Second Night in the Desert

Click here to see our entire Second night in the desert album (78 pictures)

Our last post left us in M'hamid after our first night in the desert and camel ride. We headed out in our 4x4 to Erg Chicaga which has some of the largest sand dunes in Morocco and is fairly close to the border with Algeria. This took place on October 6th and 7th.

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Our first stop on the drive was a water source where we waited for another group to head into the desert. It was a neat little oasis area, with palm trees, camels, a friendly donkey, and frogs in the stream that seemed to appear from nowhere. Along the way we saw many signs of the rains from the night before in the form of interesting cracked patterns in the sand and very large puddles.

With the other car joining us, we headed out into the sands. It was interesting as there were no signs or markings, and so the drivers must have known the routes from experience and memory. We had to take a few detours though due to large areas covered in water, and ended up getting lost. We stopped at a few nomad camps to ask for directions to our camp. We finally arrived only to find that the storm the night before had collapsed all the sleeping huts, and so we were directed to another camp further on. Our driver was getting fairly anxious at this point, as he didn't know the way to this new camp and the sun was setting. But we met up with the final car from our group who knew the way. We got there with no problems, except one of the trucks getting stuck in the mud and having to push it out. Not a common occurrence in the Sahara it seems!

Upon arrival at the camp we took a quick hike up through the tall dunes to catch the last of the sunset, and then had an interesting time finding our way back in the dark. There was singing around a big oil lamp while we waited for dinner to be ready. Jerome and I went to a nearby dune and watched the most spectacular lightning storm I've ever seen in the distance in the pure dark of the desert. We watched the storm get closer, and dinner was served inside, just as the rain and wind hit the camp. It was a very impressive sight with the driving rain and wind being illuminated periodically by big flashes of lightning and rolling thunder. We were all quite happy to be huddled together in the concrete building. 

After dinner, the storm moved away, and the clouds cleared to reveal an impressive array of stars. With no lights in the vicinity you could see so many more stars than we're used to in the cities. We brought out some carpets and blankets and set up a little area along the side of the building and layed stargazing. We saw several shooting stars including one extreme one, that left a trail across the whole sky for several seconds. We eventually fell asleep out under the stars and had a lovely sleep until one of the guides came over to let us know that if we got up we could see the sunrise over the dunes. And so we did! We walked along the dunes which were lit by the low red light, and took many pictures of the sun rising over the dunes, and the neat shadows they made. We hiked for at least an hour enjoying the peace and beauty. Along the way we came across some impressive mud puddles with super fine mud that was almost impossible to get off you. Jerome played in several of the puddles. We also found some neat silvery ants and some interesting plants and birds. 

When we got back to camp, we found that breakfast had been made and our share was left at the table sitting up on a dune. We ate up, and then had to pack up and head out. Some of the other guests were rather annoyed about the storms and that the trip wasn't quite the hot, sunny, dry experience they had envisioned. We on the other hand felt very lucky to have been there, as these were the first days of rain in the area in 6 years! Needless to say all the locals were very happy with the rain. The drive back to M'Hamid was interesting as there were huge areas of sand which were now covered in water and so we had to navigate carefully to avoid getting stuck. There were even reports of a big bridge nearby being flooded out. We made our way back to the Hotel Riad Ouarzazate where we had stayed before leaving for the desert. One the way we stopped at a local pottery shop which had interesting wares, and then had lovely warm showers to try and get all the sand off of us, did some laundry, had a nice dinner, video chatted home and joined our parents' enjoying their thanksgiving dinner, and then made our plans for the next few days which I'll post about soon!

Click here to see our entire Second night in the desert album (78 pictures)

Packing List

We've had quite a lot of requests for more information about what we packed. I'll go through everything that made our final list, and add some notes to things we didn't use, or would've changed.

We packed everything into two 60L bags. They were a bit overkill for the amount of stuff we had, but we already had them, and didn't really think it was justifiable to get another set of packs. We didn't ever really find them too big to carry around, and it meant we had room to spare for souvenirs etc. As Jerome mentioned in an earlier post, we used packing cubes which made living out of backpacks very easy. We had two sets, one yellow, one orange, so that we could easily tell what was in each one, and it was simple to just pull out what we needed even if we were at a train station.

GENERAL THINGS
Ziplock bags - Small, medium, and a few 2.5Gallon Ziploc bags, we used them alot! 
Silk sleeping bag liners - Didn't use these as often as we thought, but were handy to have. 
Swiss army knife - Used for many things!
Travel clothes line - Used this to dry our clothes in many places we stayed.
Quick Drying Towels
Day pack - We had one small day backpack that we used that fit into our big packs on travel days. 
Lock and lock wire - For securing our packs. We never used it - and probably wouldn't bring again.
Money Belt - Also never used it. 
Notebook and pens/pencil - Used to keep a daily log of all our adventures. 
Playing Cards - Didn't use until the last week, and then used alot! 
A watch
Wallets
Passports
Metal Travel Mug - Useful for water and tea when we were staying places with no dishes.
Package of Tea filters - So we could make our own tea anywhere.
Small Pocket Notebook - Had removable pages, really handy for notes and directions
Kit of useful things in an Altoid Tin - Included: Sewing Kit, binder clips, caribeanners, safety pins.
 - We didn't have very much use for them this time, but I'd bring it again. 

TOILETRIES - All contained in a toiletries bag that hangs up
Sunscreen
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
spf lipbalm
Shampoo - We started w/ 2 travel bottles and added from hotels 
Nail clippers
Razor
Hairbrush
Hair elastics, band
Hand sanitizer
Dental Floss
Laundry soap - Liquid woolite which worked well until it exploded, we'll go powder next time. 
Deoderants
Advil
Bar soap in container - We bought more soap along the way as we ran out
Toothbrush holder(s)
Kleenex - Brought 6 small packages, stocked up as needed 
Electric Razor - So Jerome could shave easily with no shaving cream. 

ELECTRONICS

Power adapter - Multi adapter for all the plugs
Extension cord/splitter - A 3' cord that split 1 into 3 outlets 
Chargers for things - Phones and Camera
Cameras - We brought 2, it was really handy to be able to get both our points of view. 
Phones - After debate we each brought our phones, which was good as one broke. We were able to buy sim cards almost everywhere we went, to give us maps and information we needed. 
Small flashlight - Small windup one. Came in very handy on many occassions. 
Small tripod - Fit in Jerome's pocket, and helped us take some great night photos. 
Extra Camera batteries and cards - We brought 4 camera batteries (both camera's take the same ones) as well as 3 32GB cards and 1 4GB card. We bought another 32GB Card on the way. 
Earbuds -  A pair for each of us
Pouch for cords etc - Had a small pouch to hold all of this stuff
Extra phone batteries - We had second batteries for our phones. 

Before Trip

LAURA'S CLOTHES
Note: Everything but the golf shirt was quick dry. 
Rain Jacket
Flip flops
2 Smartwool next to skin T-shirts
4 pairs Ex Officio underwear
5 pairs socks
2 pairs long pants - including 1 pair of zip offs
Swimsuit
1 pair of Shorts
2 Button up T Shirts
1 Golf Shirt
2 bras, + 1 sports bra
1 Tank top
1 Zip up light fleece hoodie
1 Dressy jacket
Running Shoes

JEROME'S CLOTHES
Note: Everything was quick dry. 
Rain Jacket
Flip Flops
4 pairs Ex-officio boxers
5 pairs of socks
2 pairs pants - including 1 pair of 1 zip offs
1 pair Shorts/bathing trunks
1 Smartwool Next to Skin Long sleeved Shirt
2 Northface quickdry t-shirts
3 collared T-shirts
1 long sleeved shirt
Running Shoes

After Trip

THINGS WE ACQUIRED ALONG THE WAY

These teas we got in London and Switzerland at the start of our trip and we carried them with us and drank them throughout our whole trip. They migrated between our backpacks. 

Some delicious tea from Mariage Freres in Paris. We didn't open this on the trip. 

It was carried in Laura's backpack. 

Wooden dice to play backgammon with, and a tiny wooden turtle I got for my Birthday in Hallstatt. 

The dice were carried in Jerome's pocket and well used, and the tiny turtle was carried inside the Marriage Freres tea tin. 

Two tiny containers of salt from the Hallstatt salt mine - the oldest in the world! 

They came in handy in Italy when we both caught a cold and used the salt for gargling! 

 

A pair of small wine/liqueur glasses from Prague. 

Carried in Laura's backpack carefully wrapped up in socks.

A very well packed carpet from Morocco. Which was carried in Laura's backpack

A neat expanding chess set from Morocco that was carried in Jerome's Backpack

 A cool damascene plate from Morocco. Carried in Jerome's backpack wrapped in our desert scarves. 

 Cactus silk thread from Morocco. Carried in Laura's Backpack.

Shortbread from Marks & Spencers in London picked up on our way home. 

We stocked up on tea from Twinings in London before we came back too! 

 And some Harrod's Tea too.

And on the recommendation of Jerome's Aunt Kathleen, we picked up this amazing plum pudding which we brought home and ate at Christmas with our family! 

Facts and FAQs About Our Trip

Happy New Year! 
Starting this new year we have been thinking back on how lucky we were last year to have the wonderful opportunity to go on our big trip. It was a great experience, and we were touched by how many of you have followed along and told us how much you enjoyed our accounts of it. We still have about a month of the trip to post, so we'll be working on that as soon as we can, but we thought we'd put together a fact and FAQ post to answer some of the questions we been asked the most to tide you over. Thanks for reading along, and we hope you continue to share our adventures with us for the year to come!

Where did you visit?
We visited 12 countries: United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Morocco, Spain, and Sweden.

We stayed in 33 places: London, Paris, Lausanne, Gimmelwald, Lucerne, Munich, Salzburg, Hallstatt, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, Rome, Pienza, Bologna, Marrakech, Ouarzazate, M'Hamid. Erg Chegaga, Dades Gorge, Meknes, Chefchaouen, Tarifa, Granada, Cabo de Gata, Alfaro, San Sebastian, Carcasonne, Figueres, Barcelona, Uppsala, Stockholm,

How long did you go for?
We left on August 12, 2012 and returned on November 9, 2012, a total of 90 days!

Which places did you like the most?

Both Laura and I loved Gimmewald, Switzerland. The scenery was extraordinary and we really enjoyed hiking on the well-marked and well maintained trails.

Click to enlarge and see if you can find Laura in the Picture (25112 x 1861 pixels)

We both agree that Gimmelwald was our favorite, but in second place, we disagree.  Laura liked London and Pienza, Italy, whereas, I preferred Morocco (I particularly enjoyed learning about a different culture and I enjoyed our trip to the desert).

Where did you stay?
We stayed in hotels, hostels, airbnb, and with family. If you've never used airbnb before, we highly recommend it. Airbnb is a site that connects travelers and hosts across the world. Anyone with an extra bedroom (or couch) can become a host by posting their room on the site. We stayed in a number of airbnb places where we got the entire apartment to ourselves and also a couple where we just had a room in the host's house. Having the place to yourself is nice, but it's also nice to get to know some of the locals.  In bologna, our host taught us how to make pasta!

In total we had 89 nights:

35 nights in airbnb
20 nights in hotels
11 nights in bed and breakfasts
11 nights with friends and family
6 nights in hostels
4 nights in transit (2 night trains, one night flying, one night in the airport)
2 nights in the tents in the desert

How did you get around? 
Planes, trains and automobiles, ferries, buses and many many kilometres of walking.
We flew to and from London, as well as taking discount flights from Warsaw to Rome, Bologna to Casablanca, Barcelona to Stockholm and Stockholm to London. Europe has some really good discount airlines; We used Wizz air, Jet4you and Ryan Air.
We spent most of our time travelling between cities by train. We got a Eurail Global pass which allowed us to travel whenever and wherever we wanted in Europe for a month. We took a total of 25 train trips in that month taking us from Paris all the way to Warsaw.
To travel around Spain, we ended up renting a smart car. It was a lot of fun and we got to see different things than we would have by train. We ended up driving 2576km throughout Spain and Southern France.
On a daily basis we walked mostly everywhere. We did take advantage of the metro/subway systems in London, Paris and Budapest when we wanted to go farther or get around quicker.

How many languages did you have to decipher?
We encountered a total of 14 different languages throughout our travels. English, French, Swiss German, German, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Arabic, Berber, Spanish, Basque, Catalan and Swedish. Our french helped us out the most, working in France, Switzerland and Morocco.

How many currencies did you have to exchange your money into? 
You'd think that the Euro would mean that we hardly had any different types of money, but we handled a surprising 8 types of currencies still! British Pounds, Euros, Swiss Francs, Czech korunas, Hungarian forints, Polish złoty, Moroccan dirham and Swedish Krona.

How much stuff did you bring for 3 months? 
We travelled surprisingly light. At the start of our trip our bags each weighed only 10kg (22lbs) each. They weighed it at 13.9kg (30lbs) and 16.5kg (36lbs) each at the airport on the way home. We had a very strict packing list, and things had to have a very good reason to make it onto the list.

Some other fun facts:

9 Number of stamps we got in each of our Passports
12 Types of tea we bought to bring back with us
12L Amount of beer we drank in total in Munich
15lbs Amount of weight we lost in total on the trip
27 Number of Unesco World Heritage Sites we visited
48.6gb Amount of space our photos and videos took up
13751 Number of photographs we took on the trip