Nov 23/09

What a lovely town Essaouira (Ess-weera) is. We are staying at a charming little guesthouse in the heart of the Mellah, or the old walled town. There is naturally, a big wall surrounding the whole section. On the ocean side, there are cannons to keep away invading war ships. It is a pretty protected little spot and everything is very condensed. There are plenty of guesthouses and hotels but this one is fabulous. It is called House of Colours… pretty funny for a colour-blind person to be staying here. It is full of all different yellows, greens, blues with loads of character. We have a long skinny bathroom right in our room which is a huge treat. My idea of a 5 star hotel is not having to share bathrooms with other guests. I managed to negotiate it down to only 200 dirham per night which is a steal for this room. On top of it, the family is really nice and genuinely nice.

We spent yesterday just walking around town picking up a few tiny things. This medina is so much more laid back than the one in Marrakech so we decided to do any shopping here instead of there. We tried out a few cyber cafes and had a few café au lait stops.

Today we hopped on the unloaded bikes (ah, the sheer pleasure!) and rode south to Sidi Kaouki. It is just a tiny beach with a few hotels and several surfer dudes. The surfing here is apparently outstanding. I guess Morocco is quite the place for the classic stoner surfing types. We have seen plenty of VW vans loaded up with surfboards. There is also lots of kite surfing around here. After our ride we sat on the beach in town eating ice cream and watching some kite surfers. Those guys can really fly! I give them full credit for having nerves of steel because at that speed, if they make a mistake and fall it would have to hurt an awful lot. It is a whole other world but it is fun watching these kids so passionate about something.

The road south of here just emptied of traffic and was so wonderful to ride. I think we will head north tomorrow for a little ride and see what we find there. Coming back we had a wicked head wind so the trick is to leave early enough in the morning to miss the big winds. When I say headwind, I mean the kind of wind that actually slows you right down even when going down a pretty good hill. It is a bit discouraging but at the same time, you have to admire mother nature for the force.

All in all, I would say Essaouira is by far my favourite place in Morocco. It is a close second behind the camel ride for most memorable part of the trip.