Through the desert on a camel named Sam

P7070268, originally uploaded by anna.purna.

I said that I followed the tourist routes when I went to Morocco. That included a trip through the desert. There were five people in my group. We spent a couple of days in Fez comparing prices and trying to rent an SUV that we could take into the desert. In Morocco, you can get anything you want; you just have to bargain for it, which takes days. And lots of patience. And a lot of tea.

It finally ended up being cheaper to rent a driver and SUV through a service than to try and rent an SUV by ourselves. This was fine, the deal included the driver, car, lodging and meals.

Our driver was this very friendly, really funny guy named Ibrahim who spoke neither English, nor French, nor Spanish, nor Arabic. He knew a small amount of words in each of these languages, just enough to get by. The trip coincided with the end of Ramadan and I think we ended up getting Ibrahim because he was the only one willing to work during that time.

The desert was a great experience. It was beautiful and serene. The sky was so clear you could see all of the stars and the Milky Way to boot. But boy was it cold. We slept in a big with all of our clothes on. In the morning, the Berber guides woke us up, pointed to the nearest sand dune and told us to, "Quick run up there to see the sunrise!" In our dazed state, we did. About 3/4 of the way up that sand dune, I thought my lungs were going to collapse.

But it was a beautiful sunrise. And we were packed on top of our camels to return to civilization after breakfast.