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After the Toubkal experience, there wasn’t anything at all planned for Saturday.  It was a pure recovery day.  We stayed at Imlil Lodge all day with as little movement as possible.  That’s all our bodies would allow.  We tried to work on some things, but the internet connection was very spotty.  We ate our breakfast, snacks, and dinner in the lodge.  The highlight of the day was meeting Brett, Neil, Scott, and Suresh – a group of guys from England who traveled to Imlil to summit Toubkal and raise money for charities along the way.  Brilliant group of gentlemen and very inspiring what they are doing.  We certainly hope to get to meet them again down the road when we spend time in England.

Sunday was another moving day for us.  Ultimately the goal was the Sahara desert, but today was a short move back to Marrakesh to get our bus tomorrow down to the desert.  We had breakfast with the British group before they set off on their hike.  Sadly, Scott suffered a significant ankle injury last night and he is not able to make the trek with the other guys.  He did give it a try by taking a mule up to the refuge at least to see if maybe his ankle will recover enough to be able to get to the top tomorrow morning.  He thinks it may be broken so it does not look promising.  Such a disappointment.  Hussein arrived to pick us up at 11am and we were back at the Ibis in Marrakesh around 12:45pm.  Hussein was a great driver – safe of course, but he spoke excellent English and was a pleasure to talk with on our trip back up to Marrakesh.  We were pleased on arrival to learn that we did actually have a room since the reservation seemed so informal last Monday.  The room wasn’t quite ready and we were very hungry so we went back to My Kechmara for burgers and Flag Especiales again.

A little after 2pm, we went back to the hotel and got ourselves settled.  We had scheduled time to catch up with our friends, Kevin and Jenn, which was so nice to chat.  We don’t get to see them or any of our Salt Lake and Montana friends anywhere near enough so just to spend some time on the phone together was nice.  The Ibis has a nice pool area so we enjoyed that for a while – sitting outside reading and enjoying the weather.  For dinner, we grabbed pizzas at Delices Ferkous across the street – we had been there during our longer stay in Marrakesh.  From there, it was over to the train station to get our cash squared away for our time in the desert – it sounds like ATMs are scarce down there and then dessert was back to the café to get chocolate milkshakes.  The server there was so nice – while we were enjoying the shakes, he brought us a chocolate-covered waffle on the house to enjoy.  We were stuffed, but it was great.

Monday was our travel day down to M’Hamid in the southeast part of Morocco.  We started with the breakfast buffet at the Ibis and then picked up turkey and cheese sandwiches at the train station café to have on the bus.  The CTM station was about a ten-minute walk from the hotel and train station.  Our bus departed on time at 11:30am with eight scheduled stops before arriving in M’Hamid at 9:30pm.  It was an interesting drive – beautiful through the mountains and then watching the landscape transition to desert.  The mountain roads were slow and windy, which didn’t work well for the man seated behind Sandy and he threw up next to Sandy – thankfully on the floor.  We were close to a set of cafes when it happened so the driver stopped and borrowed a broom and used water to clean the mess up.  We had a couple of stops along the way that were 20-40 minutes long – nice breaks for us and especially for the driver.  One of the stops was in Ouarzazate, which is basically Morocco’s Hollywood.  We drove past the two big movie studios.  This might be an interesting place to visit.  Some of the movies filmed here include:  Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, and Sheltering Sky. Game of Thrones was also filmed here.  We were a few minutes late into M’Hamid, but Omar from our guest house (Dar M’Hamid) greeted us and gave us a ride.  He also had prepared a tajine for us even though it was so late.  Long day and nice to be here.

Tuesday was a fairly light day exploring M’Hamid.  This town has around 5,000 people and it is literally at the end of the road.  The road we took on the bus yesterday continues past our guesthouse and two hundred meters later ends.  At that point, you can continue west into the Sahara on foot, camel, or 4X4 vehicles – there is no road, just dirt tracks.  Our Lonely Planet guide describes the village as a frontier town and it absolutely has that feel.  When you walk around in the daytime (afternoon especially), it is hot (a little over 100 degrees while we were there), dry, dusty, windy, quiet (hardly anybody out and about in the heat of the day except us). 

Away from the main village, there is the old village.  We walked over there today – crossing the river bed, which has been dry for decades and then walking through the palm trees into the village, which is composed of mud/clay structures that are the homes to around 300 people.  While we were wandering through, school was on their afternoon break so quite a few children were running about.  They were interested in us of course and we chatted briefly before heading on and eventually back to the newer part of M’Hamid.

Back in the center, there are five or six cafes – not all open at this time of day.  We found lunch at Café Rose du Sud where a father and son prepared spaghetti for us and we had chocolate mousse for dessert.  We spent the afternoon at Dar M’Hamid working on our plans for Fes, and I completed some of my CFI flight instructor courses (that I need to complete every 2 years).  We were sitting in the courtyard and our computers were covered in sand!  We couldn’t see it in the air, it was the weirdest thing.  We walked to the end of the road to watch the sun set over the desert.  We had a chicken and lemon dish prepared by Omar’s brother, Mustafa.  Omar had gone into the desert for the night with the other two guests who were staying at Dar M’Hamid while we were there.  After dinner, we laid in the courtyard looking up at the moon and stars before going to our room and watching more of American Idol. 

Wednesday started with breakfast at Dar M’Hamid and then we were out for our four-mile cardio walk around M’Hamid.  Most of this walk was through some of the smaller streets in the village and then around the military camp that is based here in M’Hamid.  There have been no problems in recent years, but M’Hamid is quite close to the Algerian border (maybe around 20 miles) and there is not a friendly relationship between the two.  Part of this tension is tied to the southern part of Morocco where there are political groups who want to have independence (an area they call Western Sahara).  Apparently, Algeria provides funding for these groups.  We aren’t experts on this situation but there have been problems between the two in the past.  For lunch, we returned to Café Rose du Sud and had more spaghetti.  We have been eating a lot of spaghetti but it gives us a break from the tajines and couscous and is usually a pretty healthy option compared to some of the other items available.  The menus are remarkably similar from place to place.  After lunch, we stopped into the coiffeur next door (the barber).  It’s time for a haircut for me.  The price was $2 so it only made sense to go ahead and get it done.  Sandy does a great job, but it was good to give her a break.  There were kids there as well and again, they were so interested in us and it was overall an entertaining experience.  Nobody spoke English so Google translate certainly came in handy.

Brian from Excursion Desert Maroc arrived at 3:30pm to take us on our overnight trip out to Erg Chigaga.  This was an amazing experience.  We had done a lot of research on how we wanted to do this.  Most people go to Merzouga for the desert experience, which is further north than M’Hamid.  M’Hamid requires a little more effort to experience (translated to a ten-hour bus ride) so there are less tourists.  Some say M’Hamid is a more authentic experience and we are happy with our choice.  I’m positive we’d have loved Merzouga, too and maybe we’ll get there at some point.  The other decision was the kind of camp.  We opted for a luxury camp – in our mind that meant toilets and showers that we are more familiar with and a more elevated experience.  There were a couple of options – we didn’t go for the most expensive, but one that still seemed like it would be enjoyable. The ride took some getting used to.  It’s bumpy to say the least.  We warned each other to make sure our tongue wasn’t between our teeth!  It takes about 90 minutes or so of driving time to get to the camp, which is in the shadow of the largest sand dune at Erg Chigaga.  Along the way, we stopped at a nomadic tent – I think there were only two women there and they had some handcrafted items for purchase.  As you travel, you see these nomadic camps periodically.  They stay in a spot for a month or more before moving on to another spot.  There are still families obviously living this life in the desert, but the numbers are becoming less.  With the changes in the climate, it is becoming more difficult so more are moving into the village. 

We also stopped at an oasis along the way.  The water comes from mountains not too far away and arrives in the form of a small spring.  One of my observations is that there are a lot more trees than I expected in the desert.  That’s not to say that it looks like a forest – I think I probably didn’t really expect any except around these oases.  It was nice to see the additional trees – it provided evidence that there is still water here – it’s just deeper in the ground.  Brian wears a turban that is 80 feet long.  That can be used to reach into a deep well to pull water up when necessary.

The camp was beautiful.  Our tent was complete with a king size bed, western style toilet, shower, sitting area.  It was very hot inside until after the sun went down. 

Because we are late in the season, the winds are quite strong and the sand blows and blows.  We enjoyed snacks and tea with Brian when we arrived and then our camels arrived to take us on our sunset trek.  It was around 20 minutes to the base of the largest dune.  At that point, we hopped off the camels (they laid down so we could get off) and then made our way to the top.  It is hard walking through the sand and making your way up the dunes.  It’s easiest to walk along the ridges, but with the way the wind was blowing, it was also difficult to stay on the ridge.  If you fell off, you’d fall a good distance, but it would be more of a rolling down the hill, I think.  We sat for 30 minutes at the top of Chigaga to enjoy the sunset.  I’ve read that the top is just short of 1,000 feet high but I don’t think that can be from the base at which we started walking.  We just didn’t walk that far.  Maybe we walked 300-400 feet up the dune.  It is a very impressive dune and the landscape and colors are beautiful.  Then it was back to our camels and the walk back to the camp.  Our camels were very docile.  We had our two and then there were two others originally planned to carry the other two guests in the camp the night we were there (they didn’t go because of the wind), and a younger camel learning the ropes, I think.

We had dinner in the large tent at camp because of the wind.  The food was great – there was a salad that we started with and we thought it was the main course so we kept going with it only to have Brian deliver a chicken tajine.  Everything was just great.  After dinner, we went to bed because we wanted to get up to see the stars once the moon set.

We were up at 3am on Thursday to step outside and see if the sky was clear.  Was it ever!  The moon had set, the clouds had cleared, the wind stopped, and the sky was painted with stars and we could easily see the Milky Way stretching across the black canvas.  It was exactly what we were hoping for.  We found a couple of chairs that leaned back and allowed us to take it all in for a half hour or so.  We went back to sleep for a couple of hours and got back up at 6am to walk up one of the dunes by the camp and watch the sun rise.  The contrast between the deep blue of the sky and the deep golden color of the sand, especially at sunrise and sunset, is pretty special.

The other two guests at the camp overnight were a couple of women from Switzerland.  We had breakfast together (our first Berber omelet) and nice chats about travel and then we packed up and were headed back east across the desert around 8:45am.  That put us back in M’Hamid around 10:30am.  We planned to head out for another four-mile walk and as we were headed out, Omar suggested a museum in the old village.  We changed our plans and headed in that direction and Hiroko decided to join us.  Hiroko is from Japan and she is also staying at Dar M’Hamid.  It was around a 30-minute walk to the 7 Kasbah Museum.  Upon arrival, you’re walking through what feels like deserted village and narrow alleyways and then you see the sign.  We walked in and didn’t see anybody but you could tell some things looked like they were museum displays. 

After walking around a little, an older woman came out but she did not speak any English (or Japanese).  We understood after a minute that she was asking us to sit down for tea.  We did and around 20 minutes later, her son arrived and explained to us that the building is their family home and has been in the family for more than 500 years.  He had tea with us until he had to return to the town and get back to work but he said his sister would be there shortly.  A little while later, the mom handed her mobile phone to Sandy and Sandy talked with the sister who said she’d be home in about an hour.  Sandy told her we would walk back to the center of town for lunch and then come back to meet her.  Sandy gave the phone back to the mom for the sister to translate to her.  The mom then handed the phone back to Sandy and the sister informed Sandy that the mom wanted to make lunch for us.  So we stayed.  Eventually, Nasira came home from her teaching job and she joined us for beef tajine – teaching us how to eat it without silverware.  You basically use the bread to pick up the tajine contents.  Prior to eating, we got to experience the traditional way of washing hands before eating.  The host brings a kettle with water and pours the water over each guest’s hands into a portable basin.  Nasira spent two or three hours with us, explaining the items in the museum, talking about life in M’Hamid, answering our questions – about Islam, her favorite places in Morocco, where she had gone to university (she went in Agadir, Morocco).  Her English was outstanding.  It was just a superb afternoon and an experience we chanced into.

Afterward, we walked back to Dar M’Hamid, got cleaned up, started the packing process because we move again tomorrow, and then joined Hiroko in the courtyard for a beef tajine.  Once again, the dinner was great – every time we hear we’re about to have another tajine, we think “another?” and then we end up thinking “is this the best one we’ve had so far?”  They are delicious and we’ll certainly keep them on our radar after we leave Morocco.  Spending time with Hiroko and getting to know her better was fantastic and we have a new friend who we are confident we will see again down the road.

We were up early again on Friday.  Our bus departed M’Hamid at 6:30am.  Hiroko was with us for the first couple of hours – she got out at Zagora where she was catching a plane to eventually get her to Essaouira later that day.  We had a nice bus trip back to Marrakesh, arriving around 4:15pm.  This time, the Ibis did not have our reservation, but they did have a room available so all was good.  We went back to another of our “regular spots” for dinner – salmon at Le Zar a short walk from the hotel.  After dinner, we were back to the train station for our last chocolate shake in Marrakesh and then had an early night in – a tiring few days with the early mornings and the long travel day.

And now today – another travel day.  We started with the breakfast buffet at the Ibis and then time at Starbucks while waiting for our 9:50am train to Fes. 

The train ride was great.  We were in a full compartment – eight of us in the eight seats – and we were fortunate enough to have Ghadir sitting across from us.  She was on her way to Rabat where she lives – she had been visiting her family in Marrakesh because she had been ill.  Rabat was about three hours or so from Marrakesh and we spent almost the entire time talking with her.  She is 28 and working on her doctorate in anthropology, her English is probably better than ours, and she is so well-versed on so many topics.  Like Nasira a couple of days ago, it was such a pleasure to spend time with Ghadir.  We really hope it is going to work to meet her for dinner a few weeks down the road when we plan to be in the Rabat area.

The train arrived right on time at 4:20pm into Fes and we walked about 20 minutes to our new home. 

Once settled, we walked to the park behind the apartment and had small bags of freshly popped popcorn.  We had dinner at Jinping Chinese Restaurant, which is just a few minutes from the apartment.  The food was delicious and they gave us oranges and honeydew melon as a dessert.  The honeydew melon we have had in Morocco is the best I’ve ever had – so juicy and full of flavor.  After dinner, we walked a few more minutes to Marjane grocery store and picked up our groceries to get us through the first several days here in Fes and then stopped at the meat market on the way home to get some steaks for tomorrow night.