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Rest of Morocco

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

Beyond Fez and Marrakech I was able to visit Ifrane in the Middle Atlas Mountains, Ziz Valley, the Sahara Desert, Dades Gorge, a village in the High Atlas Mountains and Essaouira on the Atlantic Coast. Ifrane is a small city that is very modern and European. It is located 1600 meters above sea level which provides a great respite from the heat of Fez. There is a lot of building going on in Ifrane and I understand it is becoming a vacation place for the elite of the United Emirates. We only used to Ifrane as a place to buy beer, wine and other goodies before heading on. Nearby we stopped at a village of maybe 100 nomadic residents that have settled at an old dump site.

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Fezelas

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

By the end of the trip, I am sure the Brazil to Morocco move will be one of the strangest taken.  My head spun for a week afterward wanting to be on a beach in Brazil and having difficulty making the adjustment to the ancient medina of Fez.  It has 9000 alleys none of which can honestly be called a street and 800,000 residents.  I don’t recall seeing any alleys wider than 5 meters, but I certainly did not see all 9000.  Many were less than a meter wide in places.  There are few instances where the alleys ran straight for more than a few meters and there are many locations where you cannot look up and see the sky.  The medina was supposedly designed… designed to protect the residents and confuse the attackers.  Damn… the place is sounding better to me just reading this!  Unfortunately, add in the hordes of people (mainly locals), the vendors and their overflowing wares, the beggars, the million sickly cats, the smoke and all the smelly waste left behind and you have what I “affectionately” (not) call The Rat Trap. 

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Morocco Photos

Friday, September 14th, 2007
Wi-Fi working again.  I'll do Brazil in future.  Enjoy... http://www.flickr.com/photos/7411983@N06/sets/72157602018959073/

Day 1

Friday, September 14th, 2007

Of Ramadan, that is. I woke up starving because I could not eat last night. The group tour returned to Marrakech and everyone was going out for lunch before heading on to Casablanca. I opted out because ... [Continue reading this entry]

Like a Rolling Stone

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

Today was one of those never-to-forget days. As reported earlier, I started with the Cyber Park which was quite pleasant especially in the back where the plantings are near the ancient ochre-colored fortification walls that basically surround the medina. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Cyber Park

Sunday, September 9th, 2007
Standing in a new city park using an internet kiosk all funded by suppliers to Maroc Telecom including my two least favorite companies Motorola and Nokia.  I wonder if they shut down work sites in Sonoma County to pay for ... [Continue reading this entry]

Capitalism – Alive and Well in Islamic World

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

I just read that Osama is telling us to give up capitalism. This is quite humorous to me since it appears to be working quite well in Morocco, I saw it in action in East Africa last year and ... [Continue reading this entry]

Morocco – Less Mushy

Saturday, September 8th, 2007
It has been a whirlwind week in Morocco. I am on a group tour and it has been just too crazy with very long drives almost every day seeing more of Morocco at 80 kph than just walking. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Morocco Mush

Monday, September 3rd, 2007
OK, I am going to try and pull off a miracle and be in Morocco and tell you about Brazil which is fading quickly in my mind.  See, Morocco is intense and the culture shock is even more than I ... [Continue reading this entry]