Under the Sahara skies

“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams...” 

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

There are places and there are places.  It is easy to understand why prophets retreat to the Desert to search for God and spend time with Him. In the desert, how can man not be humbled, dwarfed by the blanketing golden sand during the baking heat of day, shrouded by the infinite stars in the cooling chill of night.  

I rode across the kingdom of sand, chasing after the footprints of sheikhs and veiled beauties, searching the skies for signs of flying carpets and poking around sand dunes for a rusty genie-inhabited lamp. Although I am now back home, a small piece of my heart will always be with the Sahara. I will be back!  

At 8:00a.m, the roaring vehicle picked us up for our 8 hour journey over the Middle Atlas mountains. We went through the cedar forests of Ifrane as our Canadian friends wanted to see the monkeys. 

Monkeys are grumpy in the morning too

Forests all look the same to me

We drove through the Midelt and the Ziz gorges towards Sahara and Erg Chebbi. The roads were incredibly steep. I wouldnt have the guts to drive on these winding paths.  The unbelievable thing is, people drove at night too. The fact that there are no street lamps adds to this amazing feat. 

Being Asian, I was granted photo-taking pit stops. 

Skies everywhere look almost the same but this gradient of blue water is so uniquely Moroccan.

With everyone (besides the driver) asleep for most of the journey, I started to play the game of "the sun was so hot that (fill in blank)". For example: The sun was so hot that I could make an egg hard-boiled on my head. The sun was so hot that I sweated through 3 layers of SPF50 sunblock. Thankfully, a stoning/ spaced out phase soon followed, saving me from having to strangle myself with the scarf to escape the heat.

We paid a short visit to a fossils workshop. Fossils can be formed via many ways ranging from freezing (i.e fossil discovery on Mt Everest), permineralization (i.e petrified tree which wood became stone-like over time) and desication (i.e hot environment leading to drying up & preservation) ect.  

Sahara used to be covered by water 100 million years ago and these are the sea creatures which used to swim around. They look quite ugly though. 

This is after the stone is varnished and polished. You can see the fossils more clearly now. This is then made into tables/sinks/plates. Imagine washing your hands every morning and staring at these ancient creatures.

For those technology junkies, you can get your internet at Belere Hotel. I heaved my laptop along for the trip to bid for my university courses. 

Our destination is Hotel Yasmina 29km from Merzouga, where we met our camel guide. The vehicle stopped a distance away and we made the rest of our journey by foot. 

A local told me he makes annual trips to the desert to bury himself to the neck in the sand. This supposedly cures his rheumatism. Being skeptical, I did an online search and this turned out to be an ancient Egyptian cure. It is pretty amazing how our ancestors really sought to understand their environment and use nature to combat sickness. 

Exact desktop worthy sight which greeted our eyes

We enjoyed a cup of cooling hot mint tea at the patio. Our guide had previously made a pit stop for us to purchase scarves to wrap around our head. The scarves helps to reduce moisture loss and prevent sand from getting into the hair. I choose pink and W went with blue which was supposedly the royal color of the desert. Blue=water=priceless. The guide demonstrated how to wrap the scarf around our head in a few nifty movements but none of us could replicate that. In the end, he had to help us do it hahahah.

Off we go, riding off into the sunset!

There is a funny story about the camels. There was 7 of us and 6 camels initially. Being slow the gentlemen, W let everyone choose their camels first. With lightning speed, I dashed next to a sturdy camel and it turned out to be the leader of the pack! This is probably one of the smarter things I have done in life. 

Guide: There is no camels left so you have to walk 

W: *Laughs in disbelief 

Guide: Just joking *brings out a small grudging camel (see below photo)

W: *Stares at the small camel snorting at him and promptly wiped off his grin

The camel took one look at W and was so unwilling to carry him that it whined in protest when W got on. True story. Being the sly fox, W manipulated the situation to his advantage. He claimed that bcos his unstable camel didnt like him, he needed both hands on the handle and couldn't take photos for me. Lies! (evidence: see below photo)

Side note: W's camel ran away the next morning and the guide had to hunt for it back. On the bright side, we got to watch the sunrise a little more. 

If you notice any photos taken from the camel's back, all of them are taken when at flat terrains. It is practically suicidal to  take a picture while being on the camel as it is going up or down the sand dunes. 

Beginner's guide to camel riding

1. Camels dont smell if they are well maintained

2.To mount the camel: The camel will bend its knee forward and squat down for you to get on top. There is a metal handle for you to grip on tightly to and your legs should be firmly clasped to sides of the camel but not to the extent of a chokehold. As the camel straightens its knee, be prepared for the sudden forceful jerk forward. Similarly, during dismount, you will be jerked forward as well. 

3. Expect a bouncy, bumpy ride. 

4. Multitasking is a must. Between constantly adjusting my butt so I wouldn't fall off the camel (the momentum threw me backwards & sideways) and arranging my backpack so that it wouldn't slant towards one side and make balancing tougher l,I also had to shoo W's camel away from sniffing my camel's butt and trying to bite its tail. 

-Pay attention when ur camel goes up and down the dunes. Sand dunes are slippery so the ride gets even rockier. When we reached our destination, our butts hurt like crap but the whole scenery were so worth it.

Our camel guide brazing the trail. To make the ride easier for us, there is this familiar path-of the-day (cos the landscape always change) for the camels to trot on.

Beautiful sunset. 

Moments before the sky turns dark.

 We finally reached our destination and checked into these nomad wool tents.  It was seriously pitch dark, like cant even see your palm when you put it in front of ur face kinda dark. 

I cant imagine sewing these tents. If I lived in the past, my tent would be the super plain one without any design. I will also pick up dunes surfing over stitching. 

We enjoyed the traditional tagine dinner prepared for us with the blessing of the moon and millions of camera-shy stars. The light attracted plenty of bugs so if you are afraid, dont sit too close to it. My table mates all scooted away and the camel guide and I were left shooing the bugs. Gone were the days where guys catch cockroaches/rats/whatsnot .

Our camel guide also played the tribal drums and sang a couple of songs for us. Being a music noob, i should have kept my mouth shut. 

Me: Oh, that is a beautiful song about hunting, I especially like the steady rhythm before that explosive pounce

Guide: This is actually a song about the crops growing and harvest celebration

Me: *dies from sheer embarrassment

We took turns trying the tribal drums, which was much harder than wii rockband.

In the middle of the night, I woke W up to accompany me to the washroom (in a tent much much further away). What have he done in his previous lives to deserve this muhahaha. 

Rise and shine! 

Spot the camels

Wish I could wake up to this everyday

 Hobbit

Jump shot

Some insincere dude *cough made this with his shoes.

Camels. The Ferrari of the Sahara. In 2008, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai bought a female camel for a record US$2.72 million.

With the crocs-wearing camel guide. 

Sahara Tour Agency

We engaged Morocco Explored and paid about S$550/pax for a 3 day trip (inclusive food, accommodation and transportation) across Sahara and Middle Atlas.