Day 36 - The tail end

Djemma El-Fna - nuts and dried fruit stall

View of Djemma El-Fna from terraces

Food stalls at Djemma El-Fna

Mint tea stall at Djemma El-Fna

We had a morning to do final exploration of the city and shopping.  Because I wanted to avoid being tempted by more shopping I went walking early with another of the girls along the beach to check out the windsurfing (Essa is well known for this sport).  Just our luck....no wind!  We had a lazy breakfast of coffee, oj and a croissant, then I spent an hour or so typing up my blog (I am so far behind!)  It was great using an english keyboard for the first time in weeks - amazing how hard it is to type when letters aren't where you are use to.

On a local bus headed back to Marrakesh.  I am so sad to leave Essa - do yourselves a favour and visit this place!  This is the second last day of our tour.  I am looking forward to a home-cooked meal and sleeping soundly without the sound of snoring.  Apart from this though, I would love to stay in Morocco longer.  Oh well, other amazing places to visit.

We had the afternoon to repack our bags and relax before heading to the square for dinner.  A group of us hung out in my room drinking gin and tonic and telling stories as it was so hot outside, none of us wanted to venture out.

At 9pm we headed into the square (Djemma El-Fna) to enjoy the nightlife for one last time.  It was a great place to finish the trip for a number of reasons - it is a thriving hub of food, people and action.  It was also a chance to be reminded of how confronting Morocco can be- my friend was harrassed by young man which was unpleasant, people man-handling you trying to entice you to their food stall, our tour leader was ripped off by the owner of the mini-bus we accessed, there were fist fights on the streets between Moroccan taxi drivers spruking for business, and the entertainment in the square was  little disappointing - mainly musicians, men telling stories to men and people with monkies, not the acrobats and jugglers we were expecting.  At least I did not see a snake!

Our tour leader said goodbye to us over dinner, then we wandered around the square til about 11pm.  By this stage we had all had enough, and just wanted to go to bed.

Farewell to those on tour - a few of them I will keep in touch with.  I have absolutely loved being in Morocco, and hope to come back again one day.

Essa