January 2, 2009

Last two days where spent in Marrakesh - loud and vibrant city in the Atlas Mountains. Marakesh consist of huge square surrounded by labyrinth of of streets filled with shops, cafes, fruit stands, etc.
During the day the square hosts rows upon rows of sellers with beads, dried fruit, drums, juices. At night, those stalls get replaced by people selling meat, cinnamon tea and snail.
But the magic time is around the dusk. That's when the snake charmers come out and play music to cobras. That's when the actors come out and perform. And crowds gather. And stories are told in the circles and drums are played. The henna artist come out too and draw beautiful patters on the skin of charmed tourists. I can continue but I should stop and let you see the pictures...

Eating snails:

Magical lamp shop:

Drinking avocado juice. Take 1 liter of milk, 3 ripe avocados and sugar to taste. Put it all in the blender. Blend. Enjoy!

Ancient ruins at Marrakesh:

After Sahara we moved to the High Atlas Mountains. The top most peaks are covered in snow and were not accessible with out light ammunition. Maybe next time! This time however we hiked all around the mountains, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, went up and down into the valley and back to the hills again. We were staying in a guest house, where I was trained in cooking tajine - local Moroccan meat and vegetable stew.

Becca on the mule:

Amazing mountains: