Fes

...or Fez, if you must. Yes, it's where the little hats were made. Not so much anymore, but the name stuck.

Back across the middle Atlas to the city of Fes.

It was a beautiful ride, with lots of snow. There's even a European-style ski resort up there, and it's surrounded by an unexpected pine forest.

We were meeting a group of our friends in Fes. Original plans of spending the whole time together in Morocco went awry, so we ended up hanging out mostly in Fes. Which was fine. Fes was a great place.

Like Marrakech, it had a beautiful old médiéval medina, with lots of twisty narrow streets and souks.

It was a bit smaller than Marrakech and I just got an all around better vibe from it.

The ancient city gate.

The souk was easy to navigate. You go down the hill and the stink of the tanneries hit you, and that's where all the leather good can be had. Go up the hill, and you get carpets and food.

And did we ever.

We found a lovely, funky cafe called Clock.

After a long, ravenous lunch I decided that I would probably move in if they let me. Eventually, it was decided that the cooking class that I wanted to take (I try to take one wherever I may roam) would most definitely be in the kitchens here.

Everything we ate so far had been good, but this was a step above.

The staff was as nice as could be as well...

and there was a Camel burger on the menu. It tasted a bit like mutton.

More about the cooking class later.

Outside the grand palace, we found a souk for the locals. It was packed with locals and much more fun that the main souk in the medina. You are expected to haggle here. We had an Arabic speaker in our group (sneaky), two Chinese speakers, and four of us spoke French, and we all spoke English...so in between the 5 of us we could communicate what kind of price the locals were getting, and what kind of price we were willing to commit to. You know you are going to be paying more than the locals. It's not a tourist tax per say, but more of a "you are wealthy enough to travel here, you can damn well afford to pay a couple bucks more for that" tax. Some of the handiwork was astounding. Embroidery on handmade shoes, leather bags and belts. The shoes ended up being bargained for less than $20 US for a pair, and some really nice handbags for about $50. It's a great place to go shopping. The souk ended up spitting us out into the old Jewish Quarter, which is really no longer of anything. We found a synagog Aben Danan, and for about $2, a very old man was happy to show us around. Judaism in North Africa is very slim at this point. This used to be a thriving community all over Morocco, but the only thing he could show us were pictures of cemeteries and ruins of synagogs in different parts of Morocco. Outside, the palace. It was pretty damn opulent.

Pictures Taken from the Back of a Camel named Jimmy Hendrix

Things were starting to look different.

Bare, black desert. Sadly, strewn with a whole lot of garbage.

Nomads still made their life here, picking up and moving their tents. Herds of goats, sheep, camels were scattered on the plain, usually with a small boy attending them.

The Nomads dig hundreds of wells over the generations to channel water to a main well. You can see them stretching out over the desert for miles like giant anthills. It's otherworldly, and I'm amazed at the fact that people and livestock can live in places this desolate and dry.

The people we encountered started to change as well. In the cities, you would occasionally see women without a headscarf or women who wear pants, but you would occasionally see a woman with a full-on veil covering her face. Most of the urban dwellers wore colorful robes and modern accessories. Here, in the desert, not so much. Fully-veiled women in black from head to toe was the norm, and you didn't see too many of them out and about.

But mostly, it was empty.

Suddenly, a mirage.

Erg Chebbi on the horizon is truly a magical sight. Every time I looked up at them, they seemed to morph into a new form.

They are right smack up against the Algerian border. This is where the vast ocean of sand of the Sahara really begins.

Trudging through sand is really hard work though. You know what is pretty much designed to do the job though?

Yeah, that's right.

All these pictures were taken from the lofty high perch of a camel's back. Specifically, the camel they called Jimmy Hendrix.

I grew up spending most of my time on horseback, so it wasn't too far of a departure for me. They are about the same width as a horse (they are surprisingly narrow) but about twice as tall, and they have a rolling, pitching way of moving. I totally understand that people have reported seasickness up there.

Still, it wasn't the most comfortable ride. Men seem to have a harder time with it than women, but the real camel drivers sit side-saddle, not astride.

Regardless, the dunes were one of the most painterly landscapes I've ever seen. Watching the sun go down and the full moon come up against the undulating wind-blown forms was pure magic.

Camping in the desert was actually quite comfortable. Plenty of good food (tagine, again!) lots of warm blankets, and a roaring fire with good music.

I was hoping to be completely star-struck, but the full moon was so bright. A really brilliant meteorite went streaking through the sky very close by at one point, which had one of the camel drivers musing about "la fin du monde!".

The Berbers were an entertaining bunch. We tried to explain our dirty jokes to them, they tried to explain theirs to us, and high hilarity ensued. "Is it true, in America, people drink every day? That's crazy!" Well, when you put it that way, it does seem a little crazy.

Other interesting bits of cultural gleanings: They loved Rihanna but thought Lady Gaga was crazy, but more than anyone, they embraced Bob Marley as their own.

Sunrise here is worth getting up early for.

The color and shadows splashed on the dunes was amazing.

Camels totally snore at night. Loud, deep snores. I found it comforting.

It gets blazing hot really quickly here. It's good to get an early start to the day.

I felt like I was in a Zen Garden on an enormous scale.

It is an amazing place. Do yourself a favor and get there.