Enough!

We've both decided we are ready to move on from Marrakech. Another day of dodging bikes, cars, mopeds and donkey carts and another day of shopping. Everyone tries to sell, sell, sell and once they see a bag in your hand they get more determined.

We went to a higher class shop today (and mind you, much more expensive). They had beautiful stuff but there were no bargins. They weren't too interested in us, Jenni tried to buy post cards for a 1/2 an hour and gave up.




One of the most exciting events today was getting to the tanneries. They are located a ways out of the standard shopping area. A little scarey, but we persevered with the aid of a well planned and organized way to get tourists up there. We have a few pictures, but couldn't take picture of most of that journey as we were in areas that we didn't feel real comfortable taking pictures. Picture taking is not really appreciated, unless of course they are getting paid for it.



These obliging folks allowed us to take their pictures for a fee. One has his medicines all laid out the other a tooth puller. Yes, those are all teeth on the table. Fortunately we didn't need any pulled.






We went to Saadiam Tombs. These tombs of the sultans were hidden for a couple centuries until found in 1918. Gave you an Indiana Jones kind of feeling.





There is one of the larger mosques located close to our riad. Last night as we walked back to the riad, it was prayer time so we walked with several thousand people heading to the mosque. Prayer time is announced to the whole city. Koutoubia is the most central mosque, you can see the horns for announcing prayers and end of fast for Ramadan. At the end of fast, everyone rushes home for the first meal of the evening.
Our riad was an oasis from the crowded streets and the people selling their goods. We had a great stay at Riad Jonan. It was our home away from home, and they had wi-fi, so what more could you want!

We will be going out into the mountains and desert for the next four days, so don't expect any blog entries as I don't expect any internet there. But of course we could be surprised! It took us about 25 tries just to get a phone call home using our prepaid AT&T card.

Shop Til You Drop

Today we visited the market areas, which are called souks. There are many different areas: spices, fabrics, leather goods, metal lanterns, pottery, jewelry, shoes. It was very warm so it was literally shop til you drop. Believe it or now we got through it fairly unscathed. I got a leather belt and Jen got a scarf. That's pretty good for us, but its all pretty overwhelming. But we took a hardline on bartering today and we got much better deals. Guess it just takes practice and getting burned a couple times.

These are dishes on which tangine is served. Tajine is a stew of meat and vegetables with Moroccan spices, which I'm sure we will get when we get out into Berber country.

Before shopping we toured the Palise Bahia. Architecture and details were amazing.

We got our first glimpse of camels today, but only at a distance. That fun is yet to come.

Mint Tea, Donkeys, Snake Charmers, Oh My!

Flights to Morocco were all on schedule so we made it here about 1:00 PM Morocco time. While the time is only 5 hours different, the culture difference is unbelievable. We walked to the main square in the medina, Jemaa El Fna.

Things are kind of quiet during the day because it is Ramadan, but there is still plenty to see, but it is really suppose to heat up at night. We will check that tomorrow night after we get a good nights sleep. So far we feel very safe, except for the bikes, mopeds and cars. We thought China was bad last year, this is utter chaos. We just have to learn how to dodge. The least dangerous are the donkey carts.

Mint tea appears to be the national drink. Doesn't taste too bad, but looks rather interesting.

There is every conceivable type of clothing. Lots of colorsand styles and all very interesting!

Probably the most interesting was the snake charmers. They are primariy there for the tourists and we learned a valuable lesson: Ask BEFORE you take the picture how much is is going to be. Was worth it, is not too often you see cobras, rattlesnakes and Jenni wearing a snake. (Fortunately that one wasn't poisonous.)

Having diffulty with the blogging tool. Had to do it twice. bummer.... time for bed!

Nothing Exciting Today...

Just a long day of flying. Looks like our first flight will be on time. Off to a good start!

Tomorrow is the day!

Jen and I head for Morocco. We leave early afternoon and will arrive at our destination about 1:50 PM Morocco time. The time difference appears to be only 5 hours, which shouldn't be a difficult adjustment. Stay tuned.....