Transit to amsterdam

Woke up at 8 am. Showered packed and made it to breakfast by 830. Then we were on our way to find gasoline and the airport. Worried about how much the car rental is going to charge us with the busted side view mirror. It is amazing this was the only damage we endured. We took an A road back to Casablanca detoured trough a rundown town. Found gas to get us back to the quarter mark (where the car was when we got it) and got the car parked in the lot. We beat that thing up with all the bumpy roads dirt and Moroccan way of life. No charge the dude said and we were off to find our gate. Of course our paid flight has to be delayed again. We walked the airport to get lunch. Cash only. Which we had spent already to not bring any home with us. Grrrrrr. So we had to resort to a quiche and a bottle of water. This was after we walked the smelly tiny airport about four times while we waited for our flight. Then. We watched the rest of how I met your mother. And started shawshank redemption. Then our plane arrived we boarded. Did not get the emergency exit row we originally requested as they sent a bigger plane. Whatever, we got the row to ourselves. Kept watching our movie with our eye on a snakpak and a beer. She came through again we have no cash but hey take card. So we give her our order and the card which she cannot take because everyone in Europe has a chip. She felt bad for ius a have us a Heineken no charge. Finished shawshank and started Sahara. Landed and then made our way through customs. Luc, the first Couchsurfer I ever stayed with was going to meet us for drinks and he offered us his couch. We got on the train and met him at the station. He let us drop our bags then we got the French fries with mayo sauce and deep fried meatball gravy things. Really good. Then we went to a cafe had a couple beers and talked politics(the boys did anyway) made it back to Lucs house and looked into flights. Fell sleep on the couch with a 7am wake up to try for a united flight to Houston.

Relaxing day in el jadida

Woke up had breakfast in our room and then set out to walk to the Citroen de portegese. Made it the 2k to the medina along the beach covered in garbage. Took some cool pictures. Yesterday was the holiday to bring sheep home to your family. Today they cooked the head on the public grate barriers. In the middle of the street. Gross. We had enough of the third world country feel so we turned back to our hotel, ordered spaghetti and salad and a bottle of wine and enjoyed it next to the pool. With it being a Sunday there was absolutely nothing open. So we were at the mercy of the hotel. Went to sleep early because the next day we were driving to Casablanca to catch our flight home!

Ourzazate to el jadida

Woke up about 10am, just in time for our free breakfast. Made it down to the restaurant, closed. Asked. They said it was over at ten. But they brought is our rolls and jams. Then we were deciding what to do with the day. Ourzazate had a pretty kasbah and then head to el jadida a coastal town for some beach sun and relaxation before return to reality. Only we come to find out the pretty kasbah (Moroccan castle) was in skoura. The town about an hour back that we stopped in the palm groves. So matt did some research and on te way to Marrakech there is a kasbah on the mountains in the town of teulret. We decided to do it. We set out and made the drive to the p-road route where an oncoming car got a liiittttttle bit too close to us and took off our side view mirror. See post 21 rules to driving in morocco. But we have full coverage hopefully it won't be too much to replace. Kept going after some language barrier yelling back and forth with the dude. And wound our way up the valleys and mountain ledges of the one lane road including some pretty nerve wracking switch backs with one lane no guard rail and oncoming traffic. Psh, it was only 60 km or two hours to the kasbah. We arrived finally and paid the 20dirham each to enter the falling apart kasbah. It was pretty sweet looking on the inside. Crazy to believe it was a fortress back in the day. Afterwards Andrea haggled three hand made Moroccan rugs. The dude wanted 320$ for them and she got them for 140$. Not too shabby. No idea where they are going to go, but they look cool. And we also don't know how we are going to get then home.

Then we started our 30km ride back to the main road which continued trough the mountains. We stopped at a road side stand for kabob beef and fries and andrea got a Berber omelet. Eggs onions peppers tomatoes. Delicious. Kept going. Made it to Marrakech. Matt is pretty good at driving like a Moroccan. See the other post. We had 150 km to el jadida after stressful Marrakech. Apparently today is a national holiday where everyone bring a home a sheep to their family. So lots of traffic. Inclining a lot of people returning mainland after spending the day at the ocean. A lot of cars in a line on the two way road and many would just pass despite us being in the oncoming traffic passing lane. But. We made it. 9 hours later. Andrea found a hotel on the water for 90$ includes breakfast. Got an ocean view room with broken air con. Ordered lasagna and chicken panini and a couple Johnny walker cokes and a citron soda and called it a night. We are 2 hours from the Casablanca airport. Our plan is to relax and enjoy the ocean. May stay here one more night then drive to the airport. We have tickets booked to amsterdam Monday at 2 pm. Overnight there and fly some how across the pond. We shall see!

Andrea and matt.

21 rules to follow when driving in morocco

Rule 1. Get the full coverage insurance.

Rule 2. Driving schools don't exist here.

Rule 3. Write your will.

Rule 4. Google maps does not work here.

Rule 5. 180 km trip with speed limits of 80-100kph will take you atleast 5 hours. Refer to rule 4.

Rule 6. The only roads cared for are the A roads. They require you have cash dirhams as they are toll roads. The N roads are mostly cared for but are two lane roads-good luck passing the donkey carts, mopeds, pedal bikes, coach buses or trucks filled with livestock, agriculture or humans. The P and R roads are one lane roads. You'll be lucky if there is pavement across the entire lane, watch out for potholes, sheep, donkeys, sheer drop offs, your side view mirror, and the amount if time google says should be quintupled.

Rule 7. When approaching an oncoming vehicle at night it is best to flash your bright lights at them so they cannot see where you are.

Rule 8. The lines, dashes or any other painting on the road do not matter. Feel free to drive in between lanes, in the lane of oncoming traffic, or just stop on the middle of the road.

Rule 9. When a car is trying to pass you, make sure you move towards te middle of the road so as to make it impossible for them to pass.

Rule 10. When approaching a round about everyone has the right of way so just go.

Rule 11. Do whatever benefits you the most, you are the only one that matters.

Rule 12. Don't pay for the child safety seat, let them run around the back of your car, the front of your car or on the drivers lap. Heck stick them as a sandwich on a moped, or let them drive while you are attempting to keep the sheep also on your moped under control.

Rule 13. You don't need to turn on your lights at night, everybody else drives with their brights on if they decide to turn on their lights.

Rule 14. Go ahead and pass a car whenever you like, whether it be going up a hill, on a blind corner or when there is another car headed straight for you- just flash the brights.

Rule 15. Car capacity is a guideline. But you get more bang for your buck if you stuff it so full there are bodies on the roof, out the windows, the doors, and or the rear. Heck, just have the passengers that are out any of those hold onto another couple people. Carry cash.

Rule 16. Watch out for pedestrians, they are definitely not watching out for you. Refer to rule 11

Rule 17. There are random police stops and radar control areas. Just proudly wave and give you're "I'm a dumb tourist" smile and they will wave ya right past regardless If you were going ten over or double the speed limit.

Rule 18. Watch out for your friendly hash dealer in the north. They will tail you with their baggies out the window. Thumbs down should suffice.

Rule 19. Just because the speed limit sign says 80 doesn't mean you can get your car to 80, unless it is flying off the cliff curve as these do not have guard rails.

Rule 20. Always pay the parking attendant. Or your car will get keyed. Or it'll get keyed anyway.

Rule 21. Don't drive your car through the narrow streets of the medina. Refer to rule 4.

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Fwd: Finally arriving to the desert

> We woke up at eleven am to out phone ringing in our four star hotel room. It was the restaurant wondering if we take our breakfast at the terrace or in our room. We decided to take it in our room as we both were getting ready for the two more hour drive to merzouga the gateway to the Moroccan Sahara. We were served omelet and breads and coffee and orange juice. We ate and went to pay our bill. Of course we just changed everything to our room as we were out of cash. 890 dirham for dinner drinks including bottle of wine breakfast and our room. That's about 95$. Well worth it. We then headed to go further south and make it on time to merzouga. We grabbed waters from a gas station and filled the car with gas. We took some stops at scenic overlooks including the palm tree oasis that went for miles and miles. It was like a giant grove of palms in the middle if the Grand Canyon. Breath taking. We made it to erfound and drive past a pizzeria. Have I mentioned I've been craving pizza since day 3? We grabbed more cash at the ATM. That's 600$ we have withdrawn for the two of us including numerous nights in hotels not too bad but still an expensive trip to Matt's standards. And went to the pizzeria. It was good and 9$ for a 14" pizza and two coke zeros.
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> This area is well know for it's fossils. So we went back to a fossil shop to learn about where and how they find the fossils and then look at the pieces that they have. It's pretty cool. They make sink basins out of them and coffee tables. Pretty unique. But we are sure they are really expensive as it was 30$ for a small fossil in rock about the size if your palm. We tipped the guy 15 dirham (even tho he said I give you tour for free, you look at my things.... You always have to tip)
> We then set out for merzouga. About 45 minutes of driving in the open area reminded me a lot if pheonix with palm trees and then we followed the directions to Ahmed's place. Go towards touza and then see the green sign and turn left down that desert road towards the mosque and ask for Ahmed. We found his house, were greeted by some other locals and Ahmed who stuck his head out if his home. We parked our car and brought our luggage into the room and ventured out to look at the dunes. Then returned to tea and peanuts and we chatted with Ahmed. It's amazing how he gets internet service that far away! But good thing he does, his family runs the camel treks and a bed and breakfast. The house is built of wet sand and hay. The walls are thick.
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> A little while later the camels were ready and were knelt down so we could just throw a leg over and up went the camel. The ride was a lot like riding a horse, except we went at a very slow pace and Ahmed walked us the entire way. It was about one hour and around a dune we went and there in the middle of the desert and surroundings of nothing was a traditional Berber camp. The tents were sticks erected and the walls were morocco and Berber rugs thrown together. The camp also had rugs laying over the sand as carpet and there were 10 rooms for guests in the circle of the camp. We hiked up the top of the sand dune and saw another Berber camp all but 50 yards away down another sand dune. Matt and I took in the surroundings as we waited for dinner and the French couple that was joining us tonight.
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> Ahmed told us stories and clarified some of the questions. There are police stops every once in awhile where they are watching your speed with radar. But the government doesn't want to punish tourists so the police supposedly will keep waving us by without a ticket. And the dudes that whistle I am supposed to ignore. The French Canadian couple is spendin g 21 days in morocco. And they loved fez. Learned some interesting pointers including that India is pretty sweet. Dinner was then served. We had the salad (a random conglomeration of veggies) then the meal potatoes carrots and chicken served in a Moroccan Dutch oven and fresh cut fruits for dessert. We then headed up to the peak of the dune to take in the peaceful Saharan night. It was too cloudy for star gazing. And the moon was half full so it was rather bright. Then we retreated to our tent and called it a night.
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> Sent from my iPhone

Fwd: Sunrise in the desert

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Begin forwarded message:

From: Gmail <ahannem01@gmail.com>
Date: October 3, 2014 at 10:18:16 PM GMT+1
To: Blogger <ahannem01.adventureofalifetime@blogger.com>
Subject: Sunrise in the desert

Woke up at 7am by Ahmed's clapping to get up the dune and see the sunrise. Absolutely breathtaking. We then headed back to camp for typical Moroccan breakfast of breads jams and jellies then packed up our things said good bye to the Berber camp and were riding our camels back to Ahmed's house to shower. Absolutely worth the multiple day drive and the trip to say we camped overnight in the Sahara.

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We had asked Ahmed about takin a quad (atv) into the desert. He said it was very expensive and he had never done it. Matt was excited about going through the dunes super fast. So we followed up and Ahmed called his buddy. 65$ for the two of us on one atv and a guide so we don't go flying over a dune. Sold. Ahmed graciously drove us to the house and translated for us. Then we were off. Went up and down some pretty intense dunes but I never fell off. Matt got our atv stuck once on the way up a super tall dune "only because the guide stopped up top and he had no where else to go" definitely worth the money. Was absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking to cruise so fast through the dunes. Ahmed waited for us. We said our goodbyes and told him we would review him on trip advisor and tell all our friends how awesome he is so when thy make a trip to Sahara desert they use him.

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We then set out on out 6 hour drive to ourzazate. En route to Marrakech the Atlantic Ocean and Casablanca. We stopped at an afriqua for lunch. Each ordered a kabob (beef in a Moroccan Dutch oven) and fries. They were tastey and continued our drive. Until andrea had some stomach issues which enabled us to stop about four or five times along the way. There are some interesting toilets here. More like holes in the ground with marks for your feet. Anyway. Staying hydrating.

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We stopped in skoura a town about 45 km from ourzazate to check wifi and look for a place to stay and things to do. Skoura is a small town with a palm tree oasis. We drove through it along the gravel road and said next! Into ourzazate to try and find a hotel and what we want to do the next few days. Pulled into ourzazate about 745pm (after leaving merzouga at noon). Found a place for dinner with wifi and started researching. The atlas filming studios are here where they film a lot of desert movies. And the kasbah is gorgeous. Decided to stay in ourzazate. The oscar hotel inside the atlas movie studio had rooms for 40$ a night. So we decided to drop in. Got an upgraded suite complete with balcony and breakfast for 54$. Boom. Plans for tomorrow, check out the kasbah and drive 6 hours to el jadida a Portuguese port town about 1 hour south of Casablanca. Hang out on the beach for a day and then start our trek back to USA.

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Sunrise in the desert

Woke up at 7am by Ahmed's clapping to get up the dune and see the sunrise. Absolutely breathtaking. We then headed back to camp for typical Moroccan breakfast of breads jams and jellies then packed up our things said good bye to the Berber camp and were riding our camels back to Ahmed's house to shower. Absolutely worth the multiple day drive and the trip to say we camped overnight in the Sahara.

Finally arriving to the desert

We woke up at eleven am to out phone ringing in our four star hotel room. It was the restaurant wondering if we take our breakfast at the terrace or in our room. We decided to take it in our room as we both were getting ready for the two more hour drive to merzouga the gateway to the Moroccan Sahara. We were served omelet and breads and coffee and orange juice. We ate and went to pay our bill. Of course we just changed everything to our room as we were out of cash. 890 dirham for dinner drinks including bottle of wine breakfast and our room. That's about 95$. Well worth it. We then headed to go further south and make it on time to merzouga. We grabbed waters from a gas station and filled the car with gas. We took some stops at scenic overlooks including the palm tree oasis that went for miles and miles. It was like a giant grove of palms in the middle if the Grand Canyon. Breath taking. We made it to erfound and drive past a pizzeria. Have I mentioned I've been craving pizza since day 3? We grabbed more cash at the ATM. That's 600$ we have withdrawn for the two of us including numerous nights in hotels not too bad but still an expensive trip to Matt's standards. And went to the pizzeria. It was good and 9$ for a 14" pizza and two coke zeros.

Pictures from fez/drive to desert

Fez/drive to desert

Woke up about 10am and got ready for breakfast and our your if fez. The hotel owner said the tannery (where they ran the leather) is not too far so we were going to do that. Of course after breakfast. We are the hotel prepared breakfast bread (like an English muffin but soggier) a hard fried egg and some other breads. Then the tour guide showed up and we felt obligated to let him show us around. We discussed we had one hour and half. So he brought us through old city to the mosques and the tannery. The tannery is disgusting. They hand out mint leaves so you can clear your nose. They use "pigeon shit" for it's ammonium to bleach the hides. And then a bunch of other natural ingredients to due the hides different colors. Pretty sure it is not OSHA approved. Then we went up some Berber rug making shops where andrea tried her hand at rug making. Don't worry Amy, not gonna quite my day job! It can take six months to make one rug. At the second Berber shop matt and our tour guide were discussing how many camels it would take for the morocco to keep me. 1 million was te dudes offer. We told our personal tour guide after and he said I would give three million camels. Too bad matt got me for zero camels.....
We continued to walk the old city through the manure filled streets and the markets of "fresh food" including fish that stunk. Chickens whih were still clucking and fruits that were edible. Then an hour and a half later from the start of our tour we were back to the hotel tipped the guy 150 dirham (15$) and continued on our way to errichidia where we booked a four star hotel includes breakfast. Google said it would take four hours forty five minutes. Rest assured it was more like 6 hours.

We made good time passing the large slow trucks on the two way roads. Even stopped at a couple stop offs to take in the scenery of the mountains the palm trees and the sandy dunes that were just starting. Made it to our hotel in 6 hours where we were greeted by a dude who took our bags to our room and we then made the already restaurant open so we could have steak spaghetti and an appetizer. We each had a speciale the beer brewed in morocco and decided to go with a bottle of wine from the Atlas Mountains instead. 250 dirham (27$) and now we are ready to pass out. Tomorrow we go to merzouga and ride a camel into the Sahara desert and sleep under te stars with a guide. It may be a couple days before things get updated so don't worry! Plans after that include making it to orZozate. Then somewhere outside Casablanca before flying to amsterdam Monday. Then the states Tuesday. And hopefully home by Wednesday. Work Thursday. Part of our car ride discussion was this isn't really a vacation. It's an adventure. there have been moments of stress (ok maybe a lot of moments of stress) followed by a lot of well, guess we aren't going to do that. But overall it's been a great eye opening trip. Adventure. Matt says he's not sick of me yet, so that's always good. Time for bed. Desert in the morning!!

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Drive get lost day to fes.

Well, we are alive. 2 we have a hotel to sleep in tonight after 8 hours of hellish driving through the beautiful mountains of Africa. Everyone here is out to make some money. Where to start:
Woke up about nine thirty went downstairs to eat our complimentary breakfast to find out it wasn't included. Then we packed our bags loaded them in the car and started looking for breakfast. Got roped into the first place and had cuscus biscuit things with a platter of peanut butter honey apricot jam and olives served with orange juice and coffee. Then we walked around the town including stops at various little shops and cute blue pathways meandering through te town. Then we drove off with fez and midelt on our plan. Tried following google maps. But then the roads just got worse and worse until there were spots where the pavements were gone and it was dirt. And bumps. So we continued too far. And about three hours later got to a t with the name of the city that was on our map. So we took that. Drove another hour or so back up to the main road through an extremely ghetto town of dirt roads continued up through the cloud layer with winding turns and steep drop offs gorgeous sights and we continued and continued until we found the southern road towards fez. About 6 hours later of driving which seemed to be getting us nowhere we were finally on the map again and continued. Poor matt had to pass people on the one lane roads and try to keep my spirits high as the fate of our camel trek kept dwindling. Sure enough we pulled into a truck stop with wifi called our camel trek guide and asked if we could do the trek two nights from now and he agreed. We canceled our reservation in midelt and booked what looked like a seenr place in fez. Except we never found it. Asked a parking attendant who for 100 Durham would bring us there. Wrong place. Then another guy who spoke a little better English and for nothing would bring us. But then he got in the car and said that place is scary stay at this other place for 40$ With breakfast. By this point we were driving around for an hour and a half. And has not eaten since breakfast and just wanted to eat and sleep. So we paid for the room paid the dude off and had a hamburger from the next shop and are calling it a night. Forget big cities. Plan now: drive to midelt sleep. Drive to merzouga and do the camel trek into the desert. Then drive to Marrkesh. Find a decent city to sleep in. Then drive to Casablanca and fly home on 10/6. A lot to do in a few days. We are going to need a vacation from our vacation. But. We made it to africa! Again, we are safe and going to sleep.
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