We apologise for the break in transmission as we have been traveling and also wifi not as readily available. Since the desert trek we have seen a thousand kasbahs and crossed the atlas mountains and are now on marakech. The white stuff in the blog picture isn't snow, it is a creek of salt from a salt spring mined for centuries by the mountain inhabitants when salt was much rarer, and traded. Abdou knew about the mine and and took us to it on the way along the minor road crossing the Atlas mountains, which took us us half a day and showed many kasbahs and Berber villages all through the mountains wherever there is water along the riverbed. It does snow here in winter, and they have snow ploughs parked ready for it. It is definitely not winter now though. Hot. Damned hot. Thought I smelt a BBQ but it was just my pants overheating.
We have seen enough kasbahs now. They were all very interesting but, enough now. Some of the kasbahs have featured in many well known movies also. At ouarzazate we toured the movie sets used for 15 to 20 movies including jewel of the Nile, kundun, ben hur, jesus of nazareth, cleopatras mission, etc, and includes a fake Jerusalem built off in the desert, Egyptian temples, Tibetan temples. All plywood and styrofoam but looks real until you look behind or up. Any pictures I post of us in Egypt, Jerusalem or Tibet... NOT!
Went through the Toudra and Dades Gorges. Incredible cool oases with very high walls and cool running streams below. Overnight at Dades Gorge was beautiful with sound of cascading water all night. Morocco is a land of contrast: desert. desert. desert. green. desert. desert. desert. green. All based on the riverbeds, but some of the oases stretch for kilometers. The area we have travelled is called the road of a thousand kasbahs, but thankfully we only stopped at 800 of them. No more kasbahs. Speaking of which, some of the local guides for the kasbahs have been interesting. They are not THAT short of water! Following them through narrow rooms and standing to hear something about that room with a very strong odour- very authentic!
So here we are in marakech medina at a small riad-walled house with an enclosed courtyard in the old walled town. You need a piece of string ti find your way in and out. Last night coming home there was a big local at the entrance to the maze off the square offering to lead us home to the riad... For a price of course. No need mate, we'll just follow the trail of breadcrumbs if the thousands of cats haven't eaten them.
The main square is absolute pandemonium at night with jugglers, snake charmers, water hawkers, pedlars, hustlers, beggars, all wanting some tourist dirhams from you. Throngs of locals and tourists, but no beer in the place! But eventually we found some on a rooftop restaurant, and watched the bedlam below. The souks or markets are full on and the stallholders are assertive but can be funny as well. Yesterday we had a very informative local guide, an ex teacher, for the medina tour but today we will wander out of the tenth century medina into the newer parts before catching the overnight train to tanger tomorrow morning for the ferry to our next leg in Spain.

Oh, how could I forget! I have bellydanced! Very badly, but still! On the rooftop restaurant a bellydancer came. Jeannie said she was very attractive and blonde and buxom but I didn't notice...NOT!
She dragged me onto the floor and I had to follow her movements. I think I looked very sexy but there were some guys throwing up. Must have been bad food.