We arrived here after a great couple of nights in Essaouira. I think this is my favourite place in Morocco. Very laid-back locals, a medina that's a breeze to walk through, and the coast. Can't say more.
The Clingon, unfortunately, indisposed, spent a day in bed with a cold. A result of wearing shorts in the High Atlas, in below freezing temp, and a high wind? He won't have it. The cold doesn't cause a cold, maman, it's from an infection. I explain about how you can subject the body to too much stress and make it susceptible to infection, but the information is unheeded. Sad for me, as he passed on the cold as a Christmas present to me.
Hope you had a good one. It doesn't look a lot like Christmas in Morocco, but I was determined to get some Christmas cheer into me. The hotel owner here told me where they sell wine; took me half an hour to walk there in the dusty heat and exhaust fumes, but I made it. Unfortunately, Eden Carre doesn't sell corkscrews. Thus set the Clingon on the job of researching ways to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew. There are ten ways, apparently, but none of them any good for me. The hotel we are staying in now doesn't even have a spoon knocking around on any of its three floors, let alone a corkscrew. So, what to do? Go across the road to the shops (sounds simple, but crossing the road out there is very complex and dangerous. . . you have to watch for vans, cars, taxis, scooters, bicycles and horses and carts; there's no pedestrian crossing, and even in the new part of town where they have them, they just don't carry the same restrictions for motor transport as they do in Oz. I'm staying in the room for a couple of hours to recuperate from the trauma of walking around for a couple of hours today.) Can't supply a photo that shows my experience, as I can't take my eyes off the traffic to snap.
So, back to the quest for Christmas cheer: there is a two-dollar shop here (I suppose it's more like a MAD 20 shop). I mimed the use of a corkscrew (though not the drinking of the wine. . . some people seem to be sensitive about that) and the two young assistants found one immediately. (I didn't see it when I was looking because it was above--my--eye level.) Don't think the local white will ever take off anywhere else in the world except Morocco, but it's 7% alcohol, just like many whites that taste good.
We have been warned about the "false guides" and tricksters here, but I walked about the medina this morning by myself and was not hassled at all.
The Clingon has learned something about haggling, and feels very proud of himself.
I'll close now with the correct responses to the Saids' desert riddles. No doubt you worked out the answers, unlike this thick writer.
1. How do you get a camel into the fridge in three movements?
One: open the fridge
Two: put the camel in
Three: close the fridge
2. Why don't Japanese people eat with this finger? (Said held up his index finger.)
Because the finger belongs to Said.
3. Three people are crossing the river. The first one sees the water and touches the water. The second one sees the water, but doesn't touch the water. The third one doesn't see the water or touch the water. Who are the people?
The first is a woman.
The second is the child she's holding.
The third is the child in her womb.
4. The lion is holding a party. He invites all the animals and they all turn up, except for one animal. Which one doesn't attend the party and why?
The camel because it was in the fridge.
Ha!
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