Day 4 in Morocco

Today our bus didn’t leave Morocco until 11 am, so we had some time in the hotel.  Actually, Babel came on the TV and since neither of us had ever watched it we watched it.  It is a great movie.  After that we left for our drive back to Casablanca.  It was a very long drive but not that bad.  Let me tell you a little more about Morocco too.  Toilets here are a little different, meaning that they are just holes in the ground.  Needless to say it was a little difficult to use the restroom.  Also, most restaurants just hang huge pieces of raw meat outside of their shop, and that is the meat they serve in the restaurant.  I really didn’t eat much the last four days because of this fact and the fact that most food doesn’t really meet health codes.  We made it back to the ship at like 5 pm and I hopped in the shower to wash off Morocco.  I really enjoyed Morocco because it was so different from the other countries we have been to, even Egypt.  Actually Morocco ranks lower on the list of developing countries than Egypt, but I found it much cleaner.  One of the reasons Morocco is ranked lower is that illiteracy is at about 43-48%.  That is a huge number and it is strange to think that for every 2 people you see on the street one can’t read. 

 

We head back to America tonight and I am sooo excited to be home.  See you in 10 days!!

 

The picture was taken right outside my hotel, I guess this is how the meat is delivered.  Luckily I didn't eat any of the meat at the hotel!!

 

 

 

Pictures

Both pictures are of the landscape and of a village in Morocco. :)

Day 2 and 3 in Morocco

Today we left on a really long drive to the Draa Valley for our Camel Trek.  It takes 8 hours to get to the place where we would be camping, and that is without stops.  What was very difficult about the drive is that we spent 2 ½ hours driving through the Atlas Mountains.  Everyone was car sick and there was hardly enough medicine to go around.  We made it through though and once on the other side of the Mountains I have never seen such amazing landscape.  Catherine compared the mountains to Wyoming, but if you have ever seen Babel we were right in the middle of where that movie was filmed.  Actually, one of the bus drivers in our tour group was the bus driver in Babel for the story line about Morocco.  And, if you have seen Babel we were driving and a huge rock hit our windshield and we all thought it was like the bullet that hits Cate Blanchett (pretty funny).  If you haven’t seen Babel I highly recommend it, I got a chance to see it on TV my last day in Morocco.  Anyways, after driving for a little longer than 8 hours we finally arrived at where we were staying, well at least where the camels were to take us to where we were staying.  So, Catherine and I hopped on our camel, which we named HUMPhrey, and started our trek.  It was only 35 minutes but the wind really was rough and kicking up tons of sand, so I wasn’t too sad that the camel ride didn’t last longer.  I actually had to wrap my sweater around my face to keep the sand out of my mouth and eyes.  It was quite the adventure.  Once there we saw that literally we were staying in cloth tents and very suspicious beds.  We had dinner in huge tents and got to see stars that were so bright and beautiful, I even saw a shooting star.  There was a fire and some belly dancers and the whole evening was really fun.

 

I slept fairly well, if you don’t include being woken up by drunk people all night long, but it was still a great experience.  We woke up, had a small breakfast, rode our camels back (this time our camel’s name was Ingrid), and then made the 8 hour trek back to Marrakech.  Once back in Marrakech we went on an another trek to find Pizza Hut, food we knew was safe.  Actually our food options were pretty limited because women are not allowed in most cafes at night.  After walking for about 30 minutes we just went back to the hotel and got some food there.  After we took showers (because we were still in the clothes we had worn all yesterday and throughout the night) we just passed out in our hotel room, exhausted and excited for a real bed.

 

Day 1 in Morocco

Today I left for a trip to Marrakech and the Sahara Desert.  We were docked in Casablanca and the drive to Marrakech from there is about 4 hours with no stops.  I was lucky enough to be on the trip with Catherine and let me say in advance that she saved my sanity throughout the four days in Morocco.  So anyways, we departed and instead of taking a couple of big buses for the 200 person group which was about to invade the Sahara desert, they gave us 14 small buses and only a handful of guides to float between them.  I must say the drive there was pretty uneventful; we mostly just slept and watched the flat planes of Morocco.  We arrived in Marrakech at around 3 pm and immediately ate lunch.  It was in the Moroccan style, basically meaning you share the food.  After that we had time to look around the main market place.  A huge square let way to tiny veins that were alleys full of shops.  In the middle of the square were snake charmers, dancing monkeys and people drawing henna on different tourists’ body parts.  We then entered through one of the alleys to look at the shops.  It was incredible to see the different colors of spices, leather bags and totes all around, and full shops lined floor to ceiling with scarves.  It was fun and I was sad to leave.  We then went to our hotel to check in and have a little free time.  After free time we went to dinner and a show.  The dinner was great—sitting under huge tents with on cushioned couches.  Then we went outside where there was a huge ring and we then watched a horse show.  The whole evening was like visiting a Moroccan Disneyland, but not as good!  It was fun but you could tell that it was put on strictly for tourists and there was very little of the show based in Moroccan culture.  We returned to our hotel tired but ready for our drive to the Sahara desert tomorrow.

My last day in Egypt

My last day in Egypt proved to be uneventful yet necessary.  I didn’t get off the boat because of serious fatigue caused by my rigorous schedule the last four days.  I slept and watched some movies with my girl friends and just relaxed.  Although part of me thought I was wasting my time, my body and mind was telling me not to do anything!  But as I reflect on my time in Egypt, I feel like I didn’t miss out on anything.  I saw so much and did so much that I don’t regret anything.  I think that Egypt is tied for my second favorite port.  My first being Croatia, then Egypt and Turkey are tied for 2^nd.  I never thought these three countries would be my favorite, but I loved the surprise. 

Day 4

Today we got to sleep in, the phone didn’t ring until 6:30.  We had breakfast and then went straight to the Karnak Temple.  This is a huge structure and almost every Pharoah added his or her touch to the temple.  In the temple is a huge scarab beetle, they say if you walk around it 7 times your wish will come true.  I walked around 7 times and as for the other part I guess we will see.  After this we went back to the hotel for lunch.  I managed, also, to find time to get a really great henna tattoo on my hand with my name in Arabic.  This was my first henna tattoo and I’m still getting used to it, but it was fun.  We left to the airport after lunch and then once back in Cairo made the three hour drive back to Alexandria.  Once back on the boat and in my home I went to bed early and enjoyed sleeping in.

Day 3 and Luxor

The phone rang at 4:15 again this morning.  We had to be up and ready to catch a flight to Luxor today.  We were all so worried about Airport Security in Egypt, but when we got there they hardly checked anything, and despite two metal detectors we had to go through, they didn’t care at all about the size of your liquids or even if you carried on an open water bottle.  Strange!  Anyways, we got to Luxor at about 9 am and went straight to the Valley of the Kings.  At 9 am it was already 44 degrees Celsius in the Valley, that is about 115 or 120 degrees Fahrenheit.  When we got to the Valley of the Kings we had the option of paying an extra 100 Egyptian Pounds ($20) to see King Tut’s tomb.  I had to do, mostly my decision rested on the fact that I had no idea if I would ever come back and I know I would regret it later.  So we went into King Tut’s tomb first and actually saw his Mummy.  King Tut’s tomb is right below one of the Ramses Pharaoh’s tombs and when that tomb was being discovered debris covered the entry to King Tut’s tomb completely.  Manal told us that King Tut is a very insignificant tomb.  He reigned for such a short time and was so young that historically he probably would have been passed over if it wasn’t for the fact that his tomb was found almost completely intact.  Another interesting fact is that King Tut’s tomb is the least ornate in the Valley of the Kings.  It was originally intended for a high priest, but when Tut died unexpectedly the hieroglyphs and drawings were changed for Tut.  I went in three other tombs and was shocked at the vivid colors and etched hieroglyphs on the wall.  Another cool thing is that inside each temple, directly to the right of the entry way were all the pharoah’s confessions, if you will.  They were supposed to say all the Kings’ wrong-doings, but because the Pharoah’s were practically Gods the inscriptions mostly said, “I did not lie, I did not commit adultery.”  Noting the phrasing of these inscriptions, it is the common belief that from these “confessions,” we get the Ten Commandments. 

 

After the Valley we went to see the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.  It was huge and it was incredible the power that a woman had back in ancient Egypt.  It’s actually funny because she made up a story about her lineage, telling the Egyptian public that her mother and one of the Gods were her parents and that she was the rightful Queen of Egypt.  She is always depicted wearing male clothes and she is even buried in the Valley of the Kings, not the Valley of the Queens.  Let’s just say she was the exception.  Actually my tour guide Manal was saying how women, especially in rural parts of Egypt, get married right when the hit puberty.  And, that almost all women cover themselves even if they are not Muslim because of the modesty for which women need to have in order to be respected.  After Hatshepsut’s Temple we went to see the Colossi of Memnon, two huge statues, and then continued to our hotel for lunch. 

 

We were hot and starving and so happy to get back to the air conditioned hotel.  We had some free time, so basically everyone napped, and then went back out at around 7 to see the Luxor Temple.  The temple was beautiful with all of its hieroglyphs and statues.  It was really interesting because parts of the walls were painted over with Christian figures and scenes, such as the Last Supper.  When Egypt was proclaimed a Christian country, they painted over many of the monuments because they were said to be temples of paganism.  Now there are only little pieces of the paintings left. 

 

After the temple we went back to our hotel and a group of 7 of us went to the local bazaar.  I didn’t buy anything, but it was fun to shop around and get the most out of our time in Luxor.  After walking around for a bit we took a taxi back to the hotel and went to bed