The Sahara and Couscous

This

+ This
= So much fun in Morocco!!

So on to Morocco part two! I have so much to share....okay i have to backtrack because on this post i will give you a little idea of the trials of TRAVEL through Morocco. On my last post I failed to mention the train ride from Tangier to Rabat....

Travel story #1
Once we got on the train we found out we had to get off at one stop and then get on another train that would take us to Rabat...this sounded fine...but once we got on the second train i realized it was going to suck big time! the whole train was packed...and i mean PACKED with people. So much in fact that you couldnt sit in any of the compartments but had to stand in this tiny isle and not just stand but be completely packed in between so many hot and smelly people. ha ha at first we were like this is okay it is only like 40 min....till we talked to the girl next to us who told us it was actually 3 hours UHG!! So finally we got to Rabat but now the problem was getting off the train...so we fought our way through all the people to the exit only to find that the door was jammed so we had to fight our way through to the other side of the train car to the other door...but the train had already started to go..i looked back at Austin and was like.."yeah?" and he nodded and so we both jumped off the moving train....ahhhh at last in Rabat!

now on to Marrakesh

Travel story #2

This time the train ride wasnt bad. It wasnt packed, in fact it was just Me, Austin, and two other woman in the train compartment. So half way during the train ride the woman next to me took out a small box, turned to me and then offered me a cookie....i was very excited, i took one and then she offered one to Austin...well this was the start of a beautiful friendship (especially when it involves delicious cookies). We all started talking and ended up talking the rest of the train ride. Her name was Rashida and she was on her way to go see her daughter in Marrakesh to have a celebration feast after their Religious month of Ramadan (this is a month long celebration including fasting for 30 days from sunrise to sunset). At the end of the train ride she asked if me and Austin would like to join her family for the celebration dinner....and we agreed!!

so the next afternoon we went to her daughter Wafa's house to eat....it was amazing... the food the people everything!!!

here were some tasty treats, little appetizer cookies yum!

now on to the main course....oh my gosh seriously this was the best couscous EVER!!!
Rashida just put it in the middle of the table and we all grabbed a spoon or some used their hands(which i guess is how your supposed to eat it) and just dug right in and started eating!
This family was so much fun we laughed so much and then all shared pictures and stories we had the best time and are so blessed to have met our new friends!
(I'm sad Rashidas husband isnt in the pic...he wasnt feeling well and had to lay down)

So Marrakesh has been my favorite city it is so crazy and there is so much to see i just loved it!! They have this huge market square where there are dancers, performers, snake charmers, food and then a huge market where they sell pottery, purses, sandals, spices and pretty much EVERYTHING!! it was so so cool and there are so many authentic Moroccan hand made goodies.

i would have taken more pics but you have to be careful because once you take a picture they freak out and demand money ha ha so you have to be sneaky :)

a picture of the square at night
One of the lantern shops in the market
some spices, pottery and sites (traditional Berber clothing)
the fun market ha ha also crazy...notice the bike riding through? this is NOT a street
more of the marketour hotel in Marrakesh has been my favorite so far! Here is a nice patio on the roof

our room and bathroom....yay our own shower AND toilet...i was so so excited!!

Marrakesh was so much fun and even better once we met Rashida and her amazing family!!!

now off to the Sahara Desert!!

Travel story #3 (by far my least favorite)

well we wanted to go to the Sahara but unfortunately there are no trains out there so we had to take a bus....a 14 HOUR BUS! here are some of the highlights...

1. it was incredibly old (and i mean GROSS and old and smelly!)
2. the driver tried to charge us to put our bags under the bus that we already payed for so we ended up cramming all of our stuff around our feet leaving no room to move at all
3. someone had smeared their lunch all over the seat in front of me so that is what i looked at the whole ride
4. They advertised that there is air conditioning...but what they really meant was that they would have one little window open
5. we were so so so SO stuffy and hot and uncomfortable and this was only 2 hours in
6. The guy sitting squished next to Austin smelled so badly and was passing gas non stop
7. We were on a paved road only 10 percent of the trip the other 90 percent was on dirt
8. The lady right by us decided that she wanted to blast the music from her cell phone and it was HORRIBLE music
9. The bus driver stopped the bus and started yelling at this old guy they got in a fight and he got kicked off the bus...what they fought about? i have no idea
10. We only stretched our feet once
11. Everytime we feel asleep we would hit a pot hole or something and we would smack our heads
12. and the craziest story for last....
so we were sitting there at one of the stops and this girl comes in and sits down in the seat right in front of me, then 5 seconds later this guy gets on the bus...takes the girls hand, leans in like he is going to talk to her and then spits in her FACE, then runs off the bus. Me and Austin were in complete shock!! I then offered her a wet wipe for her face. So then her friend comes to sit by her and then the man comes back onto the bus... well me and Austin both start yelling at him to get away from her, and Austin stands up to get him off the bus. One of the girls turns around and says no to us (telling us to stop) then the guy that spit on the girl turns to Austin and starts yelling at him in french we were like uhhh okkk??
Then he turned and got off the bus. We both just kind of sat there and were like what the heck just happened? So then the girl sitting in front of Austin turns around and thanks us profusely (in broken English) and continues to thank us by giving us jewelry and buying us snacks. What we ended up figuring out was that he was the girls ex husband and he just came on the bus and spit on her 16 year old sister...why? we dont know.....and why they thanked us a million times? we dont know either ha ha cause we didn't do anything but oh well!!
they offered for us to come and stay at their home but we had to continue on our trip.

well finally we arrived at Rasani, our destination at 5 in the morning...we got off at the scariest bus station ever and then had to walk into town to get a taxi to Merzouga ...but finally we were at our hotel...we took a nap and then headed into the Sahara for our trek....

was that crazy awful 14 hour bus ride worth it?? YES!!
because we got to do this...

camel ride into the Sahara
have a sweet guide
stay in a berber tent
look at the most unbelievable stars
eat a tasty meal
watch the sunrise over the sahara
and have one of the best experiences of all time!!

now its time to meet Bernard (my black camel), Sid (Austins brown camel) and Sayid (our guide)
by the way we named our camels ourselves :)
Well we hopped on our camels and were off for a trek into the Sahara!

view from my camelpicture i took of another group in front of us (taking pictures on a camel was very hard...ha ha so bumpy)

once we got to our camp it started to rain and there was a thunder storm....so cool!! it barely ever rains in the Sahara so that was neat....but it only lasted for 20 min...

our sweet tent!

me and Austin in our tent...with our little dinner table :)

Sayid and Austin chillin in the tent.....we loved our guide

the amazing meal that Sayid cooked for us...we had bread grapes and Tagine which is basically chicken and veggatables and spices steamed and cooked in this special pot...it was SO good!
and actually pretty romantic just me and Austin eating dinner in the middle of the Sahara ha ha on our tiny table!

next morning we woke up hiked to the top of a HUGE sand dune (i thought i was going to have a heart attack) and then watched this, the sun rise over dunes of Algeria! So beautiful.... (except the night before there wernt any clouds and it seriously looked like a scene from lion king i wanted to sing.... Nats ingonyama bagithi baba sithi uhhmm ingonyama...these are the begining lyrics to circle of life if anyone wanted to know)
...but of course i didnt take any pictures

just chillin on some sand dunes

back at the hotel eating breakfast

so that was our trip in Morocco!!! We are now back in Rabat and are heading back to Spain to grab the rest of our stuff and then off to ......Turkey!!!

thanks Morocco... for your craziness, for the sweet and generous people, for the awful bus rides, for the beautiful desert, for the annoying tourist hunters, for the disgusting hotels and for all the nutty stories it was a wonderful adventure!!