The Morocco Diaries Part 3: Into the Sahara

Ahh... the expansive Sahara Desert. Before we even booked our tickets to Morocco it was decided: if we were going to go all the way to Northern Africa, we were going to make the extra trek to the Sahara. We started looking into Sahara trips before we left, but only came across private tours that were way out of our budget. So we started asking around about tours on our first day in Marrakech and had something booked by the evening of the second day. We booked a 3 day/2 night trip leaving bright and early Christmas morning. Our trip was to include many stops in the High Atlas Mountains and the highlight of the trip: a camel ride to a Berber tent where we would camp in the desert.

We woke up X-mas morning (which obviously didn't feel any different from any other day at this point) and made our way to meet our ride. We would be spending the next 3 days squashed into a mini-van with 12 other people + driver. Luckily for us, we ended up with a good group and made some great new friends. To get to the area of the Sahara which we were heading to, it is about a 8 hour drive non-stop, through the twisty roads of the High Atlas Mountains. Of course we made plenty of stops, so it took us much more than 8 hours to arrive.

The first day of the trip, Jason and I had the honor of sitting in the front seat next to the driver. This was good because we could see where we were going and got some good pictures out the windshield, but also just a little terrifying in the mountain roads. But thankfully, this guy had nothing on those crazy Thai mini-van drivers. Now that was scary!

Day one we had to brave the rain all day long. But, we still got to see some nice things.

Stopped at the high point of the pass through the Atlas mountains for a great view.

Went to a famous 'kasbah' where several movies, such as Gladiator, have filmed scenes.

Ate a terrific lunch in the mountain town of Ouarzazate.

Enjoyed the night in a small, cold, dirty... yet atmospheric hotel located in the Dades Gorge.

The hotel staff prepared a great dinner of couscous, tajines and Moroccan salads for our group as well as the many other tour groups that were staying in the hotel that evening. After dinner, most people went right back up to their cold rooms and went to bed. But Jason and I and another American couple from our group, Pam and Jose, as well as a Dutch girl, all stayed down to sit by the fire and play cards and chat with our Berber (native Moroccan) hosts. It was a great evening of delicious mint tea and sharing a Shisha pipe. It was a really unusually but great way to spend Christmas, meeting people from other countries and learning about their culture and sharing their traditions. Isn't that what Christmas should be about, anyway?

The next day was another early morning rise. But this day we were pleasantly surprised to see that the rain had stopped and the clouds parted to give us a brilliant blue sky. We had all been so worried that we would arrive in the Sahara and have to turn around because this would be the one day of the year it rained in the sand dunes. But fortunately, that was not the case. The perfect weather made everything that day that much more fantastic.

We stopped to see an amazing oasis of thousands of palms in an otherwise barren landscape.

Visited the Toldra Gorge with it's breath taking vertical cliffs.

We toured the farmlands of a small village and had tea in a carpet shop with a local man.

Okay, so that last one wasn't as good as the others. We spent over an hour at the carpet shop, far longer than any of our other stops. By that time we were all antsy to get to the desert and really none of us were very interested in purchasing carpets at that point, anyway. This is when going on cheap group tours gets annoying.

After another stop for lunch and several more hours in the mini-van, we finally made it to the desert just in time for sundown. We were all a little upset that we didn't make it to the dunes earlier, with time to ride the camels and THEN see the sunset, but it's not like we had any choice in the matter. So we were all ushered on to our respective camels and shot blurry photos of the dunes at sunset from our bumpy ride. Yes, riding camels through the Sahara at sunset is definitely an experience, but about 30 minutes would be experience enough. We rode for about an hour to arrive at our small group of tents nestled between the dunes.

We relaxed in the tents atop piles of blankets, drinking mint tea and listening to our Berber hosts lively up the place with drums and singing. Excellent. Later we all shared some great lemon chicken tajines (are you seeing a trend here yet?) and our numerous travel stories. My favorite part of the whole experience was that there were two adorable cats living in tents, way out in the middle of the desert. As soon as I sat down, one of the kittens came up to me and curled up and rested on my lap for a good hour or so. I need animals in my life.

After dinner, to really enjoy the Sahara Experience, about half of the group opted for a hike up the biggest sand dune around. It proved to only take about 30 minutes or so to hike, but man that was a strenuous 30 minutes. Climbing up steep walls of sand is not an easy task. At the top of the dune we admired the millions of stars, which were unfortunately dulled by the almost full moon. But still, a couple shooting stars were spotted.

Jason and I jumped, ran and laughed our way back down the dunes in about 5 minutes time, and found our tent we would be sharing with Pam and Jose for the night. We went to bed at about 11pm and had been warned that the temperature would drop dramatically in the middle of night, so we all piled as many blankets on ourselves as we could find.

Whoever said it was cold in the desert at night sure wasn't kidding. I was so cold- and uncomfortable- all night that I couldn't move. Waking up at 6am and trying to get back on the camel was pure torture. Even sleeping with all my clothes on and several heavy blankets, I have never felt so cold in my life. Horrible. Take a word from the wise and don't sleep in a tent in the Sahara. A hotel would suit much better.

Waking up at six, we pulled our dreary eyes open and curled up atop the camels for the ride back to civilization. So after two full days of driving, we arrived in the desert late in the evening and left again early the next morning before we really even had a chance to think about where we were. Yes, it was a great and memorable experience. But if I could do it all over again, I think I would pay the extra whatever amount and get a private tour where I could take my time and make sure I got everything out of the experience that I wanted. But, you get what you pay for. And for $100 for 3 days, including transport (van and camel), 2 nights lodging and 4 meals, it was still great.

That third day we drove almost all the way straight through to Marrakech, only stopping for lunch and bathroom breaks. It was about a ten hour day and after not sleeping well in the tent and not showering or so much as looking in a mirror, we were exhausted and disgusting by the time we reached Marrakech. We said our goodbyes to Pam and Jose (who were heading back to Spain the next day and then on to Belgium where they will continue working- they're cooks!) and found our home for the next two nights. The beautiful, warm and peaceful Dar Darma. Just in time.

The Morocco Diaries Part 2: First Impressions

Ok, so I've taken a little longer to continue writing about Morocco than I had planned. January was busy (as was December... and November...). But anyway, I have some time now. So to continue where I left off:

We arrived in Marrakech, Morocco early in the morning on Wednesday Dec. 23. After going through customs and marveling at the beautiful airport terminal, we met back up with David and Mike to share a taxi into town. We did our best to haggle a decent price and headed off toward the medina. The taxi driver stopped in some tiny alleyway and told Mike and David that it was their hostel. We didn't see anything that looked right, but they said ok and got out to try and find their place. The taxi driver did the same with us, pointed down a long alley and said we would find our hotel in that direction. Luckily for us, there just so happened to be a teenage boy who was more than happy to show us the way to our hotel for a small fee. We quickly learned that this is common practice here and the kids have learned a great way to make a quick buck. The streets are so small and winding, if you don't know where you are going it is almost impossible to find your way. So of course the poor, confused tourists are glad to have someone show them the way.

The boy took us down the dark and dirty alley, making several turns, and left us at a very plain, old and door with no markings. This was our hotel. Hmmm... We were unsure what to make of it, but knocked on the door to see what would happen. A woman opened the door and showed us into a beautiful, white immaculate courtyard. It was completely quiet inside except for the chirping of the two small birds that fly around the courtyard. The decorations were amazing and the whole are was so light and airy, it felt just like a slice of heaven. We were shown to our room, which was just as beautiful as the courtyard, and immediately fell into the big fluffy bed for an overdue nap.

After a few hours of relaxing and washing the dirt of the airport floor off, we decided to head out to explore the city. We found some delicious couscous at a small restaurant on the main square, Djemna el Fna. The square is really amazing. It has been declared a UNESCO world heritage site, and rightfully so. It is constantly bustling with activity, late into the night. There are dozens of snake charmers, playing their flutes for the cobras standing on guard. Henna artists that grab any limb they can reach to do their drawings. Men walk around carrying monkeys to pose with tourists, people put on short plays for whoever will listen, play guitar, make games, dress up in costumes, etc. The fresh orange juice stands that line the square are one of my favorite things there. Only about $0.40 for a glass of delicious fresh squeezed juice any time of day.

And in the evening is when things really get going. At sun down, around 100 vendors pull in their donkey carts and set up tents that are turned into restaurants. It is amazing just how many things they cart in, and the fact that they do it day after day. Tables and benches, stoves, all the cooking equipment and pounds and pounds of food are all brought in and prepared to make dinner for tourists and locals alike. It's an incredible sight to see, and another thing that makes Marrakech such a special place.

So anyway, after having lunch we met back up with Mike and Dave to do some exploring. We wandered around through the souks (markets). In the souks you can find pretty much anything you can imagine. From American style clothing to traditional head scarfs to butchered meat to live chameleons. Plus there are great handmade leather bags and shoes, beautiful tea sets, rugs galore, hookahs, wood carvings, pricey ceramics, Moroccan clothing, etc. The souks are, of course, in alleyways and are so twisty once you get in it's nearly impossible to find your way back out (I think this is the idea..). So that first day with Mike and David, we didn't buy anything but just marveled at all the wonders. After walking around for some time we all got a little tired and decided to head back to Mike and David's hostel to relax and ready ourselves for "the feast" the hostel was preparing. We had a great time hanging out drinking Moroccan beer, sharing a hookah with new friends and listening to the rain (by the way, it had been raining all day and we were all soaked. My favorite boots soaked through and drenched my feet. I had to toss those boots after that because they were too destroyed by the rain. RIP brown Spain boots). Anyway, we met relaxed in the candlelit room and met new travelers (Belgian, French, Dutch...) and enjoyed the wonderful feast. The hostel staff made giant dishes of vegetable couscous, chicken tajines, lamb, etc. Later that night we waited for the rain to slow and wandered home through the alleys. It was a perfect first day of our trip.

The Morocco Diaries Part 1: Travel Woes

When Jason and I first started thinking about how we wanted to spend our Christmas holidays, (I believe we started this discussion in September, just weeks after we had arrived in Prague. Such is the life of constant travelers.) we had two main criteria: warm winter weather and not too expensive.

We started looking at maps and coming up with new destinations, some that were just a little out of our league... "Ohhh! What if we went to the MALDIVES???" But we began looking at airfare for places that seemed a little more within our reach. Our list of ideas came down to: The Canary Islands, Jordan/Israel, Morocco or the South of Portugal/Spain. We were really into the Jordan and Israel idea, but we missed the window of affordable flights and it proved too expensive. After a visit with our new friend Dana in Bratislava, we were convinced Morocco would be the right place for us. Dana is a big Morocco fan and has made 3 trips there, one for several months. Her tales left no doubts for us and we booked tickets upon returning home from Bratislava. What a new and interesting culture, we thought. It will be unlike anywhere else we've been.

And we were right.

But before getting to all of that, there was the experience of making our way down to Morocco. We booked multiple flights to find the cheapest option: We would fly from Prague to Milan, spend the day there, fly to Madrid, spend the night there, and finally arrive in Marrakech, Morocco early the next morning.

After a stressful week leading up to our holiday, I was ready to just get away and enjoy the sun and time away from work. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite that easy (in the beginning at least). We took a rather expensive taxi to the airport at 4 AM in order to make our 6 AM flight to Milan. Tired and exhausted, we waited at the gate for our plane to arrive. Then, it was delayed an hour due to bad weather in Milan. Shortly after the announcement that our flight would be late, new agents approached the gate and announced that the flight was, in fact, canceled. Well great.

Knowing that a canceled flight means a long line of people at the check-in counter arguing for possibly hours, we grabbed our stuff and booked it up to check-in. Somehow we were the first to arrive at the counter and had our problems dealt with immediately.

"We need to go to Madrid."

"Oh, that's great! We have a flight at 4 this afternoon, we'll change your flight no problem."

And that was that. Too easy..? Nah.

We headed back to our flat and fell back into bed to rest, all before sunrise. What a long morning.

Luckily, that was our only problem of the trip, and it ended up not being a big deal. We went back to the airport that afternoon and boarded our new flight. We made it to Madrid by 8 o'clock, early enough to head into town for dinner. We hopped the metro and headed to the city center to find one of my most missed restaurants from when I studied in Spain: Maoz!! Ok, so it's not actually Spanish food. It's a vegetarian falafel restaurant that is delicious and wonderful and is popular in Spain. I think it might be a Dutch company, and they even have a few restaurants in the US on the east coast. It was perfect to just sit and eat at one of my favorite places and reminisce about late night Maoz runs in Barcelona. I finally started to relax and feel better about going on this wonderful vacation.

After some walking around the Puerta del Sol, it was time to head to our luxurious hotel for the night: the airport. That's right, we joined around 40+ people in sleeping on the cold, marble floors of the arrival hall of the Madrid Barajas Airport. People slept on chairs in the restaurants, on folded out cardboard like homeless people, atop their suitcases, and even on the baggage conveyor belts. It was quite the scene. But from what I understand, it's like this every night.

So we found ourselves a little corner of marble floor, spread out our coats to lie on, popped in the iPod headphones and slept. Surprisingly well actually. Well, I woke up a lot, but I got more sleep than to be expected. Then it was another morning up at 4 AM to stand in the long check-in line for our flight to Marrakech. We frantically moved around the things in our backpacks to try to smash them down as much as we could for the impossibly strict RyanAir; they actually check the size and weight- several times- of your ONE alloted carry on bag. Fortunately we made the cut and were finally cleared through to the gate.

Waiting at the gate, some fellow North Face-clad guys waiting for our same flight noticed us obvious Americans and introduced themselves. Mike and David, both Americans living in Madrid and heading to Marrakech for Christmas, proved to be great travel friends in the upcoming Moroccan days.

snow, Snow, SNOW!

And lots of it!

Everyone has been saying lately that it actually doesn't snow very much in Prague usually. And by seeing how they're dealing with the snow, I'm starting to believe it. It has been snowing pretty much now stop for the last four days and has really been piling up.

In the States, I feel like cities deal with snow in one of two ways:

-If it's a city that normally gets snow, they deal with it pretty fast and clean it up so people can go about their normal business.

-Or, in states where snow is uncommon, it will snow an inch and the whole city will shut down.

So I get that it doesn't normally snow a TON in Prague, but snow is a regular occurrence and they should be prepared. But no, no, no. This is not the case.

The streets here have hardly been plowed and snow is piled high on the sidewalks. I haven't seen a single snow plow in the streets and have noticed very few people shoveling the sidewalks. There is slush everywhere, your shoes get soaked, and you really have to make an effort just to walk down the street. (On a positive note, I'm building up big calf muscles rather quickly.) And many streets really haven't been cleared at all, only from the cars driving by and pushing it around with their tires.

The worst part is the trams. The city doesn't even bother to clean the snow from their tracks. So of course, this means constant delays. A tram ride that should take 15 minutes is now turned into 30. Or sometimes, the tram just doesn't come at all. So I'm really looking forward to my tram ride I have to do tomorrow morning to one of my classes. On a good day, this particular ride takes about an hour. Ahhhhhh.... snow!

Area Goes to Xian, China

I am very excited to announce that I am starting to do some travel writing! As I am out here seeing and doing all these things anyway, it's great to be able to share some of my experiences with others and get published at the same time. Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Lisa for connecting me with with Area and helping me out with these writing opportunities.

This piece about Xian, China, which I visited in December 2008, is my first story for Area Daily. The website focuses on boutique hotels, fine food, and interesting travel activities. The idea is to supply readers with ideas they are not going to find in their average guide book. I will be continuing to write more for Area my next piece being about my recent Morocco trip.

Enjoy!

HISTORY LESSON

This week Area Daily local correspondents weigh in about what’s on their radar this month. First up, Elena Sprick takes us to Xi’an, China.

Get a taste of the imperial life with a trip to this ancient capital, about an hour's flight from Beijing. As one of the oldest cities in the country, Xi’an has more than enough history to satisfy any history-starved junkie.

The famed Terracotta Army built over 2,000 years ago by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, serves as the main attraction here with an estimated 6,000 life-sized warriors plus horses and chariots erected to guard the Emperor in his final resting place. And it gets creepier... no two statues look alike and to keep the project a secret he had all the workers killed upon its completion.

The warriors are great for a day visit, or maybe more if you’re an archeology buff. But don’t worry; if you’re planning to travel all the way to Xi’an, there are plenty more things to see and do. Spend the day biking around the city high upon the walls (the views are killer). And don’t miss the Great Mosque and the winding streets of the Muslim quarter.

After a long day, relax in style at the Sofitel Xian on Renmin Square. The Sofitel has it all: enjoy a massage in the finely decorated spa or sing your heart out in a private karaoke room.

When hunger sets in, feast on dozens of varieties of tasty traditional dumplings at De Fa Zhang Jiaozi Shop (No. 229 Jie Fang Road on the north side of the Drum Tower), or wander the streets of the Muslim Quarter and snack on noodles, pancakes, rice bowls or any other number of traditional Chinese dishes for less than the price of a Starbucks latte.

Don’t have time to trek to China? Hop the train to Washington D.C. to visit a special exhibition of the warriors at the National Geographic Museum, on display through March 31.

Photo courtesy of Elena Sprick

Click here to visit the Area Daily website, where you can also subscribe to the daily travel column (Lisa shares her 'Boarding Pass' every Thursday).

...To a Prosperous 2010!

Merry Christmas from the Sahara!

So you may have noticed that I have been missing from my blog over the holidays. I fully intended to write some Merry Christmas posts and give some info about my holiday plans, but December is just too hectic, isn't it? Life was a little crazy here in Prague before the holidays and I just didn't find the time. So, sorry.

This year I spent Christmas in Morocco (on Christmas I was high in the Atlas mountains, staying at a little hotel in a mighty gorge meeting new friends and learning about the Berber culture) and New Years in Spain. But more on that later. I'll write about my adventures soon enough.

But now, a recap of my 2009:

Started 2009 in China, ended in Morocco/Spain.

Lived in 3 countries.

Traveled to 17 countries (I can't believe it myself!), and 5 states in the US.

Worked for 6 months, vacationed for 6 months (I strongly believe this is how life should always be!)

Made countless new friends, some of which I know will last a lifetime.

Did all of it with my wonderful boyfriend at my side.

So all in all, was 2009 a good year? Couldn't have been better!

What will 2010 bring? At this point, I'm really not sure. Continuing life in Prague (till sometime in July..?), more traveling (hopefully a few months in the summer/fall around Europe), and then, onto the next adventure!

And this next one could be the biggest of all: settling in back home in America.

Of course that is not the definite plan at this point, but it is the idea. Jason and I both feel ready to be back home, closer to our families and friends, enjoying the comforts of life in the USA. We're ready to start our careers and find what it is that we really love doing. Where will we live and what will we be doing? You're guess is as good as mine. And who knows, this could all change. Maybe we won't be able to find jobs back home and another year in Asia will seem like the best solution.

Just as 2009 held many unanswered questions, surprises and last minute decisions, I'm sure 2010 will be just the same. Hopefully this time next year I will be writing this same post from the comfort of a real home in America.

Happy new year! Love and miss you all!

The Life of a Wanderlust

I stole this story from my wonderful friend Megan's blog, who is currently practicing the art of being a wanderlust on her trek around SE Asia.

Maybe some of you think I'm crazy moving around and traveling as much as I have been... I've lived in 5 different countries in the last 4 years! I like to think that my desire to travel didn't begin with me, but was rather instilled by my parents. Growing up, we would regularly take trips around the US and to Mexico. I made my first trip across the pond when I was 12 years old (I was actually sad at first when my parents wanted to go to Europe instead of Mexico for spring break that year). I remember my dad waking me up on Saturday mornings when I was young saying, "Hey, want to go to Catalina today?" And so we would. Hop in his plane for a few hours and spend the weekend on the beach before heading back to school on Monday.

So clearly, this travel addiction is not my fault.

But anyway, read this great story by someone who has the same wandering travel spirit as I do (although I think he's got the bug much worse than myself!). Click here to read the story.

Christmastime in Prague

Mmmm.... you can smell it in the air... Christmas is here! Although it may be unusually warm for December and we haven't seen a flake of snow since one day in early October, Christmas is definitely in the air. Even though the Czech Republic is highly un-religious (which I mentioned in a previous post), Christmas is still a wildly popular holiday. The holiday topic has been popping up in my classes since I first started teaching in October. And now, with the arrival of the Christmas markets, it's pretty much unavoidable. I have heard that the Markets in some of the neighboring countries (or even in small Czech towns) are better than those in Prague, but the ones here in the city are still perfectly enjoyable.

The biggest market is held in the Old Town Square (Staromestske Namesti), with a few other markets in some smaller squares around town. There are small wooden booths set up around the square, selling gifts, food and drink. They are decorated with pines and lights with a HUGE Christmas tree in the middle of it all.

Saturday night Jason and I headed out to the Old Town to see the festive atmosphere and drink some delicious hot wine (tastes like apple cider... with wine) and eat some tasty cinnamon rings. (okay, so I don't know what they're really called. But it's dough rolled in cinnamon and sugar and wrapped around a metal rod and cooked over a fire. They slide them off the rod and look like a big cinnamon bangle bracelet or something. So bad yet SO good!)

And another reason we chose to go to the market on Saturday night was to witness the Czech Advent tradition of St. Nicholas. Every year on November 5th, St. Nicholas comes to ask the children if they've been good or bad and give them sweets or rotten potatoes accordingly. An angel and a devil accompany St. Nick. The devil rattles his chains and tries to intimidate the children, asking them what they have done wrong and making them sing songs. The angel obviously is the nice one in this team, praising the children for what they have done well and offering them candy.

Apparently people here really enjoy the tradition as the streets were filled with people dressed up in elaborate costumes. Nicholas wears a full Cardinal's outfit with a large staff and all. The devils were painted completely black with glowing horns and dragging chains, and angels in white gowns with large wings. Trios of St. Nick, the angel and the devil strolled the streets looking for innocent children to harass. It was pretty funny to watch, and some people seemed really into it. Especially teenagers who were most likely bothered by the devil not so many years ago, out to get their revenge on the young children today.

Obviously we have some similar traditions in the States, but nothing quite to this affect. Another Czech Christmas difference I've learned from some of my students about is about who brings the gifts. In the US, all children know that Santa Claus flies around in his sled on Christmas Eve, delivering gifts to all the good girls and boys around the world. Here, there is no Santa. Baby Jesus is the one who delivers presents on Christmas Eve (to be opened that night).

One of my students, explaining that her children no longer believe in the myths of Christmas told me, "My children are older now so they don't believe in Baby Jesus anymore."