arabian nights.

i am in africa. wow.

as i was thinking about what to write for this blog entry, i could barely find the words to describe our time here for the last 48 hours. it really is another world; one i have only seen in movies. it has been an opening, humbling experience, but also quite the little adventure!

getting here was a drawn out process. a long bus from seville to algeciras, a dumpy port city in the south of spain, followed by a ferry into tangers, a dumpy port city in the north of morrocco. i must say, however, that tangers does not deserve its negative reputation. it is not a pretty city by any means, but i never felt unsafe or overwhelmed. on the bus, my father acquirred two new daughters, two lovely girls from vancouver island, vanessa and andrea, who had just come from surf camp in portugal. its funny, because i thought we were travelling by the seat of our pants, but they really were! i loved it: one minute they were going to go to meknes, then tangers, then they decided to come to marrakesh with us! in tangers, we explored the medina, got our first taste of the markets and learned just how gullible my father is!

you know how in ALL the tourist books it tells you not to follow the random dude telling you to follow him into a dark alley to find his uncles/fathers/brothers restaurant? well, i kid you not, my dad bolted off like a bat out of hell. andrea, vanessa and i were calling out for him, staying several metres behind the sketchy dude. the man tried to tell us that this restaurant was even listed in lonely planet! we were highly skeptical, and i was terrified that dad was going to get everything stolen. well, you would never believe it. it was HIS restaurant, and it was the best and cheapest meal we have had the whole trip! AND to top it all off, it was even listed in lonely planet. my dad has not stopped gloating.

we paid the extra 8 euros for the couchettes on the night train to marrakech, and i am so happy that we did. we slept like babies and the 10 hour train ride went by in an instant!

marrakech is a dream. it is a completely pink city, pink toilet paper included! they say it is pink because the sun is ALWAYS shining; and so far, it has. our riad, or hotel, is a secret oasis in the city. and SO cheap! all the rooms are surrounding an open courtyard with plants, a small pool and many comfy cushions. there is even a roof terrace! the souqs are a wonderful attack on the senses. spices, tea, more scarves and shoes than i could ever imagine, music, colours, delicious food.......

but the kicker is this: in the evening, the main square in marrakech transforms into a massive fair. every single night all year, for locals included! snake charmers, henna, food stalls, freshly squeezed oj for three cents, monkeys, musicians, acrobats, and any food you could dream of... including intestines and animal heads. there are thousands of people, mainly men, and it rages on into the night. almost an indescribable experience, i do not think you could picture it until you saw it. without it, it has been written, marrakech would be a typical morrocan city.

tomorrow dad and i are off to hike in the atlas mountains. c s n and y were right on in their song, marrakech express.