We were riding on the Marrakesh Express

Monday, October 11, 2010
Marrakech, Morocco
It was a long bus ride from Ouazarate to Marrakesh, and long days on the bus begin to run together. Although Ab tries to make the trip interesting, I think that we are all looking forward to spending three nights in one place, and having some free time. The highlights of today's trip included seeing a rainbow over the desert, and we all hoped that it meant the rain would be over. AWe next stopped at the Kasbah of Ait Benhaddou, where scenes from Lawrence of Arabia and the Man Who Would Be King were shot. Because the river was very low we were able to walk across. If there had been more water we would have ridden donkeys. I'm not sure whether I'm relieved or disappointed to miss the donkey ride. Before we entered the Kasbah, we had a chance to take pictures in front of towers and a gate built for the movie, The Gladiator.
Then we went into to Kasbah to have another glass of mint tea .   I'm sorry that I haven't kept count, but at the average of 3 or 4 glasses of mint tea a day, I think that I'm about up to between 40 and 50 glasses, and it seems that every one makes it differently. However, it is usually served by a man with great ceremony.

As we continued across the High Atlas Mountains, on the road built by the French Foregn Legion in the 1930s, we saw the first snow of the season on some of the highest peaks. There was a bad storm and yesterday part of the road had been closed so it could be cleared of mud and rocks. We stopped for lunch at a small village--Tichka, altitude, 7200 feet. It was very windy and cold enough that they brought a propane heater to our tables. Today, the soup was quite welcome, and then for a change we had an omelette and chicken kabobs, before ending with melon and mint tea.

Shortly after lunch we realized that the rainbow had not fulfilled it's promise because it started to rain . Too bad, because the mountains were beautiful with colors of red from the iron, light green from the copper, and dark green from the cedar trees. The road becam even more serpentine, and it was a challenge to take pictures through the rain splattered bus windows as we continued our trip.  

About an hour out of Marrakesh, the mountains ended and we were back in the flat and sandy desert, and then some beautiful golf courses and new suburbs. Finally we were on the tree lined Avenue Mohammad VI, with its center islands of roses and other flowers. It seemed like we traveled through hotels for about 15 minutes before we finally arrived at our home for the next three nights, and the Marrakesh Express had reached its destination. As we entered the elegant lobby we were offered one more glass of mint tea. 
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Comments

Kat
2010-10-13

This reminded me of when we rode the donkeys in Santorini and i thought I was going to fall to my death off the cliff the whole time. i was screaming and you just laughed and laughed and laughed. Anyway, lucky you to miss the donkey rides this time, i think that one experience was enough to last me a lifetime. Also, the rainbow pic is beautiful!

2025-02-15

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