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Vera and Tom
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Vera and Tom

Joined October 2015
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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May25

    Fes

     May 25, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We have found a nice, traditional riad to stay at and with an upgrade we slept in a fourposter princess bed.
    The medina in Fes the biggest urban area where cars cannot be used. We only had a couple of hours to explore as we had to make sure not to get lost and miss the flight.
    A final haggling on our overweight bags and here we are on our way to England after 3 weeks in Morocco, many many mint teas and tajins.Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May22

    Chefchaouen

     May 22, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    The most beautiful medina award goes to Chefchaouen - the blue city!
    Also far more relaxed than most, probably something to do with the lingering smell of 'kif' or hash everywhere. The surrounding Rif moutains provide the most cannabis in the word.
    Lots of wandering around in the medina and relaxing. Also walked up to a closed Mosque on the top of the hill which was built by the Spanish, it is a really great look out point to the city.Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May20

    Tangier

     May 20, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After what felt like an eternity on buses and trains over two days, we finally arrived in the far north at Tangier, on the mediterranean coast.
    Tangier felt like a whole different world to the small desert village we'd left a couple of days previously, we left the train station to find shiny tower blocks, busy roads, a much needed cooler climate and a European style.
    Later we went exploring in the old medina, ever present in all the cities we've visited, which was more moroccan again but still with a lot of similarities to the old towns we saw in Portugal and Spain.
    Tangier is undergoing a lot of redevelopment and an effort to make it more attractive to tourists, there is a sparkly new port for cruise ships to dock and the police have cracked down on crime. It seems to be working, we spent a really nice afternoon poking around the streets, shops and cafes with a minimum of hassle, by Moroccan standards. Also bought a nice red dress.    Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May17

    Erg Chigaga - Sahara desert

     May 17, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 39 °C

    The only way to approach the campsite in the desert was by 4 by 4. Our host/guide, the cook, the driver and the two of us got in the car at 4pm when the sun wasn't that strong anymore (well the temperature was still 40+). 2 hours later we arrived at our campsite which could have held many more people in some big tents and mud houses but as it turns out May is already out of season in the desert so it was just the two of us, fantastic and romantic! While our dinner was cooked we walked around the dunes, watched the sunset, had some tea and nuts and watched some youtube videos of video clips which were shot at the dunes with one of the guy's phone, well it was a bit random but funny. After some lovely tajin (suprise, suprise) we watched the stars and the moon which gave so much light that we could see our shadows. The sand cooled down on the surface but if you dig with your fingers a bit further down you can still feel how hot it was.
    The next morning we woke up at 6:15 as we were advised that the sunset is at 6:40 well as it turns out it was probably around 1,5hours earlier but the the colours and shadows were still beautiful on the sand. On the way back we checked out a tiny school built for nomadic families in the middle of the desert to educate their children. As only a couple of families still follow this lifestyle the school doesn't operate anymore. Another stop later was at an oasis with camels and donkies, Tom started to feel a bit sick which carried on all day not sure if it was some food or the heat, luckily we didn't plan anything further so we just stayed at Mhamid to relax.    Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May16

    Mhamid

     May 16, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    After hours of research for a desert tour we decided to stay at an airbnb in Mhamid where the host, Mohamed, helps you to see the desert at a more reasonable price than big tour offices. This small desert village is mostly lived in by nomad families who have decided to settle down by the edge of the Saharah. Mohamed's family was one of them and he told us a lot about nomadic lifestyle and interesting facts like even if there is a hard border between Morocco and Algeria it is not impossible to cross it, those who want to come over just need to wait for a sandstorm which makes it impossible for the soldiers to see from their towers or CCTV. On the other hand you need to watch out for your camels and make sure they don't cross the border as you'll then just have to hope that someone sends them back!
    Sand and the wind made it rather difficult for us to dry our laundry which all ended up in the sand so we'll be bringing some desert home in our bags.    Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May15

    Aït Ben Haddou

     May 15, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    After a few attempts we managed to negotiate with one of the many many taxi drivers outside the bus station in Ouarzazate to take us to Ait Ben Haddou where he would wait for an hour before bringing us back.
    We'd heard a lot about this place, an 11th century stopover for caravans along the trade route. It is included on pretty much every tour which goes through or close to the region so we thought we'd better check it out.
    It is hard to tell how much is original after Unesco and hollywood have each done restorations but the place is suprisingly undeveloped with little tourist information and only the usual few souvenir stalls in the alleys, not necessarily a bad thing. It is a maze of mud brick buildings which has been used in the filming of a long list of movies.
    After this short visit we headed south towards the Sahara, just short of the Algerian border.    Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May14

    Ouarzazate

     May 14, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    6 hours of bus journey through mountains and rocky desert brought us to Ouarzazate, a small city famous for being the filming location for dozens of Hollywood movies, including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and Game of Thrones. It also gets referred to as the gateway to the Sahara which we certainly felt by the temperature, up to 40°c at some times. The area is also famous as an old caravan trading route which brought wealth and led to the building of lots of Kasbahs (a bit like the Moroccan version of a manor house or private palace). After a little walk we checked out the Taourirt Kasbah which is right in the centre of town. It has lots of little rooms with tiny doors and windows to explore and get lost in.
    In the evening we ended up in a funny little roadside cafe for some drinks and moroccan cakes.    Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May12

    Agadir

     May 12, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    A heatwave has reached us with up to 38° so we were really looking forward to our bargain deal 3 star hotel in Agadir with swimming pool.
    In the morning we got on the local bus and an hour later we were in our "private pool", as the hotel was pretty much empty. No sunbathing tho, we are in big pain from yesterday!
    The most important task was to buy our bus ticket for the next day so once we cooled down we headed off and also to see a bit of Agadir. At the main market we got a bit ripped off by paying a lot for some unwanted tea and henna but we knew it was coming at one point.
    We had a look at the beach and surrounding hotel complexes and restaurants but it's all kind of fake and plastic and completely separated from the rest of the city.    Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May11

    Taghazout

     May 11, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ 🌫 20 °C

    Taghazout is a small fishing village which develops a lot year by year to keep up with the surf tourism (there wasn't even sewage system 5 years ago). The panoramic beach is a top surf spot in Morocco so we also couldn't miss out on renting a board and discovering how much we remembered from our one and only surf lesson 4 years ago in Ecuador. Well as it seems not a lot :D but we decided to blame it on the waves. The beach was windy but the sun was extremely strong so we both got painfully sunburnt. After a little siesta we went out to grab some food and mint tea by the ocean before sunset. Some places don't serve food from 7:25pm to 8pm as they break their fast, some others do so we try to remember not to order close to sunset because it's a little bit uncomfortable if the call comes from the mosque and everyone can start eating but some poor guy is stuck serving us.
    We had a lovely, relaxing time in Taghazout, ready to leave for Agadir tomorrow.    Read more

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  • Vera and TomEurotrip
    May10

    Paradise Valley

     May 10, 2019 in Morocco ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We'd read about this place before we decided to come to Taghazout and luckily in the morning, after a little bit of calling around other hostels, Yasim from our hostel managed to sort out a tour for us.
    We jumped in his car and quickly picked up a German couple to complete our group and headed off towards the mountains.
    First, we stopped off for a look around an argan oil producer. The place is entirely staffed by women and acts as an opportunity for them to have some financial indepence while producing a speciality product of this part of Morocco. The argan tree has a little fruit like a cross between an olive and an almond which they use to make the oil. The oil is then used for food and making cosmetics.
    Next we drove to the end of the valley and started a bit of a hike along the river, stopping at a little cafe shack to order our lunch for later.
    Eventually, after climbing over some slippery rocks we arrived at paradise. It's a pool created by water running down from the mountains surrounded by palm trees in the middle of the dry landscape all around. We swam in the surprisingly cold water, sunbathed and watched braver people than us jump off the rocks.
    The route is circular so to come back we had to climb around the side of the pool, which was pretty terrifying but we managed to swear our way through it. After stopping back at the cafe to eat our tagine and drink mint tea we got back in the car and drove around the mountain to a hot spring. It wasn't quite as beautiful as the paradise valley but it was interesting to see local people enyoing the hot water. As it was rather full we decided to enjoy it only from distance.
    We had our dinner by the ocean in a romantic little local restaurant with an amazing view.    Read more

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