Hard Core (ish)

The drive to Ait Benhaidu was long, but thankfully fairly dry. Unfortunately our dearly beloved van "got sick" as the Moroccan mechanic said and was taken away for repairs. The kasbah at Ait Benhaidu was fabulous and it was neat to wander the streets and figure out which scenes from which movie were filmed where and with whom in them. However the best part had to be the absolute manic river crossing by donkey. Picture two tall Canadian women straddling the smallest teeny tiny donkey ever. Then have that donkey plod through a raging river up to it's belly. Then picture the aforementioned two Canadian women with death grips on the Moroccan guy leading the donkey. Then repeat this five more times and you have something like our crossing to Ait Benhaidu. I think John nearly bust something he was laughing so hard.

The next morning we were greeted with not one but two replacement vehicles. Two well worn land rovers with missing pieces in the doors were to be our new transportation. I kept singing "going on a lion hunt" much to the dismay of my fellow tourees! The rovers took us up into the High Atlas mountains (which look strikingly similar to the Rockies, only pink) to the village of Imlil. Apparently Imlil is a kind of basecamp for expeditions up Morocco's highest mountain as all the locals tried to sell us crampons and ice picks. Made us all feel quite hard core! From there we trekked up to a Berber (original natives of Morocco) village and stayed in a local Gite (a mud brick house with every section of the house as seperate building). And holy Berber bumpkins was it cold! The next morning we hiked up into the mountains for a couple hours along the same trail that the real mountaineers take. Again, made us feel like super tough intrepid explorers... even if they did out pace us like horses to slugs. The views of the snowcapped mountains were breathtaking. Could hardly believe that I was still in Morocco!

From there our old van showed up again in a much healthier condition to take us to Essaouira on the coast. (Pity, I rather enjoyed them. They had more leg room.) It's so weird to think that yesterday we were in the mountains and today we're dipping our toes into sand and chasing the seagulls away. One thing's for sure, Morocco is definitely a country of diversity. No two places that I've visited have been the same.

Essaouira is a lovely collection of white washed buildings and wide french designed streets. Actually reminds me a lot of the Greek islands. It has a very laid back feel like most beach side towns which is always a hit with me. In a couple hours, Linda and I are due for our Hammam experience. A room full of women, completely buck naked, covered in various soaps, mud baths, and assorted scrubbing materials... what could possibly be awkward about that? :) Ah well, it'll be good to have a giggle at our mud monster bodies.