Back in Marrakech and this time with a local tour guide who showed us the top highlights of historic excellence in craftsmanship! The tombs were so beautiful, mosaics from Fes, stone carvings and cedar wood work – incredible!

Both Palaces we visited had similar exquisitely detailed artwork. Bahia Palace had also an interesting background: Bahia was one of the four wife’s of Si Moussa, the minister of Sultan Mohammed. But she was not only one of them, she was by far the most important one, the one who gave him his first son! Another 20+ concubines also lived at the palace and you start wondering when the minister had time to work?

“Stay healthy, wealthy and wise” is carved in stone (in Arabic of course) 

Did I mention that the minister had a man cave as well? For those times he needed a break from all his wives and mistresses? One room of the man cave was to take naps, another one to sleep. So when exactly did he work?

After the palaces and the pomp we walked to Koutoubia, the highest tower in Marrakech. The mosque is the second approach after the first one turned out to be built not facing exactly east. So it was torn down and rebuilt, this time with a compass involved; It was the year 1147 and it should be the biggest mosques of the western world!

Atlas Film Studios is the largest film studio in the world. Covering more than 322,000 square feet of desert, Atlas Film is located just five miles outside of Ouarzazate on the road to Marrakech and is a popular tourist destination, in part because the grounds are littered with old movie sets that are decaying in the harsh environment.

Ait Ben Haddou (a ksar not a kasbah) has been fortified since the 11th century during the Almoravid period. None of the current buildings are believed to date from before the 17th century, but they were likely built with the same construction methods and designs as had been used for centuries before. The site’s strategic importance was due to its location in the Ounila Valley along one of the main trans-Saharan trade routes. The Tichka pass, which was reached via this route, was one of the few routes across the Atlas Mountains, crossing between Marrakech and the Dra’a Valley on the edge of the Sahara.  Other kasbahs and ksour were located all along this route.

At the top of the hill, overlooking the ksar, are the remains of a large fortified granary… which as soon as Ted saw it …. had to hike up there!!

We had a fabulous dinner and some music entertainment before we fell asleep. It seemed like all the stars were gathering above our campsite – wonderful! I wish we’d had more time to enjoy!

We really enjoyed our stay at the desert camp in Merzouga located in the Erg Chebbi sand dunes!

We were picked up by our guides Abdul and Fouad. After about an hour of driving they pulled over and told us that we are to enjoy the view? We looked out of the car and saw nothing but the Sahara Desert (Near Fenza) with a many large piles of dirt all lined up? So we walked up to a display? Oh? We now understand that over many years the locals have been digging wells and tunnels for the water to drain out to irrigate their fields (see display picture).

A Gorge near El Oulia

Kasbah Dar Blues was a total surprise! We kept driving and driving.. Then we turned on to a very narrow dirt rpad!

The good news is: my knee is doing great!

The bad news just hit us right after having this wonderful trip to the dessert camp, staying overnight under the stars and watching the sunrise in the morning, when we headed out for new adventures. We drove a few hours, stopped twice for bathroom breaks, when Ted suddenly realized that he doesn’t wear his wedding ring anymore! Gone!

Should we turn around and check those bathrooms again, where you never find hand towels, so you shake off the water after washing your hands? Ted was convinced that this is where he accidentally had shook off his ring. I wasn’t convinced, so I checked my intensive photo library of a few hundred photos from the last 1-2 days. And here they are: evidence for when he must have lost it: the first photo, hidden behind a glass, Ted at dinner at the dessert camp. Next photo, Ted at breakfast at the dessert camp. No need to retrace those bathrooms anymore! But we were already too far away from the dessert camp…..

Thanks to Fouad, our tour guide who called immediately, we told them which tent we had stayed in and asked them to search the place. And they did. They flipped the whole place upside down. No success…..

What a bummer, we were so disappointed! We drove on and reached our next destination late in the afternoon, checked into our next Riad, Riad Blue, and had a very nice dinner; I would say that was the best dinner of the whole Morocco trip so far!!!

Next day our tour guide picked us up again and presented the news: the ring has been found! Outside our tent, in the sand! We were so thrilled, it’s hard to believe that you can even find anything in the sand!

Now we have to wait a few days until the next tour guide is heading there and hopefully brings back Ted’s ring. And the plan is: having the ring resized so it is not loose anymore and won’t be lost again!

And I hope they found Ted’s ring, not somebody else’s…..

A long drive from Fes to our final destination of the day: the Tiziri Camp near Merzouga. We saw monkeys, snow (!), many many storks, nomads, what seemed to be a French ski resort, windmills, we saw our first RV, and we saw the sand dunes: beautiful, orange, soft and elegant! And here we ended the car ride after ~500 km and switched transportation…

Halfway through the ride we stopped to watch the sunset – beautiful, magic and breathtaking!

It is very rare that an artists skill creates tears in my eyes; and here we are, at a pottery producer in Fes – pottery of all! When I studied arts, pottery was never my favorite, because it is not precise enough, it is too sticky, somewhat rough compared with jewelry for example. And those artists at that pottery production place in Fes each have a different specialty. Watching them chisel designs from a finished glacéd vase, or chiseling shapes out of glacéd tiles which then are put together into mosaics – and everything upside down! Just remembering the colors of each of them makes me dizzy!

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Islam has prohibited two kinds of adornment for men, while permitting them to women: these are gold ornaments and clothing made of pure silk. So what do you do as a man whose woolen kaftan is way too warm to wear in the summer? You create something as lightweight as silk, as cool as silk and as beautiful as silk, but not made of silk! Alcohol / tequila is not allowed either, so a good usage for all those agave plants growing everywhere would be to produce something wearable, right?

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Fes is the oldest of the 4 imperial cities in Morocco – Meknes, Rabat and Marrakesh are the other three. Here, the oldest university in the world was founded! The oldtown, called Medina, is huge: a 10 mile long wall surrounding an area of 750 ha with more than 900 streets and alleyways, some so narrow, that you can touch both walls on each side with your shoulders!

I wonder how they transport goods in those alleyways, daily groceries yes, but how about a piece of furniture? Our tourguide of today, Ibrahim, told us that this is usually done through your neighbors houses over the roof. Big pieces are lifted up with a crane and transported over to your destination, then lowered down into your courtyard.

We walked through different areas of Fes, each dedicated to a specific craft: the metalsmiths, the woodworkers, the dyers, the weavers and leather workers, all very impressive!

My all time favorite is always seeing the tanneries! “Smell-challenging” but impressive!

Leaving blue Chefchaouen and driving to Volubilis was very interesting. It looked just like California! The Rif mountains are a beautiful landscape with olive trees, little villages, more olive trees, more villages and even more – guess what? Olive trees! In fact, we were wondering if Morocco is producing most olives around the Mediterranean?!

After a few hours of driving we reached Volubilis, a town founded 300 BCE by the Mauritanians, then annexed by the Romans. It flourished under the Romans, but fell slowly apart after they left and Christians, Jews, Greek and finally Islamic people took over. A mayor earthquake destroyed the city and everybody moved away.

What’s left today are ruins that still show the prosperity of its earlier time. Beautiful mosaics in many of the houses, a huge triumph arch and a massive Basilica show how big this city must have been; the streets are wide, forum and marketplaces proof of its busy life!

1. After 10 days in Morocco, we have NOT seen (a) any roadkill and (b) any supermarket.

2. After 10 days in Morocco we have seen (a) lots of garbage everywhere and (b) an agricultural paradise with orange orchard, olive trees, millions of olive trees, bananas, cork oak trees, agaves, fields for grain / currently harvested, garbanzo beans, etc. the soil has different shades from Sandy beige, to red, to dark brown. We’ve seen many sheep, goats, chickens, donkeys and mules; also many stray dogs and cats. But still, no roadkill. We haven’t seen any wasps or mosquitos, only bees, who try to reclaim their honey from the breakfast table.

3. After 10 days in Morocco, it rained!

4. Driving around the north of Morocco for 10 days reminds us of California. A lot!

5. 10 days ago we were not prepared of how friendly the people are, how good the food tastes and how amazing their craft skills are!

6. After 10 days in Morocco we learned that the restaurant portions are always generous because it would be sign of stinginess if you get served “just enough”. If food is left, it will never be thrown away. Restaurant workers, hungry people, animals, everybody else will get fed. So it’s ok to leave food you cannot eat!

7. Driving around for 10 days through many cities, towns, and villages, the pretties, nicest, most colorful, most modern buildings everywhere are the schools!

8. Morocco’s favorite sport is soccer. Every little village has a soccer field, every child on the street kicks balls, soccer games on the beaches everywhere. Morocco also has a professional women soccer national team.