Ron Corbin – RV Travels in Europe and North America

October 24, 2025 Antequera SP

Antequera is another ancient city in Andalusia that was a key site in the wars that led to the reconquest of Spain. Like most of the cities it gained prominence as a Roman city, stayed prominent when the Visigoth’s displaced the Romans and then when the Moors came over from North Africa and conquered Andalusia it was an important fortified city that withstood several sieges by the Spanish.

Part of the fortifications built by the Moors.

Conquering Antequera was an important step in the reconquest by the Christians, and the general who led the successful siege eventually became King Ferdinand I of Spain. He was referred to as Ferdinand of Antequerra in recognition for the importance of the conquest of the city to the Spanish.

The castle of Antequera dominates the surrounding countryside for miles.

The city is a prosperous looking place built across several hill tops which we criss crossed walking thru the city. It also has a striking rock formation outside of town called the Pena de los Enamorados which looks remarkably like a face looking towards the sky.

Looking from the castle towards the Pena de los Enamorados.

The town also includes two neolithic burial sites that are called the Antequera Dolmens site. It was a pretty good walk to get there and I debated asking Ton whether it was worth the walk, but in the end we went for it. After a 30 minute walk we arrived at the museum.

We were both pretty tired from the walk and were looking to buy some water, but they didn’t have any. So we were off to see the dolmens. They are two burial mounds with an opening to place the bodies. As burial mounds go they are very important, but for us they were holes in the ground.

The exterior of one of the burial sites.

Ton asked how far to François and I was afraid to tell her that google estimated it would take 45 minutes. Two things about googles estimates, first it is not based on the pace of two senior citizens, but someone much younger and fitter. Second, it does not seem to account for elevation change. Heading back we had to climb two significant hills.

On the way down the second hill we came across this restaurant located in the Bull ring.

About 40 minutes into our walk we both needed a break and fluid so we agreed that we would stop at the next restaurant we saw. We were rewarded for our perseverance by having the next restaurant be inside the Bullfighting Ring.

Neither of us are fans of bullfighting but we have been curious to see the interior of one as they are an important part of Spanish culture. So in this case by having a light meal at the restaurant in the arena we got access to the interior of what is considered to be one of the nicest arenas in Spain. Antequerra’s ring is still used for bullfighting which is unusual as it is estimated that only about 280 of the 1700 rings in Spain are still used for bullfighting.

The safety zone where the supporting cast wait during the fight, and where the matador can flee to if things go bad.

We ended our day by driving a short while to a nice agritourismo in the mountains above Antequera. The agritourismo is run by a nice Belgian couple who made us feel welcome. There are four guests here tonight, one group are a Belgian couple who came over and said they are very confused. We of course are Americans in a French Motorhome, another guest were English in a Spanish Motorhome, and the last guests were Germans in a Spanish car. So besides them no one was driving a vehicle that accurately reflected their nationality.

The view from our agritourismo. A mixture of olive and almond trees as far as the eye can see.

October 23, 2025 Setenil De Las Bodegas SP

Today was the shortest drive of the trip at 26 kilometers to the city of Setenil De Las Bodegas. It is famous for its homes constructed out of caves.

Walking up to the town it looks like a pretty but unremarkable Spanish town.

Setinel has probably been occupied for quite a long time, but there is no evidence of habitation before the 1200’s when it was founded by the Moors. The name is a corruption of the Castillian for seven times nothing. It took the Castillians eight attempts to capture the town from the Moors.

The town is built in close proximity to the Rio Trajo.

The standout feature is the number of buildings that are built into rock faces throughout the town. For about 1500 meters along the river different homes, restaurants, and businesses have a facade covering rooms carved into the rocks.

This is the shady road as the rocks formed a natural arch that allowed buildings to be carved in the rock faces on both sides.

What looked like a run of the mill Spanish town turned into a really interesting place to explore. The whole town is not carved into rock, but a substantial portion is.

The Sunny Road on the right and the Shady Road on the left. The river is in the middle.

Some of the town climbs the cliff faces on either side of the river so for a lot of the town you are either climbing stairs or descending stairs. But it was worth it for the views, and also to get away from the heavily touristed river walk.

The upper town with the castle and the church in the center.

Setinel along with Ronda are part of the day trips out of Seville and Malaga so the river walk was really crowded for a good part of the time we were in the town. But once we started to climb stairs the crowds thinned out considerably.

Looking at the castle and the church from the hill top on the other side of the river.

We spent a couple of hours walking the town and Ton was having a wonderful time with pictures. It was not too stressful for me as the town was small enough that we could just wander aimlessly so I could keep my phone in my pocket and enjoy the town rather than navigate.

This is a new tourist attraction called the kissing rock.

After a couple of hours of climbing and descending we were both hungry and thirsty. Ton recommended a restaurant and we were able to get a table after only a few minutes wait. We both love Spanish food and today was another great meal. We went for the barbecue platter for 2. It was listed as €20 but we weren’t sure if it was per person or in total. When the plate arrived it was heaping with meat and we assumed it was €20 each. We were wrong, our total bill including the food and 3 glasses of wine (I was thirsty) was €27. We love Spain.

Our €20 barbecue plate with Sangria and Vermouth.

We ended the day with a slow walk back to the campground that was located about a mile and half from the center of town. We thought about a taxi but decided we needed to burn off some barbecue.

October 22, 2025 Ronda SP

Ronda is considered one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in Spain. Both Hemingway and Orson Welles were struck by this city and left memorable quotes about its beauty to be printed on walls and t-shirts in the city. Welles liked the city so much that he asked to have his ashes disposed of here after his death.

The Guadelivin River running thru the El Tajo Gorge.

Our day turned into a bit of an impromptu food tour of the city in addition to an exploration of the El Tajo Gorge. We weren’t in a particular hurry to go to the city center so we hung around François until about 10am before heading out. I spent the time unproductively watching “Slow Horses” on the computer, while Ton was much more productive researching places to go in the city.

I think this building is the Artists Society of Rondo located on one of the main squares in the new town.

It is a little over a mile to the center from the campground, but much of the walk is along a pedestrian mall full of interesting shops and little cafes. As Ton was not quite happy with the sky when we were walking we stopped in one of the cafes for a Churro and coffee.

Spanish Churros are quite different than the Churros we are used to in North America. We like them better.

Spanish Churros don’t come with the sugar and cinnamon we are used to in North America. Instead, they come with a thick glass of hot chocolate for dunking the Churro. Ton and I both prefer the Spanish style.

As we were enjoying our Churros the sun started to break thru so we were rewarded for our patience with better skies for photography. We headed to the old town which dates to the period when Ronda was part of the Moorish Kingdom of Nasrid based in Granada. The town was located on one side of the gorge and built with the typical fortified Medina that we saw many examples of in Morocco.

Part of the fortified walls of the old Medina.

We found a trail down into the gorge from the old town and followed it to the Roman Bridge which was the original bridge across the river. They have a beautiful trail system that you can take thru the gorge, but unfortunately (or fortunately) for us was closed for maintenance.

You can see some of the trail system thru the gorge on the right side of the picture.

Instead we had to take a wider and higher trail that traveled across the top of the gorge. It was still quite a climb but wide and well guarded by high walls.

The town from the old bridge which crosses the gorge towards its center.

We spent about an hour walking along the side of the gorge. When we got back to the new bridge we had visited yesterday we were glad we had spent the time down in the gorge.

The crowds in the center of town were double or triple what we experienced yesterday evening. Ronda is a day trip destination from both Seville and Malaga so at mid-day when we returned to the bridge all of the day trips had arrived.

Ton had picked out a wine bar that was supposed to have a good selection of local wines and a good view. It opened at 1pm and we happened to be the first customers so we got the best seat in the house looking out over the gorge. We had a couple of Tapas and two glasses of red wine from Ronda. Both the tapas and the wine were excellent. We had picked a good place because by 1:20 there was not a seat available in the restaurant.

Most mountain cities in Andalusia are painted white. Partly to reflect the heat, and partly because tourists like it.

After finishing our wine and tapas we decided it was time for lunch. We didn’t rush right out for lunch as we have adapted to the Spanish and Moroccan lunch which is eaten between 1 and 3 pm. We first walked to a nice park and having walked off our wine and tapas we now headed to a nice restaurant for a proper lunch.

We passed Ronda’s bull ring on the way to our lunch. It is supposed to be the oldest and largest bull ring in Spain.

Lunch was delicious and again featured excellent wines from the region. Ton surprised me by ordering a hamburger, but she must have had some inside information because it was spectacular.

By the time we finished lunch it was after 3 pm so we slowly made our way back to François. Ton spent a lot of time window shopping and we moved at a leisurely paces as the return trip is up hill. In total for today we walked over 7 miles with a lot of climbing and descending. We took it easy for the rest of the day.

October 21, Ronda SP

We were both up early due to the change of time zone, so we were off to the mountains of Andalusia before 9am. The drive to Ronda involved climbing over 3000 feet in altitude. We were both impressed with the quality of the road. Despite the many switchbacks we still made good time and enjoyed the drive.

Nice murals on a block of apartments near our campground.

We arrived at Rondo about 11 am and went shopping at Lidl. Our refrigerator was pretty empty and we were out of meat. It took us about an hour to complete the rounds of Lidl but we are now well stocked for the rest of the trip, and pork has returned to our diet.

When we arrived at our campground Ton noticed a large washer and dryer so the afternoon was spent taking care of laundry. It was nearly 3pm when we were done with laundry and lunch. The town was well into the three hour siesta so we decided to join them.

The town was just starting to wake up from siesta when we walked to the center at 5pm.

At 5 we decided to scout the center of town. It was about a 30 minute walk to the center, but a lot of it was on a pedestrian only street, and the part that wasn’t still had the wide sidewalks that we love in Spanish cities. Spain is for us the most pedestrian friendly country we have visited.

Ronda is famous for its location on a gorge of the Guadelevin River. Our plan is to explore the gorge in depth tomorrow, but we got a glimpse of it today and we understand the attraction.

The Guadelevin River splits Ronda in half.

The gorge is over 400 feet deep but is pretty narrow. It makes for a spectacular setting.

The “New Bridge” started in 1751 and completed in 1793.

The gorge and the construction around it will be the center of our day tomorrow so I will only include a couple of pictures from today. Also, the photographer in the family is unhappy with the light and is hoping for better pictures tomorrow.

Looking back at Ronda and the surrounding countryside.

October 20, 2025 La Linea SP

Today was purely about travel. We were up early because we wanted to make a couple of stops on the way to the ferry. Our biggest concern was to try to knock 45 days worth of road dirt off of François. The gas stations in Morocco all feature a big bay marked Lavage. Since we had some Dirhams to spend we decided to treat François to a Lavage. The first three gas stations waved us off, so when we saw a Shell I told Ton this would be the last attempt before we headed on to the port. The fourth time was a charm and François looks much better.

The port at Tangier-Med is very new and the infrastructure is first class if a little under utilized. Since they have all of these new buildings and roads they send you on quite a circuit But in the end we were parked and waiting for the ferry an hour early.

Fortunately we did not need to use this boat.

The ride on the ferry was uneventful, but strangely full of Moroccan families traveling with school aged children. Ton and I figured it must be a school holiday this week in Morocco.

Morocco was a fun time for us. It is a beautiful country full of a wide variety of climates. The coastal areas remind you of southern California. The high mountains across the center are spectacular, and the lower but rugged mountains of the Rif make you understand why it was so hard to conquer the Berbers. The Sahara was an experience we will not forget soon. The cities didn’t knock us out with their architecture, but did have an energy to them that was new to us. Part modern and part ancient, and with a happy chaos that was charming.

The cities in Morocco had an energy that was part 21st century and part 14th century.

We were once again one of the last vehicles off of the ferry so we took our place at the end of the line for customs and immigration. Fortunately for us they opened a couple of more lines so we were thru in less than 30 minutes.

We forgot that it was one hour later in Spain than Morocco so by the time we left the port it was after 6pm. On the drive I was worried because the campground we wanted to stay in is pretty small and it was later than I planned to arrive. I was right to be worried as they only had one spot left and they made me go look at it to make sure we would fit in it as “it is quite small.” Fortunately we did fit so our long but drama free day ended with a small bit of good fortune.

October 19, 2025 Chefchaouen MA

Tomorrow we are reentering the Euro zone so our goal for today was to spend most of our Dhirams on gifts for ourselves and friends. After a lazy morning we headed down the path to the center of Chefchaouen.

The merchants of Chefchaouen were ready to take our Dhirams.

In addition to being a beautiful city, Chefchaouen is full of cute cats. Today Ton focused on some of the cats as well as the scenes in the town.

This picture of a mom and her kittens was being well documented as we walked by.

Our tactic was to make one pass thru the market to scope out what we were going to buy, head for lunch to discuss what we should buy, and then after being well fortified by food head out to get the goods.

In the end we successfully spent our Dhirams at a couple of merchants. At this point Ton was beginning to get the hang of bartering so we felt better about the prices we paid here than what we paid in Fez or Marrakech.

This kitten had found a comfortable place to sleep.

We headed over to the Taxi stand with a couple of big bags of clothes. I even got into the hang of things when the Taxi driver quoted us 30 Dhiram’s for the ride up the hill, I countered with 20, and he insisted on 30 so I walked away, when I was a few feet from the cab I heard him say ok 20, a small victory.

These two cats were having a stare down.

We returned to the campground just as about 15 Land Rovers with Netherlands plates had arrived. The campground has gotten a little more crowded each night we have been here. It was a little chaoctic they managed to fit them all in.

This is the entrance near the drop off point for the tour vans, so the stuff is more commercial. Further into the market the stuff becomes more crafty.

October 18, 2025 Chefchaouen MA

We are going to return to Spain on Monday so Chefcaouen is going to be our last stop in Morocco, but it is a good place. We spent most of the morning talking with our Irish neighbors about traveling and life. I’m afraid we may have contributed to their very late departure for Fez.

I raved about the beauty of Chefchaouen yesterday. And today it was just as beautiful. On top of that we have had some of our favorite meals in all of Morocco here. Alas, if they had good wine or beer, it would be a perfect city for us.

I like the contrast of the blue in the shadows with the bright yellow building in the sun.

We spent the afternoon re-exploring the town. Once again we just enjoyed walking thru the town and seeing what was around the next corner.

We have done any shopping yet, but tomorrow we are setting off to deplete our Dhiram stock.

Ton had picked a restaurant for lunch and when we got there it looked familiar. We had taken a coffee break there yesterday. Once again the food was outstanding and we were able to try some different dishes that we had not experienced before.

Tons Shakshuka, eggs poached in a sauce of tomato, peppers, and a spice called ras el hanout. The name in Arabic means mixed up.

After lunch another turn around town was in order to burn off some of our lunch. For the first time we wandered into the new town to the central market. Unfortunately we were a little late and things were winding down.

This fellow popped into Tons picture at the perfect time.

Once again the climb back to the camp is a chore so we are opting for a taxi. The ride is only 20 Dhiram, and if I was a better bargainer it might be cheaper. But given the climb it is worth every Dhiram. The problem is we didn’t have any change or small bills.

These hats are commonly worn by Berber women, and foreign tourists.

So we headed back to Bilmos for a desert called a ZigZog, which is mixed fruit with cream and avocado blended together. They were happy to see us back for a third time, and when we left one of the boys shouted see you tomorrow.

This area was the tannery for the town until the 1970’s. Now it is a rug merchant.

With change in hand we headed over to the very busy taxi stand near the old fort. The place is a zoo with vans and taxis swooping in to deposit and retrieve tourists, and the occasional Moroccan. The place is well supervised by 3 Moroccan cops who start blowing their whistles at anyone who lingers beyond the time they think it should take it to exit or enter the van.

We returned to the campground just in time to watch a parade of 9 huge expeditionary vehicles arrive. We stood with our German neighbors and watched as these behemoths settled themselves into place in the campground before calling it a night.

Looking down on the town from the trail to the campground.

October 17, 2025 Chefchaouen MA

Chefchaouen is known as the blue city in Morocco and is a must see stop on any tour of Morocco. It is not a large city, but based on Tons reaction it is the most beautiful city in Morocco.

The Moroccan flag displayed on one of the blue walls.

Each day when we return to François, Ton spends a great deal of time reviewing the pictures she took for the day. She is very thorough in her reviews and picky about the pictures she sends me to include in the blog. Most days she spends more time picking the pictures than I do writing the blog.

A wall in the souk displaying art and wares for sale.

I can tell how much she liked a place by how many pictures she sends me. Today I received over 40 pictures, which means she enjoyed herself. Chefchaouen is a special place.

The contrast between the beautiful artwork, and the trash on the ground is interesting. Morocco is a land of contrasts.

There are several stories about why the city became blue, one is that the Jews who arrived after they were expelled from Spain in the 1600’s painted their quarter of the town blue to distinguish it from the moslem sections, and eventually the entire town adopted it. The most common story is that the residents painted the walls blue because they believed it kept flys and mosquitos away.

Small arches in the median separate different parts of the city.

The least romantic story is that the city administration ordered that all of the walls in the city be painted blue in the 1970’s to attract tourism. Whichever story you believe the effect is fantastic. A nice but not historically important or architecturally interesting city has been transformed into a magical place.

This cat was minding the store while the owner was away.

The residents of the city have taken the concept and enhanced it by tastefully decorating the walls with art, and displaying their wares for sale to enhance the color. It is not just that the walls are painted blue, but that around every corner is another delight for the eyes based on what is being sold.

The stuff for sale enhances the feel of the medina.

The town was busy, but not overwhelming which is always a plus for us. It is fun to people watch when there are not too many people to watch.

The atmosphere was decidedly more laid back than Fez or Marrakech. While we had a few people approach us to try to sell us something, they backed off immediately when you told them no thanks. So there was no pressure.

Chefchaouen is built on the side of a mountain so you are either going up hill or down hill.

The other interesting thing was that Spanish was the European language used by the locals instead of French. From 1920 to 1956 Morocco was split between the French and the Spanish. This part of Morocco was Spanish so the non-Arabic names for places were generally Spanish and the roads were Calle instead of Rue.

Chefchaouen is a relatively new city as it was established in 1471 by a mix of Berbers and the first wave of Moors who had been expelled by Spain. It was set up as a fortress to protect the interior of Morocco during a war with Portugal.

The Kasaba which was established here during the war with the Portuguese.

After spending a couple of hours walking around town we decided it was time to eat. Ton made me pick a place to eat from a list of 11 restaurants. The place that looked most interesting to me specialized in Tangines, so I was a little reluctant to suggest it. Our experience with Tangines has been underwhelming. None of them have been bad, but all but one of them has been mediocre.

But Sofia restaurant turned the tide. Tons Lemon Chicken Tangine was delicious, and since it was Friday I ordered the Lamb CousCous which was also delicious. Soria has won us over to what a good Tangine can be like.

Today was Friday so a lot of the men were wearing more traditional clothes to attend Friday Prayers at the Mosque.

After the meal we decided to take a taxi back to the campground. The campground is close to the center horizontally, but it about 500 feet above the town vertically. There is a staircase down the hill which we walked down in the morning, but we decided we would spend the 20 dirham for a taxi to go back. It was $2 well spent.

The top of the stairs to the town below.

October 16, 2025 Chefchaouen MA

Today was all about driving. We have relocated to a beautiful mountain town in the Rif Mountains called Chefchaouen. The total drive was about 200 kilometers but it took over 4 hours to accomplish.

The N-13 was our entertainment for the day. If you look in my lane opposite the on coming car, there is something interesting going on with the asphalt.

Ton really enjoyed the day as the views were ever-changing and often spectacular. I had a little different view of the drive as I was focused on the road about 50 yards in front of François, or the rear of the vehicle in front of us.

The majority of the drive was on the N-13. Our experience with N roads has been good. They are often up to the standards we are used to in the US or Europe. But the N-13 going north from Fez hasn’t been brought up to that standard.

To show you how focused on the road I was, I never saw this rather large sign welcoming us to Chefchaouen.

Except for a 20 kilometer stretch where the road was extremely deteriorated, the road was ok, but there were enough pot holes or places where the road bed was failing causing the asphalt to appear to be sliding with a groove in it to grab your tire, to keep you on full alert for the drive.

I was mostly driving at about 60 kph so I had time to react to the road. Which means I also had to watch for traffic coming up behind as Moroccans pass very aggressively (sometimes suicidally). Plus there is a wide variety of vehicles on the roads including bicycles, scooters, a three wheeled motorcycle called Docker, old trucks grinding along at 20 kph, donkey drawn carriages, and just donkeys with someone riding on it. It is an entertaining assortment of characters using the road.

The Park4Night report for this campground had a very explicit warning to avoid the center of the city as it was a very difficult place to drive. So of course we ended up in the center of the city, and they are right it is a very difficult place to drive, especially on market days like today. To prove the difficulty I missed the turn to the campground the first time and the only recovery was to repeat the drive thru the center of the town. It was just as much fun the second time.

In the end we made it here fine, once we were settled in, I pulled out a chair and sat looking down on the town and enjoyed a coffee. Part of the fun of these “adventures” are days like today. Tomorrow we will look at the city.

October 15, 2025 Volubilis MA

Our friends Fred and Denise Cook told us not to miss Volubilis. Volubilis was originally a Berber city founder around 300 bc. It was subsequently ruled by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. In the first century AD it was conquered by the Romans and developed to Roman standards.

It fell to the local Berber tribes around 285 BC and was not reconquered by the Romans. About 850 AD it was pretty much abandoned. The city stood largely intact until the 17th century when a major earthquake destroyed a large part of the city.

Unlike most Roman ruins these days, you pretty much have the run of the place.

After the earthquake a lot of the stones were used for the construction of the nearby city of Meknes. During the French occupation of Morocco archaeological digs began in the area and some reconstruction was done.

The arch of triumph was rebuilt by the French.

It is famous for several well preserved mosaic floors throughout the city. These are extensive and while the colors are fading as they are exposed to the sun they are still beautiful.

It is nice to be able to approach these mosaics up close, but Ton and I were wondering if more effort should be made towards protecting them from the elements so the colors don’t continue to fade. Also several of the mosaics were covered in dirt that had blown in from the surrounding fields.

3 Bathing nymphs mosaic in the north bathhouse of the city.

Visible from Volubilis is the white city of Moulay Idriss Zerhouan. It is an important pilgrimage site for moslems as it is the first city that adopted Islam. The mausoleum of the first Islamic ruler of Morocco Idris I is located there. He was assassinated in Volubilis by order of the Sultan of Baghdad.

Moulay Idriss Zerhouan dominates the hill above Volubilis.

As we have travelled around Europe, and North Africa we have visited a lot of Roman sites. Ton asked my favorite so far and it was easy for me. I liked Agrigento in Sicily. She also favored Agrigento. Partly because it is not just a Roman site, but also has Greek ruins in it. We may be biased because the day we went there we almost had it to ourselves. Pompei is another incredible Roman site, but it was so full of people it was difficult to enjoy.

The Decumanus Maximus is the main road running thru the center of town.

Volubilis was never a major city in any of the empires it existed in. It was always a kind of provincial town under the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Berbers, Romans, and Moroccans and was abandoned as a settlement by 850 AD. But the ruins today gave us an appreciation of how people lived in the past.

October 14 Azrou MA

We decided to move on from Fez. On the way over the mountains we had passed thru a town that caught our attention. It had another Royal Palace, but what struck us were the tree lined streets and Alpine buildings. While we were driving Ton discovered the town was Ifrane.

The visitors center in Ifrane looks like it could be in the Alps instead of the Atlas Mountains.

Since it was not that far we decided to double back and check it out. There were no campgrounds in the town but about 20 kilometers further there were a couple of campgrounds near a town called Azrou so after a stop at a grocery to restock our depleted pantries were off.

The tree lined streets of Ifrane looked like they belonged in France. It turns out the trees were imported from France during the occupation of Morocco.

Ifrane was originally founded during the French occupation of Morocco as a place that the Europeans could flee to during the hot Moroccan summers. They brought in trees from France and built buildings that reminded them of home.

The most famous landmark in Ifrane is the Lion of Ifrane. It depicts a now extinct Atlas Lion that used to roam in the area.

We arrived to a very pretty, but also very quiet Ifrane about noon. We parked François in an empty parking lot near the city center and headed in. The streets are wide and beautiful but also empty. Ifrane is now a resort for the rich and beautiful people in Morocco and even has a ski resort in the winter. But after taking picture of the famous sculpture near the center of town we were bored, as none of the rich and beautiful were around, just a few other foreign tourists.

So we headed towards our campground. As we were driving Ton read up about Azrou. What she read peaked our interest so before we set up we headed into Azrou.

The mountain valley Azrou is located in.

The campground told us that there was a place we could park by the big Mosque, and that we could not miss it. We were also lucky because today was market day so there was a lot of stuff to see.

As we pulled up to the Mosque we were caught up in a traffic jam as a funeral procession was just leaving. The hearse was driving away at walking pace as the friends and family walked beside it touching the side of the hearse.

As we were waiting for the traffic to clear from the funeral Ton spotted a couple of restaurants she wanted to go back and check out. So after parking François and paying the guardian of the parking lot, (almost every parking lot has a guardian who you pay to watch your car) we headed into the market.

Azrou wasn’t a large town but it was much more interesting than Ifrane.

We headed to the restaurants across from the Mosque and selected one. Ton had grilled fish, and I had skewers of beef. They were both excellent, Ton was delighted and proclaimed it the best meal in Morocco, and one of the cheapest.

She was so happy that she ordered a rotissery chicken meal to go for a later meal. When we checked into the campground we were the only ones, but when we returned the French couple who parked next to us in Fez had turned up, and a German couple we have chatted with in Mohammedia and Marrakech were also there. As far as camping goes Morocco is a small world.

These three cats had turned up as soon as we arrived and patiently waited for an hour. When Ton started de-boning the chicken the meowing was non-stop. Ton finally caved and gave them skin and a little bit of the breast.

October 13, 2025 Fez MA

Today we tackled Fez on our own and had a much better day. There were two main sites we had not seen on Saturday so we had the taxi drop us off at the Kings Palace.

The main gate of the kings palace in Fez.

The kings palace is still a royal palace and not open to the public. The walls are massive and covers almost 200 acres in the center of Fez. It is surrounded by high walls and has 7 gates to enter the compound. Apparently which gate you are allowed to enter by tells you how important you are to the royal family.

Details of the main doors to the palace. They look like they are made of bronze. The door knockers work as some Americans were trying them out until their guide hastened up to stop them.

Next to the main entrance to the palace is the Mellah which is the old Jewish quarter. Jews have been a significant minority in Morocco up to recent times. In 1950 there were 250,000 Moroccan Jews. The community had been a prominent part of Morocco back to the 3rd century AD. In general throughout history they were segregated in Mellahs in large cities, or in their own villages in the countryside.

Buildings on the main street of the Mellah.

The Mellah in Fez is from the 19th century as a large fire destroyed the old Mellah. The new Mellah was established adjacent to the royal palace to give protection to the community. Unfortunately the longstanding community has dwindled to about 1000 people today due to emigration to Israel, North America, and Europe.

People are not allowed to enter the palace, but you cannot keep the Storks out.

After the Mellah we headed down the hill to the Medina for another walk thru. We had not entered thru the main gate of the Medina on Saturday so it was our first stop.

On the way to the Blue Gate of the Medina we found a nice park to enjoy. We really liked this fountain.

Our first experience in the Medina had not been great so we were looking forward to doing it on our own. We dived in and it was much less crowded on Saturday because while the tourists were out in force, most of the locals are at work today.

We enjoyed a nice stroll thru the souks of the Medina with only one purchase in mind, a tube of superglue to make a repair on François. Google maps works well in the Medina, though you have to trust that the dark 4 foot wide alley it is telling you to turn down is the road it means.

The souk is a great place for people watching, I’m on the hunt for superglue.

Otherwise it was people watching and lunch on the agenda. Ton tempted me to a Moroccan/western fusion restaurant. I always feel guilty eating hamburgers outside the US, but this time the burger was made from camel meat so it was guilt free. By the way camel meat tastes like beef.

Every foot of space in the souk is used to display goods.

We were half seriously looking for a water clock that is difficult to find. We can attest to the fact that it is difficult to find as we did not succeed in finding it.

We didn’t realize that the Medina was built on a pretty considerable hill until we turned around and started walking back to the gate. It turns out we had a pretty good climb going back.

Looking into a Madras or Islamic school.

The day had gone well but it ended on a sour note when we stopped to buy a coffee from a street vendor. We have been in Morocco long enough to know coffee is 15 to 20 Dirham. So I didn’t ask the price before drinking it. When I went to pay the guy wanted 40 per cup. I was unhappy, he could tell, but he stuck with the price when I asked again. I was in a bad position because I hadn’t confirmed the price before taking the coffee so I had no leverage except anger, and to be truthful I was just tired of the place so I paid up. The difference is about $2 per cup from what it should be and that doesn’t bother me, it is the disrespect to rip us off like that with a straight face that does. So once again Fez has left a bad taste in our mouth. The coffee was mediocre also.

We had a good day in Fez until the very end.

October 12, 2025 Fez MA

Following up on yesterdays blog, before we went to bed and before she read the blog, Ton said-“I am done with guides”. She read the blog while I was asleep and agrees with what I said yesterday. Some people may enjoy the shopping experience here, but it definitely is not for us. The negotiations and the pressure of bargaining is a chore. We walk away from every transaction feeling like we lost somehow. Fortunately, at this point we are done purchasing anything so we can relax and enjoy Morocco.

Cats are everywhere in Morocco. This tabby looked like it was ordering fish.

We took today off to try to shake our colds. We both relaxed and worked on recovery.

October 11, 2025 Fez MA

First impressions are a funny thing. I was really looking forward to Fez. I was prepared to have it be the highlight of our Moroccan trip. But, I was underwhelmed.

The Medina of Fez is the largest non-motorized urban area in the world. There are over 9000 roads/alleys in the Medina. Unlike Marrakesh it does not allow any motorized vehicles inside it.

The courtyard of a Madras that used to be associated with the university.

The Medina of Fez is a UNESCO world heritage site, and it is an impressive place. There are an astonishing number of alleys and narrow roads to follow. But for some reason I liked the energy of Marrakesh better.

We were told that we needed a guide to cope with the souks in the Medina, and that it was too overwhelming to tackle on our own. We told him we had been in the country for a couple of weeks and had already visited some souks and bought souvenirs for home. But despite our telling the guide we were interested in history and the story of the city, we kept getting guided into shops for things we had already bought or were not interested in.

In each shop we were put under a mild to moderate degree of pressure to buy something. We had the option to walk out, but it took effort to get out without purchasing something.

We did visit two interesting museums, one was a former Madras for the university in the medina. It was a beautiful and interesting building, the other was a former souk for the camel caravans that came into town, a place that the merchants from the caravans would stay and sell their goods.

Part of the caravan hotel in the old city. These scales were used to weigh the goods being sold in the building.

In these buildings he gave us a cursory explanation of the building and its history and then told us he would meet us in the lobby after 20 minutes. This is where we wanted him to spend his time with us.

A series of arches in the university the figure at the end is a man praying.

Fez has the oldest continuous operating university in the world in the Medina dating to the 1100’s, and interestingly in this male dominated culture it was founded by a woman. As non-moslems we are not permitted to enter it as it is also considered to be a mosque, but we were able to peak in at a couple of points.

We were also taken to see the tannery which was much more impressive than the one in Marrakesh. But on the whole I preferred the souk in Marrakesh as wild and crazy as it was to the one in Fez.

The tannery in Fez, much more picturesque than Marrakesh.

Ton and I are both fighting some kind of virus, so that may have also contributed to my bad day in Fez. We are going to spend a couple of more days here after taking tomorrow off for a day of rest, so hopefully Fez will redeem itself.

This guy was charming, so not everyone in Fez annoyed me today.

I am going to have Ton read this later, and I will ask her to comment on it tomorrow. But my feeling is that while we probably would have got lost-and may even had to pay someone to get us to our pickup point at the end of the day. I think we would have enjoyed our visit to Fez today more on our own with google maps than with our guide as we would have been focused on the things we wanted to see.

Looking down on the courtyard of the camel caravan hotel.

October 10, 2025 Fez MA

The 280 kilometer drive today took over 5 hours. The roads were generally good, but we drove through the middle Atlas Mountains and they are a wide and tall mountain range. Unlike the road thru the high Atlas there were no passing lanes for slow traffic so we would come upon a truck struggling up a 6% grade in second gear. There is a lot of road construction work going on which also slowed us down a bit.

We passed thru several wide, barren mountain valleys. The primary activity were sheep grazing with shepherds.

Ton and I are both battling colds so while I drove Ton slept, and as soon as we arrived I took a nap. We have arrived in a very posh and full campground in Fez. We are hopping an early nights sleep will get us ready for a big day in Fez tomorrow.

October 9, 2025 Er-Rich MA

We were in the Sahara for dawn again this morning. It was another beautiful sunrise, and Ton was very happy running along the dunes with her phone. I enjoy watching her when she is focused on taking pictures.

Sitting outside our tent waiting for dawn.

The photography session lasted for about 45 minutes and then we headed into the dining tent for a hearty breakfast. The highlight was a Berber omelet consisting of eggs and tomatoes prepared in a tangine. We enjoyed this tangine.

After about an hour Youssef our Land Cruiser driver loaded us up and delivered us back to the campground in town. We packed up and headed for a camp site in the mid-Atlas Mountains I estimated was about 3 hours away.

Youssef and me celebrating after he successfully returned us to François.

After an uneventful drive we arrived at our spectacular campground in a canyon carved by the Ziz river It is a really beautiful site but the photographer needs to rest so pictures will have to come later.

We think those are date palms in the valley. The hills have almost no vegetation so rain must be a rare thing here.

October 8, 2025 Merzouga MA

We headed out into the Sahara for sunrise. That statement feels like it should be followed with something more dramatic, than Ton took pictures and I walked along with her while she did it. So no drama.

My role is to occasionally go ahead and give perspective to a picture.

We spent about an hour walking around on the edge of the desert. Even here the dunes are really impressive. Merzouga is the place that most of the tourists go to experience Morocco so it was pretty busy in the morning- caravans of tourists on camels, Land Cruisers, and quads went buzzing or sauntering out into the desert.

After a very enjoyable morning walk we headed back to François for the day. Tonight we are going to join the other tourists for the Sahara camping experience so we had the day to kill until our pick up at 5 pm.

Ton and I have been fighting a stomach thing, that wasn’t bad, but wasn’t good. We both seem to have gotten over it, but now Ton is coming down with a cold so we spent the afternoon lying in a cabana by the pool of the campground/hotel streaming movies.

The courtyard of the hotel our campground is attached to.

We had the option of a two hour camel ride to our tents, or a Land Cruiser ride with a couple of stops en route. Everyone we have met says camel rides are fun for 15 minutes and then become an endurance test, so we went with the Land Cruiser.

Our Spanish camp mates arriving by camel. They confirmed that we made the wise choice in transportation.

Since it only takes a Land Cruiser about 15 minutes to cover the distance to the camp site we made a couple of cultural stops on the way. The first was for a dance and musical group made up of Sudanese who have migrated here over time.

Descendants of Sudanese slaves and recent migrants.

The Sudanese have their own village near Merzouga and have set up a small concert hall in their community building. The songs were interesting and the fellow who played the one string guitar was quite good.

We then stopped at a Bedouin encampment. The Bedouin are a nomadic people and a significant number are trying to maintain their traditional lifestyle. The encampment was much more spartan than I imagined it would be. While we were there we only saw two women who were looking after the camp. Our guide invited us to enter one of the tents but it felt a bit weird as it was someones home and they weren’t there.

The red flag is the Moroccan flag, the other flag is the Bedouin flag.

We arrived at our camp site which consisted of 10 semi-permanent tents with showers, toilets and electricity so it was very much glamping. We shared the camp with two Spanish couples from Catalonia who were very nice and fun to be with.

Sunset was nice, and we had a Tangine dinner. Ton and I were saying to each other that Tangines are nice, but after a while they get a little boring. The Spanish heard us and laughed and said they were saying the same thing in Catalan. Then one of the ladies said she really missed wine with dinner.

Ton took this very interesting picture of the night sky with a nearly full moon.

There was supposed to be music and dancing after dinner, but by the time dinner and our after dinner coffee was done it was 10:30 pm and I could feel Tons cold coming on, so we made our excuses and turned in for the evening.

October 7, 2025 Merzouga MA

We were up at the crack of dawn, which isn’t that much of a chore as it is at 7:10 am, but nevertheless. We wanted to visit Ait Ben-Hadou about 40 kilometers from the campground.

Ait Ben-Hadou is a famous Ksar which were fortified towns along the camel caravan routes between central Africa and Marrakech. The construction is of adobe and the interconnected buildings wind up a hill.

The main passage thru the town. There are frequent gates that can be closed if the town is attacked.

We wanted to arrive early as Ait Ben-Hadou is the most famous of these towns and thus one of the most visited. It has been featured in many movies and TV shows including Gladiator and Game of Thrones and is a UNESCO site. Which also accounts for its popularity.

It was early so these guys were taking it easy when we went by and greeted us with smiles instead of a sales pitch.

We were there before the crowds, one coach load of German and one van load of Chinese tourists where the only ones in the town besides us, so Ton could get some nice shots.

While the construction material is clay and straw, there were still some nice artwork built into the walls.

It is not a large place so we were able to walk it from top to bottom in around 90 minutes. It would have been a good place for a tea or even a meal but we are being cautious with our stomachs for another day.

It was about 10 am when we arrived back at François only to see several hundred people arriving in vans and busses so we were happy we had arrived around 8am. After some discussion about whether to go back to Ouarzazate and tour a movie studio, or move on, we decided to move on.

Google told us it was 368 kilometers to Merzouga so I told Ton it would be a longish drive but doable. The roads in Morocco have been as good as Europe and each time I thought we would hit a roughish road we instead found a well paved multi-lane highway.

Today we found the roads we had been expecting all along so it took us about 6 hours to cover the 368 kilometers. It’s not that the roads were bad, they were generally good, just narrower and a little rougher pavement than the other roads. So instead of averaging 80 kilometers per hour we averaged around 60 kilometers per hour.

Part of the trip was over the Djbel Saghro Mountains.

A long section of the road followed the old camel caravan route so there was a fairly substantial town every 20 to 40 kilometers with a lot of desert in between. We saw a lot of adobe homes deteriorating as more modern buildings using block and stucco are being built in their place.

There would be a lot of desert and then suddenly you would see green ahead and you would enter another oasis town on the old caravan route.

While the drive was fun I did have to pay a lot of attention to the road surface. After about 4 hours I was wishing we had picked a half way point, and we did see several places where it looked like we could have parked up. But the Sahara was calling us so we pushed on.

This picture was taken about 50 yards from where François is parked for the night.

We arrived at Merzouga about 4 pm. As you drive into the town you see huge dunes of the Sahara just behind the town, and at that point I didn’t regret our decision to push on.

October 6, 2025 Ouarzazate MA

We crossed over the High Atlas mountains today. We have become friends with two British couples over the last week. They did a night in the desert with Bedouins trip that is on every agenda for Morocco. Ton and I have been debating whether to do one the entire time, after their debrief of the camel ride and the desert tent experience the debate is over- we will not be doing a night in the desert.

They also described the drive over the Atlas to get to the safari site as hair raising. They said their guide was reckless and the road was very twisty and steep. So we were a little concerned when we set off in François this morning.

The Atlas are a large mountain chain that separates coastal Morocco from the Sahara. But it turns out the road is very well built, and while the climb is steep and there are a great many switchbacks to get up the steep mountains it was not nearly as stressful as I expected. In a couple of spots major repair work was being done where landslides from the earthquake two years ago had wiped out the road.

We did see a lot of motorcycles coming down from the peak as the R-9 is on the bucket list for a lot of motorcyclists. In the end we enjoyed the drive and the views, and François handled the climb like a champ, though we did spend a lot of time in 3rd and 4th gear.

At the end of the drive we ended in the modern town of Ouarzazate.

We ended the day in Ouarzazate which bills itself as the Hollywood of Africa. There are two film studios here that specialize in supporting movies filmed in the desert.

A small tangine restaurant from the windshield of François.

We settled in and after a very short discussion decided to take the afternoon off. We both have been battling a stomach bug that is causing us mild but not debilitating discomfort, so a break seemed in order and besides the movie studios Ouarzazate doesn’t appear to have much to offer.

October 5, 2025 Essaouira MA

Our visit to Essaouira began with a stop at a grocery store, and most importantly our first visit to a Moroccan liquor store. Alcohol consumption is not illegal, but it cannot be sold within 150 meters of a Mosque, and purchases for home consumption are through government run liquor stores. Alcohol of all kinds is much more expensive than anywhere in Europe we have visited.

It had been windy most of yesterday and during the night so a bit of a sandstorm had kicked up. We had to close up François during the night as everything inside was getting covered in sand.

Essaouira has a great deal, all taxis in the city have a fixed price of 8 dirham (a little less than a dollar) within the city limits. So we left François in the parking lot and flagged down a cab to the Medina.

Essaouira has been a haven for European free spirits since the 1970’s. There are a great deal of French retirees in the area so the food is a mixture of French and Moroccan cuisine. It also has a vibrant art scene with a number of galleries.

The street along the fortress walls is a kaleidoscope for the eyes.

The souk areas are nice and much more laid back than Marrakech. Ton did a bunch of window shopping, but in the end we didn’t buy anything. Maybe the high pressure technique used in Marrakech is more effective in closing sales.

It took Ton awhile to get just the right angle for the Moroccan flag.

We walked down to the fortress walls which were originally built by the Portuguese who founded the city. They were impressive and had a great collection of antique cannons in place.

Essaouira is a great seaside town, and we can see the attraction for wandering souls. As it is both exotic and solid. It was for us the most “European” feeling of the towns we have visited here, but it is still African at its core. It is a nice combination and if we had a beach bum gene we probably would have staid a couple of more days.

While we enjoyed the town we decided to head back to Marrakech as we are going to tackle the Atlas Mountains tomorrow and the road over the mountains has a bit of a reputation. When we got to the campground in Marrakech two English couples we have been chatting with confirmed that the road over the mountains was “interesting but doable”.