because it had turned pretty cold.
The lights came on for a short bit and then out. We were all looking forward to hot showers, but with no electricity we realized that the showers would not be hot.
We went downstairs to the dining room. There were five others there that were doing just a two day trip. We sat around talking trying to get warm by the fire waiting for dinner.
Pretty much after dinner Laurie and I went to our room. They gave us candles to have for our rooms. Just like the old days.
November 23, 2003
Breakfast was at 7:00 and we checked out by 7:30. Our first stop was to tour another Kasbah. I was a little upset because there were a bunch of kids trying to get us to ride their mules. They were pretty pushy. There was a small stream to cross so I just took off my socks, my sandals and rolled up my pants. Laurie took the mule ride.
There was a young boy that was showing us around. I liked him because he wasn't pushy and he was polite. Laurie and I gave him a tip because of that.
We then got in the car and drove off for lunch. It had turned cold and there were specks of snow. After lunch we drove to Marrakech. We arrived about 5:00. We had Abraham take us to the train station so we could get our tickets for tomorrow night.
We checked in, got our luggage out of storage and finally took a nice hot shower. My clothes aren't clean, but I certainly feel better.
We ran into Sam, the woman we met hiking in Spain. We didn't get much of a chance to talk to her though. Maybe we will see her later.
Laurie and I went out to find something to eat. We ran into Angela and Callan. They recommended a place to eat so we went there. We just went back to the room after dinner.
November 24, 2003
I woke to the sound of rain. I think how lucky we were to have good weather during our trek. We got up to see if the internet was open, but it wasn't. So we had breakfast. Breakfast was included in the hotel price. It was a decent breakfast. They cooked eggs for us. We also had juice, hot chocolate, bread, and jam.
Angela and Callan came down and joined us. We spent quite a while talking. They are a young couple from New Zealand and they are living in London for two years. They hope to travel to all kinds of places in Europe while they are there. That is the purpose to be in London because it is so much easier and cheaper to get to these places. Laurie and I really enjoyed having them with us on the tour. Callan looked a lot like Tom Cruise, I think he is very modest and it probably bothers him when people mention it.
Callan and Angela were going to the sea side of Morocco. They plan on surfing. They leave by bus today. Laurie and I leave tonight by train. We exchanged our emails and said our good-byes.
Laurie and I spent the rest of the morning writing postcards. We went to the post office which was right around the corner from our hotel. The post office was a mad house. We would be there for hours. We left and luckily we were able to get stamps at a little store.
I wanted to go into the medina and check out the souks, those are the little stalls of all kinds of goods. That was also very busy. We didn't stay long. It was too much of a hassle. Worse than Christmas shopping in a packed mall.
Laurie and I then had to find something to do for eight hours before our train left. We decided to find a museum. It wasn't very easy and we had to go through the medina. When people see tourists, they all try to sell you something or to come in their shop or else you get young kids who follow you and try to take you places. We had one kid that wouldn't leave us alone. It was very annoying. The people just don't leave you in a place to look, walk, shop. It is an experience though.
Laurie and I decided to skip the museum and took refuge in a restaurant for something to drink. Which is where I am now.
The wind picked up and started to rain pretty heavy. We had planned on walking to the train station to kill some time. Now we will probably take a taxi. It is 4:30 and we have a few hours to kill. It looks like it might have stopped raining.
Laurie and I decided to walk to the train station because it had stopped raining. Unfortunately, it started again. I was pretty wet by the time I got there. I felt pretty chilled. We got there about 3 hours early because we really didn't have anything to do. Our train was late and we left about 45 minutes late.
Laurie and I had a couchette, which is a compartment with four beds. They gave us a sheet and a thin bedspread. I got my fleece blanket and liner out. I didn't think I would be warm enough with just the covers.
November 25, 2003
I had a hard time sleeping last night because I was freezing. That was from being wet. I felt chilled. Finally I got warm and then I was very hot. The ride itself, in the couchetts, are very comfortable.
About 4:00 a.m. the two guys got up and ate. They ate because after 5:00 they can't eat until that night. Today is the last day of Ramadan.
The conductor got us up about a little before 7 a.m. We were arriving in Tangiers. We quickly got a taxi because we wanted to make the 8:00 ferry. Except the 8:00 ferry didn't go until close to 9:00.
