September 19 Ksar Sghir Morocco

Well off to the weekly souk (market) today. It was further than I thought, I had to walk up a hill, but just followed the people.

What an amazing place! It was huge and packed with people. People arriving in cars, buses, taxis, van, on foot, donkey and even a horse! Several of the ladies in traditional dress but did not take any photos, I am sure I will get another chance. If you want it, you could get it here - jack hammers, drills, wrenches, furniture, clothes, shoes, fruits, vegetables, sheep, goats, pot handles, school supplies, spices, all kinds of plastic wares (brooms, pans) and you could also have repairs done, I saw pots being repaired and shoes fixed.

It looks like potatoes, tomatoes and peppers are in season. There is a walled off area for the market but it spreads out to twice the size. I could not even guess how big it was. 2 football fields? Huge, and so many people. The road was a traffic jam of cars and the amount that people bought would fill 2 or 3 shopping carts. It is the event of the week.... there seemed to be lots of greeting and chatting going on. Of course there were cafes as well. I should have stopped but I had just finished breakfast...

There was a bit of rain this morning. Strange as the roads do not even look wet but there are small mud puddles along the side of the road. Also, the shining tiles are very slippery!

For dessert tonight I was given a special treat! It was caramelized fruit done In a tagine pot! Excellent, but there was way too much. Very sweet and very tasty!

The guy that works at hotel and has waited on me every night said that he was going to his home in Agadir tomorrow. It will take him 10 hours by train and taxi to get there. So I left him is tip under my plate. He came out to the deck where I was finishing my wine and shook my had, gave me the traditional both cheek touch and thanked me very much! A bit of a nice surprise!


September 18, Ksar Sghir Morocco

Once I finally got mobile I headed off towards the beach towards Tangiers. I took a round about way, and cut through a field to save walking around the peninsula by the pier. I walked down the bank from the road to the beach and the walked along the beach. Actually several beaches with rocky outcrops separating the beaches. All very nice, but very quiet except for the military watches and a few fishermen along the way. I probably walked about 5 km out, and then had to come back!

I stopped at one small beach and sat for a bit, after the morning cloud had disappeared, the sun came out and was quite nice. It was a bit windy and you had to find a place out of the wind or get sand blasted! A short walk back to hotel.

They have really shut down for the winter. At 9.30 last night they were dismantling the little houses that were along the beach. Not much left to remove!