This application is created by interactive maps.
You can also have your visited countries map on your site.

If you see this message, you need to upgrade your flash player.
Make your visited countries mapJavaScript charts

Sunday 26 December 2010

Morocco

My experience of Morocco took place at the age of 13. Although this was a few years ago I can still recall clearly my journey of (what seemed at the time) epic proportions. I travelled from the surprisingly fertile and green north of the country surrounding Marrakesh to the dry and desolate Saharan south.

North of the Atlas Mountain

Northern Morocco wasn't what I expected. It felt like a mix between Mediterranean Europe, with lots of green fruit farms, and the Arab world, with mosques and sandy coloured buildings. What i saw of the north was all through a minibus window, but we came across countless rivers, winding through fertile valleys and flood plains, giving life to huge fields of crops and long narrow valley forests. As we ascended I was caught off guard by the presence of snow, not realising that the Atlas mountains were as high as they were.

Above: North Morocco
Below: South Morocco
Source: Me

 South of the Atlas Mountains


Pretty much everything below the Atlas mountains is as i imagined all of Morrocco to be like, dry, dusty and rugged. Despite the inhospitable nature of the landscape, it was truly breath taking. Huge dry rock valleys intertwine where previously river may have ran. The occasional fertile oasis.  Caves inhabited by the nomadic tribes dotted across the land. It was a truly ancient place, and as we trekked through it felt as if we had travelled back to a time before civilisation, thousands of years ago.

The Sahara

The Sahara suddenly appears out of nowhere, with no warning, and stretches on forever. As well as being probably the place within which it is most easy to lose your direction, it is also the most fun. Spectacular sights can be found at the top of any large sand dune, and spectacular fun can be found rolling down them. The Sahara desert does leave you feeling quite small and insignificant, but also leaves you impressed at its beauty. It is a true must see of this planet.





Some of the journey was undertaken on camels
Source: Me
                                                    Maybe slightly clichéd. Source: Me

Marrakesh


The Souks of Marrakesh present themselves as an intricate network of covered passages, lined with everything you could imagine, from multi-coloured cloths to jars of brightly coloured spice stacked high. The mystical setting of the market, with light drifting through the makeshift roof adds to the sensory overload of the smells and sights that the souks have to offer. Allowing yourself to get lost via tiny passages and bustling squares allows you to find you're own favourite spot, but don't be disappointed if you can never find it again.


The Souks. Source: The internet


5 comments:

  1. Some awesome pictures, am jealous of your travels man :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, feel free to follow the blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's nice photoblog. very inspiring

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Chris,

    i envy your travels in morocco... would love to visit morocco someday.

    Hope you’re having a blast this 2011!!!
    Thank you for supporting my blog, flipnomad.com in the past year. I enjoyed doing it a lot. I enjoyed this blogging thingy so much that I’ve decided to do this full time.

    I have another project coming up and I’d like to ask your support as well by adding it in your blogrolls. It would be very much appreciated too if you could follow it on twitter and on facebook too. Btw, I already added you in the blogroll of Philippine Travel Forum.

    My new project is http://philippinetravelforum.com. My vision is to create a community about travelling in the Philippines. Sadly, when you think of Southeast Asia, seldom will it crosses someone’s mind about the Philippines and hopefully this community can help spread the word about Philippine tourism to local and foreign travellers alike.

    Thank you very much for your kind support.
    -Flip

    PS
    You can try to register too and start some conversation thread

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love travels blogs and this has to be one of the best out there! :)

    ReplyDelete