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thegreatunknown · 15 days

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Hints and Tips: Driving in the USA

It is surprisingly easy to drive in the US despite being on the wrong side of the road. Pretty much all of the cars are automatic, the roads are wide and generally pretty straight, and quite empty - unless you're driving into New York or other major cities. We often drove for miles without seeing another car. Every state has something new to offer in the way of eye candy and you never know what you might see next. It was brilliant and we wouldn't have done our trip any other way.

Glossary. You probably know all these from the plethora of American TV and films. However, a reminder. Freeway or Highway not motorway. Gas not petrol - diesel is just diesel, car rental rather than hire.

Driving laws. Do remember that there are federal laws that cover the whole of the US, and then each state will have its own laws. It's worth a check if you're driving through different states before you get into them!

Buying a car. We decided to opt against this as it ended up being a bit complicated and we felt it could be a bit of a risk. The second hand car market was sky high at the time, and we would definitely have lost money on resale after 10,700 miles. Note, each state has different sales taxes and rules and you would need a US address to register the car with. A salesman actually suggested to us that renting would be the best option, apart from anything else if something went wrong with the car the rental company would fix it.

Car Rental. It is definitely worth shopping around for good deals, particularly if you are in the US for off season. Because we hired for three months our rates went from daily to monthly. This substantially reduced our overall bill at the end. In addition, because we picked up in January we were given a bigger SUV than we had asked for as that was all they had in, so we could sleep in the back of it. It had been sitting there for a good few weeks unused. We ended up with Avis as we trusted them as a brand and also we knew they had branches throughout the US if we needed them (which it turns out we did). Our budget would not stretch to a camper van or RV so we were lucky we could sleep in the back.

Avoid the airports for car hire, they are definitely more expensive. We were lucky in that we were able to get a lift to get our car and after we dropped it off so we chose a rental place that was in an obscure part of New Jersey. It is always worth checking these other places out, if are able to get to them.

Car hire stickers. Don't worry that your car doesn't display a rental car sticker like they do in the UK. This is for safety reasons and doesn't announce that you are a tourist while driving around.

Car insurance. You may initially see a really good deal for car insurance. However, you MUST remember to add into the quote CDW (Collision Damage Waiver). This is a daily rate and will substantially add to your quote. It is vital though as it is what will prevent you paying for anything that happens to you. Most US citizens already have this if they own a car so don't need CDW. Do shop around as the deals vary dramatically.

The freeways, or motorways, have great rest areas where in some states you can legally sleep in your car overnight with access to loos and sometimes even showers.

Motorway service stations. They don't have these in the US. Instead, at different exits along the route there will be signs to different food and gas outlets. When you take the exit for these you are directed to head towards them, and they tend to be on the side of the road next to each other. The benefit of these is that they don't charge you the extortionate prices that they do in the UK as they aren't purpose built cash cows.

Red lights yielding. You can turn right at a red light if the coast is clear ear. Although so even this varies from state to state so check on Google when crossing state lines. Also sometimes there will be a sign saying no turning right at this particular red light.

Accidents/or maintenance vehicles' or police on the freeway. Slow down -10mph of speed limit when accident or maintenance and move over one lane if possible.

If the police stop you. Hands on the dash - this fortunately didn't happen to us. But we were coached several times from people, don't attempt to get your licence out of your pocket or glovebox until asked!

Undertaking. Cars and very massive trucks will pass you on the inside lane (its within the law unlike the UK) so keep an eye on side mirrors.

Speed limits . Contrary to popular British belief. The Americans can drive faster than 55mph on quite a few roads. In fact on one road in Texas the speed limit was 80mph. However, the speed limits often change randomly and without warning so keep an eye out for them as there are often no signs or not very noticeable signs at any rate. We were told to especially watch our speed in Indian reservation territory as the police there are particularly vigilant.

Roundabouts are quite a new invention in the US so there are relatively few of them. Just be aware that other drivers aren't very confident with them.

'Gas'. Make sure you don't run out of fuel as as if you're on not on the freeways it can be 100+ miles before the next gas station. Fuel costs vary dramatically from state to state, so its worth filling up in the cheaper state before crossing the border. Look for self-serve 85/87/90 for petrol. Don't look for green pumps for unleaded, they are generally all black. You will often need to pay at the pump, they can be a bit iffy about non-American bank cards, so you may need to go inside and pre-pay for your fuel. Don't panic, you will only be charged for what you use.

Tolls. These can be very expensive especially in the New York, New Jersey area - and also if you're paying through your rental firm. We set our sat nav to no tolls and mostly no freeways.

Snow and ice. The Americans are much better than us at keeping their roads clear of ice and snow. Even so driving in some of their extreme weather can be quite treacherous and we were surprised how many states did get snow in the winter. We even hit a snow storm near Phoenix, Arizona in February.

Off-Road. You may often find yourself on non-tarmac roads for several hours if you go off-piste, particularly in national parks. We ended up having great fun on these at Big Bend in Texas. However, bear in mind that the rental company is unlikely to support you if you break down or get a puncture as you are unlikely to be covered by your insurance. So make sure you read the small print .

Road Rage. Remember in the US many people outside of New York have guns on them. So if you can feel yourself heading for a bit of road rage, or somebody gesticulates at you just smile and nod. We had a bit of a close shave when Kirsty forgot this one morning, but all's well that ends well.

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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Whilst in at Sidi Binzane we decided to look ahead at where we could go next. We could decide between the end of the almond blossom festival in Tafraoute inland, or stay on the coast and head south. Not that we were on holiday for the weather, but we did decide that we would prefer to be in 20+ degrees by the sea rather than 13 degrees and raining inland. We opted for Mirleft, a small town south of the Souss Massa region, past the hills by the sea.

Mirleft, Guelmim-Oued, Morocco, 24th-28th February 2023

It really did feel like an adventure driving down there - the roads for once were clear, no potholes or goats. Atlas mountains spread to our left and the anti atlas to the right, some bedouin tents and more and more desert. We soon had the same feeling we had when we were on the road in the US. A sense of excitement in that we had no idea where we were going, or what it would be like. Venturing off piste as per usual, we diverted into a small ghost like village at the bottom of the hills. Void of any shops or people we made our way through the gravel road wondering whether we would ever get out!

We popped out at the bottom of the hill and wound our way, like Jeremy Clarkson' up and over the hills and saw the sea. After a picturesque cliff road we turned into Mirleft and a small quiet high street, with a french cafe on the corner. We immediately stopped the car and jumped out. A proper coffee! We sat in the sunlight to drink it and looked around and soon felt that we were going to enjoy our last few days here.

Along the high street of Mirleft were several stalls, hotels and cafes and looked like an old colonial french town, which in fact it is. Very Moroccan, there are also many French and Germans who found Mirleft in the 1980s and decided to settle here. Not rich, just people who enjoy a different style of living. We could see what they meant.

We walked past an old antique berber store and decided to see what it had to offer. Kirsty had been looking for a big leather holdall to take home with her and had been quoted ridiculous prices in Taroudant, and had decided to wing it and if the worst came to the worst buy a cheap suitcase to take things back with us in. As soon as we walked into the berber store, we spotted this amazing old beaten up leather carpet bag. The old man pointed to it and said that it was from the South Sahara and was made of camel leather. We immediately fell in love with it, and within 3 minutes had started bartering at a price that was at least a quarter of those in Taroudant - and this was substantially nicer. So, we bought it and once he had oiled it we picked it up and took it to the car. We knew that our apartment was still a little drive from here, but we would definitely be coming back.

Our apartment was in the middle of a piece of land that could only be described as a post war zone. Unfinished buildings that looked they had been bombed all around us, and nobody wandering around at all. However, Mohammed, our host was incredibly friendly and let us in and then immediately offered us an upgrade to the flat above so that we could have a sea view. And the sea view was incredible. Between us and the cliffs was very little except for scrub land, but nice scrub land. We felt very privileged. Compared to our last two places, lovely though they were, there was little privacy. This apartment had all the mod cons, an amazing roof terrace (with washing machine!!) and some lovely Canadian neighbours - Laurier and Kelsey. We met them as they came down the stairs; he was looking for a fridge that worked for his beer to get cold, and we were looking for a corkscrew - amazingly we could help each other out and that firmed our friendship. This resulted in being cooked a lovely goat tajine on the roof terrace a spectacular amount of alcohol being drunk, and another amazing meal together on the beach at a beach restaurant. He is a deep sea diving fisherman and she, an A&E nurse. Though many years between us, we had some lovely conversations and had a similar taste in beer and wine. Can't wait til we see them on a future trip to Canada.

Mirleft was definitely one of our favourite places in Morocco to date. It had a charm, was so laid back and nobody was in your face trying to sell you things. In fact, in one of the stalls we chose quite a few bits of pottery to take back and by the time we reached the till he had reduced the price.

Like Taghazout it was also covered in dogs, and one adopted Kirsty, a beautiful tall, lean, black labrador-like dog. It had heard us on the roof terrace and sat and waited for her to come down. At that point she gave it some water, and then it lay down patiently. So she went to get it some food - some of the collected vast amounts of amazing bread that had now gone stale, but we couldn't openly have thrown out. But it wasn't too enamoured with that. In fact, all it wanted was a bit of company, so they went for a little walk. After a while she left to go and find some other company. We met her again later that night in a restaurant on the beach, she was really happy to see us - we realised soon enough that she was on heat and was wanting protection from a big husky-like dog who had decided he would hump her, in the restaurant if he could. So she lay by us until he got bored, growling at him if he got too close. We all know that feeling.

There was one hotel on the main street that sold alcohol, a very Hemingway type establishment with ceiling fans and a roof terrace. We could buy wine or beer to take away with us - one evening we spent on the roof terrace with an amazing group of French techno hippies (self-styled), who were driving ensemble in their campervans creating techno parties everywhere they stopped.

The beaches were incredible all the way down that coast - we drove down to one which had a hole in the rock, similar to the Dyrholaey in Iceland. It was stunning.

Another, in one of the coves in Mirleft, there were cafes on it and very few people, in fact it was at this beach that we finally decided to stop and just sit and do nothing other than read and listen to podcasts. This was wonderful until we got home and realised we hadn't put any sun cream on....

And then that was it. Our last day. We woke up looking like lobsters and packed our bags and headed for a last breakfast at one of our favourite cafes, cafe Chourok. Every breakfast we had been given berber omelettes and amlou (almonds, honey and argan oil), honey and olives with plenty of bread. It was so delicious that one evening we asked the owner where we could get some omelette pans - on that last day he presented with some brand new ones that had just been made, for us. Very special.

With a heavy heart, but really ready to go home after our 2.5 week adventure, we packed our car and got on the road. Because we had given ourselves plenty of time to get back, we decided to do our last great unknown adventure and take a detour, to one of the towns that Ahmed was going to take us if we had done another tour with him, Tifnit. I am so pleased we did - we ended in this tiny village on the beach with the biggest waves I've ever seen crashing in. Unfortunately, it was the worst coffee we had ever tasted to accompany it (lukewarm saline water) so very quickly we made a retreat and decided to head back to the airport before we ran out of time.

David managed to swerve the goats and donkeys as we neared Agadir airport, and actually several cars - until we realised that in front of us was a policeman with a hairdryer gun - and we shouldn't swerve him, in fact we had to stop. We had just been done for speeding. 24km from the airport. Rather than panic, we decided to use this as a learning experience, and hope that we had enough money to get out of whatever was going to happen. After confiscating his passports we waited a good 20 minutes, with only half an eye on the time, calculating our flight times. But eventually an English speaking, very smart, officer came back and presented us with a very official bit of paper to sign, and we had to pay him the equivalent of £14 for doing 67 in a 60km limit. I am very pleased to say that we had the equivalent of £14 in our wallet left, having decided to keep a little bit over for the airport.

Farewell Morocco. What an amazing country and people.

And as our Easyjet flight flew over the Souss Massa region we were able to see exactly how many greenhouses there had been erected to grow our tomatoes. Quite terrifying for the future of the country and their water table.

But we will be back. We only saw a tiny percentage of a country that offers so much in the way of culture, food and wonderful hospitality. Thank you Morocco.

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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After revisiting the Taroudant souks, and collecting some supplies at the Carrefour, Agadir we dropped Ollie off at the airport in time for us to reach Sidi Binzane in daylight.

Sidi Binzarne, Souss Massa National Park, Morocco 21st - 24th February

Berber bliss

The Carrefour was a bit of a culture shock to the system after our last few days, but we were able to stock up on a bit of food as we didn’t know if we would find anywhere to eat at our next place. It also sold wine, in a little room off the supermarket where Europeans could fulfil their alcoholic dreams. The supermarket was filled with French people holidaying in Agadir, the shelves were stocked with French butter and cheese, and the fruit and veg were all from Costa Rica (!).

With Ollie dropped off we were on our way. The further from Agadir we got the less plastic was strewn on the side of the roads. The towns became less ugly, bustling, and chaotic.

Eventually we took a turn off the main road and we felt like we were in desert, and then suddenly we were surrounded by vast acres of greenhouses. Those same greenhouses that are ripening our tomatoes and feeding the UK.

We followed our Google map into Sidi Binzarne, realising it is a tiny collection of houses on a steep hill. And then we realised we didn’t actually have an address for our house. So we drove along the bottom road, trying to contact our host Ahmed. We then saw a young man wearing the traditional long hoody and showed him a photo of our host - he smiled and said in basic French that it was the son of Ahmed’s mothers sister. He got into the back of the car and directed us to it. Up a very steep road.

The house, la maison bleu, is actually an apartment above the main family floor. The mother came out, and other family members gathered watching us bring the equivalent of a whole home worth of suitcases (or at least that is what it felt like even though we travel relatively lightly) she didn’t speak a word of French or English, so opened the door and showed us upstairs.

Upstairs was beautifully simple, with wall freezes/ painting and lots of Italian words and books everywhere. Ahmed was still not to be found. And then he arrived, he’d been a guide at the national park for the day and had been delayed. He offered us some food, but we’d picked ourselves some supplies at the Carrefour, so politely declined and said our goodbyes. Not before he had offered to be our guide at the national park the next day. We thought it a shame to waste an opportunity like this so agreed to meet him in the morning.

So next morning we woke completely shrouded by fog. It was quite an odd feeling. However, by the time we were ready it was beginning to clear. So off we went, in our little Kia Picante, Ahmed guiding David in the front. And it turns out quite a lot of the day was off road. I don’t want to turn this into a Top Gear blog, but that little car was impressive. David got back into his Bahrain desert driving and we were off. Although don’t tell Budget Rental.

Firstly we went for a walk in the park and spotted all of the migratory birds we would be seeing soon, including osprey and swallows. There were also flamingo and cormorants as well as glossy ibis. The park at this spot was where the estuary met the sea - where the Massa Oued (river) met the Atlantic. It was stunning.

We then spotted a flock of Bald Ibis flying over - an endangered species that are really quite ugly, a bit like the vultures in The Lion King but black. So Ahmed took us back to the car and we went to see where they would probably land. This was on the side of a cliff. There they were. It was quite exciting seeing a whole flock of endangered birds.

We then walked down the cliff to the beach, which at first looked deserted until you realised that there was door after door of fisherman’s caves (look closely in the photograph above). One had 285 written on it, which shows how many there are on this stretch of beach.

We then walked up into one, that was filled with several young people - one enterprising fisherman had turned his cave into a hostel that had 4 young Israeli’s, a Ukrainian, a Russian and two Spanish around the table. All smoking doobie.

We asked if smoking was tolerant in Morocco, Ahmed said no - it was just the hippies, and his fisherman friend was known by the police for smoking but they left him alone. We had read that people were paid by the police to offer hash to travellers so that the police could fine them. We wondered if this might have been the case here. Anyway, we left them to it.

After a good few hours driving around, we headed home and Ahmed offered us some mussel tajine as the village women had picked it from the rocks that morning. It did not disappoint, it was possibly the most delicious meal we had been given so far, and it had been cooked by Ahmed’s mother.

We had also been given a bag of the biggest blue berries I have ever seen - I think Ahmed’s brother must have been working at one of the Souss Massa fruit and veg farms, as we were given another huge bag the next day too.

Ahmed had offered to take us up to Tifnit to the north of the park and see antelope and ostrich. We were so pooped from driving the day before, it was going to be even more off-road and desert like, so we decided to take ourselves off and explore. It was incredibly windy but we wandered down to Sidi Rbat and the beach with the fisherman caves and chill and read our books. No one else was there other than women collecting mussels, some fishermen mending their homes, and several stray dogs chilling on the beach. The waves crashed in with the wind, it was a truly beautiful experience.

We then came home and wandered down through the fields to the river and then sat again, in silence soaking up the sounds of the birds and the river.

In the evening Ahmed came by with a grilled tuna-like fish that had been coated in crushed cumin, salt and olive oil. It was so bloody lovely!! We finished it in about 2 minutes.

And then we watched the sunset from the roof, watching people in the village minding their own business, listening to the dogs barking and the donkeys braying and the call to prayer. It really was quite a seminal moment.

This experience living here for two days has been so grounding. Each house has the nuclear family in it and each floor has an adult son. The daughter will live with them til married. The next door home is the same but it will be the brother of the father or mother with their children. We talked to Ahmed about this, how in the UK we were all fiercely independent and it is rare for families to all live together throughout their lives. He knew this and looked at us, letting us know he thought we were mad.

The berbers are a fiercely proud people, with very strict adherence to tradition, you could see that in this village. However, the Airbnb came about because the older brother married an Italian and moved away, which left the floor empty. Ahmed was working as a guide, and running the Airbnb, and I think the other brother was the one working in the fruit farms. (Owned I think by the Spanish)

I really do wonder what will happen when the parents can’t work the fields or collect mussels. Watching the mother in the morning set up the donkey with all its bags and then jump on it with clear arthritis, it did make me wonder if this is a tradition of people who will survive against the odds - or whether the younger ones will be drawn away to a world of disconnect.

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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Following our adventure with the Berber family, we were now finally on our way to Tallouine

Tallouine, Morocco, 20th February 2023

We got out of our car to the sound of drums and lots of people milling around. The bank had an event on outside, and people were sitting in rows. At the front was a scooter wrapped in ribbon. And lots of local spectators.

We found a cafe so that Ollie could finally have something that wasn’t cous cous. We had arrived at about 5.30 and the local school and college had been piling out. It was the first time we had seen so many young people in one place here. They were filling up the cafes and streets, the girls looking over at us shyly, giggling. But not in a horrible way, more inquisitively, particularly at Kirsty - probably because her head dress was not done properly.

We realised that Tallouine is in fact tiny, it is in the anti-atlas mountains and surrounded by beauty, but actually there wasn’t very much to do or see at this time of the day/ evening. After a quick look around we decided to head back the 1.5 hour journey to Kasbah Gousteau.

But not before we managed to get lost. Dropping the ball a bit, Kirsty had switched off Google maps imagining that we would be able to follow the signs home. However, very soon we were heading through a very large town in the mountains and the tarmac just stopped. We then rectified this by switching google back on, but by this time there was no hope of finding tarmac again.

At least not for a while. A Kia Picante may be small, but hats off to it. It’s a great off roader. We had to go through waddies (deep puddles more like fords) and over rocky terrain, but she managed it and eventually we managed to meet the tarmac again. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky we assessed we would be back before dark. And we were, just. And just in time for birthday cake. It was Abdou, or hosts, birthday. Fatima and her peer (who I can’t remember the name of!) gathered all the guests together. We then all sang ‘Joyeux Anniversaire’. The cake was delicious.

One of the other couples there as guests were from London, an elderly couple in their 70s driving round Morocco. They didn’t have smart phones and were relying entirely on a guide book. They were heading to Meknes the next day, when I showed them that it was an 8 hour drive via Google maps, they decided they might not get that far. Our trip around the US last year showed us the virtues of depending on the god that is Google. We can’t imagine going back to paper based travel. However, there is something rather magical about going completely anti-digital while travelling. But not for us.

The next day was our goodbye to Ollie at Agadir airport and then on to the next phase of our adventure.

To the Souss Massa national park.

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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Heading to Tallouine, we felt a bit peckish as it was now about 1.30. We stopped for something quick to eat…

Vilaje rgada, Morocco, 20th February

A Berber Welcome

We drove through a town on the main road that looked promising for food. A roadside cafe had a man sitting outside. However it was soon clear that there was no food, and the cafe was empty of food.

We asked the man if he knew where we could have a quick bite to eat as we were on our way to Tallouine - he had no English whatsoever so Kirsty spoke French. He showed us a photo of cous cous and asked if that is the kind of thing we would like. Assuming this was a restaurant in the village, I nodded. He gestured for us to come and then got into the back of the car.

He then gestured for us to drive out of the village the way we came, while talking quickly on the phone. We were a bit unsure if we were being hijacked or what was happening, but suddenly he shouted ‘stop, stop!’ and he got out of the car. An old man herding sheep in Berber dress came over to meet us, we shook his hand. This was the father of our new friend.

He back in the back of the car and gestured for us to keep going, and about half a mile later to turn right down a track. We dutifully headed down not sure whether to feel nervous, whether we were just giving him a lift, or heading to a restaurant.

Driving past a few houses, he then gestured for us to stop by the back door of an old house. So we did, and we got out. We were at his parents home. The person he had been on the phone to was his mother.

We all gingerly followed him into the house having no idea what to do next. He took us into a living room and told us to sit down. So we did. His mother, a small, elderly Berber woman, fully covered came out and gave each of us a hug by burying her head into our shoulder. She then left for the kitchen.

Ahmed, as was his name, told us to sit and be comfortable, and we would be getting cous cous. So we sat trying to communicate with each other as best we could. His French was not the French we learned at school, so it was difficult to keep up, but we managed between us - Kirsty doing the majority of the translation.

Our host made doors in the town we had met him. His family were Berbers. He lived on his own, attached to this house, he had two brothers who lived elsewhere - I think possibly near the Western Sahara (18 hours drive away anyway), and a sister.

Then his mother brought through plates of bread, olives, honey - all delicious. In fact this is what would have sufficed for our lunch. And some mint tea (which is actually green tea with fresh mint and sugar added), otherwise known as Berber whisky. He gestured to us to eat it all up.

We began to run out of things to say, so then he showed us films of a Polish girl who he had adopted, possibly under similar circumstances to us, who him and his family had taken into Tallouine. In fact it was difficult to determine whether this meeting was more on the adoption or the kidnapping side of things.

He then showed us a film of a sheep or a goat skinned in their courtyard, being prepared for a meal. And food being made.

We all took photos of each other and sat in silence for a short while. He gestured for us to keep on eating, we had to say that if we ate all of that we wouldn’t be able to eat our cous cous. He thought this was funny.

So we sat in silence again for a bit. Ollie was getting increasingly concerned that on his last day he was sat inside when it was gorgeous weather outside. And that we were meant to be going on an adventure to Tallouine.

Kirsty tried to explain after an hour and a half that we were hoping to reach Tallouine that evening, and come back before night fall. He nodded. And then took us outside to meet his dog, and then took each of us next door to show us his house. He had a little shop selling plastic flowers and goods on the side. He gave us each a bunch of flowers, and tried to give Kirsty a huge vase. We each explained that we didn’t have space in our suitcase.

He then brought out a chair in the sunshine and instructed Kirsty to sit with his mother in the kitchen. She was cooking on one stove, and peeling vegetables. Within 2 minutes of her sitting down, the mother gestured for her to go back outside.

Another half hour went by, and it was difficult to work out whether to surrender our trip to Tallouine, or how to communicate that we really did need to go. And Ollie for one didn’t actually like cous cous. However, it was abundantly clear that the large amount of cooking that was happening was just for us, and so it was really important that stay.

Kirsty communicated again that we had to get back from Tallouine before night fall. At around 3.30, he gestured for Kirsty to go back in with his mother. His mother gestured again for her to leave. After another half hour or so, and a certain tense atmosphere growing amongst the Gilchrist’s, the cous cous was ready.

He told us to come into the kitchen and we could take our photo with her. The cous cous dish was the biggest mountain of food that we had ever seen, topped with amazing vegetables over lots of mutton. And suddenly we had a huge fear of how we were going to eat it all.

They gestured for us to go into the living room, and then to dig into our section of the mountain. Along with this we were each given a bowl of fermented yoghurt to eat it with. Apparently you put the cous cous into the yoghurt and eat it like that. Poor Ollie was not enjoying it. However, this was bliss food for Kirsty and David. We certainly did our best.

And then we were beaten. We had to admit defeat to a disappointed Ahmed. There was no way we could have finished that food under any normal circumstances. The only consolation is that it wasn’t going to waste and it would be finished by the family.

So at about 4, we finally rose to say our goodbyes. Kirsty asked how much we could give them for it - and he said absolutely not. And asked if the mother, and she refused money. Ahmed asked that we come back for three days next time, and we can sleep at theirs.

What a salutary experience, and what lovely people. We really were truly grateful, after what had been a confusing but fascinating afternoon. The welcome and the friendliness was astounding. This won’t ever be forgotten.

We were now well fed and hoped to be on our way to Tallouine.

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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In the middle of our Taroudant stay we decided to make a trip inland to the oasis at Tiout and further to Taliouine, the home of Moroccan saffron.

Tiout, nr Taroudant, Morocco, 20th February 2023

An actual oasis

We had decided that now we had a car we should make the most of it before Ollie returned home so we decided to venture inland, with an initial stop at Tiout, a real mountain oasis. In reality we didn’t really know what this meant and we envisioned a pool at the bottom of the mountain. Where we were at Taroudant was incredibly dusty and really quite dirty but a 40 minute drive away it was completely different.

We entered a village and soon found ourselves exiting it again in the wrong direction, but not before we tried to reverse and realised we had an old Berber man on a bike who had been following us, and who we had very nearly run over. He shouted and when he established that we weren’t French he offered to be our guide to the oasis and kasbah with panoramic- and gestured to follow him.

He must have been at least 75, and spotted that we were prime candidates for guiding. So we duly followed him - his 2 stroke bike pootered through the streets until we found ourselves at the foot of a hill of a huge kasbah/ castle. He pointed over to a group of people sitting with their donkeys and shouted to us ‘Berber taxis’. We then all walked down into the most amazingly green fields bordered with palm trees. He kept pointing to different plants and trees - dates, lemon, lime. Then in the fields - alfalfa, cous cous, wheat. As we walked we had the most incredible bird song around us.

Did you know that with a palm tree, each frond signifies a year, so really tall trees must have been a good couple of years old. In fact we couldn’t count. They were all at different stages so some of them had dates growing, while others had honey bees buzzing around blossom.

He explained in his best German English that all the families farmed different fields. Unfortunately he was completely deaf so it was impossible to ask him any questions back, but we still managed to kind of understand what he was saying.

We then stopped and he showed us the different channels they had built for irrigation, as well as little buildings that had mill wheels. There were also millstones that are still being used.

He then took us up to a reservoir they are building, and a communal garden with chickens and pigeons. And a huge crane.

A short walk back through the fields, keeping an eye out for the many cobras that lived there apparently, and tortoises, but none were there - thankfully in the case of the cobras. He then picked some palm fronds and made bracelets for us. The berbers use every part of a plant. When we went past doors in the walls he pointed out that they were made of palm trees, the bark is used for fire, the leaves for rope.

He got us back to where the Berber taxis were and then gestured for us to follow him to the kasbah on the hill above. Again we duly did so, and the view was absolutely stunning. With that finished we then paid our dues for his services and went on our way to Tallouine, in search of a bite to eat…

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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Leaving Essaouira by Moroccan Taxis, with a beaten up taxi with a petrol leak. All of us tried hard not to vomit. We then sadly had to say goodbye to Millso B. We dropped her off at Agadir Airport and then picked up a car for the next stage of our adventure. Picking up the car was more difficult than anticipated, but 40 minutes later we had a little Kia. Now to tackle some of these roads…

Taroudant, Morocco 18th - 21st February

Our oasis

We drove a very unenchanting drive from Agadir, the land on either side of the road strewn in plastic. However all of it was used for agriculture of some kind of another, argon forests or vegetables. Goats and people at the side of the road. One of our delays in picking up the car was that they hadn’t included an additional driver in our payment despite us having paid for it (tip - don’t use carjet to hire a car here, it’s a middle man and a bit of a rip off. We were actually hiring through Budget, but carjet had buggered up.) As a result, all of the driving was down to David, which for every mile we drove, Kirsty was increasingly thankful.

We knew we had to get to our next spot before dark as it looked like it was in the middle of nowhere down a track. We followed our Google directions, and found our track, then an unfinished village, and then we were there. But where? We couldn’t see anything. We looked ahead and it said Kasbah Gousteau. But what was in front of us was not a kasbah. A man in the traditional hoodie gown with a cap on came out and we greeted him and said Kasbah Gousteau. He pointed down an alleyway, and at the end of it was a beautiful, ancient wooden door for people who were 4ft 5. We knocked on it and a man shouted back. He opened it, and then we met Abdou, our host. Who spoke very quick Moroccan French and no English. But we had just stepped into a paradise.

He showed us to our rooms, and then explained that they only cook if pre-ordered. So we decided to try driving in the dark and head to Taroudant, 2-3km drive away. We were starving we had left Essaouira without food (stupidly) - that also meant that poor mills was without food in the airport. However, it was 8pm we spotted a cafe on the side of the road next to some hanging meat. We walked over to a part of the cafe with a grill - they pointed at the butcher. Then a man came over and showed us that we should choose our fresh meat and they would cook it. So we ordered a load of food, and tried to work out how much they might charge. We had kebabs, frites, Moroccan salad and soft drinks each. It was delicious - but we had the fear we might not have enough money. As it happened it came to 77dirham, the equivalent of £6! Definitely the cheapest and one of the best meals so far. Taroudant is clearly very much less expensive than either Taghazout or Essaouira. Good news.

However, our guest house sold wine and it’s food was three times the cafe price. But we decided we would treat ourselves for a couple of days as it was Ollie’s last leg of the journey. The Kasbah offered massages and also had a swimming pool - which had the same temperature as the North Sea in February.

The next day we decided to head into Taroudant properly. It is a walled city, the walls of which are 6km long. After a treacherous drive in avoiding cyclists, tuk tuks, donkeys and dogs, we found a parking place. Shortly after having parked the car we realised we were being accompanied by a man who spoke good English.

We realised he was going to be our guide for the day, and also realised that we might as well. Although when we asked him how much he would charge he held his hands to his chest and said, “whatever is in your heart”. Aargghhh! We have no idea what the going rate for a guide in a Moroccan city is..

So, as it happened it was Sunday and the only day of the week that the Berber market was on. Berber, or Amazigh is the official language of Morocco - an ancient Afrasian language, it is very different to any that we (as in our family) know. They would welcome being addressed in the Arabic ‘Salam Alaykum’ rather than in French but after that there is no common language. Later in our trip we did manage ‘Den Meert’ (phonetically spelled) for thank you. But even then our pronunciation was rubbish and it garnered a warm, friendly chuckle.

Habib was really informative- he showed us a courtyard where the ayatollah Humaini’s wife now lives.

And then we went up and down loads of back streets and souks, all very very different from Essaouira. It certainly wasn’t as bright in colours and artwork as there. And this wasn’t for tourists, this was very much for Moroccans, fruit, veg, grains, even shoes made from tyres. That didn’t mean they didn’t welcome trying to sell to you.

We stopped for a bit of lunch and had panini, again a very cheap meal even taking into account Habib’s Moroccan salad. He took us to a few places we thought we might like, a Berber cooperative that sold rugs. It was so informative- killim rugs are made for men and women sit on each side of it when they are married to converse, as it is likely they’ve never met each other. Each of the symbols on the rugs represents a different Berber family. The different dyes are made from pomegranate and indigo. The silk is made of agave fibres, which is what Kirsty’s head scarf was made from.

Everything quoted was relatively expensive and they didn’t want to budge much. Kirsty totally buckled and was completely fleeced when buying tea and herbs, the price for which wouldn’t have been out of place in a Fortnum and Mason hamper. Even Habib had to give her a pep talk after. The actual Berber way is to write on paper until you get the right price. The herb man, who didn’t write on paper, Habib explained, and all of those in the souk have to give commission on everything they sell, which is why they try to drive the price up. So we all decided to give up buying as it was actually just quite exhausting. Instead we decided to come back before Ollie left on Tuesday. Kirsty had seen a leather bag that she wanted, but had been quite London prices again so needed to gain some resolve before heading back. We got back to our car and Kirsty handed Habib 100MAD. He clutched his heart again. We will never know if that was enough or offensive. And the man who had been watching our car held out his hand and kept it out when the change we gave him wasn’t enough. However, we were truly grateful to Habib as we would never have found our way around the souk without him.

So back home to chill and David literally chilled as he dipped himself into the pool. Ollie and him them both had a massage before we were treated to a lovely meal that we didn’t have to go and find. Chicken Tajine. Yum.

Taroudant is lovely, but very different to elsewhere so far. And our guest house was an amazing oasis, although communicating had to be done in French so Kirsty’s Duolingo learning came in very handy. Between David’s concentration on driving and Kirsty’s concentration on speaking, both were quite pooped!

We did return to the souk on Ollie’s last day, after a trip out to the hills (read next blog post) and resolved not to buy anything other than a present for his mum. Which we managed to get, a scarf with a good haggle. Kirsty had been quoted a better price from a friend of Abdou’s - and he was waiting eagerly for her to buy, but we decided to leave it and see if we could find something over the next week.

In the meantime we had to say goodbye to Ollie at Agadir airport and get to our next destination. Sidi Binzane.

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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Off to Essaouira by taxi. Through a mix of arid countryside, argan forests with goats feeding in the trees. And a huge valley of banana plantations.

Essaouira, Morocco 14th-18th February 2023

City of cats

We were dropped off at Place Moulay Hassan next to the petits taxi bleus as we were directed by our Airbnb host. However, we were half an hour early and had to explain to the enthusiastic old man who wanted to take all of our bags in the wheelbarrow to our apartment. We had to take them out again and explain we were being picked up in 30mins. He eventually left, a bit dejected. So we had a quick coffee in the square to soak up the atmosphere and wait for our housekeeper Khadija. She eventually showed, a lovely Arabic woman who didn't speak a word of English.

She led us into a tunnel and then opened a door on the left. What emerged behind that door was the most exquisitely decorated 3 storey Moroccan house with bedrooms on two floors and the kitchen and roof terrace on the top floor.

We realised she was late because the house wasn't ready yet. Her and another lady were cleaning it from top to bottom and having a big bowl of pasta. So we dumped our bags in order to leave her to it and come back later.

Essaouira is a beautiful coastal town, with fresh fish being sold everywhere and tunnels and lanes of souks that we knew would mean we would be lost easily if we weren't careful. The art and the colours and the smells were incredible.

Except for the smells of our tunnel and ground floor of our house, which turned out to be incredibly damp and reeked of cats. This was backed up by switching the dehumidifier in our room overnight and waking with a gallon of water in it.

There were cats everywhere- including on our roof terrace, we even had one that adopted us. However, when they fought it was a bit awful. Particularly as they were all males ganging up on one poor female. She had no chance.

We found ourselves a lovely little vegan restaurant and music bar where we had Harissa soup, which was delicious. The owner took Kirsty into the kitchen to show her how fresh everything was, and then showed her all the meat he was cooking in tajines on the stove. Not quite all that vegan - but it did mean we knew we’d get some good fresh food here. And so we did the next day, but when we got there he had to go the market to buy the food to cook us. We have realised that lunch isn’t a thing here, but people want to cook for you anyway.

Two of the days were very, very wet so we took it easy and left the house late and trudged the streets. I have to say that it felt really quite chilly and a warm bath wouldn't have gone amiss. Fortunately we had brought wet weather gear, for which we were truly grateful.

There was also apparently a shop that sold wine. Milly, Ollie and Kirsty went on a mission to find it, which took them out of the city walls and to a very local part of town. The shop itself was very dark and quiet and inside were shelves of Moroccan wine, the second largest exporter of wine in Africa - we had no idea. So we stocked up and wrapped it up in paper and bags and left, feeling a bit naughty.

We did manage to get to the beachfront on the last day as it had dried and warmed up a bit. We found somewhere that sold wine so treated ourselves to a bottle of white between us, along with all the other French families around us. On the way back David and Ollie managed to get a game of frisbee in, and Milly and Kirsty were approached for some space cookies. We decided to stay well clear of that one!

All in all we managed to eat very well and sit out on a roof terrace club with some great music, head to a beach cafe when it was sunny and make friends with a very lovely tailor who had his store down below. He had lived in New York for 26 years, and regaled us with his stories. We did of course feel obliged to buy some clothes from him before we left but he talked about how his tailor business supports five families and the children’s education/ schools. So it felt like our custom was going to a good cause.

What we loved about Essaouira

We did love Essaouira for its vibrancy. It felt incredibly safe, and small enough to just about get lost but not quite. For GoT fans, it’s city walls were the ones used in Game of Thrones when the slaves were bought in the first series.

Where to Eat

Coin Typique - inexpensive tajine in the tunnel next to where lived. Tajine, cous cous, haricot beans, lentils,

Club Taros - roof terrace and club with live music that sold amazing cocktails (nae cheap!)

Vegan Venus- not actually vegan but bloody lovely tajine and soups

French Patisserie - coffee and patisserie

M on the beach (we think!) - wine by the sea

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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We’ve done it again, so we thought we’d note it all down here. David, Kirsty, Milly and Ollie are on an adventure where we had booked the first three days and then have no idea until our return on Feb 28th. Mills is heading back on 18th and Ollie on 21st. The following is our writings of The Great Unknown.

Taghazout, Morocco 11th-14th February.

The village of dog lovers

On arriving at 9ish at night, it is quite difficult to gauge a place. The taxi rank was only 20 metres from our front door. The street was bustling with stalls and people. Up three floors to the most exquisitely decorated mosaic Moroccan flat with a shared roof terrace. What we didn’t realise was there was an atrium that was shared by all flats, and meant that everything could be heard by everyone.

We dumped our bags and took a walk down to the beach to see if we could find some food and a beer. Beer is hard to come by as we are in Muslim society, but there are some places. The European directive on health and safety does not exist here, and neither do pavements, so we did some scaling down steep, mud paths to the beach - where we were met by a pack of dogs. Huge, gorgeous dogs - about 15 of them barking furiously, and fighting with each other, who then escorted us up to our chosen restaurant. Which was slightly unnerving, but then one just lay down to sleep next to our table. They were actually all very friendly and most have been tagged and vaccinated against rabies.

We didn’t find a beer but did have some welcome food, and then went home to tuck into our wine we’d brought with us from duty free. Anyone would think us Brits were alcoholics.

The next day, we had a knock on the door and our downstairs neighbour questioned our ‘scraping’ the night before for two hours - we can only put that down to Milly moving her bed for about 5 minutes, but sound travel was duly noted. I also must mention the mosque, which our terrace overlooked. We all awoke early doors with the call to prayer, which was very disappointing as he seemed a bit low. It was loud, but a very comforting sound. We do look forward to the changeover however when someone who is enjoying his role takes over.

Taghazout by day is very higglety pigglety. The Main Street is teaming with men mainly in their long hoodies, intermingled with surfer dudes, mainly from France but generally from everywhere round the world. We do not look like surfer dudes, so probably stick out quite a bit. Cafes and restaurants are everywhere. It is a short steep walk down to the beach, and as it’s boiling that is where we chose to spend the most of the first day and for some of the second day.

The reason there are so many surfer dudes is because the waves from the Atlantic are pretty big. We have found out that this is the place to be if you are very good surfer, and a big national competition is happening in a couple of weeks. We had thought about a lesson, but decided that looking at the sea and jumping around in it is pretty fun.

The beach is so cool. Beautiful blue boats sit at the top of it, camels and horses replace the British donkey rides, and on the Sunday, everyone was out - particularly the children, playing non-stop football.

On the second day Kirsty took a walk around the rest of the town to see what else there was. And she discovered that it is in fact a village. Just a hundred metres up the lane from our apartment the houses just stopped at a car park which is where the dogs chill during the day on top of cars and under trees. There is plastic rubbish and sheep poo (not dog poo interestingly) everywhere, and a couple of sheep in a kennel.

Coming down the hill, she headed to the far end of the beach where the nice boutique hotels are, and came across a cave with puppies. Someone had left a rug and water out from them.

So essentially what we ended up doing in Taghazout was eating out, drinking on our roof terrace, and sitting on the beach. David was adopted by a sandy coloured dog who was very, very chilled and laid his head on him while he was reading.

On our last night we were joined on the roof terrace by our ground floor neighbours, Barbara and Pedro, from La Rochelle. We got a little bit tiddly and ended up going down to their flat and the poor guys on the middle floor were once again awoken by us. I think we may get our first negative Airbnb review. Ooops.

We love Taghazout, but decided to move on to Essaouira further north, the rain was coming and we wanted to find somewhere bigger to explore.

What we love about here

The people, the dogs, the food.

Places to eat that we enjoyed

Breakfast:

La Paix - 40MAD for a breakfast of mint tea, avocado toast, tomato and cheese

Surf bar and cafe - 25MAD for an omelette with bread and honey and amalou (almond paste in argon oil and honey)

Lunch/ dinner

World of Waves - didn’t eat here but they sell beer for 45MAD, you could have got oysters and a bottle of wine for 400MAD (we didn’t)

Le Spot - 45MAD for a pizza/ cous cous dish or similar

La Panorama - 160MAD for mixed sea food platter and a view of the sun setting over the sea. Lovely!!

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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Hints and tips - Money

Paying for things

The US isn't as widely up on its tech when it comes to banking as it is in the UK or Europe. We found that often our card wouldn't work, and certainly paying with our phone through apple or google pay was tricky. Therefore I would make sure that you have a universally known bank card or credit card. Kirsty used Monzo, as she had assumed this would be internationally recognised, but this wasn't the case in places like Walmart or petrol stations. Monzo does have the benefit of paying for goods in the currency of the country that you're in so it is a bit cheaper in that sense, when you can use it.

Tipping

You need to tip EVERYONE, and by at least 15% - but generally 20% - even if you don't think they deserved it. Unless you've got big balls.

Sales Tax

This was the bain of our lives. Everything you see on sale, and every offer is the amount before sales tax. This includes when you see prices in the supermarket. Every state has a different sales tax, so a shopping trip can be way more expensive than you at first imagined. And we would get excited about a motel or hotel room and then realise it wasn't actually as cheap as we had at first thought.

Checks (or bill in the UK)

take the card, get the receipt and then you add your tip. Pretty much everywhere we went, food does seem more expensive in the US than at home. But New York it is definitely the case, probably because its sales tax is more expensive than everywhere else.

Finding somewhere to stay

Hotwire, hopper, booking.com, hipcamp, couchsurf, Airbnb, google 'near me'

Las Vegas - Lasvegas.com - go during the week and book the day beforehand, you can get amazing deals, like staying in the Venetian Palace for $70 for the night. (Although we did go in the winter so this might not apply mid-summer). You will be stung by the drinks bill though unless they think you're going to gamble lots of money in which case they'll serve you it for free. So be warned (hence why we found a liquor store and poured vodka into coke ourselves).

Finding things to do

We often used Facebook Events, 'bars near me' when arriving at the destination.

Age restrictions

Unfortunately for our younger people reading this, the drinking age in the whole of the US is 21 and they are extremely strict about this. Every supermarket that did sell wine made us take out our IDs. The knock-on annoying effect of this is that you are unable to book a hotel room under 21 either. So, if you are an adventurous 18-20 year old, make sure you go with an equally adventurous 21 year old if booking into a hotel.

Camping - annual pass

Get a national park pass you will save lots of money and have access to the most glorious scenery and campsites. It cost only $80 at the time.

Liquor Stores

In several states you can't buy wine in a supermarket, you must go to a separate liquor store. However, you can buy beer in a pharmacist, and you can do drive through liquor stores in some places too.

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thegreatunknown · 1 year

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Part 2. Random and other acts of kindness we’d like to thank.

This post is a look back and thank you to all random and not so random acts of kindness by wonderful people we met along the way. Another reason that made our journey epic.

Squirrel man, Smokies, North Carolina

You were so generous in giving us a lift home, making sure we reached our car when we thought we were lost. We won't forget that.

Carrie & friends, Chatanooga, Tennessee

If it hadn't been for you guys we'd have thought that Chatanooga was dead. It was a Wednesday in January, and snowing - but you were out and giving the place some life. We won't forget it.

Cat Berrera, Austin

Cat, we never got a photo of you. But what a night we had in Austin with you. Our pool definitely improved as a result. Thank you! And you’re welcome over here anytime.

Park Volunteer, Big Bend National Park, Texas

Thanks for giving us charcoal so we could eat that evening.

Alpine bar drinkers, Texas

Thanks for giving David free drinks all night.

Ranger, Florida

Thanks for all the information you gave us about where to go and getting a national park pass.

Girl on bus, New Orleans

Thanks for giving Kirsty a face mask when she was declined access to the streetcar. You could have only been about seven I was looking after your 5-year-old brother.

Alligator Farm guy

Thanks for showing us around your alligator farm even though it was closed. I'm starting your other boat so we could hear how wonderful you had tuned the engine.

Tee & Atilla, Colorado River

Meeting you guys was so special. Your campsite is definitely in the most beautiful spot. Having our own osprey, crane and hummingbird was incredible. And then meeting you two and seeing your growing vegetables and your painted stones. I have your special ring stone here safe to pass to someone else. Don’t forget to look us up on your way to Transylvania!

Karen & Gordon, Santa Barbara, California

You were so generous to meet us and host us for breakfast despite only knowing us through Debbie and Bill! Chatting while watching dolphins chilling and playing in the surf is a film in our heads we won't ever forget. Can't wait to repay the favour, although it'll have to be without the dolphins unfortunately!

Michelle & Brad, Colorado

You two were so generous - Elk stew was a definite first for us. Despite being in the middle of calving you made time for us, and we learned a huge amount about rural life in rural Colorado.

Jill, Colorado Springs, Colorado

We came and stayed with you at a very special time, just when you were buying the bit of land that you are now in whilst writing this. You were so generous and trusting, leaving us to look after your fur babies. Can’t wait to see you over here in September!

Emily & Stefan - Detroit

Thanks to you we now are part of the couch surfing community, and the Oakeshot brewery community too! We had such a lovely stay. You were so open and kind.

Cortnie and Wilma - Walton, NY State

You both made our week. We absolutely LOVED our stay near Walton, especially after meeting you guys at your bar. What a brilliant bar you run and town you live in. We will be in touch with our re-wedding arrangements for 2024 😉

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thegreatunknown · 2 years