"Would you know we're riding on the Marrakesh express...." 26-27 June

Evening in the Square

Crosby Stills and Nash sang about a train but we arrived yesterday by big bird from Lisbon, a little over an hour away. Marrakech?...Morocco...? What a change. This place is nothing like we have ever seen really, it's wall to wall Muslim apart from tourists, it's dusty and desert mostly, no churches or synagogues, a palace but with none of the refinery we have seen in Europe, beggar all rain, no spouting or down pipes.....one would be hard pressed to find a lawn mower in this country from what we have seen so far.

The first evening we were led our lodgings which is in the old part of the city of Marrakech, inside the city wall. Even the driver went down the wrong alleyway so we wondered what hope for us!! Later it we ventured out to the narrow streets, souks (markets) and people in their masses. The muadhin hollers out through a number of audio systems set up in the top of the mosques. Muslims pray 5 times per day if they can. They will always pray at least once but here in Maroc they tend to be more serious about their religion. In saying that they are not fanatics and from what we have discussed so far they have no time for Jihad and see the war in Syria where Muslims are killing Muslims as a serious blight on their beliefs.

 

Ramadan starts tomorrow and this requires a month of fasting, no eating from sunrise to sunset. All people over the age of around 12 are expected to take heed, increase their prayer attendances and give to the poor. They also agree to no sex for the month of Ramadan....tough life being a Muslim but the rewards are great according to the devoted.

Diana found a friend

 

In Marrakech we have visited a palace, a mosque, a burial site and some gardens. The town square has been a highlight where it just fills up with people in the evening, food stalls and bargain shopping everywhere. While it is extremely busy it doesn't seem to be nearly as intense as some of the throngs in India. We have enjoyed the food and the restaurant scene and also the bargain alleys called souks. Unfortunately we don't buy anything and use the excuse that we can't carry heavy or breakable goods with us. In many ways I wish we could. The carpets, silver wares, ceramics and fabrics have brilliant colours and are mostly very cheap. Maybe we will come back with an empty suitcase in a year or two.

Tomorrow morning we are out of our "Riad Caesar" early and heading East, over some mountains and into the desert. More adventures and we are quite looking forward to that. We have a driver and a guide in a late model Mercedes 4wd type truck that looks pretty comfortable. Hopefully they can cope with us, several hundred miles of driving, 9 nights accommodation and Ramadan. We will end up at Tangier on the north coast of Maroc, almost swimming distance to the Rock of Gilbraltar.

 

 

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A week in Portugal 18-24 June

We had no problems flying to Lisbon via Brussels. It seems once you are in Europe you stick to the green line all the way and immigration won't bother you. It was a warm evening when our taxi arrived at Carla's and we hollered up to her window. What a thrill to meet her again, in her own environment after so many years. It is so rewarding meeting people that we have met many years ago in NZ when they are at home in their country.

Walking tour in old town Lisbon

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the World and it isn't difficult to see why so many explorers wanted to claim and settle here over the past few thousand years. We visited the Castle de São Jorge which overlooks the city and has a history dating back to the 6th century BC which includes a few centuries of occupation by Arabic people......I just can't imagine Carla's smiling face hidden by a burqa. The Portuguese had a period of master mariners and probably led the World in exploration for a while...think Vasco de Garma. They claimed Brazil but their exploits are also the answer to the mixture of people in the streets. Many Portuguese are very dark skinned because they have come home to their mother country to seek their fortune. Like so many countries, there is no gold at the end of the rainbow. We have seriously trodden the streets here in Portugal though and seen some wonderful sights. There is a museum for darn near everything here, I'm sure Blair visited the Electrical Museum. We missed that and most others but did see plenty of other "culture" stuff. A few pictures here to entice you.

 

Travelling can be thirsty work.

After 4 nights in Lisbon we decided a change of scenery was required so took a 40 minute train ride north to Sintra. Well, if there wasn't enough old stuff in Lisbon then there certainly is in Sintra. It's everywhere. Castles and Palaces are to be found on the top of every high peak and then when that land ran out they have built a few more on the flatter land. We put in an epic 7 hour journey on foot and checked out a relatively brand new Palace, only 150 years old, a castle with history dating back to 5000 BC and then another crazy castle, summer house for the king type arrangement, put together at the turn of the last century. Portugal suffering at present with 17% unemployment must have had a few quid in the piggy bank back then. What we have seen has been fantastic. Friendly people all the way, narrow old town streets that make New Zealand look as though we are still in the kindergarten era, castles, forts, palaces and monasteries older than the start of our history. From the little corner that we have inhabited for a very short time, I think Portugal is a great place to visit.

 

Pena Palace

Moorish Castle

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