Morocco: Trekking in the Rif mountains

In Fez, we treated ourselves to a little rental car to make the most of our seven days in Morocco and to have maximum flexibility on the way. Driving in Morocco was surprisingly smooth, most roads were in acceptable conditions, Moroccans do drive rather slowly and not too crazily (no comparison to India) and with Felix' navigation system we easily found our way around, even on small mountain roads.

So we hit the road early in the morning making our way north towards the Rif mountain range around  Chefchaouen. 

The next day we changed our car for the hiking boots and continued our way by foot up the mountains, not without stopping at the market to sample some goodies for a decent mountain picnic....

Morocco: Roaming the Medina of Fez

In my opinion the best way to start a holiday in a new-to-me country - getting lost in the alleyways of the old town of a city, being led by smell, color and noise to find something interesting behind every corner, being offered dates and olives on the market, being welcomed into houses and schools, making contact with the locals with a few words of French or Arabic, getting lost, walking in circles and most importantly, sitting down having a tea or coffee on the street (mint tea in the case of Morocco) and soaking up the atmosphere...vacation at its best, at least in my opinion. 

The Median of Fez had it all...we got lost all the time, sampled a lot of different Moroccan food and had enough sweetened mint tea to make our teeth rot! The best!

Rajasthan Part II: Jodhpur - the blue city

On a stroll through the old parts of Jodhpur...

Rajasthan Part I: Jaisalmer and the Thar desert

Upon arrival in Jaisalmer, i was amazed by the delicate architecture and stone work on the houses (and relatively clean streets by Indian standards). Wandering through the little streets and alleyways led to wonderful encounters with locals, the best lassi place on earth and a painful neck from looking up at the impressive stone facades of the buildings. 

In comparison to other major cities in Rajasthan I felt less hassled and more at peace and able to fully soak in the place and the friendliness of the people. Every few meters we'd stop and have a cup of chai on the street, which will never get old while traveling India...

Since the city of Jaisalme, deprived of any rain for the last three years, is located on the outskirts of the That desert, I also went on a camel safari into the desert. Though being a highly touristy event, I still enjoyed sleeping under the stars in the desert (though getting a little scared of the white scorpion i almost stepped on, are they really that poisonous?).

Also, we learned the basic rules of 18 game in the desert (without any words, just from watching the children play) which proved really handy in Varanasi. Life can be pretty simple but oh so good.