a Stolli … when it arrived it was just vodka in a tall glass, as she thought it was going to be a Russki, and so asked for some orange juice to be added, haha, funny! My drink was served in a big wineglass, like in Kenya/Tanzania, thick, fruity, delicious!
   There was a family on the next table, and a blonde lady - well dressed - came over to them, and Miloud greeted her as well - she and her husband are the owners. Dinner was yum, really enjoyed my fish, even though the bones were a bother. There was a fellow on a keyboard, with all kinds of backing tracks for percussion, so he literally was a one-man-band ... he was great. The man from the next table got up and went over, with his young son, who looked to be about 7 or 8, and then started to dance, using his feet like a spanish dancer, in rhythm to the beat, clapping his hands in syncopation, gyrating his hips, loved watching him move, he was obviously enjoying himself. His pregnant wife joined him, and their son got Sheryl up, then Simone, and Grant, so most of the place was dancing as there weren't any other tables of people there. Loved it!
   We realised it was time to get out of there as we needed to buy a phonecard, to call Stacey to wish her well for the wedding, so asked if we could get the bill and some change … once organised, we farewelled everyone, as well as the family, who were gracious, and complimented on their son and his company and good behaviour, wished them well for the new baby, the gentleman spoke quite good English and he was lovely with his farewell, welcoming us and wishing us a wonderful time for the remainder of our journey here. Retraced our steps back to the main street, the recharge shop was still open, bought a MAD100 phonecard, went over the road to find a phone … had troubles connecting, and a man next to us said that phone was no good, so we went down the road a little, and still had troubles, so we went back to the recharge shop and asked what the international number was - 00 - so we were in business … were successful, Stacey answered and we chatted to her, Dylan, and finally Lockie and a very quick minute with Reece, as a lady was waiting for the phone. In the meantime, there were a couple of fights between various teenagers on the street, the first looked to be because they were drunk … felt a little scary … back to the hotel, put our names down for brekky inhouse tomorrow morning, up to our room, had showers, bed, aaaahhhh!


4 December
At 9am we met with the others and waited a few minutes for our local guide, a lady called Rachida. We had her for a few hours this morning, as she guided us to the fishing port, to the fortified walls and towers, where there were Spanish guns still in place, thru backstreets and into the market area, to some artisans shops selling beautiful inlaid wooden objects such as secret boxes, boxes, bowls, bases, chests, tables, etc … just wonderful things … also to the silversmithing showroom next door … more wow!
   Rachida was great, forthright with her knowledge and opinions, answering all our questions: at one point Morocco was roughly divided between the French and the Spanish, the French being admired as "builders" of aspects of their nation, leaving roads, infrastructure, etc, and the Spanish as "destroyers" doing what they did in South America! Similar in antipathy as the Maltese have against the Turks and the Germans. The thing about 3 generation of families living together is that it good mainly for the younger and elder generations, that is was difficult for the generation in between, especially those in their 20-30s. There is not one word in Arabic that means "privacy", as there is none for people living in multi-generational homes. It kind of felt the word - or concept - of "family" means different things to those living in simple villages and towns - that is greater inter-dependence - than for those living in larger towns and cities. The message we received yet again was the religious tolerance that has existed between Muslims, Jews and Christians over the hundreds of years of coexistence. Rachida also said Essaouira was very windy, and that in August you couldn't wear enough clothing as protection against the wind. That Morocco has huge hydro-electricity generation and exports energy to France. As in Fes markets, we saw people taking their dough to be baked in bakers' ovens, In Fes we were told you could tell the relative wealth of those people by the type of tray, cloth that covered the dough, as well as the type of flour used in the dough.
   It was outside those artisan shops, opposite a very fancy hotel that we parted ways, saying thanks, a tip, Miloud having joined us said we had free time until 2:45pm tomorrow, when we have to meet at our hotel and then onto a local bus to Marrakesh.
   Sheryl and I wandered back thru town, found a small cafe for a simple lunch, then kept wandering for about an hour or so, finding a restaurant that has 3 different types of pastilla, asking the young man there if they were nice - 5 star - and he said yes, so we said we'll see you tonight - wandering in busy streets and quiet ones till we found a beachside cafe for a drink, chillax, to watch bunches of young men play beach soccer, watching the waves, the kite boarders, the wind turbines opposite the bay we were in … noice!
   Later, back to the hotel, to check, receive, send emails, and for me to update dairy for the last few days. We started to feel hungry after 6:30 or so, so we got ready to head off to that restaurant we found earlier today. But first we were told by the concierge that ouyr laundry had arrived and he required payment, so upstairs to get our jackets and money - MAD25 each for brekky and MAD150 for the washing = MAD200 = cAUD25.00 - cheap! Found the restaurant - Restaurant Le Mogadorean - easily, and we were the only patrons in the time we were there, realising we were probably really early as Moroccans tend to eat later than we do. The nice young man was there and greeted us, took our order, chicken pastilla for Sheryl, fruits of the sea pastilla for me, a Moroccan salad as entree, along with a mixed fruit juice for both. As per other cafes and restaurants, marinated olives with toothpicks and sliced up bread arrived with our drinks. The food was nicely presented, looked and tasted delicious, a very enjoyable meal. Afterwards, a small selection of Moroccan pastries with hot drinks. Meal was MAD290 + MAD30 tip = cAUD40! Took an extra businesscard fro Miloud, as a recommendation. Had a little walk around some of the streets, then arrived on the main street and to the phone we used last night for Sheryl to had a good, long chat with Ev.
   We have to check out at 12:30pm tomorrow afternoon, to meet up with our group at 2:45 before catching a local bus to Marrakesh, so we have all the time in the world to sleep in, grab brekky, pack, etc. A nice afternoon to ourselves! yay!


5 December
No hot water this morning at all! Damn it! Got our hopes up yesterday! Packed, took our bags down for storage, then into town, a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Found a crepes place that we saw yesterday and went inside for brekky - I had nutella and banana crepe and coffee, and Sheryl the apple and cinnamon crepe and a tea. At one point noticed the blanket next to me move and an arm pop out, saw a boy's face half look at me and realised that he was sleeping there! He stirred a few times during our brekky. Paid, then off for a walk around town, trying to find the battlements we visited with Rachida yesterday, but got lost. Retraced our steps and finally got there, and actually bumped into Rachida and said a quick hello, before we walked up the ramp to the fortifications where the cannons were lined up, pointing to the sea.
   At one cannon we saw a bunch of cats, in and under and around the cannon, about 7 in all, some interested in a bag of food - looked like pasta - under the cannon, others were sunning or playing. Walked back to the turret, amazed by the acoustics- standing in the middle, your voice was quite loud, this effect used as a warning by guards posted there - don't quite know how it works, but it was quite incredible. Wandered back into a big square, near the fishing boats, where we heard from Rachida yesterday that "Birds" [Alfred Hitchcock's movie] was partially shot there. Found a cafe and had a hot drink, watching the world and people go by. When done, back into the souk area, decided to go for lunch, bumped into the young man from last night's restaurant and shook hands and exchanged greetings, to a pizza joint that made pannini, hamburghers and crepes as well - the food was quite crap, but filled a spot, and we enjoyed the fizzy Orangina we love so much from our time in Paris - wish there was an agent for it in Melbourne … it's made by Schweppes - www.orangina.com.
   Miloud organised an old man with a handcart to transport our bags to the bus depot, so we followed them for c10 minutes, paid him MAD20 for his troubles, loaded the heaviest bags under the bus in the luggage bay, found our seats and after c10 minutes we were off on another road trip, in a big, comfy bus with spongy suspension that tooted all in its path … we were on our way and move over! A stop at a truck stop that we visited in our van a couple of days ago for c20 mins, time for toilet and a coffee and a stretch. Back on the bus and c30 kms out of Marrakech the traffic started to get more and more dense driving in the opposite direction, as well as the litter that I detest on either shoulder of the road. The traffic in Marrakech was quite heavy when we arrived, so many cars weaving in and out of lanes, cars, taxis, motorbikes, scooters, bikes, pedestrians, donkey and horse-drawn carts as well … organised chaos! What amazed me was the almost total lack of use of indicators by anyone, almost no helmets worn by motorbike, scooter and bike riders, hardly and headlights on by motorbikes and scooters; bicycle riders had no front or rear lights whatsoever. How noone got killed or injured during our drive into Marra, to the bus station, Allah only knows!
   Arrived at the bus station c6pm, sun was down and started getting cool … more organised chaos regarding the taxis, all the drivers seemed to be shouting at eachother and gesticulating, Miloud had a difficult time organising taxis for us, and once in, our driver was more than kamikaze, he was aggressive and fearless! It was a quick 10 minute drive and I swear we almost ran over so many pedestrians and motorbike/scooter riders! Arrived at out Hotel, which is 3 star - yay, saved the best till last, thanks Miloud - called Hotel Caspien. Ooo, it was so nice to walk into a decent lobby, with marble and glass, be given our key - room 203 - and to actually use a lift, yay! To our room, with a queen bed, a tv, aircon, a bathroom with a shower-over-bath, with decent towels and toilet paper … and yes, hot water too! Oh blessed relief! I immediately had a shower as soon as I could as I felt grotty from the lack of a real clean this morning. Oh goodness, it felt so good! Time to meet up with the group in the lobby at 7:30.
   Miloud led us on a good 20 minute walk into the city centre, to a very large square filled with people, foodstalls, and next to it, the souk. There's an International Film Festival on at the moment too, and saw a big screen up on a large wall at one end of the square. There were heaps of food stalls, a la German beer garden style in the centre, catering to all types of food, and Milioud led us to one stall, ordered drinks, we were seated and food started arriving: bread and 2 types of dipping sauces, various small plates of mixed salad, then calamari, beef and chicken skewers, end ended with a sage tea, which was very sweet, but definitely tasted of sage. When done, Simone went off by herself, Grant and we 2 had a wander round the square and had a quick look at part of the souk, then back into the square, listening to some of the music there, then decided we'd had enough and walked back. Grant peeled off at Mcdonalds as he hardly ate anything at dinner. About 10 mins later we reached the hotel, safe'n'sound, glad to be away from the crazy, noisy traffic and the exhaust fumes which was horrible.


6 December
We heard the construction site activity, as well as people working next to the hotel. Shave, shower, dressed, downstairs for brekky when we were ready - Grant was there so we sat with him and had a short chat. Grant plans to take a taxi to the other end of town and work his way back to the hotel. Sheryl found a photo gallery nearby so that's where we may start, as well as visit the gardens where the cyber park is, opposite the Complexe Artisanal. Wished Grant best of luck before we headed for Avenue Mohammed V, trying to find the gallery - passed a photo store, so may take my camera in there tomorrow morning to see about repair. Found the Gallery, in a building with heaps of medical practices, but it was shut, only open for a few hours in the afternoon, so may make it there later on today. OK, so that's that, took a slow, leisurely walk towards the gardens, seeing how different this main road is in the daylight, trendy inner-city shops and apartments and hotels; lots of noise from the road, plenty of smog in the air, visible in the near distance, hanging over everything.
   Reached the gardens, which were like an oasis of calm and peace in amongst this busy city … aaaaah, orange groves with palm trees and other trees and ferns and plants, well maintained and looked after, no litter, not many people there, all quiet and lovely, nothing like a good public garden I say! Plenty of benches, as well as vertical internet kiosks with screens … interesting concept - a few were being used, it seemed strange to be standing at a narrow, tall sheltered structure, using the internet, in a city park … looking at a sign I could see it was supported by all the major communications companies I could think of. Loved it, loved the contrast from the hustle-bustle.
   We stayed perhaps half an hour in the park, then headed further along Avenue Mohammed V to La Koutoubia, a beautiful 77m high minaret - apparently it exploded in 1569, and was rebuilt in exact detail. We walked all around it, noticing the pigeons and other birds - looked like small falcons - that floated around it. We then crossed over to Place Jemaa El Fna, the massive square we visited last night for dinner. Along the walk was the rank of horse and buggy drivers, all vying for your custom - I don't know how many times we said "La, shukran - no, thanks" … There were a lot less people in there, but saw small bands playing their instruments, snake charmers and juice stalls, fruits, nuts and spices stalls to. Had a wander round, poked our noses in the souk, but everyone asked us into their shops, which got annoying so we exited and found a cafe with a terrace so we could have a drink, chillax, and get away from the hassle below. It was nice to just look over the balcony and see what was going on down in the square and not have to think. Had a good look at the map to work out how to get to where we wanted to go next, which was the Palais Moulay Idris.
   Paid the bill with tip, toilet, with tip, then, after trying to find street names or any kind of direction signs, we ended up at Palais El Badi instead. We decided to adopt the attitude we see what we see, and what we don't see we don't see, as we figured the only true way to definitely get somewhere in particular would be to take a taxi. According to the map, "The El Badi Palace was built at the end of the 16th century by the Saudian Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour Saadi to celebrate the victory over the Portuguese army in 1578 in the battle known as the 'Battle of the Three Kings'".
   According to the info panels, this palace was stripped of it's marble, etc for a palace at Meknes. Once in - MAD10 each - you entered a rather large rectangular plaza, divided into 4, with sunken gardens - now planted with orange trees - as well as sunken pools, a central small raised square with great views to each end of the 4 axes, at one end of the long rectangular space was the Visitor's Pavillion, for entertaining dignitaries, there was only the foundation stones including remnants of pipes of the pavillion at the opposite end. You could enter various portals and go down tiled steps to other areas, including dignitaries' accommodation, and what may well have been servants' quarters, etc.
   It would have look such an impressive place had it not been rendered as practically almost ruins, with current day restoration work being carried out. At the corner closest to the entry point was a terrace from which you got a really good view of the plaza below, as well as the surrounding suburbs, complete with low lying smoke haze/pollution in the distance, obscuring what would have been a great view to the snow-capped Atlas mountains. Thankfully, there aren't any steel and glass high rise buildings, the tallest structures being the minarets of mosques, the standout one being the one we visited earlier, which was our direction-finder point, our point of reference for the city.
   We wandered down to an adjoining small square, looking for somewhere to eat, it was now after 2pm. Spotted a cafe with a terrace and had lunch there, spotting a huge tall eucalypt in the nearby square, felt like a little piece of home! After lunch we asked the waiter how far the Tombeaux Saadiens were, and what direction to take, and so, 10 minutes later we were there, and very proud not to have gotten lost, as the streets are truly chaotic and busy with traffic and people and noise and colour, so very easy to get confused. First of all we noticed there was another lovely minaret next to a mosque in a small square, saw that there were other tourists, and figured we must have been close to the tombs, passed by some non-flowing fountains, a few horse drawn buggies and other souvenir stalls … a man came over to say hello and ask where we were from, and by now had learnt to try to ignore, or say "la shukran" to these people as they always wanted to show you their shop, or take you to a stall or try to get you on a buggy, etc. This man represented a place selling 1000 spices, but did point out where the entrance to the tombs were, and said to come back afterwards and he would sell us some fantastic spices, the best quality, good price … to the ticket booth - MAD10 each - wound our way thru some extremely narrow, high-walled passages and found ourselves in a lovely space, with tall palms and orange trees, well  tended gardens with tiled, unnamed tombs, some with raised pieces of marble with arabic calligraphy on them.
   There were various incredibly intricately decorated enclosed spaces which took my breath away, with more tiled tombs in them … wow, I could have spent ages looking at them, but access to them was limited space-wise and there were people waiting to have a look too … to think what humans are capable of, to be incredible, ingenious, talented, artistic people, especially in times many hundreds of years prior to us walking this earth … this simply takes my breath away, the beauty stuns me, overwhelms me. We stayed perhaps 45 minutes in this gorgeous space, quiet, with the sun glowing on the mudbrick tuscan coloured high walls, cloudless blue sky above …
   On exiting we looked for La Koutoubia minaret and headed for it, getting quite good at crossing crazy kamikaze traffic streets, walked along Avenue Mohammed V to the Complexe Artisanal, opposite the Cyber Park - the gardens we visited in the morning. This artisans village is like the one in Essaouria, but with many more shops, all selling beautiful things like ceramics, leathergoods, clothing, jewellery, felt hats, beaten/stamped metal objects, paintings, drawings, etc. had a drink and bought a set of 4 small, cute, brightly coloured paintings for our house, as souvenirs of our time in Morocco.
   Walked back to our hotel, waiting for our meet up with our group in the lobby at 7pm. We were the first ones there, after a few minutes the rest arrived. Miloud led us to an Italian restaurant called Casa Nostra - on Rue Oued EL Makhazine - not far from Place Liberte, round the corner from KFC and Mcdonalds. A really nice place, very ritzy for what we've been used to these last 2 weeks, snazzy waiters, great menu, delicious food, a really nice meal to end our tour. Had tiramisu and coffee, then paid the bill, much thanks to our waiter, then headed back to our hotel. In the lobby it was time to say our goodbyes
   I'll probably go to the nearby camera store in the morning, then at noon we check out and store our bags, then at 3:30 we are to be ready to be picked up for our transfer to the airport for our flight to Casablanca, and a new adventure awaits us in Tanzania in a few day's time.


7 December
Onto the street, a bright, sunny day, down to Ave Mohammed V, to the camera store we passed yesterday morning. A fellow there spoke a little English and I showed him the problem with my camera lens - he took a look and said ready in 12 minutes, so off we went onto the Avenue, and as we walked, a young couple came up to us, asked for the time, and then where we came from - they're from the Gold Coast - and so we chatted for c15 minutes, swapping travel stories and experiences - it was nice to hear Australian accents again, to feel in familiar company! Wished eachother happy trails and went our separate ways, us back to the camera store, the camera ready, MAD100, so good to know the lens is now back together again, and protected with the filter and lens cap. OK, time to head off to Yves St Laurent's garden, which was c20 minutes walk, easy to find.
   Like the gardens we visited yesterday, here was another oasis from the hustle and bustle and exhaust and noise of mad Marrakech's streets. Paid our entry fee - MAD40 each - and wandered into this magnificent place of quiet and greenery, the first garden being succulents, cacti of many different varieties, shapes and sizes, set on well tended, neat garden beds, with many tall palm trees as well., they give a sense of height and space. Not a big garden, but well thought thru, well laid out, paths leading you to unexpected arrangements of fountains, brightly coloured pots, a 2 storey building painted a deep blue with yellow curtains, which really stood out from the garden itself. It somehow worked.
   There were many places to take great pix, many benches to repose and contemplate and watch the world go by, lots of European visitors, plus a group from YALE, with a big banner they unfurled for a group shot, their accents high, whiney, grating to the ears. A few pagodas with greenery and flowers draped to create a flowing effect, then to a little path at the end of which was a truncated column, a memorial to Yves St Laurent.. As we walked around, and paused here and there, we were asked to take pix a few times, and managed to get one of ourselves taken as well. We also visited the museum - MAD25 each - which had a permanent exhibition of Berber artifacts: clothing, objects for cleaning wool, bags, jewellery, tea making equipment, mortars, daggers, etc.
   There was this amazing octagonal room, which looked like a starry night in the Sahara, a darkened space, mirrors on 7 walls and all the ceiling, with a multitude of small lights, in front of the 7 wall mirrors were display cases of jewellery from 7 different parts of the Atlas where Berbers liv, along with head and shoulder mannequins which displayed head and neck ornaments, which were exquisite. On the ground, underneath the display cases was sand, so it did give the impression of a starry saharan night, the reflections of the mirrors made the room appear much bigger than it was, did the eyes and head in, it was a fantastic affect. There was an audio  visual presentation on entry as well, of beautifully taken contemporary pix and short videos, as well as old photos as well. Well worth looking at.
   Once we exited the museum, we walked around a little more. There were a couple of big stands of bamboo, too, most of them had names carved into their trunks, which was a shame. Once we made the full circuit, we decided to have lunch in the cafe, set in a tranquil courtyard, with sails sheltering the guests below. A few rooms with day beds on a couple of sides too. Shared a club sandwich,and Sheryl ordered a deliciously thick drink that was a mix of avocado, dates, almonds and milk … yum!
   Time to leave, we returned to our hotel to collect our bags, relax in the lobby before our pick up. We waited till c3:45, and noone showed to find us in the lobby, so we went out as we saw a couple of vans, and a fella from the hotel asked a driver if he was there to pick us up - yes [grrrrr] - so put all the bags in, and off we went, taking c15 minutes. Found the check-in desk, and it looked like noone was there, even though the counter we had to go to was lit up, but saw a lady at another counter, and she checked us in.
   So, we found a cart, and wandered around, we were 2 hours early, c4pm, the flight being at 6pm. We found a couple of atms, but they wouldn't dish out any cash at all. Found a small cafe, had a coffee and a bag of chips, then we decided to wander over to our gate. After c30 minutes we were called to proceed into the gate. Put our stuff thru the scanner, and had to wait c5 mins, before called thru to follow a man on the tarmac, it was just Sheryl and myself, as well as another man, heading for a twin-propellered commercial jet, thinking "is it just the 3 of us?" Boarded the plane, which has 74 passenger capacity, and waited to see if anyone else would join us … by the time we were taxiing for takeoff, there were 15 passengers, 4 were crew flying as passengers, sitting in business class, the rest of the 11 in economy, and I think we were the only westerners.
   The flight lasted 35 minutes, no snacks or drinks served. Before we knew it we were landing at Casablanca, and after some initial confusion with the bus dropping us off at the International rather than domestic terminal - and not requiring to go thru passport control as we did - by the time we got to the baggage carousel, only our bags were left, found a trolley, worked our way to Terminal 1, where our pickup was waiting. Needed to go to the atm, the one I used when we first arrived in Casablanca 2 weeks ago, but it didn't want to cooperate and give me cash, grrr, so off we walked to the van, and headed off to our hotel for the next 2 nights. It took about 40 minutes to get there, longer than the flight from Marrakech, the last 10 mins being on secondary roads which were quite chaotic.
   Reached the hotel, which seems to be on the fringe of Casablanca, near big offices and/or factories, checked in with a lady that pretty much only speaks french and hardly any english - she said that tomorrow morning there will be a man in reception that speaks english. she was really nice, handed us a form to fill in, then the driver walked our baggage over to our room, the lady showed us thru … a nice room, well-finished, comfy, good quality finish and nice sheets, pillows and doona, the bathroom has good towels and soap and even shampoo in the shower … aaaaaahhhhhh … settled in, then off to the hotel restaurant for dinner. There were 5 other people in there, all males, as well as a parrot of some kind that made all sorts of whistles, cat's meow's, "bon jour", etc … kept us entertained.
Later, to sleep, hearing the nosies from the nearby highway and dogs barking in the distance … zzzzzzzzzz ....