26. September 2022Ahhh. We woke up at 6:20.It didn't take long to get ready and leave the camp. The camels were already waiting for us. The guide called out "Slovenia" and we marched on the sand covered with camel droppings to our camels. We rose high again and were taken into the desert. Watch the sunrise on a nearby high dune.We dismounted, climbed the dune and took pictures of the view, then settled down. Silence drifted on the winds of the early morning. Yes, we took many more photos.Then we got back on the camels and back to the hotel where we had breakfast. Then the day ended.Not literally, but pretty much. We got on the minibus and started the drive back to Marrakesh. A 9-hour long drive awaited us. We drove most of the day, the only stops were for fuel and toilets and lunch. We got back to town late, all tired and in a bit of a bad mood. For dinner, we prepared pasta with tomato sauce.We then made plans for the next day. And went to sleep. Yes, not much happened on the tenth day in Morocco.

Sunrise in the Sahara and Drive to Marrakech - Tenth Day in Morocco

27. September 2022We woke up a bit later than planned. Oh well. At this point, it was to be expected. We ate breakfast and analyzed the situation. The other day, some of the group were not feeling well. We thought it was simply fatigue from the 9-hour drive.It was obviously more than that.Leon immediately said that he would stay in the apartment and rest, and another girl was also not sure if she would go to the city with the rest of us. When we left, luckily she didn't feel so bad and came with us.Our first stop was at the train station to get coffee at Starbucks. Yass, OMG, Starbucks! I didn't take anything. Then we went out to the taxi stand right next to the train station – the destination: the Jardin Majorelle botanical garden.This time we were assertive with a low price from the very beginning. We said 30 dirhams. He said 80. Then we said 40. We agreed on 50. Okay, we went. Instead of a 40-minute walk, we had a short pleasant drive.Unfortunately, an unpleasant surprise awaited us at the garden. God damn, what a line! People and more people were waiting one behind the other for about 50 meters, maybe more! And there were two lines!We lined up and did the only thing we could. We waited. Fortunately, the line wasn't slow. It probably took us 20 minutes to get to the ticket window. We paid 80 dirhams each to visit the garden and the Museum of Berber Art.Then we got out of line to see what we were going to do next. Yeah, we lost about 5 minutes with that. We originally thought that the second line was intended for people with guides or for people who bought tickets in advance. No, it was the line to enter after buying tickets.Ah, yup. Fine.When we finally entered the garden, we were shown the allowed path along which to walk (likely to not crowd the place). The path was circular around the entire garden. And well, the garden was beautiful. There is a story about the owner, but I don't remember it.The Berber Art Museum was super interesting. It contained Berber artefacts from different regions of the country.We walked around the park a little more and realized that we were at the end. Huh, it didn't take us that long to make the rounds. But we did not see the scene in many pictures of the park. The owner's original villas!So at the end of the circle, we simply went back to the beginning. The employees weren't preventing such action. We found a map and quickly realized we weren't going the right way originally. So we went again. We found the villa, took a few pictures and then stopped on a bench to discuss further plans.We had planned to go to lunch where we would meet up with Leon and then head to the medina of Marrakesh towards the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://bahia-palace.com">Bahia Palace</a>. The problem was that the palace was supposed to close at 17:00. And after a quick calculation, our plan could not come true.So, we changed it. Those of us in the garden would go for a walk through the medina to the Bahia Palace and buy some food on the way, and Leon would join us only after we toured Bahia. With a plan in place, we left the garden.Google Maps told us that it would take us 49 minutes to walk to the palace. Well yes. Without stopping. And we stopped a lot. This was the medina after all. It was big and rich with shops, trinkets and people. Bicycles and motorbikes raced through the alleys.We bought quite a few things and hehe, it seemed that 10 days in Morocco taught us something. One of the group continued to lower the prices of merchants. It wasn't that hard to get 50% off. We simply had to walk away until the salesperson called us back.It was like a game! So, the medina was nice. But as in Meknes and Casablanca, it was simply not the same as Fes. That one truly was something else. Truly special.In Fes, there were no vehicles in the medina, only people and animals and chariots. The alleys were also narrower and the shops didn't look as planned as in Marrakesh. There weren't that many tourists in Fes either, so walking through that labyrinth felt much more authentic.If you want to experience a real medina, go to the oldest medina in Morocco – Fes.After an hour and a half, we finally got to where Google said the Bahia Palace was. And the door was closed. What. I already had the feeling that something was wrong because there were no people around. Now what?At this point, a young man told us that the palace was closed and that it would be opened the next day. Huh. He told us that we should go see the synagogue that was nearby. Well... We sat down in the shade to analyze our options.Then two British women came who were also looking for the palace and we laughed together at how Google leads to closed doors. Until another boy came by and told us that the palace was open but we had to go around. That the main entrance was open, not the one we were at.What? Now we didn't know who we could trust. Regardless, we got up and started following the wall. At worst, we would see where we end up.At this point, a problem arose. The young man who first advised us followed us on a bicycle. Dude, calm down, what do you want? When we met, he was on his way in the other direction. We followed the wall and mostly ignored him and he didn't seem to mind us at all. At one point, he shouted at us to follow him and see the synagogue. He was facing a dark alley leading off the main road.LOL, the guy thought he could trap us like that. I simply gave him a thumbs up and we continued on our way. We didn't see him again. After just one more turn, we reached the main entrance to the palace. It was open. Thank God.We hurried inside and found the ticket office. Hmm. They only accepted cash, which we lacked. After all, it was our last day in Morocco. So we started to think whether the visit is worth it. Then we saw a sign saying that the main attraction, the marble courtyard, was closed.Bruh. There wasn't even a discount for entry. They simply shut down half the palace and demanded the same amount of money!? We left and sat down on a bench in the shade. Was it worth it? We asked a couple of people coming from the palace. We decided it wasn't worth it. So we wrote to Leon to come to the agreed restaurant.We were very hungry at this point. We had barely eaten anything since breakfast and when we left the palace it was 17:00. We headed to the previously agreed restaurant and returned to the medina. And the shops were closing. The hour was late even for the locals.Crazy. Apparently, they're not the hustlers I thought they were. They were very active during work, yes, but they started work late and finished relatively quickly.We arrived at the restaurant and ordered food. For a while, we wondered how long it would take Leon to get to us. Until we got the message. On the way to the restaurant, Leon collapsed from dizziness. Some people were watching over him.Eyo! Two of us left the restaurant and rushed towards him, running through and out of the medina to find him lying on the pavement with his feet on the wall, three guys watching over him.Oh! He could see normally, he could speak, and he was fine. The problem was overwhelming vertigo he felt as soon as he tried to stand up.We thanked the people watching over him and sat down to think about what to do. After a while, we decided to call our travel insurance company and they told us to call an ambulance and then the insurance again from the hospital. Fine. The problem. We didn't know the number of the ambulance.A taxi pulled up and shouted out the window do we need an ambulance? The number is said to be 155 (I think, we never checked). When I turned away from the taxi and back to Leon, there was a policeman there. Okay, he would call an ambulance. We once again confirmed that we can trust Moroccan uniforms. I took the key to the apartment that Leon had and ran back to the other two of the group at the restaurant to give it to them. They were supposed to go back to the apartment and take a picture of the insurance policy.Just before I got to the restaurant, I bumped into two Germans we had met on the Sahara tour. I briefly told them that our friend had collapsed, and then ran into the restaurant. It was funny, I suppose, just dumping the info on them.I learned at the restaurant that we would get the food to go. Great. I picked up all the bread that had already been provided for us and stuffed it into my pockets (wrapped in napkins).I rushed back to Leon, who was still waiting for the ambulance. Are you serious? So we waited for him together. Until the girls from the restaurant arrived and then went to the apartment with the third girl that was with Leon and I.I stayed with Leon and waited for the ambulance. And oh my god, we waited. A long time. The police officer waited with us. And the language barrier was real. I don't know why but they asked us about Leon's passport, our residence in Marrakesh and whether he was married or not. Yeah, wild stuff.After about an hour, the ambulance finally arrived. Yes! Hooray!! They helped Leon into it and we drove off. Through the medina, to the unknown location of the public hospital. Heh. Then the ambulance suddenly stopped at a random building in the medina. The paramedics simply opened the side door, took a stretcher and rushed into the building.At first, I thought it was a hospital. But why would they just leave us? So I took out my phone and opened up Google Maps. The building was a school. Paramedics returned after a few minutes with a paralyzed student. Leon was kindly pushed from his bed to a chair in the ambulance and we were off again. This time directly to the hospital.There again, we were pretty much ignored because of the immobile female student. It wasn't until she was rushed away that we were told to go to the room where the... um, doctor? Or a nurse? Checked Leon. We communicated in broken English until a dark-skinned medical technician arrived. His English was excellent. Then the doctor came and his English was also good. They quickly checked on Leon and asked him a few questions. It didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. Besides the dizziness, of course. I think they assumed he was dizzy from the lack of food and the sun. They prescribed him some medicine and gave him two injections.Being told that the pharmacy would close soon, I left Leon in the hospital and ran to the pharmacy. Another problem arose. I couldn't communicate with the pharmacist at all. I tried English. Then I tried French with Google Translate. Then I tried Arabic with Google Translate. And the female workers at the pharmacy didn't speak any of these languages?? What!? They also only accepted cash, which I didn't have. So I decided not to buy anything and went back to Leon. No, we wouldn't just leave him without pills. The rest of the group went to the supermarket anyway, and they went to the pharmacy on the way.Now about the hospital. It was bad. Very bad. The paint on the walls was peeling off, there was no hand sanitiser, no one was wearing masks, and no one wore gloves. Leon said there were ants in the bathroom and a cat casually strolled through the main entrance. Yeah, it was bad.I helped Leon up, gathered our things and we went to find a taxi. The short walk to the main street had already exhausted Leon. Come on, are we even going to make it home?Well, we got a taxi and rode back to the apartment. The driver was great and friendly. We talked about our stay in Morocco and the country in general. Then we came home and ate everything we got at the restaurant - a complete rip-off for the price, and Leon seemed to be the tiniest bit better.Then the girls came back from the store. We made pasta again and ate it with tomato sauce, even though Leon said he wasn't hungry and didn't eat. The pasta was fucking bussing, by the way.We talked, rested and watched Rick and Morty. Leon got a little better. At least he seemed better to me.He already had a cold from the desert and although he said he drank a lot, I know how much water was left in the apartment in the morning. But, we'll never truly know why he collapsed. He may have drunk two litres of water and – he says – a ton of green tea that day. He might not have. He was fine in the end.We went to sleep. I think. We kept talking... Until I woke up at half past midnight. I think I fell asleep. It's funny to me how some days are perfectly calm, and quiet (yesterday, while driving) and the next day can be a wild roller coaster.Yes, thank you, Leon, for making this blog more interesting.

Marrakech and Its Hospitals - Eleventh Day in Morocco

25. September 2022When we woke up, we went to breakfast. It was nice. A mix of Moroccan and Western food. Very quickly after that we went back to the room, packed up and left for the minibus. Onward to the Sahara.After a while we stopped at a turn in the road on a slope, overlooking the valley below. With the river, trees and palm trees, it was a real oasis compared to the surroundings. Gosh, the view was nice. A short photoshoot followed, and then we drove for another minute to another viewpoint. Okay, we don't need a million perspectives on the same scene haha. It was only a minute's stop for photos, but it was still nice.Soon we were driving again. I don't know if I fell asleep or if the change was so abrupt, but suddenly we entered a canyon in the Atlas Mountains. Here we got off the minibus and went trekking along the river - literally along the river. There wasn't even a real road, just a footpath.It was beautiful though.The local guide was a merry fellow. “Smartphone only work, this phone better,” he said, pulling out an old button phone. He said he was perfectly happy, with 0 dirhams in his pocket.We crossed some farms and entered one village in the canyon, a Berber village. After rounding a few corners we came upon a door and were told to take off our shoes to enter. It was a carpet maker. A weaver. In other words, a Berber carpet factory.As we hurried inside, we were told about making Berber rugs from lamb or camel wool. Whenever the women had time in the day, they would come to this building and weave. But only 2 hours a day, as the work is harmful to the eyes and fingers.They served us tea, and at the end, they put up some rugs for sale. There were many pretty ones, in fact, really beautiful ones. And one of them caught the eye of one of our group. Simple rustic, brown with Berber symbols. A question arose.Would she take it?How much was it? €150 Phew, that's not a lot for such a handmade rug, but it's also not something you'd buy in the spur of the moment. Did we even have room for it in the suitcases for the plane? Phew, was it worth it? Phew, the decision went back and forth.The owner offered us a discount and asked us how much we could give. Finally, the friend said €100. A little too low. €120? Final agreement: €110. Good. I paid because the friend didn't take her card to the desert and we didn't have enough cash.Her smile was big and contagious. The rest of the tour group called us rich students haha. After we got out, we got back to the minibus and continued our drive. After a while, we stopped to eat at a restaurant but again we had our own food with us.While we were eating, another group argued with their driver. We didn't know the whole story, but they started calling their bosses and agents. Something to do with the driver having to listen to them, that they should go where they want since they paid for the trip? And it wasn't just one person, apparently, the whole group was unhappy. Maybe they wanted another place to eat? There was shouting, and waving of arms. Then they decided something and left.After lunch, we drove to the hotel. Yes, there was a lot of driving on this trip. But we saw that the landscape was changing. And oh, how did it change.A real desert has begun. With sand and sand and sand. Then it started to rain. NO KIDDING. After a few more kilometres passed, I realized how wrong I was about the desert.Where we were driving was probably a desert. But not the kind you imagine when you hear the word 'desert' or Sahara. On the horizon though... We saw sand dunes. My god, they were huge.At first, I thought they were just distant hills. I'm sorry, Sara, for not believing you.I had a hard time believing that it was all sand and only sand. It was yellow sand on yellow sand, in stark contrast to the dark stony desert in our immediate surroundings. around the road. We slowly approached the dunes until we reached a town right on the edge of the endless drought.We stopped to buy a quick drink of water and then went to the hotel. Fortunately, this ride only lasted another minute. After putting away the non-essentials, we waited 3 hours to go on the camels to the Sahara.I don't know why, but my time in Morocco passed faster than in Slovenia. 3 hours passed in the blink of an eye. I went to the bathroom and when I came out we were already outside getting ready to go to the camels.The animals were resting a few ten meters from the hotel, and while lying down they looked quite harmless. Until the first people began mounting them and they began to stand up.Damn, these creatures were tall. Frighteningly tall. I could easily imagine horses being scary on the battlefield. But camels? Crazy! To have such a thing galloping towards you with their riders shouting and screaming!?Pardon me for a moment to think about ancient and medieval warfare.The five of us got up one after another, the 'lift off' quite shaky and jerky.So we went to the Sahara and among its dunes. Winding through the valleys between individual dunes, we slowly made our way deeper into the desert. To the eye, it didn't look very far from the settlement behind us, but we walked for quite a long time. At one point we stopped and dismounted, free to climb the dunes.Up until this point, I hadn't really understood the phrase "You take two steps forward and one step back" used in relation to walking on sand. It's completely true. We ran to the top of one of the dunes, although the "running" part was slow.The plan was to watch the sunset in the desert. Instead, we got to the desert for one of the 3 or 4 days of the year that it rained. The sky was cloudy and raindrops were falling on us. It may not have been the most colourful view of the desert, but it was an eye-opening one. It was... spacious.All in all, it was also great fun and we took tons of pictures. In return, the desert filled our shoes with sand. With tons of sand.As it began to get dark, we descended back to the camels, climbed high above the sand, and made our way to the camp, which was located on the very edge of the desert. It was quite obviously of a more permanent nature, intended for tourists.They offered us tea and we chilled for a bit. The break was necessary. Riding camels was far effortless or without consequences (my butt hurt). After about an hour of waiting, we were invited to another tent for dinner. It was very tasty, although the same as the previous night at the hotel (the same dish, but better).After we ate we were then taken to our tents and as we settled in music came through the walls. The guides lit a campfire and brought drums and a guitar. So we chilled with music. We also danced a bit.When I finally thought things were calming down and we could go to sleep, we left the camp. To a nearby sand dune. We sat down and stared into the night. The stars shone above and the fine sand made for a very comfortable seat.Cigarettes came out and one of the guides even brought us a bottle of red wine! We stayed there for a long time. They offered us to sleep in the desert, but we decided not to. It was a little too cold.So it wasn't until 00:34 that bedtime came. Come on. We were supposed to get up at 6:00. for sunrise😩.Sleep was good regardless. We had real beds, albeit full of sand.