Deserted

Do you every see a pile of large rocks and think, "who put this here?"? I do. I think that about a lot of natural phenomenal things I see. Who planted these trees? Who created this gorge? Who carved these mountains?

Makes it hard not to believe in something bigger than yourself.

This weekend was absolutely incredible. We signed up for a Sahara tour, but had no itinerary. Which was kind of exhilarating. Like we knew we'd end up in the desert, we knew we were gone for 2 nights, 3 days. One night in a hotel, the other in the desert, but we didn't know much else.

The first day was spent mostly on the bus. We saw beautiful things. Drove through the Atlas mountains where, to our surprise, we found snow. And lots of it. It was also raining most of the day… so, I guess it rains down in Africa.

We had that song stuck in our heads most of the trip. Dying of laughter when Sean told us he thought those were actually the lyrics.

I wish the pictures did justice, but they just don't quite catch it. The grandeur, the epicness. It's not fair.

In the mountains we drove through fog so thick it looked like we had reached the edge of the sim(ulation). Just outside the bus was supposed to be a lookout point, instead it was a wall of white. So thick you couldn't see 5 feet in front of you.

We stopped in a small town where we saw how the carpets and scarves are made. Handmade, by nomadic families, women specifically. What they do is nothing short of art. The patience and imagination is top notch. I definitely take these things for granted. A carpet? Who cares. Well, when you realize its hand embroidered with no pattern and takes months to complete… you start to.

We went to a gorge. Quite stunning, but not capturable on a camera. So you'll just have to accept the mediocrity of my proof. Though I will say, it is possibly the most epic place for someone to live. There was a little town built right into the nook of the massive rock wall.

The hotel we stayed in was a combination of stunning and lacking. Beautiful building, stunning art, with an interesting layout, and the showers were hot.. oh and it faced an incredible rock wall maybe 100 feet high. But no wifi, no toilet paper, no towels, and a leaky sink. The bed was terribly uncomfortable too. So it balanced out, I think.

After dinner we watched The Lion King, thinking it was quite fitting. Also, we had been singing "I just can't wait to be King" all day in between "Africa" by Toto.

Eventually, finally, we got to the desert. It was quite a journey. A journey we had no idea how long it would take to make. Not really, at least. We knew we'd be there by the second day sometime late.

We consolidated our things into smaller bags and got assigned our camels. Sean named his Dwayne, I named mine Mark Hamill.

We rode for maybe 45 minutes. I was at the front, which was very nice. No camel behind to have to look at. Just the well dressed guide and the desert expanse and blue sky ahead of me.

Camel riding is cool, but without stirrups it can be a bit stressful. Makes for a sore behind, and you slide all over the place. Especially on a downhill. But take your shoes off and wrap a scarf around your head and face, and it's unlike anything you'll ever do.

When we dismounted, we hiked up the spine of a massive dune. The sun sat low in the sky and we had a field day of photography.

The guide asked if I wanted a sun bath. Or maybe he said sand bath. His accent was so thick it could have been either. I think sand bath made more sense. Either way I said yes, and he proceeded to dig a tub out in the sand.

When he was done, he told me to lie in it. I did, then asked me if I trusted him. I said yes, but really I had no choice. He tugged on my feet so my body gripped into the sand, then began to bury me. From the feet all the way to my neck. In the end, I was just a head in the sand.

It was wonderful. The pressure was like a weighted blanket, compressing all sides of me, even around my fingers tips and my feet. It was cool and refreshing. The next thing I did you might find a bit strange…

I asked Sean to sprinkle some sand into my mouth. He wasn't ecstatic at the request, but he did it anyway. You see, I wanted the desert inside of me, while I was inside of it. I became one with the Sahara. Quite literally.

I stayed in for maybe 20 minutes. The wind started to pick up, and took the sand with it, and I started getting the sensation of being water boarded, but with sand.

Sean got a great video of us, me and Haley, getting out of our baths. We were covered in sand, it clung to my skin in a thin layer everywhere it found the opportunity to. Great exfoliation. I felt like I had been baptized, or given some sort of rite of Saharan passage.

The wind became very strong. The sand, a constant stream of microscopic bullets hitting my exposed skin.

Once the sun was down, we hiked to camp and got settled in. Luckily, I had brought a massive candle, a gift from my friend Crystal. The little huts were completely dark inside, great for sleeping, but difficult to do anything else in otherwise.

The were desert kittens at the camp. So cute, but beggy. There were also dune beetles. Lots of dune beetles.

We ate dinner late. Definitely the best Tajine I'd had so far. A pile of veg and chicken, we inhaled in 10 minutes. Too good.

Then for desert, orange sliced with cinnamon sprinkled on top, and cut up banana. So simple, but so good.

OH! And the tea! Did I mention the tea? Moroccan Mint Tea is SO good. You gotta put lots of sugar, which I'm not very used to, but it is amazing.

After dinner we hiked to the top of the closest dune to star gaze. The guide who had buried Haley and I escorted us, brought us blankets, and quizzed us with riddles. Here's my favourite:

What is born with horns, and dies with horns. But has no horns midlife?

It went something like that… And if you think you know, feel free to message what you think or if you want the answer. I won't give it to you here.

What was cool about the stars was that familiar constellations were upside down. And you could see SO many more than what you can normally see.

We got cold so he took us down to the camels for warmth. We hung out there for a bit, they make a kind of music between their chewing, breathing, groans and various digestive sounds.

We called it a night quite early. The guide wanted us to stay and enjoy the desert night, but the day had been long, and the smell of camel, overwhelming.

I woke up in the middle of the night freezing. They don't lie when they say the desert gets cold at night. Luckily they had stocked us with heavy blankets to bury ourselves in.

Waking up so early sucked. Getting out from under the stack of warmth also sucked. But waking up to the camels in the twilight and riding them with the sunrise was priceless. At some point I started to cry.

By the time I got off, my behind was so sore it felt bruised, but I was sad to disembark. Such a wonderful experience, and it was coming to an end.

We knew the bus ride back would be long. So we were mentally prepared to endure the day straight of sitting. But what we didn't expect was for our bus to break down, and to be split from our group and put into a van with complete strangers. Luckily they had room for 3.

The driver was not nearly as personable. He drove recklessly through mountain roads and stopped to chat with his buddies in various places for way too long.

By the time we got back it was night in Marrakech. The city was the busiest we had yet seen. And all we wanted was to be "home". Haley navigated us through the craziness in the streets, then through the souks. She's got quite the gift for memory and navigation. I swear every time I enter that Bazaar it looks different.

We got in and couldn't wait to bathe. We had sand EVERYWHERE.

Again, we got to bed early.

This morning Sean left, and Haley and I explored a bit more of Marrakech we hadn't seen.

Tonight we take an overnight bus to Fez.

I'm sure you're tired of reading if you still are, so I'll end it here.

All my love,

G