Friday, November 28, 2014

++Morocco | Day5 | sahara desert

from hotel in dades valley
- (bg with panoramic view of boumalne dades (valle del dades)
- to Berber villages, which are scattered along the way.
Passed through Tinjdad, Jorf and Erfoud in which we felt the beginning of the Saharan Oasis of Tafilalt
- buy shawl 2x40 MAD
- buy water 8 MAD
- to todgha canyon in Dades Gorges
- lunch spagetty blognese & chickes with fries (130 MAD)
- to hotel in erfoud, merzouga
- to sahara desert (on top of a 4wd (30mins drive))
The dunes of Erg Chebbi near Merzouga is 30 miles (50km) south east of Erfoud and has the highest and most spectacular sand dunes in Morocco. These golden dunes are 50 meters high from the desert floor. They run in a line almost perfectly north-south direction to the village of Merzouga and beyond, and mark the western fringe of the Sahara Desert, dividing Morocco from Algeria...

- overnight in a camp in sahara desert

*total spending: 138MAD on f&b
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

breakfast prepared by our hotel:


the view of our lobby front door


in front of the hotel..



with our tourist guide..



with john. a father, a neurosuregent who teaches at, i think, canada? lupa.. but he has a conf at paris and his daughter called him to join her in this sahara trip, so, he flew from paris to morocco for her daughter. how sweet. kan?


this is john's daughter. she's pretty.


this is also john. from UK..

a berber's village view from top. i dont know which one is the name from these 3: Tinjdad, Jorf and Erfoud.


i really love her boots!!!


our 2nd stop of that day, was to this berber's village.



at this point of time, me & MMTK were lost & separated from the whole group. panic attack! i swear we had circulated the village and couldnt find them! nangih ok.

tp ttp menten amek2 gamba kan...






and then, our tour guide found us near a river hahahaha, and finally (after almost an hour kot), we were back into the group.
muka depa bengang je. kihkihkih..


a nomad presented the carpets handmade by the berbers. most are from camel wool, cactus silk, or lamb wool.


this was taken at todgha canyon (the moroccan grand canyon) at dades valley. a very spectacular view i must say. and the wind blows quite cool, not hot.


had lunch at dades valley..


and after about 2hours we arrived at mezounga, (at around 6pm) just in time for the sunset at sahara desert...

all of our group members were taking the camel ride to the desert, but all 5 of us were rolling on top of this 4wd instead. at first i was sceptical about it, about why we werent getting the camel ride, but after riding at around 2mins, yayyyy, i felt very lucky we were the chosen ones. gittew.
it was the best roller coaster ride in my life.
imagine riding on top of this 4wd, without belt and whatnot. we have to hold tight to the side rail on top, i cant even take pictures.


driver stop in the middle of nowhere to take pictures. spectacular!





people climbing the mountain behind our tent for the sunset.

our tent for that night.



dinner was also provided. the rice was blunt. but the chicken tagine was quite nice.



us, marrying into our new bought djellaba. haha.


butt crack haha.



listening and dancing to the firedance.


currently listening to:peterpan - tentang kita
currently feeling:sad
i wanna go backkkkkkkkkk

++Morocco | Day4 | banjaran atlas & aitbenhaddao (Sahara Trip)

#Gadischantekskemoroko #Gadiscantiks

on the 4th day of this trip, we started our journey to our ultimate motivation to actually do this overall trip, that is, the #saharatrip. 
when first planned, MMTK found that mostly the 3days 2nites package for sahara trips available on the internet ranges at around 200euros. but we didnt purchsed it online yet, we felt that maybe we can get atleast 50euros cheaper at Morocco herself.
but, with that amount beared in mind, we cautiously sided that said amount in our little black pocket for sure. so, when we arrived at marrakech on our first day at Morocco, we told our hotel's owner about our mission and he gladly called up his friend to brief about their package.
and the day after that, his friend came, and he got us a 95euros package! for 3days 2nites sahara trip!
of course we cried with happyness. that was 100euros less than our budget. rm420 kau!
hehew.
unfortunately, their package ended at marrakech back, 
so the package is for marrakech to dades valley (overnight 1nite), to sahara desert (overnight at the camp in sahara desert), and back to marrakech.
but, we wanted to go to Fes after sahara. because we already booked a hotel in Fes for the night after sahara trip.
so, we still took that package, but instead of following the whole gang back to marrakech on the last day, we went to Fes instead (by a tour van), and had to add extra 250MAD (around 25euros) to go to Fes. but it was still cheaper than budgetted plan.
so yay!!!

*we can also take bus from sahara to Fes which cost us at around 110MAD (11euros), but the journey took longer hours and too many stops.

so, below are the iteneraries for the 4th day.

Journey to Sahara (3d2n package at a price of 95euros, breakfast & dinner included)
- breakfast Fresh Oren ajaaa (x sempat) (4 MAD)
- Our journey starts from Marrakech to Dadès Gorges. 
- We travelled along the Atlas mountain, across the Tizi-n-Tichka Atlas pass (2260m), with far-        reaching views across the mountains.
- stop at a shop for quick breakkie (toilet 2 MAD, FOren 10 MAD, cake 5+5, snacks 30 MAD)
- oarzazate
- We had our lunch at Ait Benhaddou (grilled beef with rice + mint tea (110 MAD))
- We continued and visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of a spectacular fortified village (ksour) at      Ksour Ait Benhaddou. (tour 20 MAD)
- buy water 8 MAD + 10 MAD
- musee du cinema (close)
- and continued to Dadès Gorges where we spend the night in a riad/hotel la gazelle du dades.
- dinner at hotel (provided)(soup with bread, chicken tagine & desserts)
- Overnight in hotel La Gazelle Du Dades in Oarzazate (ke?)(tips bag 10 MAD)

*overall, we spend 20MAD for entrance fees, 178MAD for f&b.

(we went to overnight at sahara desert on the next day, so, stay tuned for my next entry!)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

as usual, here are the excerps of imprtant key places that we went:
Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou
The ksar, a group of earthen buildings surrounded by high walls, is a traditional pre-Saharan habitat. The houses crowd together within the defensive walls, which are reinforced by corner towers. Ait-Ben-Haddou, in Ouarzazate province, is a striking example of the architecture of southern Morocco.
Aït Benhaddou has been aUNESCO World Heritage Sitesince 1987[1] and several films have been shot there, including:
and of course it was the location for #yunkai scene of Daenerys (my new obsession) in #gameofthrones. yes, if u r a fan lah, u will be teruja gila babi like me. teruja gila babi weh.


Tizi-n-Tichka route
Of the two mountain routes over the High Atlas to the southern side of the mountains, the N9 from Marrakech to Ouarzazate, with its Tizi-n-Tichka pass, is a marginally larger road and safer option than the route over the Tizi-n-Test to Taroudant. Completed in 1936 by the Foreign Legion, this stretch of the N9 gives stunning views. It runs through the full range of Atlas environments, from the Haouz plains, through the verdant foothills of the Oued Zat, to the barren peaks of the Atlas and the arid regions around Ouarzazate. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and as usual, pictures.

this is the staircase to our room on 3rd floor (3bed-room), (warrie & pacat's room on 2nd floor).

lorong sunyi of our hotel's..

1st stop during the journey to dades valley (sahara trip)

rambut warrie betuka jadi otromen..


the tizi tichka routes..






ksour ait benhaddou as the background..



this is where we had our lunch



moroccan salads for starter..


i had chicken kebab with rice (rice dia x sedap nak mampos, rase tawar mcm brown rice campo cumin)



this is at ksour ait ben haddou. the yunkai city in game of thrones..

this is a river. yg kontang kan. it will only filled with water during winter.





the list of movies/tv that have shot in this place..


the round ground arena below there was where gladiator's scene of fighting was shot.



some scene in game of thrones had this one, i think. rasenyelah. dah lupo.





love this shot of MMTK.





this was taken at musee du cinema. but it was close.


this was taken at dades valley, it felt like the grand canyon (altho i have never been to one) kuikuikui



this was our room (2-bed room)..


this was the other room (3-bed-room)..

currently listening to:bruno mars - just the way u are
currently feeling:excited!
i wanna be:a supermodel