MOROCCO, Christmas 2006

Image result for to visit morocco edith wharton quote
Morocco was the first trip I had taken for about 7 years. I honestly don't remember how I decided on Morocco other than that I wanted somewhere unusual and with Islamic culture. Morocco seemed the safest at the time and also blended Islamic and northern Africa. I decided that the best way to see 
the highlights of the country as a solo traveler was through a guided tour. I used the company Cosmos which fit my budget needs. There are pluses and minuses, of course, traveling this way. As an introvert, I didn't care to spend almost all of my waking hours with a group of people (there were about 45) but I knew if  paid a premium for a single room that would help. So off  I went! This was the first adventure I had in many years. 

 Morocco was truly exotic and totally fascinating! I won't even attempt to right reviews on the hotels as they were all arranged through the travel company. They were comfortable places to sleep for the night. The best place was in the middle of the desert and very "moorish" in that it was a courtyard style hotel with beautiful rooms with tiled floors and lovely carved furniture. I truly wish I could remember the name of that place! I remember that it was in the Sahara area and near the area of fossils and Quarzazate. Okay, a perusal of the Cosmos site, led me to the Kasbah Tizimi which is the hotel that I enjoyed the most. Lovely place. 

 Much in Morocco HAS stayed fresh in my mind even though the trip was  a decade ago. In no particular order....

 1. The winding bus trip through the Atlas Mountains! Holy crap was this a bit terrifying!
2. Forsaking the tour lunch and sitting outside the lunch cafe, up top of the Atlas mountains, and munching on snacks and hearing the call to prayers in the mountains. 
3. Munching on apricots and olives
4. Any dish with couscous
5. The music and dances...albeit, touristy, but lovely to hear and see
6. New Years Eve in my hotel suite with a few other travelers...wining and dining on booze obtained by a traveler as well as munchies pilfered from the hotel buffet
7. Fes...like no place I had ever seen
8. Touring the sands of the Sahara on camel...wow...what a treat. I went with a fellow traveler and one other guide. A memory that will stay with me
9. The young boys selling fossil necklaces. I bought a fossil for each of my students and the young vendor was amazed that I bought so many. The teacher in me knows how sad that this young man is having to hawk goods to tourists instead of being in school
10. Did I mention the great eats
11. The great kasbah of Marrakesh

PHOTOS TO ENJOY! 
Sadly, another instance of lost photos. :(  They were conveniently placed in iPhoto and when that changed to Photo I seemed to have lost a lot of great snaps. Or at least I can't figure out how to get them back. *&^&%$$%er. I have since learned to put my pics on an external hard drive as well as Photo. I love Apple, but they screwed me up on this one! Fortunately, I put a few on Facebook, but only a few as this was the early days of FB. So I'm going to see if I uploaded any of the pics to one of those other photo sharing sites. Damn you Apple anyway! 
Oh awesome...I just found a lot of them on Snapfish...way to go Snapfish!















Wonderful tour guide through the dunes


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SRI LANKA, FALL 2016

Image
Sri Lanka was a unique adventure. It was not about the tourism and the racing around to see all that I could see. It was about rest and relaxation and trying Aruveydic remedies.  That was not my intent, but when looking for a hotel/resort, I came across the this place: The Barberyn Reef Resort http://www.barberynresorts.com/english/reef/index.html Here's my review on Trip Advisor:  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1189172-d1049374-Reviews-Barberyn_Reef_Ayurveda_Resort-Beruwala_Western_Province.html I could not have been more happy with my choice. It was truly a trip about rest, relaxation and reflection. Every morning I took part in Aruveydic wellness treatments and then spent the rest of the day lolling around the beach or taking short excursions from the hotel. I did not see much of the island and would have to go back to see more.  But enjoy the photos below, they truly capture the beauty of the place. And the people are some of the nicest I have encountere
Read more

The Maldives

Image
This trip was sort of a last minute journey for me to see friends. I was reluctant because of the cost and length and how many people were going: me, the 2 dear friends and 3 more people I didn’t know.  That, for me, is way too many people. But I forged ahead and decided that I could travel to see them, but there was no real need to stay at the same hotel ... which was a tad on the dumpy side. And the island of Dhiffushi is very small. It was about a 15 minute walk between the hotels. So, the Maldives. Wow... from first glance, I was thinking paradise. Hmmm...not so much. There ARE indeed paradise resorts. Not our island! So my friend was all about seeing the local culture but the local culture included no booze, and lots of dirt and garbage. I suppose the island of Dhiffushi is no different from any other poor fishing village that you might find around the globe. I had a vision of paradise but found less than that. I got over my initial disappointment and enjoyed what was at han
Read more

Haines, AK March 2015

Image
For Spring Break this year I decided to take the LONG journey from Beijing, China to Haines, Alaska! That journey involved planes, boats and auto...including a plane that I was afraid to sneeze in as I was worried that a sneeze would take the itty bitty plane down. The reason for this crazed journey was to see a good friend that I met in Cairo and who relocated to AK to teach in a small town. I had never been to AK so why the hell not! I was even able to see a small bit of Seattle due to a very long layover.  The trip included a ferry ride from Juneau to Haines...BREATHTAKING and a bit cold. Desert Girls don't like humidity or cold.  The town of Haines is small and charming with some great views and great food. I didn't not see the oft mentioned bears...by my friend Jason, but I did see dozens of bald eagles and got a pretty good video of one landing in it's nest. It was nice to just be a friend visiting another friend and not necessarily a tourist and actually, this w
Read more