Play it again, Sam

Our first view of Casablanca was not encouraging, faced with grubby streets and buildings and lost souls shuffling or slumped on the streets. 

Hassan II mosque fits 80000 . . . imagine them doing Amazing Grace

Things picked up however, when we trekked through the medina and strolled the sea wall as far as the massive Hassan II mosque.  A great deal of both building and restoration is going on, including an ambitious sea front complex.

Rick's

Rick's Cafe was a stop for us, recommended in our trusty Lonely Planet, it was opened in the late 90s by a former diplomat and takes full advantage of its film namesake.  It is set in a much restored riad (Arab mansion built around a courtyard).  We were a bit startled at its upmarket decor and small army of well scrubbed staff, but never the less ordered a cappachino and spent a wonderful hour just soaking it all up.  (they show the film on the top level daily)

The food markets of Casablanca are worth noting.We bought a bag of oranges, or a kilo of strawberries or, Mike's favourite, 2 scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone, each for less than two dollars.

Essaouria is a gem although we had terrible weather.  It is promoted as an artsy center and it well deserves the rep.  Set in a story book medina, touristy shops sit side by side with the lettuce, oranges and cell phones.  The  medina is a managable size, wrapped tightly in its glorious walls.

Looking down into the courtyard of the hotel.

We stayed in a carefully restored riad hidden down a narrow ally.  At 40 dollars a bit pricey but well worth it.

We had to drag oursleves away from Essaouria, but that's not as hard to do if your destination is Marrakesh.  This is quite a different place.  First, everything is painted terra cotta, both old and new.  Like Casablanca there has been a lot of building , but very much with a nod to the traditional architecture.  The medina remains pretty much unchanged, but the true heart of Marrakesh is the fantastical Djemaa el Faa, the enormous centre square.  Early morning the snake charmers arrive and as the day wears on they are joined by musicans, henna artists, acrobats and a wide range of loonies.  By day rows of stalls sell fresh orange juice, dried fruits and nuts and all the usual tourist tat.  Come evening, chairs, tables and kitchens roll in and a row of restaurants appear.  It just oozes life. We were surprised at the number of young families out late at night. This was also the first time we couldn't get our hotel of choice and it took half a dozen tries to get a spot.

 We celebrated Jane's birthday at Narwama, an old riad filled with candles, ivory and brass. A fountain with a flame in the centre lit the courtyard. The food itself was a mix of Thai and Moroccan, accompanied by a local dry white wine.

Looking down on the tannery.

The world heritage medina in Fez was a lot of fun and we did manage to find a 15th century tannery; but twice we had to pay a kid to help get us out, and once out still managed to get lost.

The drive through the Rif Mountains to Chefchouan was quite beautiful. Orange and olive groves, turquoise lakes and rolling hills make this a great drive. Close to the town the hills turn into looming mountains. By mistake we only planned for one night here, but this is a definite jewel. The town is half way up the slope of a mountain with stepped cobbled passages.  Our hotel was pristine and the whole experience was delightful.

To Catriona

To Kimberly

As a little extra, we visited a garden in Marrakesh which Yves St Laurent had taken under his wing.  These are posters he sent to friends each New Years.

Tetouane and Tangier are the final stops for our African adventure and so ends our blog. We plan to do some editing when we get home, so if you are a follower any further notices will only relate to our editing. Thank you for keeping track.

We really like Tunisia

As we leave Djerba we will relate a little tout scam. While strolling about this beautiful town a cheerful fellow greeted us with "hi, do you remeber me...I work in your hotel.". We assured him we remembered him (we    didn't) and ended up in a government carpet shop that s only open twice a month with Berber women who come in and today is the last day. The only Berber woman we saw was a young sales girl who reluctantly took a few tentative jabs at a half made carpet and scurried away as soon as we turned our heads. On finally extricating ourselves it wasn t long before another young man came up and said " hi do you remember me".

We should say that the people of Tunisia are the most friendly, most helpful we have yet met. From the young girl on a louange who gave Jane a bracelet and made sure we got the right taxi to anyone we ask for directions.This includes the cab drivers, although it is still a good idea to settle the price beforehand. This has made our use of public transport a breeze. as well as finding hotels museums and so forth.

Village market

Tataouine is well into the Sahara and was our base to visit Chenine, a unique Berber village, although most of it is now unoccupied. We did come across a functional olive press.

The homes are at the bottom of enormous holes dug into the ground.

The dining room foyer.

Matmata is beyound cool and really you don't need to go beyond the Hotel Mahala. It is twenty feet below the surface reusing a troglodite Berber village. Origionaly they were to provide shelter from the summer 50 degree temperatures.

Last stop for the Sahara was Douz where we did the camel safari thing.We will let the pictures tell that story.

Now back in Tunis we have taken the train to Sidi Bou Said which is a remarkably picturesque village on the edge of the Mediterranian. We had a long walk through the lush vegetation and the Arabic buildings with their blue shutters and doors. It claims Ben Ali's over the top palace as well as the homes of various diplomats.

We leave early tomorrow for our final African stop....check back here for a review of Rick's cafe in Casablanca.

Arab Spring in Tunisia

We left you in busy busy Cairo with visits to the pyramids, the fabled Cairo museum and Saqqhara, which is where King Djoser built his Step Pyramid, the world's oldest stone monument.

Walking down the alley beside our nice hotel we found ourselves right back in old Cairo. We were discouraged to go there but it was just too tempting and cheap. One highlight of Egyptian food is the cosherie which serves the noodle dish it is named for and great falafels. They also specialize in cream caramel and sweet milk ( rice pudding to us).

Jenn, Peter, Jane, Alison, Martin, Di, Adam, Jon, Rogan

We continued to bid farewell to our Odyssey family, starting with the truck and our guides Alison and Rogan. We were pretty much the last to leave Cairo.

We keep meeting interesting people. At the Tunis airport we met a retired Jordanian who now volunteers in birth control programs and is presently involved with safe abortions following recent atrocities in Libya.
We found a small hotel in Tunis on the edge of the medina. The medina is the old,as in really old, town, often walled. Not too much wall remains in Tunis but the medina survives with its atmospheric narrow allies and white jumbled buildings.The souq is the shopping area in the medina and the kasbah is the fortress.

Local trains brought us to Carthage which will not make our top ten. Most of it is buried under the modern suburb with a few bits and pieces scattered about. Happily the Bardo Museum was much better with a remarkable collection of Roman mosaics.

As to Tunis itself we were not always tuned in as only Arabic and French is spoken. Last Sunday we witnessed a demonstration with lots of shouting men.....with as many watching from the boulevard or cafes across the street.  A few hours later the place was shut right down, no cafes, no shops and no people. We were told it was a rally run by Algerians and others to draft volunteers for Afganistan and Chechyna. A pretty hard sell in Tunis we would think.

Ulysses and the Land of the Lotus Eaters (Djerba)

A long drive through rolling green landscape brought us to LeKef. This is a very pretty town perched on a hill overlooking a lush valley. It claims a beautiful medina with a kaskah perched above it.

This is a good time to mention the delightful breakfasts we are having. Starting with the excellent coffee, freshly squeezed juice, french bread and coissants.  Coffee quality took a signifigant jump starting with Ethiopia and even Sudan has lots of outdoor cafes ...usually filled by men with their sheesha pipes at their side. The ladies we are told visit at home.

The Roman city of Dougga is one of the outstanding remains in North Africa. It lived up to its billing nestled in the surrounding hills. Of special note were the near intact temple and theatre. It also has a well preserved public toilet that Mike found after a diligent search.

Our next stop was the holy city of Kairouan with its massive walls and the tenth century Grand Mosquee, so important that seven visits equals one visit to Mecca. As we move south the towns seem more and more charming.

Medhia was our favorite until we arrived here in Djerba. In both towns we have stayed in small restored hotels deep in the medina. The alleyways require that you must walk to reach the door. Elaborate tiles, immaculate bathrooms and beautiful central courtyards which the rooms overlook make these places very hard to leave.

Something called a louange took us to El Jem; this is a minivan that waits until it fills and then goes...no schedule.

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El Jem boasts the Roman Empire's third largest coleseum which we think outdoes the one in Rome. The collection of mosaics here surpasses the collection at the Bardo. Art of the highest level ...but the artists were not paid well or acknowledged in their day as were painters and sculptures. How fortunate so much has survived.

The courtyard of our Djerba hotel.

We are really enjoying our wanderings in Djerba...could easily stay a week. This was written on a French and Arabic keyboard, please forgive the errors.  Loading pictures on this computer is a headache we will add a few more later.

Hairstyle in Djerba  helps to have a great subject

Enshallah

Our departure from Aswan was by way of felucca , as we spent a day and a night floating down the Nile. The boats could accommodate 10 and between the sail and the current we drifted along much like Huck Finn. Our captain manned an enormous rudder which, when there was a breeze, could somewhat maneuver us about the river. The day passed trying to remember the rules for backgammon and doing back flips into the Nile...not that successful , but fun. That night we slept on the deck under the dazzling stars.

In the morning we boarded a bus for Luxor  as our truck was held up on the ferry. Luxor temple was beautifully lit up and we had a pleasant evening wandering through the ruins. When we are in a town like Luxor we are usually left to our own devices so the group can pick and choose what they want to do.

Another 5:00 am start brought us to the west bank and a hot air balloon ride over, well, wherever the wind would take us. The ride was certainly exciting as the balloon filled with air generated  from a flame that looked much too big for comfort. Never the less up we went for 45 min. looking out over the Valley of the Kings and across the Nile.  Our landing turned out to be in a sugar cane field..very cool.

The Valley of the Kings tour was a treat ; seeing a half dozen tombs - each one with a different point of interest...paintings,carvings, size. We did see Tut's tomb which is a modest affair. It is small and hardly decorated. He has been returned to his tomb minus all the treasures ...kinda sad really.


We had a terrific guide who talked of the current situation in Egypt.He was pretty negative ; although elections are coming the military has control and he doesn't see that changing ( "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" ). This attitude was echoed everywhere we went. The other problem is the devastation to the tourist industry- the Valley of the Kings normally sees 6000 a day and is now down to 800...desperate times.  It is a good time to visit as there are no line ups and prices are reduced, an incredible place to see.

Luxor has 2 superb museums  ( Luxor and Mummification) ; both are very up to date ,beautifully arranged and explained. You get the sense that only the very best pieces are on show. Thutmosis III is achingly beautiful and although the Mummification disappoints on gore the tomb treasures are amazing. One of the mummies was returned from Niagara Falls.

We left Luxor for a 4 day trip through the Western Desert. The first day and a half we had the attention of the tourist police who provided escorts both in front and behind our rented bus. First night was in a seriously decaying Soviet era hotel. While it was clearly on the edge of collapse the beds were pretty good. Further  into the desert we ended in a magical camp surrounded by crazy rock formations. Snuggled in camel blankets we spent the night under the stars..peraps the best campsite of the trip.

 We are enjoying the change in food ...Egypt has great street food , cheap and plentiful with felafels at the top of the list. Cairo offers many possibilities and last night we had an amazing meal at a Lebanese restaurant.

After the White Desert...right ...the Black Desert with it's odd covering of black outcroppings and accumulations of black sand. Bahariya Oasis was our last ..with lush groves of date palms. On the way we stopped at Al Qasr.

 It's narrow winding passages, tilted doorways and windows took us back to the middle ages. Our camp was 365 mikes from Cairo ..very fancy with a great hot spring which provided water for everything...even the toilets were toasty.

That night a traditional ( making full use of amps and reverb) band provided music. A terrific flutist backed by 3 percussionists kept the place rocking. The men do a kind of pelvic belly dance....a bit unnerving to western eyes ...but fun. No sign of Bedouin woman.

We are now in Cairo  and have done the expected and have said good bye to our dear travel companions. We now head out on our own ..next stop Tunisia.