Shop till you drop....
We had a mission to buy a rug and after several stops, we succeeded. Mission accomplished! Exhausting but we did it. We did have it mailed to us and were told that "if it didn't come within 3 months, let us know". Fortunately, it came within 10 days of our return, so we didn't have to chase it down. But if it didn't arrive, I'm not sure what would we would've done, since much of it was paid in cash. We bought a smaller one to send as a gift as well.


Success! (we know who is happier, don't we?!)

To Market, To Market
There are few activities I like more than a traditional market; here is where you can blend into the background and experience local culture, with all its sights, sounds, smells rolled into one place. And Rissani had one of the best traditional markets we've ever visited. And an extra treat - we visited Salem's parents, where we were served a Berber pizza! Yes, you read that right! It's a stuffed bread filled with ground meat:
https://backpackersguidemorocco.word...er-flat-bread/
Sadly, we were too busy eating to actually take a photo , but it was another one of those lovely moments that Salem shared with us.

And then we were off to the market!


Arriving in Rissani


Around the market


Market - interior


Market - interior












Sheep market


Local Parking lot


Make sure you park your donkey!


Looking for the correct donkey!

And other transportation:

Love the market pics, progol - not quite what you find at home, I'll bet. And how lovely to have a meal with Salem's parents.

Can we have a picture of the carpet?

Hi, annhig, The carpet that the vendor is standing on is the one we bought and the one Michael is standing on is the one we sent to his daughter. Of course, I realized later that the one we bought was too small for the rug we wanted to replace, but it ended up working perfectly in another spot and blends nicely with the kilim that we have from Turkey and another small rug we bought in India. I'm hoping to find another rug when we go on our travels to India and Sri Lanka next year!

lol, progol, I should have been able to work that one out. [about the carpets I mean]. i love looking at the things we brought home from our travels - though we never actually bought a carpet, having resisted the attempts of assorted small boys etc.

I don't remember seeing any carpets in Sri Lanka but we weren't really in the market for them. There are nice silks of course and Bill bought some lovely cotton shirts from a market in Kandy.

More wonderful photos! The rugs I hope compensated a bit for the necklace shopping experience.
Those desert "tents"--wow! tThat's what you call Glamping Plus!

annhig, no worries! There's no reason to assume that those were the carpets! I'm still a bit annoyed at myself for not having the dimensions with us at the time -- I did measure our rug but was so worried that we'd get something too big for the space, that we ended up with one too small. But it actually works well in another space, so I'm happier with it than I thought I'd be.

CaliNurse, yes, those desert tents - that's MY kind of camping! And don't remind me about the necklace experience! Though I am starting to wear the earrings that were part of the package!

Back to Morocco!

After our wonderful visit to the Rissani market, we were back on the road. And just in case we had any doubts where we were, the sign was a good reminder:


On the road again...

Leaving the desert behind, and driving to the Dades Valley, stopping briefly at the Todra Gorges, a series of limestone river canyons, or wadi, in the eastern part of the High Atlas Mountains. The views along the way are classic Morocco - oases in the middle of dry, dusty mountain valleys.





We made a quick stop at Todra Gorge, a popular tourist destination, that was busy with families sitting by the little bit of a stream flowing, hikers and other folks looking to take advantage of the outdoors activities.







We aren't hikers, so this wasn't really an option for us, but if we had another day, I would've liked to have stayed somewhere in the mountains and get a feel for the mountain villages.

And as we continue to our next destination, we pass more brick villages sitting amongst the oases, some very much lived in and others, in ruin.



We pass through a series of rock formations known as "monkey toes"



And our final stop for the night, Dar Blues, in the Dades gorge, or Boumaine Dades, at the foot of the Atlas: Dar Blues - Maison d?h�tes dans les gorges du Dad�s



It's a beautifully built place, run by a family, and is impressive to see. Truthfully, we were not there very long, and found the long drive (very much off the main road) to be far too long for a short visit. It looks like a good place to stop for a few days; there was a family who was also staying there, but they seemed to be much more settled in and using the place as a base for a few days. The meals took waay too long to come out, though, and were not nearly as well prepared as we had expected, given the presentation of a stylish inn. I would give the place a second chance,though, as it was a beautiful place and we were given a warm welcome.

The gorge is stunning! It's exactly the type of place we would love to spend a few days. I cannot believe the variety of landscapes you saw on this trip.

Once again, beautiful shots! The valley was indeed striking.

TP--the gorge was one of the many scenic highlights of our trip. And yes, the diversity of landscapes is one of the attractions of Morocco I think. In a very short period of time you can visit the sea, the mountains, the desert and everything in between. There are lots of opportunities for hiking and other outdoor adventures.

Thanks to both of you!

tripplanner, as yestravel says, the highlight of Morocco is truly the diversity of landscapes that can be experienced in such a short period of time. This, in addition to the remarkable architecture, makes it a truly stunning visual journey! Staring out the window, looking at the changing landscape, was wonderful.

If we had more time, I would've liked to have stopped in this region to explore the smaller towns and see a mountain village.

Oh my, the scenery, such stunning photos, thank you for sharing

Thanks, sartoric! More to come!

Leaving Dar Blues, we made a quick stop at an overlook of the Gorges du Dades:




Then ran into a bit of a traffic stopper:









And wildlife has a way of adapting to its surroundings:


There are stork nests everywhere - this is just one of many that we saw. And I mean everywhere - cities, countryside, you'll see the stork nests built onto any and every kind of structure. Just look up!

According to one website, earthstar.blog: "Apparently, there is an old Berber myth that storks are actually humans who have been transformed into birds. In the Muslim religion, storks are considered sacred, which may be because they appear to prostrate themselves in prayer when resting. However, there is also a tale told in Marrakesh, of a local man, dressed in the traditional white djellaba and black robe, who got drunk on wine and climbed a local minaret, all the while blaspheming. His punishment was transformation into a stork. "

We made our first stop at the Kasbah Amridil, a 17th century fortification, built by the Glaoui family, that is now restored as a museum. But before we went inside, Salem suggested that we take a camel tour around the site! I think he felt bad that we didn't take the camels into the desert (our choice!) but we went along with the plan to make him feel better that we didn't miss out on having a camel "experience"!











And then, a guided tour around the kasbah

Simply stunning! Your smorgasbord of scenery and experiences definitely has me thinking about Morocco again, perhaps with more time outside of the cities to minimize some of the stresses. Did you observe more tourist infrastructure between Todra and Dades Gorges? Are they significantly different?

tp, I think the plan to get out of the larger cities is a good one, though I must admit I’m glad I spent time in both Fes and Marrakech. Especially Fes, though it is exhausting!

We really didn’t get to spend enough time in the Todra or Dades gorges area, but my sense is that there are a lot of places geared toward tourists around the Dades gorges area for those who are walking or hiking. I know there were one or two places mentioned on the travel boards that I had wanted to stay in, but Berber Space didn’t have a working relationship with them, so I didn’t push it (I did book several places on my own).

More to come... hopefully I will finish this soon!

Thanks for the feedback, Paule. Interesting to know that you preferred Fez to Marrakech. Looking forward to reading about your visit to Marrakech to compare it to Fez.

oh, what lovely photos to come home to.

If there were anything that could get me to Morocco it would be your photography - I love it.

Thanks again for following and posting! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the photos -it’s been a lot of fun to review them and post them here, as I get to “see” these places and remember them all over again.

tp, when we arrived in Fes, our first reaction was, “This is Morocco” - It was everything we expected, with the intensity of walking through the large Medina, donkeys, burros, vendors, tourists, locals, ustking through the tiny streets that branched out in a million different directions... it was overwhelming and intense, irritating and exciting at the same time. This is a very subjective impression but Fes feels very local while Marrakech feels more international and cosmopolitan. Even that is too simplistic - Marrakech has a pretty intense Medina, too, but nothing compared to Fes. And it’s got a very local feel, too. Again, just impressions.

Hearing you describe it, I could understand how you had the impressions you had. But travel is about impressions and experiences, isn't it? I've definitely had instances in which the order I visited places shaped how I looked at them.