Rocking the kasbah

Despite the cold (me) and stomach bug (Lauren) that Morocco gave us as parting gifts, we absolutely loved our trip there. Europe's great, but it's the taste of the exotic you get from other cultures and landscapes that we're really enjoying at the moment.

As we've got a few weeks in India and Nepal at Christmas to save leave and money for, we made just a quick trip to Morocco. We landed in Marrakesh then did a three day tour over the Atlas Mountains, to the World Heritage site and frequent movie set (including for Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia and The Last Temptation of Christ) of Ait Benhaddou, the amazing Dades and Todra Gorges and then out on camels to sleep in the dunes of Erg Chebbi in the Sahara. We rounded things off with a day wandering the souks, palaces and markets of Marrakesh.

It's a place that gives you a lot of memories. Here's some of my strongest ones.

1) Brown. It's Morocco's national colour, from the bare earth and the buildings made out of it, to the tan taxis, to the golden brown sands. They call Edinburgh a symphony in grey - Morocco is the same for that other supposedly drab colour.

2) Clothes. Perhaps it's because the background's often beige, or because there's a lot more variety and brightness in the Moroccan wardrobe than in the other Islamic countries we've visited, but the colours of clothes really stand out there.

3) Kasbahs. They rock. Many of the buildings we saw are made out of mud and staw, including the many kasbahs (fortresses). Being mostly unfired clay, this makes them warm in winter and cool in summer, but they do suffer from the elements and have to be repaired about every six years. So the trip through the Atlas and out to the desert was littered with views of kasbhas both crumbling and brand new.

Ait Benhaddou

4) Islamic art. In Islam it's considered a sin to portray people and animals in art (the whole worshipping false idols thing), so they've gotten very, very good at using geometric patterns in decoration. Morocco excels in using them in architecture, such as archways. There are some exquisite examples in Marrakesh, such as the Bahia Palace.

5) Djemaa el Fna. The crowded, narrow streets and souks of Marrakesh's medina (old town), with the crafts, knock-off European football shirts, dates and endless other wares spilling out amongst the walkers, carts and scooters, are fabulous - as are the many mosques and palaces. But it's the main square - a World Heritage site - that's the biggest jewel in city's crown.

There's zillions of tourists drinking freshly squeezed orange juice, eating cousous or boiled goat's head at the food stalls, getting henna tattoos and soaking up the chaotic and amazingly vibrant atmosphere. But happily, we are outnumbered by the locals, crowded around a storyteller or musicians, or wandering about.

Crowds gather for a performance

6) Contrast. Out in the dry lands, the river valleys are filled with trees or date palms. And beyond - desolation.

Rich tourist who gave away half a packet of chips to a boy, who then ran off with it, with about ten boys chasing after him.


7) Atlas Mountains roads. And I thought highway around the East Cape of New Zealand was windy and steep.

8) Valleys and gorges.

Todra Gorge
Dades Valley

9) Camels and other critters. Wild camels by the side of the road. Flocks of black sheep chewing on the scrubby bushes in the desert. Storks nesting on the walls of a ruined palace. A cat sleeping in a royal graveyard.


10) The desert. It was overcast (and rained on the way out!) and the riding camels for over an hour gave us a lot of pain in private places, but trip into the Sahara, where we stayed the night in a Berber camp, was still stunning.

Marrakesh in pictures

Tane and I have just returned from a fabulous trip to Morocco. Morocco is a stunning destination. While on the surface there are definite similarities to the other Islamic countries we have visited due to the heat, dry landscape and the ever-present Islamic call to prayer, it is without a doubt the most picturesque country I have seen. Marrakesh, where we spent about half of our time, was also a lovely city that I would thoroughly recommend to anyone else that is a little over European city breaks (as we are).

We'll write more about the details of our trip later, but in the meantime I give you Marrakesh in pictures.

The souks and shops:The Islamic architecture:

The Koutoubia Mosque

Outside one of the Saadian Tombs

The main square:

Travellers in an antique land

There's two main reasons why Westerners go to Egypt - the ancient ruins, or the beaches in the Sinai Peninsula. Geeks that we are, we were there for the former - though as Lauren wrote earlier, turns out when the temperature headed upwards from 30 the appeal of lazing around by and in the water became a lot stronger!

But anyway, the history. It's awesome. Our tour began in Cairo, with the step pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, the oldest standing structure built by humans. Hearing that made me tingle with history geek happiness.

Saqqara, where the ancient Egyptians developed the most amazing technology of all - making Coke with zero sugar.

Next up was the step pyramid's most famous descendants. We've already stuck up a bunch of pics of us and our faithful camels Michael Jackson and Moses, but I couldn't let this entry go without putting up this.
After getting our fix of big triangles (and the Sphinx, which was a bit underwhelming. Asterix comics led me astray on how big it is.) it was down to Aswan in the other end of Egypt.

The overnight train was ... memorable. Kind of like a long haul flight, but with Arabic ringtones and a guy with drinks coming up and down the aisle every quarter of an hour or so. The words "chay, chay, coffee, tea, Cola Light" will haunt us forever.

Outside the train, Egypt passed by. Palm trees, mud brick houses, the domed pastel tombs of imams. Men and women in grey or brown robes tending fields of stubbly grain. Skinny cows, oxen, the odd camel or horse. Donkeys. Many, many donkeys. The desert. And, of course, the Nile.

Looking out the window, you realised just how utterly crucial the river is. It's all that keeps the country going. Beyond the river and the tiny belt of fertile land it supports, there's nothing but stone, sand, dust and heat, all the way to the sea.

One of the other things to hit you in Egypt is how poor the place is. There's plenty of wealthy people there, but the glory days are long past. It's worst in the slums of Giza, right next to the Pyramids, where kids watch over flocks of goats grazing on rubbish dumps. Everywhere you see piles of rubble, and the ugly, unadorned apartment blocks, that are the next generation of wreckage. The countryside is usually prettier - all those palms - but not much richer. Aside from the pickup trucks and sattelite dishes, things probably looked much the same in the days of Saladin.

A country village

Egyptians seem a cheerful, friendly lot - appreciating their sense of humour is crucial to spending time in the markets without biting someone's head off - but when you look at the future, I'm not sure how much there is to smile about. Simply put, there's too little land and too many people.

Still, there's always that history to take pride in. From Aswan we headed back up along the Nile to Cairo, stopping off at various awesome temples along the way. There was Kom Ombo, then the best preserved one in the land - Edfu.

Spot the guy in the Netherlands football team shirt.

Luxor though is the ultimate for ancient Egypt addicts. Our guide said it has one third of the archaeological sites in the world. Bliss. The highlights were:

Luxor temple

The painted walls of the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, and Temple of Hatshepsut. These really gave you an indication of how beautiful the other temples must have been before the paint wore off.

Best of all, the stupendousness that is Karnak. Man, those guys thought BIG.

All the temples and ruins in the desert brought to mind one of my favourite poems, Ozymandias. Especially Abu Simbel, one of Ramesses II's many monuments to his ego.

Round the decay/Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare/

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

But two of my favourite memories of the place have nothing to do with old stone. First, there was watching the European Cup Final in a coffee bar with our guide, three tour friends and a horde of young Egyptian men. Talk about atmosphere. I've never been anywhere where they yell Allah! Allah! when someone misses a penalty.

Mohammed, Juan and Juliana enjoy a quiet sheesha before the game.

The other is when I wandered away from the main bazaar in Cairo and found myself in a market where only the locals go to shop. The traders didn't depend on tourists, so there was no hassling to get you to buy some cheap souvenier. People asked where you are from, with no motive other than curiosity. Everyday life. I hope they have more to smile about soon.

5 things about Egypt

Egypt was fabulous. Not only was it packed full of jaw-dropping monuments and temples (which Tane will write about later when I stop hogging the computer), but it has an incredibly vibrant and interesting culture. The people that we met were friendly and up for a laugh, the sky was blue, and the Nile really all that. These, however, are the top five things that spring to mind when I think about our time in what I now consider to be my third favourite country of the 28 that I have seen. (NB: one and two are New Zealand - naturally - and Turkey. Bulgaria still occupies last place)

1. The heat

Egypt was hot, hot, hot. And when we were at Aswan Dam, we were damn hot. (heh). The weather reached an impressive 44 degrees on the day we visited Valley of the Kings, and we all agreed that was well into the "nasty hot" category of heat. There wasn't much discussion about it though as the entire group of us were rendered useless by the heat so while not looking at sites, sat around like giant lethargic slugs. Due to the heat, it should not have been a surprise that in Egypt a cold beer costs the same as dinner. Tane, though, was still able to jump around in spite of the heat.

In the Valley of the Kings

2. Donkeys

While camels are a bit scary and gurgly, Donkeys are plain awesome. They are everywhere in Egypt, pulling massive carts and transporting around all sizes of people. They not only got the respect of a few travelling kiwis, but made the long drives more interesting by playing "spot the donkey".

We got to ride some while at the Valley of the Kings, which was hilarious. Not only are they sturdier than I thought but riding them is unpredictable and exciting. Will they stray off course to eat some plants? Will Sarah's one bite mine in the neck again? Will Tane's donkey (christened Sir Mange-alot) lead the pack and prove to be the Scott Dixon of donkeys? These are some of the exciting questions asked while riding a donkey.

3. Egyptian men

As an example of Egyptian men, while in Egypt I received 4 offers of marriage, numerous whistles and compliments, and one man say that for me he would kill his wife. Tane was asked on two occasions how many camels he would sell me for. At first it was annoying, but once we realised that it's not too serious, it was OK and sometimes very very funny. Having said that though, I still find it creepy that a man said he would kill his wife. Shudder. I have read that many Egyptian men assume that Western women are all easy, and given how rarely we saw women on the street, and that when we did they wore head veils 90% of the time and many were in hajabs, we certainly do appear immodest in comparison. While being hassled isn't always fun, if you keep a sense of humour it's no big deal at all. 4. Haggling

Haggling is a way of life in Egypt, especially in the markets. The markets are chaos, and at first the smells, sights and having to ignore Egyptian men is a little overwhelming. Visiting them is very rewarding, however, and some of the best laughs we had in Egypt were in the markets with locals trying to sell us their wares. Like many things, the haggling and hassling was annoying at times. Once our guide pointed out that these people make a living off selling to tourists though, coupled with the fact that we found Egypt to be much more impoverished than we realised, we became much more tolerant. Tane and I also found that shopkeepers and street sellers were often very humorous people, and the source of some very interesting conversations.

Sarah in Luxor

5. Mosquitoes

I'll let this photo of my legs in Aswan speak for itself.

What kind of traveller are you?

I read something once about how there are three types of traveller: the adventure traveller, the cultural traveller, and the traveller that seeks relaxation. Up until now, Tane and I firmly sat in the first two categories - cultural travellers with a bit of adventure thrown in every now and then. We are ashamed now to say that we have even mocked the third type in the past, not understanding why someone would lie around by a pool when there were exciting sites to be seen. That was, of course, before we lived in London through a winter. And before we travelled to a country with 40+ degree heat where we had our first hotel holiday yet.

The pool in Luxor - note the bar in the middle

We knew that Egypt in May was going to be hot. We didn't think too much about it at all, though, and given that we were travelling to Egypt to see cool old things and another Islamic country, pool side relaxation wasn't something that had occurred to us at all. With the heat around the 40 degree mark for most of the week, though, between seeing fabulous monuments and temples we spent a lot of time relaxing by hotel pools. And, while a holiday that was just about swimming pools and sun would turn be into a sun burnt bored person, I can well see the appeal of factoring in some relaxation by pools in future holidays.

A bit of artsy swimming in Cairo

What kind of traveller are you? I think we are still cultural-with-a-bit-of-adventure travellers, but in future should we find ourselves in such lovely hotels in similar heat again, I will be the first in line for my giant hotel beach towel to lie beside the sun burnt Brits at the pool. And with this view from the poolside restaurant in Luxor, who can complain about travelling to relax, really.