Fes to Tangier 3-7 July

Fes was an interesting town and our accommodation there some of the best we have had. We stayed in a "Riad" in the old town which had once been a house for well moneyed people. As families, fathers and sons, all married, tend to live in one house, they lend themselves well to accommodation places when the family decide it is time to move on. They had a picture of Bono and his band set up in the central courtyard, having a jam but unfortunately didn't seem to understand when we explained that his audiences were usualy in the 100's of thousands. Acoustics would have been interesting. The Riad was 3 stories high with a deck on the roof, wall to wall tiles for cooling, heaps of trinkets and vases around and a fountain in the centre of the whole house on the ground floor, which opens right through to the sky. The fountain evidently is what distinguishes them as a Riad.

Leaving Fes we headed towards Meknes an old town founded by Berbers in the 8th century. It is known as the city of 1000 minarets, presumably because of the number of mosques. (In the Fes medina, the old walled city, there is a population of 350,000 and 140 mosques) These people certainly don't wish to walk too far to pray. Unfortunately Ramadan had taken the heart out of the city the day we visited with most shops closed and only a couple of street vendors in the city square pedalling their wares. Beautiful gates on the Royal Palace were worth a photo, Diana hesitated for a moment. (Actually it took 14 photos before I got one without a car, truck, bus or horse and cart in front of her!)

 

 

Our next stop was at Volubilis, an amazing Roman city in the middle of the Arabic Kingdom of Morocco. It was strange to find stone paths and stone columns looking like somewhere in Greece or Italy, here in Maroc. Volubilis was founded by Romans in the 3rd century BC and thrived in a fertile area on olives. In the year 238 it was overrun by the Berbers and the Romans gave it up...it was at the limits of the Roman Empire and practically indefensible. The town was inhabited until the 11 th century and then abandoned as Fes became the dominant city. It wasn't until 1908 that the French, who were governing Morocco at the time, began excavations and restoration. There is still a large area of the 40 hectare site un-restored although the current government see the value in the site and have recently opened a museum there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting high in Chefchaoeun

 

 

By late afternoon we had arrived in Chefchoeun, a small picturesque town just south of Tangier. The town is notable for its architecture and colour. Most all of the houses in the medina are white washed with blue round the bottom. A bit different in this dusty country. Originally settled by the Spanish, hence the white wash, it was inhabited by fleeing Jews in the 1930's who added the blue, blue as the sky is. The major industry in this town is the cultivation of marijuana. Drug growing and use is illegal in this country however the government aren't too strict here as a complete clampdown would force considerable hardship on the community. The general trend is to encourage tourism and associated services to get away from the illegal stuff. I presume their tactics are working however it seemed that there were a number of young tourists here trying out the hooch as part of their travels. I think our grey hair told the touts where we stood but walking through the narrow streets it was easy to smell the wafts of smokers in a dark alley, of which there were many. Diana and I did get "high" but it was only to take a photo from a distance.

 

 

Our last day with Mohammed and Mustafa was a quick run into the northern port city of Tangier. We arrived at 11.00am and had hurried goodbyes as the boys turned their mechanical camel "Mercedes" around and headed back to their homelands near the desert. They had been great company for nine days, kept us safe and delivered us to our accommodation and to all the sights without incident.

We settled in to Tangier thinking we may stay 3 nights. Unfortunately a dodgy chicken sandwich on the first night has forced a lay day and we are planning to head to Spain on the 9th and if we can, to Ronda, a small town just north of Malaga, for 3 nights. My personal health advisor has me back on track in a few minutes over 24 hours so a lucky break I reckon.

 

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To Atlas Mountains and beyond 28/6 - 1July

We left Marrakech, with the temperature heading to 43 degrees, to the East and the Atlas Mountains. Crossing the plains there was very little vegetation and no people. Just rocks, rocks and more rocks. At times we would spot greenery, not a mirage, and then find a few houses. Many of the houses looked very primitive, perhaps just one room, a hand to mouth existence maybe. The people are quite isolated and no doubt contributors to the illiteracy rate of 60-70%. Morocco is a kingdom and the present king who is only 50 is keen to see improvements especially with education. Ten years of school is now compulsory however some of the villages in the mountains have little way of getting their children to the regional Secondary Schools. State schools and universities are mostly free with private institutions also available but they are very expensive.

From the plains we headed up into and over the Atlas Mountains. We had an over night stop in the Dades Valley which is the site of a very old Berber town. The majority of the people in Morocco are of Berber origin but from the year 850 they have mixed with immigrating Arabs and become totally Arabacised. They do however maintain their native tongue and with five main tribes they have five dialects. The Arab are confined to the cities while the Berbers live throughout, often marrying Arabs.

Driving through the countryside has been most interesting. Roads in the main are reasonable, many one lane with crumbling edges as vehicles pull off to avoid one another, but similar to small country roads in New Zealand. Vehicles don't travel very fast and drivers are not aggressive. In fact, most Maroccans are not aggressive and it is disrespectful to appear aggressive, or more dominant than your neighbour. There is a lot of hand shaking and touching to confirm friendship here. All good fun but I did go seriously wrong in preparing to hug an old lady that had just kissed Diana on both cheeks. "...we are all good friends here I thought....." but the old dear in the head scarf was not having me doing anymore than shaking hands. She did laugh though, they have good humour.

 

 

Shopping continues to be overly tempting. Under the stress of a long drive, a very hot sun, two delicious glasses of mint tea (to be honest a glass of deadly nightshade would probably have gone down well!) and a Berber with a wonderful persona we purchased a small carpet.

 

Through the mountains, the plains and the occasional watercourse we arrived at the desert! Serious desert, one that we were destined to mount camels and venture in to. Riding four miles to school on a pony for five days a week for six years didn't prepare me for my camel caravan. The ride was akin to riding in a dray with square wheels down a river bed.......I imagine. Not comfy but we got to our tent camp on dusk. Cloud prevented the anticipated spectacular sunset however the dawn was brilliant....(partly because it heralded the end of a somewhat uncomfortable night in an airless Berber tent). The sun rising on the dunes was an experience we will probably not see again.

 

 

We were pleased to shower and board our camel called Mercedes Benz and head off across the rocks again. We had an overnight stop in the mountains and went wandering around our 'Auberge' where we came across a mob of sheep and two shepherds. The sheep are basically free grazing and the shepherds stay with the flock all day and all night. The mob has to be mobile as the feed is scarce and I would guess they are expending as much energy getting to the vegetation as the vegetation is giving them energy. It looked like that to me.

 

From the mountains we came down across the plains, through some fertile valleys where there are huge numbers of date palms and then into Fes. Countryside around Fes is comparatively rich with many crops, fruit trees, huge numbers of olives and many houses. Fes is a large town with 350,000 people living in the old town, the medina. We have had a walk through the narrow alleys and again been tempted into shopping. The goods seem to be high quality and really not so expensive. Temptation increases as the sun rises and the mint tea is drunk. So as the sun heads for 40 and the obligatory acceptance of mint tea is made the plastic card begins its work. Do they "bounce"?

 

 

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"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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High on a hill was a lonely goat herd, lay ee odle.....11-17th June

A visit to Austria has been absolutely.....yep, absolutely. We trained into Graz (easily pronounced by Kiwis as we say "grass") from Czech Republic, a country we will have very fond memories of. Graz is an old town, as most in Europe are, first settled around 1200 and has over the centuries suffered the advancement of several nations and egotistic gentlemen, hell bent on being their ruler. Today it is a most peaceable town and country and one which we enjoyed walking and looking at. Graz has 6 universities and over 44,000 students so on average should have an IQ a little higher than........nah, wouldn't be wise to fill anything in there. Nicola Tesla went to school there in 1875 so they have had some bright sparks. (Threw that in for Blair's benefit).

Most of the old buildings, like those across Europe, are decorated with magnificent statues in all states of undress. We especially enjoyed visiting the largest armoury in the World. One could say that "there were guns for Africa", and there were, but most had not been fired.

 

After three nights in in Graz we boarded a train toward Feldbach, a small town to the east of Graz, where a young lady that we had had the privilege of meeting 15 years ago, lived. Claudia had arrived at The Grapevine in Blenheim, on her OE and looking to earn a few dollars and see what happened. Her experience was somewhat more momentus than most.....she met Thom, a young traveller from Holland, and the association lasts until today...and forever more I believe. They have two sweet little girls and now make their life in Edelsberg, as small as a village in Austria can be ( but still no goat herds to be seen, or heard!). Claudia and Thom made us most welcome and it was a wonderful experience to be able to stay with them, attend Janneke's music school concert and also visit their homely corner of our World. Fortunately we arrived on the night that Netherlands were playing Spain (the defending champions) In the Football World Cup. When Netherlands drew level just before half time, Thom threw open the window and hollered as loud as he could. I think he said "...the ball is in the net.......". That was fine, but little did he know that Netherlands would go on to win 5 to 1. This was a major upset, Thom was hoarse by the end but it made for a fantastic and memorable night.

 

 

A Sunday visit to a small festival in a nearby town with good beer, lots of dressing up and several orchestras, made for a pleasant afternoon on a warm summer day. That evening we had tea at a local winery, the finish of a fantastic stopover and weekend for us...thank you Thom and Claudia!

 

 

 

 

We left Edelsbach on Monday and took the train to Vienna, the capital of Austria. Another old city but being fairly 'cultured out' we visited their technology display and then today the United Nations Building (office) here and also had a tour of the Opera House. All interesting enough things to do.....we even got time in for a bit of geocaching. Right now we are preparing to head west again and Portugal seems to be the destination of choice. We will be there tomorrow night, 18th June.

 

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Chech Republic 6-11 June

A four hour train journey from Berlin to Prague in standard class was "1st class royal deluxe" compared to our trusty iron steed in Burma....but that journey is a forgotten memory...Yeah Right!

We were fortunate to be able to stay with Michelle and her partner Ondra on the outskirts of Prague. Michelle managed our hostel for six months back in 2012. We could easily catch the subway into town from her place and made good use of a 3 day pass, hunting out the sights. The buildings and architecture in the city are amazing. It seems that anytime something is/was built, the builder had to include a few domes or lionheads or features just for decoration. They also have interesting squares in the middle of the towns which make ideal meeting places for locals and perfect places for travellers to do people watching. Buskers doing a number of skilful antics are also present for entertainment, along with those who sit with their hand out and a sad look on their face.

The town has buildings over 500 years old and we took a short walking tour through the town to try and get a better understanding of the history of the place. The tour didn't seem to help much though...maybe we didn't hear enough or maybe the guide didn't explain everything very well......the latter I think!

We have had beautiful weather the entire time in Czech Republic. Every day the temperature has been over 30 degrees. This has required regular cooling of our radiators. Fortunately beer is cheaper than water at a number of restaurants......for real.....cheaper! and the beer is very nice, very smooth, especially Kozel.

 

After three days in Prague Michelle guided us to Cesky Krumlov 4 hours south toward Austria. What a gem of a town! It is little wonder that UNESCO have included it on their list of World Heritage cities. In every direction that we can look we see a biscuit tin lid or a jigsaw puzzle view. Narrow cobbled streets and little town squares make for an intriguing discovery around every corner. We will visit the town castle, a brewery and climb the hill behind the town. Hopefully pick up a geocache and work off enough calories to not feel guilty when ordering a 500ml glass of beer (with a goat on it). The beer is very tasty......and cheap.......did I already say that? Pilsen is a small town in western CZ and that is the home of Pilsener beer. Tastes great on a hot day.

 

 

 

It has been interesting travelling by bus and train through Czech Republic. Some of the views out the window are similar to a drive from Wanganui to Palmerston North. Rolling pasture with the odd forest. What we don't see though is any animals. There are numerous paddocks with big round bales, but no cows.....and no fences. We have discovered that the animals, mostly cows or pigs, are kept enclosed in shelters year round and the crops are harvested by machines and taken to the animals. Seemed a big waste of energy to us. This whole concept is something of a left over from the communist regime where several farmers owned the cows and they all worked in the fields to bring the harvest to the animals. Now one farmer owns both the paddocks and the animals.

Right now we are heading to Graz, in Austria, where we have two nights before catching up with a young lady that stayed in our hostel in 1995. She met a boy while in the hostel and they married and have two daughters now.

 

 

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Berlin.....Beyond the Wall

We got away from bonnie Scotland without mishap but ran up a few extra kms trying to get off the motorway and into the airport via a petrol station. No dents in the wee car so all was good as German Wings lifted off from Edinburgh. A budget airline and I think this means they have the least landing rights and are the last ones to take off from any airport so we were delayed in Cologne a lot longer than expected but managed the sophisticated Berlin trams, trains and underground to arrive at our budget hotel with still a small spring in our step.

The main plan here was to check out the Nazi connection and find the reasons for the Berlin Wall. We took a walking tour and had four hours of nonstop history and explanation.....these tours are fantastic. Berlin seems to be a city built and wrecked on promises and pretence. Still today there are crazy signs of pretence. One huge building, perhaps 15 stories high and taking up an entire block is a good example. Construction began about 8 years ago but the the builder ran out of money...as happens. Rather than walk away from the project they had a billboard type plastic sheet prepared and then built scaffold so that this could be hung over the 15 storied block to look like a building! True as......it is there for all to see. I think that Tui would have a field day here with their "Yeah Right" campaign. The photo is the Brandenburg Gate, or Victory gate, near to the centre of Berlin and remained on the eastern side during the days of the wall.

We have read a lot of information about the 3rd Reich and one Adolf Hitler. There are plenty of monuments to display the fanaticism of a lunatic and it is extremely sobering to read the harrowing stories of those that Hitler and his regime decided were not worthy of being on the planet. The photo of Diana standing among the grey stone blocks is a huge memorial to the Jewish people that were murdered in concentration camps or on the streets of Germany, because they were not fit to be part of the human race! The German people it seems have no intention of forgetting the whole shocking story anytime soon as every monument built or remaining example of their leader from 1933 to 1945 is well placarded with interpretation boards and everywhere we went, there seemed to be several school classes visiting at the same time. It seems ludicrous that there is a neo-nazi following in this part of the world with one delegate getting himself a seat on the European Union in the most recent democratic election. Following on from the reign of Hitler and his bunch of henchmen you would think that the German people would have been subjected to enough torment and torture...but oh no, 15 years later a wall is built through Berlin to stop the capitalistic west getting in! The wall in Berlin was 43 kms long and took a staggering 6 hours to erect in 1961.Strange how over 100,000 people tried to leave East Germany and there would be more than 600 deaths at the wall over the 28 year history and none of those were from people trying to get in. The last person to die was on 6 February 1989, not that long ago and only10 months before it was pulled down. Absorbing all this history was exhausting but I felt we needed to know....we needed to understand that some people don't have quite the same living conditions that we do.

 

In an attempt to throw a lighter side to Berlin we booked to see the Blue Man Group show and enjoyed an hour and a half of mayhem......that was good therapy. Berlin has been a really good place to visit and apart from the odd person obviously closely related to Mine Fuhrer, the majority of the people have been very friendly and we have enjoyed being here.

Tomorrow we will take a 4 hour train journey to Prague. Czech Republic here we come.

 

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