Holidays, pt 6

Okay, where was I?
The next morning (after our delicious dinner and then a cold night in a hotel that was very well designed for hot weather and not so much for the cool) we ate a rooftop breakfast of bread, cheese, and jam. Here is the view:

Then we met our taxi driver and drove up above the city, where we got nice views of the valley.

We drove for a while, winding our way north and east, until we got to this very picturesque view of a casbah with palm trees. It was right next to a rug-sellers' shop (they usually play the middle-man between nomads who make rugs and the market shops, but they also had a few for sale), so we stopped and learned about rug making and drank tea (while Sara and Clare bought rugs).


Then, after more driving and winding, we ended up at the Gorges of Todra, a canyon of towering rocks with a little river fed by snowmelt. It was very beautiful and striking, but also odd, after years of national park going, to see it filled with people selling things, dying cloth, and even some graffiti. Unfortunately, we only had half an hour to walk around.




Then more car riding (the taxi was getting more squished, and the landscapes more boring as we approached the desert).

We arrived at the camel outfitters just before sunset. After randomly selecting things to bring (they said we would have blankets and tents, but we didn't really know how warm they would be), we mounted our camels (mine was the friendliest) and set off.


Soon the sun set all the way, and the sky was filled with more stars than I have ever seen (I think more stars than it is possible to see anywhere in the USA, since the Badlands are supposed to have the lowest light pollution anywhere). We were going up and down huge sand dunes, and our guide joked about being lost, but eventually we arrived at a little camp. There was a large communal tent, where we were served even more mint tea, a delicious tajine (sort of like a stew), and some weird cake for desert. We decided plans for the next day (get up around sunrise, take the taxi to the nearest town, then try to catch an early evening bus to Fez) and then found our tent, got bundled up, and went outside to star gaze.
That night there was a small sandstorm (I was on the edge of the tent, so I got the worst of it, but it was fine once I put my head under the blankets), but in the morning when we woke up early, it was nice again.

That is all the pictures I have for now, but I will try to finish the last three days before I leave for my next vacation. (Tomorrow!)