Midnight at the Oasis - but do the Camels know the words?.....

[Seat0B]

I have a shoulder bag I bought in the Marrakech souk some 50 years ago. It wasn't high quality as I was just a young traveller and couldn't afford much but it's still going.

I too have a wonderful sturdy satchel style bag bought in the souk of Marrakech 15 years ago and it is my all time favourite travel bag. It has a lot of zippered pouches and a buckled flap over it all, which certainly reduces the pickpocketing opportunities. It also is not fine quality, but is solidly made and when a bit of stitching on the flap unravelled I was able to have it repaired at Mr Minute. I would expect it will go the distance for my remaining travelling life.

 

[Seat0B]

Mr Seat0A is asking what camera and lens MrP uses. He loved those shots.

 

[Pushka]

Mr Seat0A is asking what camera and lens MrP uses. He loved those shots.

. The people on the tour are asking him too as we share our photos as we go on a WhatsApp tour group which has been great for communication. He bought a Canon EOS R50 which came as a package with two lens second up to 210 ml.

 

[Seat0B]

. The people on the tour are asking him too as we share our photos as we go on a WhatsApp tour group which has been great for communication. He bought a Canon EOS R50 which came as a package with two lens second up to 210 ml.

He says thank you!

 

[zig]

Enjoying travelling with you. Fantastic photos from you and MrP.

 

[Pushka]

Currently at Casablanca airport after short flight from Marrakech. In the Maroc lounge, thanks One World. But not worthy of any kind of lounge crawl but better than Lisbon. The crew are directly in front of me.

Flying to Paris but with some time there tomorrow I will update for Marrakech tours.

 

[Pushka]

MrPs last batch. They are a little random. Blue is Chefchouen which is a little out of order. It really is that blue too. He doesn't use filters.



Several of the group climbed up the Medina here for the view. Which was stunning.






Where they found an artist who drew invisible pictures until put to the fire. I think everyone bought one. And this.




Actors at Altas studios



Donkey in Marrakech.



This craftsman was in Fes. The work is stunning and when flicked, makes a beautiful chime.



The Blue city. Chefchoeun.

 

[Pushka]

I mentioned earlier that the group had set up a WhatsApp and we shared our photos. A great idea. So the next few photos are from other members of the group. They are almost in chronological order and will try explain as we go.

There aren't that many that others took of Casablanca because three of the group arrived only the night before. And I've posted all our photos.

So Chefchouen.

The views at night from our balconies.





Our guide would dress appropriately every day.



Views from a Medina. We saw quite a few along the way .



The monkeys.



The Sahara. Camel trek.



Sunrise on the Sahara.

 

[Pushka]

Us. Sahara.



Sure. Me jump? We were standing on the top of a large sand dune. Hard pass.


The next few photos, and many of the previous, are what we think reflect true Morocco.

 

[Pushka]

Last batch of others. I've yet to touch on our version of Marrakech. I've still got 10 batches of 10 photos to post

These are taken on the road through High Atlas on the way to Marrakech. Hairpin bends. But road quality itself wasn't too bad.








Marrakech. Our guide was so busy attending to details. So many arrangements to make for us. He was great



The main square at Marrakech. Paid 50 MAD to make the snake appear. We were told not to touch anyone's hand nor give our phone to others as we'd have to pay to get the phone back, and touching of hand meant henna application. Surprisingly many tried to approach quite closely.





Sparrows everywhere here in Marrakech. In Casablanca it was pigeons.



Our last night. We visited a Moroccan restaurant which was incredibly noisy, busy and dark and our table wasn't the best for happy recounting of the voyage.


This was just entree.



I can't find any photos of the main. Two huge tagines of meat and vegetables. We barely touched it. As @RooFlyer mentioned, the food serves are simply huge. Way too much. We all hated the waste but we were told restaurant staff and families took care of the food. I sure hope that's true. The last nights leftovers were massive.

 

[ellen10]

Wonderful Photos @Pushka . Such amazing countryside, towns full of character and colours. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Pushka]

Just arrived into Bali for our last leg. Left Paris 24 hours ago then flight to Istanbul then Denpasar.
Picking up from where we left off. Our arrival into Marrakech. We arrived early, about 3pm. One was pushing to arrive much earlier and to miss the mornings activities which made no sense as check in would be 3pm.

The roads were very much classic hairpin bends. So many rockfalls that of they happened in Australia the roads would be cut for weeks. And still the fossil stalls and more lately, honey stalls.













And a cute little stop where we bought a couple of souvenirs that were so much more expensive than what we saw the next day. Oh well.

 

[Pushka]

@RooFlyer - in the fossil stalls, what are those long white stick things. The website won't let me edit my post.

And down into Marrakech. Our driver started to pull into the Novotel as a joke and then said he knew a better hotel over there. Heading to the Sofitel. And it certainly was fab. But they wouldn't let us pull up past the security gate. Snobs.













But what the heck have they done to the beds? A dead body inside?

 

[Major]

A bit different to the dusty Marrakech campsite in 1970

 

[Gladstone Tim]

“But what the heck have they done to the beds? A dead body inside?“

What were they like to sleep in?

 

[RooFlyer]

@RooFlyer - in the fossil stalls, what are those long white stick things. The website won't let me edit my post.

For the first photo, no certain idea, sorry - but I think they are wrapped in foam-like stuff? In which case they might be sticks of mass orthocones - straight nautilus type beasites. I've never seen them like this, but maybe:






This is how they usually present like:



In the second photo, it looks like sticks of crystal gypsum, or calcite. If so, amazing examples - but very brittle. On second thought, the first pic may be that as well - wrapped.

And I remember those hairpins you went through!

PS The writing on the side of the hill in post #150 means 'God King Country'. It occurs throughout Morocco.

 

[Pushka]

“But what the heck have they done to the beds? A dead body inside?“

What were they like to sleep in?

Absolutely Foul. MrP got up during the night around 2am and pulled his bed apart sheet by sheet. Noisily I might add. That was after he'd stumped his toe. I lasted until morning but had to sleep with feet in the 15 cms to the right. Then I ripped mine off next morning. Housekeeping should never have done this. They knew it was wrong. I checked with the rest of the group and everyone else's were flat. Turned out these were those mattress toppers gone wrong and they had all clumped to one side likely when laundered. I wrote "quelle horrible" note on then and MrP said a bit too much so just wrote Remove Please. But they were foul. What the F were they thinking. They made us so HOT. And we couldn't flatten them.

So the next night we slept on a harder mattress. Brilliant. Both had a great sleep.

 

[Pushka]

Immediately we got to the room we changed into bathers and down to the pool. Loungers widely available - it was around 4pm - and jumped into the pool. A bit cooler than the Casablanca pool and refreshing anyway. That night was an included group dinner at the hotel. We could order whatever we wanted but drinks not included. The hotel is pure French and everything that means. . They did not appreciate our polite attempts at French and immediately asked where we were from. English? Mais non. Australienne. Normally in France that brings a smile. Not here though. Sacre Bleu!

The dinner wasn't particularly memorable but the drink prices were . We called the currency Dilmahs because one of the older members of the group (not us) thought that was their name.

Foie Gras. Ain't got nothing on Maggie Beer Pate with Orange. Hard. Not nice.



Beef I think. Lovely presentation and I think pleasant.

 

[Pushka]

The next morning we enjoyed a really good breakfast with one of those huge buffets where you could happily spend half an hour deciding what to have.

The only downside? Smokers.

Apparently breakfast isn’t complete unless you’re lighting up while everyone else is trying to eat. We had people smoking literally a metre away. Because, hello, nothing says “fresh start to the day” quite like someone else’s cigarette smoke drifting over your sunny side up eggs. My bout of coughing was suitably confected as I gasped for water

We were to leave at 9am for the first activity, a street ride in a carriage pulled by two horses. The forecast had been downgraded from 43c to 39. A cool change

I have to admit I wasn’t exactly thrilled after the camel episode. The way animals are sometimes treated for our entertainment still sits uneasily with me, so I was pretty conflicted about this one.

Before we climbed aboard we had a good look at the horses. They looked to be in good condition, solid, well-built and not struggling. It was also much cooler than it had been, which helped. So, after a bit of hesitation, we decided to go.

I didn't enjoy it. Traffic was lightish. But it was still traffic. One horse kept going for the other. It would also slip. The other horse kept up a noisy complaint. The driver then used a light whip on the slippy horse. Lightly but still. I started to bristle. Was so pleased to get off. Never again.



This isn't me. I did not smile during the trip.





We walked into tourist central where our first visit was to Jardin Majorelle.

 

[Pushka]

Jardin Majorelle was created by French artist Jacques Majorelle, who moved to Marrakech in the 1920s. He spent almost 40 years developing the garden, filling it with exotic plants collected from around the world and painting many of the buildings in the vivid cobalt shade that became known as Majorelle Blue.

After Jacques Majorelle died, the garden fell into disrepair until fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought and restored it in 1980. They carefully preserved the garden while opening it to the public.

Today it is one of Marrakech’s most visited attractions, with thousands of plants, tranquil ponds, fountains and striking blue buildings. Yves Saint Laurent’s ashes were scattered in the garden after his death in 2008, and there is a memorial dedicated to him within the grounds.

It’s a lovely contrast to the noise and bustle of Marrakech—a surprisingly peaceful oasis in the middle of the city.

There are timed tickets and we had 9.30am. It was busy enough but we could walk right in and it was so peaceful and quiet and cool.









We recognised many plants that we've used in our somewhat desert garden at Port Broughton.

But also from Japan where there is a recreation of Arashiyama Forest in Japan where we visited last year and which was weirdly showing as the random wallpaper on my phone.