Bonjour Alla Salama

I arrived in Moroccao safe and sound. Our tour group of 12 is from AS. NZ, Brittan , US and me the only Cnd. Most Moroccans speak French , Berber, Arabic and very littele english.

Our tour began in Casablanca at the 3rd largest mosque in the world - Grand Mosque Hussen 11, it was built right on the coast. It was most impressive. Saturday we took the train to Rabat for a short lunch on the coast walk through what looks like Greek village - I got my first marriage proposal there. A bit of drama getting off the train, we got off on the wrong side of the tracks, Will o ur fearless leader instructed us back on the train toget off on the right side of the tracks, half the group made it, one jumped off the train with her pack and face planted herself - our first causualty - jokes were flying when we had to board to continue our trek to Meknes.

We took taxis to the medina saw the graney, prison, museum and a bit of the souq. We had our first taste of Camel burgers - pretty good - I had to share mine with the local kitty. We sat in these tiny little rooms no bigger than a card table and a few chairs, the other half of gthe group sat in a room across the hall with the cook = the oven had a fan which blew the smoke right in to our little space.

We traveled by mini bus to Fez - the king is touring the country so there are flags everywhere plus road work. We got booted out of our hotel to make room for his guards - our new hotel was in the medina. Our first dinner was at an upscale moroccan restaurant down the block - I had tajine which was yummie. Monday we had a guided tour of the medina starting at the BAB (Gate)which had blue tiles on one side of the entrance for fez and green on the other for Islam.

In side the medina we visited a Koranic boys school, the first University in the world and several mosques. We visited many of the districts including the tannery, meat market, black smith, etc. The worst was the meat market - I almost lost my breakfast - one of the girls came to my rescue with fresh mint. We saw sheep, goat and camel heads on display as well as what looked like pigs feet. In the produce section was these cute little lychee nuts and potatoes that looked like ginger. At the textile market I bought a scarf for the desert, just in case- could have bought more but we have to carry everything around. For dinner Will took us to an old restored Riad - the food was amazing - we had lentil soup, an array of vegetible dishes and Chicken tajine which was amazing.

Tuesday was our first long day traveling by mini bus. We stopped in this little french ski resort in the middle of no where to pick up deli stuff for lunch which we ate by a creek in the cool air...brrr its getting colder. The weather so far was unseaonable warm...25 to 30C but now cooler. We also stopped on the side of the road to see the barbary apes - Will warned us to keep our distance and don't feed them, after just telling everyone about Ophra's guest that was attackd by a chimp, we all abided.

We stayed at a mountain Auberge which so reminded me of Mt. Sinai. We had a guided was to the local village via a gorge that was stunning.Its fall here and the leaves are turning colour - reminded me of home. I had moroccan lemon chicken for dinner and sampled Warrens tomatoe salad which I now believe to be the calprit of my stomach illness- lets go with that. |Warren started sharing his cold with the group then Emily got deathly ill - all of us are slowly getting something - I feel so much better after just one day.

Wednesday we drove to the desert, another long drive day. We arrived late, dropped off our luggage, boarded our camel and off we went - it was slightly over cast so we missed out on the stars as well as the sunrise. We played poker at our camp, ate tajine then sat around the fire, drank mint tea and learnt how to drum - we sucked but our guides were good. Nicola and I decided to run up the sand dune but died half way up - it really is difficult. The funniest is finding privacy going to the bathroom - we need to bury everything - not the best in a wind storm - so the girls go out in pairs or groups and all you see are headlamps - . Guys had it so easy. Well not many had a good night sleep, I was wondering who was snoring then figured it must be the camels - roosters were making noise before the bloody sun was up...I had to go to the washroom before the sun rose as well- I tried to find my headlamp and shoes and sneak out with out waking anyone -mission not accomplished - hope nobody dug the same hole as me or they will be horrified.

By morning everyone was ready to go back but our butts were sore from the ride in we were not eager to get back on the camels. One camel had white and tan hair and blue eyes - it was the evil camel with attiutude, freaked me out just looking at it. I took the smallest camel but my legs and butt are still sore - John was complaining he was not use to having his legs sprea.

I have to tell you about our group, there are 4 guys including our guide and 9 women - there is a doctor, nurses, dieticanm russian immigrant -I have heard and learnt a lot on this trip on medical conditions, treatment, sex and russian army - its been a lot fun.

Our days have been full on so not so much time for internet - dinner then bed ususally. I am so tired of bread, we have it for breakfast all the time, I skip and have coffee and breakfast bar or a little pastry.

So almost caught up...this keyboard is difficult to type on so if ther are spelling errors, I blame it on the board.

I am doing well and having a great time....thanks for all your love and messages from home.

M