Last Day in Fes and 1st day in Marrekesh

Two nights ago we went to a typical Moroccan dinner and entertainment evening. We had food that I would say was "unexplainable" - in other words, we didn't know what we were eating. Good though! We were walked back into the maze of streets into the medina again and into a small palace where we sat at tables about us to our shins with little poof chairs that leaned forward. People would take pictures of Gerhard because he was so squashed into his place that he couldn't move.
The entertainment was music by a male band - loosely speaking, 5 different belly dancers, a magican, male dancers and another set of singers and dancers. It was a very different experience - one that was really set up to satisfy the male portion of society - go figure. Gerhard wasn't really too excited about it because they kept coming into the audience to pick on him as he was right in the way and looking pretty conspicuous. On our way back to the hotel at 11:30 that evening, we ran across a lorry that was smoldering in flames on the road that we had to take so we had to turn the bus around and try to find another way to our hotel. All in a day's life here in Africa.
We left the next day to drive a very long way - yes, through the middle Atlas mountains - up, down, through, around and between them all. We drove for 11 hours with stops in between because we had to make it to the west coast to Marrakesh for our next stop. The drive ended up making several people ill on the bus because it was nothing but switchbacks and one-lane highways something akin to our little dirt pathways we would make for our dinky cars. Dust was everywhere. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to tell you that my aim is pretty good. Found this out when we keep stopping for "comfort breaks" as they like to call them, and we women head off to the washrooms. Not bad I guess for a 51 year -old but it sure would be nice to rest while going. Good thing my knees are okay when squatting.
The land was quite different than we expected. Very lush forest and plenty of growth for agriculture. The government has several cooperatives delegated to the land to ensure food for their world. But...the towns and the villages, and even the cities, are filled with nothing but hovels. Mud huts, tin homes, concrete building with no doors and windows and people everywhere. It's so hard to describe the state of these people's lives and have you understand exactly what the country is all about.
Marrakesh is something else again. Yet again different from Fes and Tangier. It is filled with opulence and is the place of rich and important people's holidays. Our hotel is a 5-star with pool and spa treatment areas and bar with band etc . Bikes, motorbikes, donkeys and feet all mingle together in a mess of honking horns and shouts. We took a city tour in the morning today, a tour that was full of still more smells, sights and people than is possible for one to handle. I am so overly stimulated that I just need to sit for a bit in a quiet place. I'm pretty tired of telling people to go away.
We walked through the little alleyways and stopped into a herbalist and spice store and had an introduction to the African way of healing. We then were walked to the old city center where, again, many stalls were lined up selling goodness knows what. We watched snake charmers, story tellers, henna artists, and monkey tamers try to get us to stop and watch and take a picture so that we would have to pay. It's all very sly but legal and tricky. Every corner is filled with bartering and if you don't barter and watch your money, you will be taken for a pretty coin. G and I have a very special solution to this problem. We just haven't bought anything. It's junk anyway.
Oh yeah, we did buy walnuts but,,,, they were full of worms. So the almonds that I bought as well went the same way as the walnuts.
Tomorrow we head out to Casablanca for a short trip and for lunch and then head to the capitol Rabat. We stay overnight there and then head back to Spain to Granada. We have done quite a bit of driving this trip but it was necessary in order to get in and around the ancient roads of Africa. G and I knew that we would never have come here if not for a bus trip and, while we are glad to have come and be here and to have learned so much, we, or rather I, will be glad to arrive back onto the European Union land once again. It's far too depressing for me to spend such a long time here. One good thing for sure is that all Moroccan's speak French. It's their second language.
Off to wash the sand and dirt. J