So am a few days behind in updating the blog so this is quite a big one. Sorry about that, but it has just been non-stop so far, visiting exotic and exciting places, doing tours and exploring so have not really had the time or in some places, the WiFi available. But am not just travelling to sit in a lovely sea-fronted, air conditioned hotel in Essaouira (which is more like Monaco than Morocco) drinking an ice cold beer just to update a blog but guess it has to be done. Hard life for some eh…?

Leaving Casablanca early-ish, we drove straight to Rabat (Morocco’s capital city) and visited Oudaia Kasbah, Hasan Tower, the Royal Palace and Chellah. Thankfully the minibus is air coniditioned as we’re all struggling with the heat, now at approx. 40 degrees centigrade. Covering up with a massive hat for some shade and factor 50, am thinking I should have packed an asbestos suit and a welders helmet instead… Fortunately there are stalls almost everywhere selling watermelon or fresh squeezed orange juice which is so refreshing in this heat.

Regardless of your personal religious beliefs, it is near impossible not to be impressed with the scale and grandeur of the mosques and palaces here. They are beyond comprehension.

After Rabat and Meknès, we headed towards Chefchaouen stopping off at the UNESCO listed Roman ruins in Volubilis which date back to AD40. I have visited other Roman ruins in England before, St Albans (aka Verulanium) and Bath but these are so well preserved it was easy to imagine how Roman life may have been. Really felt like I was in Gladiator, or with the characters in this group, Carry On Cleo… 🙂

Perhaps one of the most surprising towns in Morocco, is Chefchaouen. It’s located high up in the Rif mountains and is characterised by the blue and white walled medina, originally a Berber post. To me, the ‘streets’ are near impossible to navigate, are narrow, cobbled, uneven and all look identical. All are blue and white, all stall holders sell the same sort of things and there are very few identifiable landmarks except maybe a central square or a fountain – if you can find them… Add the heat and a little dehydration and it can become an overwhelming and stressful experience. At least the stall holders are not like those in Egypt who hassle you to come into their shops to buy something.

So not wanting to by some ‘tourist tat’ I left the group and spent at least 1-2 hours alone trying to find my way back to the main square. Getting lost in places like this was an experience, but not one I’d like to repeat. Down one street, up another, round the corner, carry on, go down, turn left, change level, down another street etc. And I end back where I started even though I was adamant I was heading in the right direction. In the end I conceded and had to ask for help from one of the shop keepers. I guess they are used to tourists getting lost.

Next morning, we successfully navigated the town then hiked about 30 mins to visit a Spanish church high up above Chefchaouen so you could get a view of this incredible place. It does impress…