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Morocco Day 9

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A 4:30 start left us all very sleepy and grumpy, as we all met in the hotel lobby for our final optional part of the tour; a hot air balloon ride over Marrakech. Hicham was kind enough to be up at that time and make sure we made it to the bus, but he did not join us in the tour. I don’t blame him, he was already so tired as a guide on this trip, and then considering he had been fasting for Ramadan as well just adds a whole new element. 8 of us from the tour climbed into a van and took about a 30-40 minute drive to just outside of Marrakech. As we left our hotel, we saw some of the horses and carriages from the market in the street. The carriages were covered in a tarps and the horses were standing still attached to the carts. It made me sad to think they had been standing there all night. It goes to show that you can’t always trust those kind of experiences, and you have no idea just how the animal is treated or exploited.  When we arrived to the launch point a choice of mint tea o...
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Morocco Day 8

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 The final day of the tour arrived, and after breakfast we hit the road for Marrakech. It’s a 4 hour journey through the Atlas Mountains, climbing to about 2000 km. We could see snow on the tops, even from the drive in the valley from the previous day. We took the only major road from Marrakech to the other side of the mountains. The road is newly renovated and is quite smooth. Lots of villages along the road were severely affected by the earthquake in 2023. 2900 people died in the quake, and even more lost their homes. Some money from the government came to people to rebuild their homes, but a lot was withheld. Some Berber people who travel through these villages have helped the permanent residents rebuild. At a rest stop Another rest stop  As we continued to drive, we made lots of stops along the winding road at view points. Another stop we made was at one of the oldest villages in the mountain. The rivers from the snow melt turn the valleys bright green, giving a strong to ...
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