Life happening to Me

Mexico Mainland

thebagelbarn — Sat, 3 Oct 2009 01:30:00 GMT

24/25/26 Sep: Days 11,12 and 13

San Blas: its called Stoner's Surf Camp and its the first backpacker hangout I come across! I am so pleased! I pitch my tent and open up beer! I meet a group of friends that have been travelling from Canada in their van. 4 Kiwis (des neo-zelandais) and 1 Frenchman, Lucas. All were very cool. I spent a lot of time talking to Lucas who had just spent months in Peru analysing an irrigation project. He is a hydrologist and irrigation specialist (he's just come out of studying that at university in France). He's working for different projects to improve and make their irrigation more efficient and more focused on lowering the environmental impact. Anyway enought talk...its time to try surfing. I have a good session on my first night here! I catch a few waves and I'm jumping up and down on my board.....i'm so happy! Tonight we all head out of Tacos in town. On our way back we walk past the major road works that blocking the whole street (we have to hop and skip over mounds of soil and sand). But what, whats the music? The workers are all drinking, lauging, dancing and having a good time! There's even one of them in the whole still digging away (no beer for him!). Road fixing the Mexican way I guess! It is so funny!

I have a day off surfing the next day, just taking it easy. The day after I go out on the board again. My best day ever! I caught so many waves! Granted, surf camp owner "Pompis" (and also national longboard champion!) was in the water giving me advice, also telling me when to start paddling. The conditions were perfect and many waves were to be had. I feel I've got it now so watch out! [but I guess surfing is like golf! As soon as I feel I've got the hang of it, I loose it again!]

On the 26th I decide to set off for Puerto Vallarta (they call it just "Vallarta"). I get into Vallarta, the sky is black and the downpour begins! It is raining so HARD! I can harldy see! I hit a flooded part of the road doing 50km/h....and the splash water just goes everywhere...its splashing all over the windscreen....I can't see anything! I break hard...trying not to hydroplane! Just made it! Ok, its slow spends now esp. when I hit water.....I make in through Vallarta into the old part of town where I'm looking for the Lonely Planet recommended Hotel of my choice. The street I want is one way...can't go down it....so straight on...I've got to find my way back. Oh...and the police is being me. Lights flashing. Mmhhh. I'm actually already pulled over as I need to figure out which way to go. He's on older gentleman and starts explaining that I turned too abruptly. I'm lost I said and its a one way street with no one in it. "Para usted une TICKET" he says. Mmh I guess everyone understands that piece of spanish. It said it so eloquantly! I protest.......and we start talking about Guatemala. After exchanging a couple of insights about my adopted country he comes back to the subject at hand....."a usted le voy a dar un TICKET". Yes I know you've already said that....but its a rubbish claim. I was not even speeding and did nothing wrong this time comparatively with my driving so far, where i've been speeding pretty much all the way down Mexico doing 100km/h in 60 and 80km/h roads). He going back to his car to get his TICKET book and returns, proclaiming his intention once again "Le voy preparar un TICKET por 500 pesos" (I'm going to write out a ticket). Somehow I'm sensing he's feeding me hints [nudge nudge!!]. I say "I've done nothing wrong and if you think I did its certainly not worth 500 pesos!....is there any other way". "What other way" he says. I think we are now on the same thought process!
"I don't know what other way, maybe you can help me out here"
"how much do you want to pay"....haha! So here we are!....the corruption game is now unmistakably here!
"Do you have kids and grandkids? I have lots of sweets I can give you"....no that does not seem to be working...
"Look I'll give you 50, well 100 pesos" I say
"There are 2 of us....100 each" he says
"No, its 100"
"100, with the sweets then" he says.
So there it was, the deal was concluded. I start looking for some pesos...I only have big notes...I certainly don't want to get those out, so"Do you take US dollars?" I say
"si, senor!"....THAT IS SERVICE FOR YOU!

27 Sep: Day 14

Puerto Vallarta: I have breakfast at a little cafe by the hotel. Its also got a book exchange. I order a bagel sandwich (yup I'm starting to miss them!) and a juice. After breakfast I decide to walk around town to see a little bit of it. I walk about 3km into the new part of town down some back streets. I make my way on the main street and start looking at tourist shops to get a cute t-shirt for Deia. I'm in my shop of choice where I find the perfect shirt and I'm buying it. Just then 2 of the gang of 5 Kiwi-French group walk in! Its this magnetic draw of person who randomly keep meeting! I walk around for a bit more and make my way back down the promenade.

Close to my hotel there are fisherman on the beach under umbrellas opening up fresh oysters and preparing them on plastic plates by the dozen. Mmmh......how much.....only 60 pesos!? (thats only USD5)....deal me IN! I sit on an upside down bucket and dig in....fresh lemon and oysters....sooooo good......I'll have a second dozen please!

28 Sep: Day 15

After a night camping impromtu on the beach of a small town, I set off south. I was in the state of Michoacan. The drive is beautiful. Lots of lush green scenery often bordering the pacific coast. There are many beautiful beaches. I finally find a place that looks nice for a spot of lunch. There is a pool and I have a swim while I was for lunch. After lunch I decide to chill in the hammock for a while. I was the only guest in at this restaurante bordering the beach. During that time another car pulls up. It turns out they are 2 Canadian friends that are travelling south. I say I'm heading to Antigua. Guy says that he loved it there, and especially the Bagel Barn.

I had not mentioned it to him yet, so surprised I tell him I am the owner.....he's really surprised and happy!

He'd been talking about The Bagel Barn to all his friends in Canada and had justed talked about it to his friend Pat that was with him. Small world!! Anyway, they decide not to stay here for luncha and we say our farewells. I set off again myself and after driving a few hours, its about 5pm and I decide to stop in a town called Zitanahuero. Its very very nice, very mellow, lots of little businesses (bars, restaurants, tourist shops etc) that are all very cute without being a cheesy tourist trap. I was very impressed. After parking the car and walking around to figure out which hotel to stay in I get back to the car to get my things. Just by magic I feel someone tapping my shoulder....the small world I was talking about just got smaller: it was Guy and Pat again! We all pile in to the same hotel and go out together that night. Food and drinks first, then more drinks in our hotel room, then even more drinks at a bar and finally a few more drinks at a club. Before we know it, 6AM is the time!

Holy Moly.......time for bed!

29 Sep

I wake up to the sound of pounding roadworks just outside my room. It was 11AM! I feel somewhat rested and thirsty and very sweaty. I get naked and climb into the shower - and almost out of an action of habit open the tap and expect the shower to start cooling and rinsing me off.....I turn the tap more as nothing.....and it seems there is no water! Drat!! Ok, so the beach it is (its only 50M down the street). I put on my swim short and leave the hotel....oh and first I need something to drink...and fast.....gatorade it is...then dive into the water....ahhhh cool off! Next I need some food to settle my stomach (interestingly enough I have not headache to speak of as yet!). After scoffing down an omelette I get myself back to the hotel, where Pat and Guillaume were starting to become alive again. I grab my computer and walk to the beach promenade where there was a delighful little cafe, with a tree and plants right in front of the fisherman's beach corner. I sat there doing some internet, waiting for the others to appear. We hung out for a good 2hours there. Then a quick lunch and set off to towards Acapulco. We set off quite late and only made so far. We stopped to refuel and while we waited I asked the attendant for a nice beach to spend the night. We follow his directions and it turns out its a sandbar with lots of little shacks and palapas that are inhabited and made for people to camp. They even provide you with all that you might need. The way across is by Gondola......our timing was impecable, the sun was setting in the midst of a cluster of palm trees on the horizon. I serenaded Guy and Pat with romantic Italian songs whilst our boat guy pushed us across the water way with his long wooden pole. We were so happy with our spontaneous beach find! Just as we made our way onto our little island, through the set of huts and over to the pacific side, the sun was just starting to touch the horizon....crimson and shivering. My favourite time of the day! Good night sunshine! Then off to set up my tent. We sat in hammocks talking while dinner was being prepared. Delicious shrimps for some and a grilled fish for me. Yum yum......

30 Sep: Day 16

Wake up in Paradise! Walk down the sandbar to where the outlet where the ocean mets the river and mangrove waterway. A little yoga on my mat overlooking the mixing waters: pacific ocean waves + currents coming onto them from outlet = some very interesting water movements! Lots of birdlife going about their business. So many fish that they get washed up on shallow sand by one wave and claimed back into the ocean with the next. It was funny to watch! We now wanted to make it as close as possible to Puerto Escondido and Mazunte (backpacker hangout in the state of Oaxaca. This is where I expect to be spending a few days when I get there). We reached Acapulco after 1 hour and stopped on the beachfront "strip". All the big hotels are there. Its really nothing to want to go there for. There are much better big tourist towns than this. I suppose I've seen it now! Moving on. Lots of driving later we get to a large uninteresting town where we stop for the night. We are now less than 2 hours away from Puerto Escondido - we'll make it tomorrow AM for sure.

Mexico Mainland

thebagelbarn — Sat, 3 Oct 2009 01:30:00 GMT

24/25/26 Sep: Days 11,12 and 13

27 Sep: Day 14

28 Sep: Day 15

30 Sep: Day 16

Mexico Mainland

thebagelbarn — Sat, 3 Oct 2009 01:30:00 GMT

24/25/26 Sep: Days 11,12 and 13

27 Sep: Day 14

28 Sep: Day 15

30 Sep: Day 16

Baja South

thebagelbarn — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:03:00 GMT

Day 5: The Beach

A few Km south of Mulege there are a string of beaches that are just beautiful. I stopped at one of them that had a few cabins built in front of the cove. The sea temperature was that of a hot tub - close to body temperature! Its a cove withing a body of water sheltered by a 100km long peninsula. This was a perfect setting to try making a Gin & Tonic with the last bottle of gin that was painstakingly but carefully brought back all the way from Mallorca. I have to say, it is worth it! HIT ME AGAIN! Yeah....! I set up the tent only a couple of meters from the high water line, taking for guidance the edge of the pre-existing cabins. There is nothing better than the sound of small wavelets comforting me through the night. So it was. As the sea here is very protected, the waves a very tame, especially at night when there is no wind. Oh and I was in for another piece of paradise. The water here is bio luminescent! That made for a magical swim - I felt like tinkerbell fluttering around and shedding glowing fairy dust everywhere I glided...

Day 6: Drive-on to and through La Paz

I decided to keep moving south fast - despite many tempting beach turn-offs! I arrived in La Paz at sunset. The sunsets by the way are starting to become increasingly amazing, and I'm not even on the Pacific side yet! La Paz is a fairly big city. This is where I will be catching the ferry from in a few days. I was not ready to be in a big city so drove on to a little beach 1 hour outside La Paz called La Ventana. Famed for its high winds come October/November and attracts windsurfers and kitesurfers alike for some adrenaline boosted fun and speed. One camper David, arrived yesterday - he's setup up for the whole season (thats 6 months!). Some people really know what they like! Today was my first day of doing nothing. I setup up my hammock between two trees, had a nap, wrote, read and started looking at mainland Mexico destinations ahead.

Day 7: Still la Ventana?

I'm still here in the same spot. I guess I'm slowing down after all this driving over the last few days. I' debating whether to go to Cabo or not. I'll be visiting my fair share of large tourist towns over the next couple of weeks (Mazatlan, Ixtapa, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta), so don't really need to see it. I'll let you know what happened in the next blog.....if I don't get stung to death by Jellyfish that is, as there are lots around. Thats why I've not been too keen to go swimming the last couple of days. I'd rather be hanging around the Cardon Cacti, at least I can see those coming!

Gallery: Mexico

thebagelbarn — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:05:00 GMT

From Burning Man to Baja California

thebagelbarn — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:47:00 GMT

Burning Man

Where were we...

This year at burning man I joined the recycle camp with Melvin and Alize (my brother and sister). We collected and crushed aluminum cans (which are later sold per weight and the money donated to local school). It was a nice little camp with a fun group of people. Its so hard to take it all in, even in a week. There is so much. Our camp had an art car, a BIG army truck which we would all pill into at the back. It even had a mast and little turret at the top (pirate ship style) which you could climb up to and view "the playa" (name given to the wide expanse of desert in the middle of the semi circle encampment area. This area is also the arena for a myriad of artwork, for The Man and The Temple - both buildings are destroyed by fire at the end of the festival). I managed to find 2 friends whom I know were attending this year. One past-couchsurfer and another who lives in San Marcos village on Lake Atitlan Guatemala. Its quite miraculous when you think there were approx. 42,000 people attending this year! Why go? Its a very harsh environment (we're talking high altitude desert here!) and recurring sand storms that reduce visibility to less than a few meters, high heat during the day and pretty cold at night. Well part of the fun IS surviving. Drinking lots of fluids (not just alcoholic ones!). Prepping fun foods - actually our camp had a proper kitchen and 2 dedicated volunteer cooks that made nice foods for us throughout the week! The festival is really an alternative reality. It lasts long enough to "believe" in it and become immersed into a new culture. The art is just so creative - I mean there is just so much of it everywhere. Usually it is aligned to the theme of the year (this year's theme was Evolution) - but not necessarily. One of the highlights was taking our can collection bike (a twin bicycle with a trailer into which we would collect cans) with a campmate Milana, and going from camp to camp to collect their unwanted aluminium. Of course, most camps require a compulsory pit stop for a beer or a cocktail mix of some sort. Needless to say that the end of that afternoon became a little fuzzzzzzzzy!

The music

Its everywhere! It usually revolves around Trance, House, something with a beat. Even art cars have it and they usually choose different music. They all blast it out....but its fun and pleasing. some play beegees, others heavy rock, and some even classical. However there are quite a few "clubs" around the playa with some amazing choices. The connoisseurs will recognise many DJ names on the line ups and stay up till the late hours of the morning to dance away to their mixes. One style which I opened myself to was DJ BaseNectar. Its a Beat heavy in Base. One of the fun parts is watching him bounce around his DJ booth so energetically! I stood in front of the speakers - my body was being pushed back and forth a few inches by the speaker vibration! My ears.....well should not think too much about them in those circumstance.

The burn

Yes....its all about the burn at the end. Saturday night, sand storm and winds delayed the burn by a few hours (like last year). No worries because we were all on our Art Car (affectionately called the "hooker cooker" - not sure entirely why....but part of the story is because it has a huge barbecue on board!). I was jointly appointed to cook our steaks... that means that amidst the crazyness of the playa that night and the cold the reigned, we had our own central heating aboard! So we eat gournet steak and potatoes, drank Frank's home brewed beer, chatted and laughed, watched the rainbow of neon, glowsticks, flame throwing, sound making array of vehicles, people, art, and odds and ends which were just happening around us until.......the firework display that precedes the burn, started. The burn was spectacular - such a huge blaze, and the visual effect of the structure around the man was very intense....looked like an inferno! I returned to the place where the man was a few hours later and all the cinders were still there of course, red hot. People could meander through gaps on the outer circle of cinders and make their way on the inside....I did just that. I was now surrounded by red hot glowing cinders around me.....it was awesome.

Melving and Alize left early the next morning (like 5:30AM). I had gone to bed @ 4AM. AFter a push and a shove I was REALLY trying hard to get up. I finally made it so say my goodbyes. Goodbye. So thats them gone. Well since I'm up I should stay up. I decided to ride out to the temple (burning tonight - Sunday night) and watch the sunrise. It was rather special and serene! Then something happened. I was sitting contemplating, and Blue (she's a professional photographer) asked if she could take pics of me. She started snapping away with her digital SLR....I took my shirt off and started doing yoga on the playa for her to the pace of the sun-lined horizon. Thank you Blue - that was a new experience for me!

Burning Man officially ends on Sunday night after the temple burn. I stayed on till Tuesday morning - to not have to contend with the exodus of traffic all leaving at the same time.

California

A few days in Lake Tahoe catching up with Erin and Marisa, our friends from when we lived there last year. I then drove to Surfside (a beach community near Long Beach, south of Los Angeles) to spend the week-end with Pat, Sue, Eddie and Diva - giant poodle (Pat is my ex-father-in-law......but that's a mouthful; so I refer to them as just my "Outlaws"). Had a very nice time with them, and was refreshed to start my journey down.

Border Crossing and Baja California

DAY 1:

Border Crossing....done in 30mins, got all my stamps, all my visas (mine and Rupert's - Rupert is my car!) and was on my way. My first objective was to get Rupert's windows tinted, get some privacy to limit onlookers from peering into my car-full-of-stuff. I made it so Ensenada within 90mins, but after driving around for about 1hour and not really finding what I wanted I carried on. I noticed a place of interest on the coast called "La Bufadora". There I met a very nice couple (from California I believe, although they have lived in a lot of places). Larry and Cheryl were so interesting and from the time we said hi, a few hours had passed in conversation until I realised I wanted to see La Bufadora - a tidewater blowhole that sends water 30m into the air. After my walk down there I came back and we hung out. They offered for me to pitch my tent and stay the night. I did. They shared their frijoles and nachos. I shared my dried fruit. We all shared conversation, music and thoughts.

DAY 2: I leave after some yoga, more conversation and tea. I find a place to get my windows tinted (nice job!.....Rupert you look sooo cool now!). I just had to supplement that by putting a few stickers on him (burning man, morocco & bagel barn for now). I drove a few hours and stopped to set up camp on a pacific beach 1 hour prior to sunset. The beach was deserted. The wind was wisp away sand and form small dunes all along. I camped in between dunes. I was my first change to get out my gas stove and make tea and Ramen noodles for dinner. The stars were so bright tonight. The tent is sooooo big! Its a four man tent all for myself!

DAY 3: After a hot tea on my gas stove (yes very excited to be using it...still!) I set off. I was not sure how far I would drive today. The landscape is just amazing. Valleys full of cactus for miles and miles. The "typical" ones (the ones that seem to have arms and a head) and many other varieties. I stopped in Guerrero Negro which had interesting salt marches and beautiful sand dunes formed in the middle of the sea. This town did not seem to be very touristy so I carried on. My drive today took my 650km all the way to Mulege. This town was recommended to me by Larry and Cheryl (and other Mexicans I have met on the way) as the starting point of a string of very beautiful beaches. I am now on the inside of Baja California - on the Sea of Cortez. I am not far from the tip of Baja either...its only another 300km to the tip.

DAY 4: Whats been interesting so far is that I have not met that many foreigners. And all those I have met seem to be retired US. They all have fascinating stories - and more than half a lifetime of experiences to talk about so this makes for insightful conversation. I had heard there was a large hurricane in southern Baja about 10 days ago. Mulege suffered terribly from it! I am talking right now to a retired (semi!) woman from the states (yup!) - they had just bought a house (cash) in the last year here. There were on the river bank, and there the water rose 19ft (thats 6m!) only a few days ago, because of all the rain from the hurricane. They are sitting at the table next to me sipping coffee. They are in good spirits. They already have a plan of whats next. I wish them the best. Hardly anyone died, despite the disastrous going-ons. Many houses have been damaged, some destroyed. The streets have a lot of rubble here and there - but it does not look too chaotic. A lot of businesses are closed probably stilling getting to grips with what has just happened. The hurricane is over now, the sun is shinning and people are going about what they do.....life goes on.

The Adventure unfolds....

thebagelbarn — Sat, 8 Aug 2009 20:33:00 GMT

Not much in terms of discoveries has happened since my 3hour internet session yesterday, however you may recall that a big purpose of mine for visiting Agadir was to check out if a lift on a sailing boat was possible from there to get to Canaries. My other options were others to fly back via Spain....not what I wanted.

see map of laayoune

In the mean time I was going to head south, as far south as made sense given the probability that I would have to make my way back up.

FLASH NEWS UPDATE: I no longer have to travel back up. There is a town called Laayoune in the Western Saharan Province of Morocco [apparently crawling with military, as this area of Morocco is in dispute with neighbouring Mauritania]. The good news is that there is a little airport there. I managed to call them this morning and to my question "Is there is service to Las Palmas, Canary Islands" the answer was "oui". They gave me a number....it loooked like a cel phone number?! I call. Someone answers. He understands French but prefers Spanish to talk. He has a funny accent even in Spanish (maybe its the Canaries accent - who knows). There is noise in the background.......I'm guessing I'm connected directly with the pilot......yup!.....AND they have a DAILY service to Canaries! Timely information and service worthy of first world enterprise. What kinda airplane are we going to be flying....don't know....don't want to know until I see it. Ooh and the booking process is easy: hard cash on arrival....to watch this space! So there it is, I can venture deep, DEEP into the southern parts of Morocco that only but the few, the military, the Laayouneese or those destined for Mauritania would bother to go to.

WEATHER AND MOOD FORECAST: I anticipate a WARM and SANDY few days ahead, with spells of draught and a 80% chance of dromadary heard signting.

10 days of what?

thebagelbarn — Fri, 7 Aug 2009 22:54:00 GMT

What could I possibly have been doing for the last 10 days for not having had the descency to login and write another story? SIMPLE: just travelling, enjoying simple things, avoiding long hours in front of the internet. Its the equilibrium of between keeping people informed and just going with the flow of the trip.

Essaouira?

Yes, thats where I had landed having decided to leave Marrakesh. Its a really nice spot, a manageable medina that I could get lost in and find myself again. Its an interesting though to just follow these little streets, some of them pretty narrow, dark, dirty but none the less there is something about them that keeps pulling me further down it. Every now and then there is a tunnel - under the first floor of a house built over the street - thin and less thin wooden beams bearing the burden of the housing structure. Almost invariably the street joins into a larger more recognisable street.

Over about 4 days I managed to get out on a surf board twice, a couple of hours at a time. You know when yours truely is making progress as you'll hear him screaming with joy as he rides in standing up on his longboard that the wave is pushing forth. Still not scoring all the points for style, but the technique is getting better!

Part of my being here was to try and connect with people on Couchsurfing.org David and Emeline responded and invited me to come by their recently opened (2 months) cafe. I shared our story with The Bagel Barn. It was nice to see other people doing similar things and sharing the challenges we faced as they embark on theirs!

Quads! Now thats a cool way to make one's way around dunes! These fast and furious 4 wheelers where the theme of one of my days, driving the coast from Essaouira, over kilometers of dunes, ocean shores, past a lighthouse for a refreshing break by a small stony beach cove. The ride down a steep sanddune was quite a thrill, with the feeling that the quand is going to tip head over wheels anytime......but not!

One of the more memorable meals I had here was at the fish market. One evening, having befriended a fellow traveller from New York and after the necessary early evening mint tea on the plaza overlooking the fishing port, we headed to the main market street. To one side is a hidden square where the fish market is. One of the ingeneous systems operating here is that you go around the different fish stalls picking and haggling for the different fish you'd like to eat, then take it up some steps to the BBQ restaurant, where they swiftly relieved us of our purchases (Monk fish, Sardines, crevettes and someothernormalfishlookingspecimen) and dump them on a grill for us, after serving us plates of delivious olives, bread, dipping tomatoe-herb sauce. This, although barely cheaper than a restaurant (i expect we werent quite sharp enough on the haggling), was a delicious meal, and a fun way to have dinner!!

Sidi Kaouki & Imsouanne

Thats the name of little coastal villages further south of Essaouira heading towards Agadir. Both very nice to just take life slow. The former was very windyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Despite that, it was not that busy. The beach was about 200 meters deep till you got to the sea. To stand in the midst of the beach and look towards the wind was quite magical; the wind just picked up stand and created live-trails of sand up to 50cm off the beach......like columns of smoke exept they were of sand and horizontal.......to look downwind was akin to floating in it.....such is I suppose the basis of moving sand dunes!

A couple of nights on, its time to move on. I hop into another "grand taxi" and 40 mins later I'm dropped off on the small cliff overlooking Imsouanne beach. The old houses built into the cliff face are faded pink. They gave this little spot a fair bit of character. The ride there was quite spectacular, 100's of meters above the see on a small windy and windding road made for quite some scenery.

Agadir

That was yesterday! I came here just to check it out. i was not particularly attracted to this town, as its quite a package tourist hub. My plan later on though is to try and catch a ride with a sailing boat from here, so I've left my credentials at the marina office hoping this plan comes to fruition. I decided to treat myself to a couple of cocktails at this beach promenade lounge bar called "Le Blanc" - with live DJ spinning some CafeDelMar type loungy music - perfect! I went straight for the Mojito no questions about it! And good it was! I needed a bit of a follow up and chose a Margarita....not such a good choice at this bar, I prefered the Mojito by taste, the effect though was just as enebreating though...had an interesting hour conversation with the belgian DJ about life, music, festivals and living different. Thought about having a late night in a night club, had some food, then thought better of it.

heading south....

yes, thats next, so watch this space in about 10 days......

My 3rd day, 2 days past & 1 medina experience

thebagelbarn — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:33:00 GMT

Day 1 & 2 - Marrakesh

Snake charmers, charming snakes, great cooled freshly squeezed orange juice from the plaza Jamal Fna (the main square in Marrakesh where all the snake charmers are), spices and cameleons, The souk's magic is enebreating. Mint tea on a rooftop cafe - panoramic views of adobe houses, grand mosques & satellite dishes; then the star find: "La Terrace des Epices" our food haven for lunch....kept cool by water misters in our very own booth. We (other couchsurfers from Oz Jo and Mike) eat tropical salads and tagines....with a capitalist "2 chocolates" desert (exessively rich....to die for!).

This was to prepare us for an encounter with a "faux guide" whom had adopted us for what he thought would be a guided tour of the tanneries. 20 minutes into following him through the medina....we sense trouble and have to pull the emergency handle! We go our own way....he is not please! Asks for money.....hey hey.....I hand over a couple of coins to get him off our back...he's insulted....money comes flying back at us DUCK! We walk on....end of THAT!

Later comes on epiphany: my outfit for burning man this year - a saudi dress (thawb), full with babouchkas, robe, keffiyeh (turban) ... and don' t forget the sunshades.

Day 3 - Essaouira

There is a calling to get our of Marrakesh. Essaouira is the flavour of my day, so here I am. 5PM sipping mint tea again, people watching, while a fresh breeze cools my otherwise overheated body from the last 2 days in 40°C+ temps in Marrakesh.

Gallery: My Trip

thebagelbarn — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:04:00 GMT