General Chat

DAY 3 MONDAY Ken and Lahcen had to make a long trip to the Police station, which took them most of the morning.We had breakfast which again was porridge and bread with cheese/jam.I had porridge again,but couldnt eat it LOL,so took a couple of tracker bars to last me til lunch.Ken caught up with us while we were resting by a well. Off they went again to say that they weren’t going to press charges as it was very unlikely that the money would be recovered anyway. We followed Mohammed and his camels this morning. I was at the back today as i started to get blisters.Kept needing to go and pee so had to keep stopping to hide behind a bush lol. We stopped for a long and once again delicious lunch and filled up our water bottles before once again heading off to trek through to the camp for the evening. Walking was actually a lot easier than I had anticipated!! As we got closer to camp, we could see the toilet tents, but also another 2 tents which looked the same but there was a barrel over the top of them. Showers!! The showers were very basic,just a trickle of freezing cold water coming out of what looked like a watering can rose lol ,but it was so nice to be able to rinse of the dust and sand using something other than wet wipes! We relaxed again in the mess tent, while eating a delicious cake which had been baked freshly for us by our camp chef. Its amazing remembering the quality and quantity of the food that was prepared using only a 2 ring camping gas stove and a small tin oven. I cant remember what we had for dinner this evening, I know it was beef again, but it was absolutely delicious! I think this was the night that we had a bright green coloured fruit salad for desert! I think we might of shared a bottle of Red wine tonight (between about 6 of us mind) Both of the tents today were about the same size, so Daisy and Yvette came and shared our smokers tent. I lost my torch on the first night(surprise lol) so Jack loaned me her spare one,which i proceeded to lose almost immediately.I knew i should of bought a head torch,and kept it attached at all times! I slept a bit better tonight, but someone woke us all up by talking very loudly and clearly in her sleep. Someone shouted 'shut up,' and we nodded off again, only waking up to go to the loo on more than one occasion lol. I couldnt sleep in my silk liner,inside my sleeping bag so i opened my sleeping bag and just slept with that over me,my pillow was pretty rubbish too so i used a couple of Tshirts as a pillow.. .....Oh i forgot we did the hokey cokey with the berbers round the fire tonight,was funny we thought we were going to end up in the fire at this point :-) I might be some time typing up the rest of mine as thats as far as ive got to so far lol Anna :-)

Word had it that the Berbers were still extremely upset by what had happened in the night, and that they felt in part responsible for it happening . As far as we were concerned, this was complete nonsense, but clearly the Berbers are proud guys and proud of their reputation and for this to have happened was as far as they were concerned, a slight on them. They decided to provide some evening entertainment for us with some traditional singing round the campfire (Haway-Haway-Haway-Hawah! or something along those lines proved popular throughout the week). They also had some drums and bongos with them and occasionally one of them would heat the drum over the fire - conducive to making it produce a better sound apparently. They were great fun, and while some turned in early, a few of us hung around till the end, which culminated in a rendition of the Hokey-Cokey with the Berbers (Paul made a quick beeline to the tent at this point, and I would have done the same but tried to take a photo only to get lured in - the shame of it lol). The rest of us night time stragglers then turned in and hoped for a better nights sleep than the one before.

Day 3 (Monday) Well, I don't think any of us got a huge amount more in the way of sleep after the disturbances in the middle of the night, however daybreak came and as mentioned previously the stolen bags were returned to us minus the money and phone. I had porridge for breakfast - it tended to vary from morning to morning, occasionally it looked rather thin and watery, other times it looked more appetitizing. I also had some bread, which could be pulled apart and added some Laughing Cow cheese spread to it, if all else fails then bread and cheese spread could be relied upon. Today was our first full-days walking and after the tricky dunes of the previous afternoon, the first part of the walk was very flat although rocky underfoot and whilst we did encounter some sand as well during the morning, it was straightforward enough to negotiate. We stopped beneath a shady spot at one point and munched away on our Tracker bars (can truly recommend the Forest Fruit flavoured ones) and I disappeared off to relieve myself only to find a couple of the camels were following me round so found myself finishing off what I was doing quicker than I would have possibly liked!! Ken, it should be pointed out was not with us and neither was Lahcen (who would normally lead the walks) as they had driven off to talk to the police. When they rejoined us later on, as were taking a break by a well of all things, it appeared they'd had a tough time with the police who were anything but sympathetic towards their plight, to put it mildly. Clearly it seemed they were wanting to put the frighteners on them in order to get them to back down. Paul & Yvette were informed of the situation by Ken but decided not to take any further action as chances of any kind of successful outcome seemed slim to non-existent. We didn't stop again before lunch and I walked on up ahead with Susie, Jack and Clare (perennial front-runners in the race to get to the lunch-stop first!). Having got to a nice shady spot, we collapsed on the rugs and got rid of the boots and socks in order to give our feet a chance to breathe and I applied some talc to my feet, which I reckon helped during the week. We had a good break for lunch and sat about for some time, just relaxing and taking it all in before setting off for the afternoon walk. Whilst the morning walk had been pleasant and a good chance to stretch our legs, the afternoon walk proved to be far less enjoyable. Whilst there weren't any dunes, the walk was interspersed with sandy areas or patches and the wind had picked up and was blowing the sand towards us. Being sandblasted is not pleasant and whilst I could use my shash (head scarf) to cover my face, keeping my eyes and the area around my eyes free of sand was a different matter, despite sunglasses. It was a long push to evening camp and one or two struggled with the conditions, certainly they were more adverse than had been anticipated. The good news when we got to camp was that there would be 'washroom facilities'. This turned out to be another couple of small tents, like the toilet tents, that each had a wonky shower head trickling out barely luke warm water, however it was welcome all the same. Due to the paucity of water, it was a case of having a quick rinse under the shower head then turn off the water to apply soap/gel before turning it back on again to quickly wash it out, in order to preserve as much water as we could. What I had underestimated however was how much sand I had accumulated during the walk. It gets bloody everywhere - in your eyes, round your eyes, in your stubble (well the blokes anyway!), on your clothes. However, it has to be said that I did have a talent for attracting more sand than anyone else, hence my name add-on (Sahara Sandman). Dinner was the usual mix of veg and a tiny bit of meat, preceded by soup and followed up by a fruit salad that looked like it had been doused in mint-flavoured Listerene.

incidentally... when you cut an paste in here there's a maximum buffer size I think - hence Jack's posts being cut off.

I am really enjoying reading this and incidentally would have paid for a copy of all the stories! Just a thought. Julie xxx

Jack, your story has been cut off again! Mine to follow shortly...

Day 3 We walked 18km this day and the heat was strong and much worse than we expected. The wind and sand just added insult to injury. The camp showers were very welcome but took some maneouvering. There was definitely a knack to it which I just didn't get and ended up with wet soapy clean clothes and even more sand on me than when I went in. Getting up to the loo in the night and seeing a shape on the dunes that wasn't there before we went to bed was a bit scary. Looking around I noticed there was another shape on another dune. Suddenly the first shape moved and I realised it was a person. After seeing one or two more shapes scattered around the camp on the floor it dawned on me that these were our Berbers patrolling and protecting us! They took the thefts very personally and promised to 'find and kill' those responsible. I doubt they were joking either. We hoped for peaceful nights from now on. Daisy

This ia brilliant cant wait for the next instalment Margaret

Really enjoying reading this.

a couple of small notes the cheese spread was 'laughing cow' just like we get here and I really think Anna should rephrase the bit about the men with their lizards offering her dates...

Day 3 I wake very early and try my best to go back to sleep. I have definitely not had enough sleep. Before long people are chatting in the tent next door and I know I won’t get back to sleep now. I sit up. I am stick so hot in the sleeping bag but my arms and face are cold. Slowly we all get up. Breakfast will be served at 7am. There is much talk of the night’s events. Breakfast is porridge (I pass on that), cornflakes (I pass on that too as I don’t like powdered milk) and bread and Jam or cheese spread. I settle for bread and strawberry jam with a nice hot cup of black coffee (well when I say mug I actually mean glass – all of our drinks were served in glasses). I enjoy my breakfast a lot – I can’t remember the last time I had bread and jam. Soon it’s time to pack up and set off on our first full days walk. While we were getting ready one of the Berber crew came walking towards camp holding 2 rucksacks – Yvette and Paul’s. He had followed a trail and found them about half an hour from camp. Everything was there apart from money and Paul’s mobile phone. Oh and Daisy’s trousers had been taken and packed neatly into one of the bags – the thief must have hoped to find money in the pockets. I check my mobile and am very surprised that I have a signal. I have a voicemail message but I can’t access it but I can read the text messages. One is from Dean and it makes me wish I was back at home with him. I send a quick message back. The other one is from my friend Cat saying that she had just seen me on TV (Clare and I were filmed for Calendar news the day before we set off). I can’t believe Clare and I have been on TV and I’m glad that I haven’t seen it. I turn my phone straight off to save the battery. I make a quick visit to the hole. No one is around and I manage a tiny number 2. Hands washed, sun cream on and off we go. We walk over a firmish rocky surface mostly and over a few small sand dunes. We get into a pretty good rhythm and the walking isn’t too bad although we do have to stop a few times due to the heat. It would be unbearable if it were not for a slight breeze. It’s not long before we see the lunch tent in the distance – yippee. As we get closer I can smell the food. It smells divine and my tummy starts to rumble. There is a large mat in the shade and we sit down and take off our socks and boots. It feels marvelous to get some air around the feet and I smell my socks and they actually aren’t too bad! We relax for a while as lunch is prepared and I am getting hungrier and hungrier. At last lunch is ready. It is absolutely delicious. We have salad, rice, a spicy vegetable almost curry, cheese and bread with an apple for pudding. We all comment on how good the food has been so far. Not a bowl of cous cous anywhere and no one has felt the need for a cuppa soup! We sit through the heat of the day enjoying the shade and the time to relax. The wind begins to pick up – it’s not nice when sand blows. There is no toilet tent today so we have to go behind a dune and burn our loo roll. Time flies and we are soon pulling on our boots. I am sure my feet have gone up a size since this morning. We are walking again and it is very hot and windy. The sand is blowing at us and we are so thankful for our native head scarfs that now seem to be worth every penny. I can’t remember how to wear my shash the traditional way so I look more like a little old lady wearing a headscarf. My shash is white, which keeps the back of my neck cool. I also stick my water hose under it and it stops the water in the tube from warming up and is pretty good at stopping me from swallowing bucket loads of sand. We are walking in the heat and the wind for around 3 hours before we get to camp. We are amazed to see shower tents. Such a relief as we are all covered in sand – looking like a bunch of kids that have been playing out in the dirt. There is very little water so we can’t wash our hair. It’s a case of turn on shower to get wet and turn off. Soap yourself up and then turn on to rinse. The water is cold and it’s a bit of a shock, particularly as it’s still a bit windy. The getting dressed in the shower tent without dropping an item of clothing in the puddle is the most fun. How nice it feels to be clean. We have time to ourselves until dinner (about 7 again). I write in my diary as do a few others. We talk a lot – mainly about bodily functions and the hole. The smokers smoke a lot, as it is something sociable to do. It is strange not having any communication with the outside world – no radio, TV mobile signal but it is peaceful and calm and it makes us make more effort to converse. We were served up another good meal, 3 courses again before having a few alcoholic beverages while the crew lit a camp fire and played drums and sang to us. They really do look after us well. I was ready for bed not long after 9pm – after a coffee and a trip to the loo. I decided to sleep in my liner with my sleeping bag unzipped and I had ditched my thermarest in favour of a mattress supplied by the crew. I really needed a good nights sleep! I laid with my head to the door end of the tent and watched for a while as Susie B and some of the others did the Hokey Cokey with the crew. I wished I had the energy! I went off to sleep quite quickly but soon woke up needing a wee. I really didn’t want to go so I lay there for a while hoping that the urge will pass. Quite silly really seeing as though I have drunk around 6L of water! So fleece and trainers on and off I go to the tent. Once outside I see a figure stood on a dune. My heart skips a beat until I realize it is one of the Berber’s patrol. They feel so bad about the robbery on the first night that they are guarding camp. A few hours later I wake and need the loo again and the Berber is still patrolling. A crew member is sleeping outside – right in the middle of the camp and another sleeps on the top of a small dune on the edge of camp. I definitely feel safe now. I manage to sleep a little while longer.

Great stuff!, sorry to hear about Paul and Yvette's bags, and of course Daisy losing her trousers!, good idea that Shewee! :))

What a fantastic adventure! Please keep them coming! Lindy ;-)))))))))))))))))

Ok heres my day 2 lol My alarm woke me up at 7 am so i quicky turned if off as to not wake up Diana,She told me that we didnt do mornings so i was scared to wake her up lol We got into our trekking clothes and wandered down for breakfast which consisted of a piece of bread and a couple of croissants plus OJ and coffee.After this we all gathered around the pool for a briefing and to apply loads of sunscreen as it was pretty hot already at only 8am. WE spilt up and go off in 2 separate mini buses toward Zagora.I cant remember exactly how long this journey took,but it seemed to take forever.The roads were pretty scary at times,overtaking on bends,sheer drops on one side of the mini bus.I found it best to close my eyes lol.We seemed to be driving up the side of a mountain!! We stopped for a toilet?? break and were surrounded by guys wanting us to hold their lizards and offering us dates (i think). Finally we reached Zagora,where we all filed off the minibuses and headed to shop? to buy a headscarf.The man fastened them around our heads for us and we paid and left.We set off again towards MHamid? and the place where we were to begin our trek It was amazing to see women and children washing their clothes outside and handing the clean laundy in the tree branches to dry.It made me really appreciate what i have at home. The roads were getting narrower and the villages smaller and smaller, until we finally arrived in time for lunch, which was delicious, fresh salad, bread and tinned mackerel in tomato sauce. Washed down by a glass of mint tea. I quickly rang home to tell the boys i had made it in one piece. After visiting the toilet tent, and filling our water bottles, we were ready for the first trek to our camp for the evening. After half an hour or so, I was getting hot, sweaty and breathless, and wondering what the hell I was doing out here!! I had a big blister on my thumb from my trekking poles already at this point! We had a couple of short rests then we came across some small sand dunes, luckily we could see camp just in the distance which helped me .A few mad people decided to climb up what looked like a huge sand dune, while the rest of us wandered into camp to get our boots off. We sorted out our sleeping arrangements for the evening,I was sharing with the other smokers, Diana,Jack,Clare,Suzy and Sheila then we just generally relaxed until we were called for dinner in the mess tent, which consisted of some meat, which I was told was beef and some vegetables.Starter was soup and loads of bread.Was really tasty!There was fruit for dessert.The cooking tent was not very big and the stove was tiny.I dont know how they managed to keep us fed! I think we were all in bed by 8pm, but there wasn’t a lot of sleep happening in our tent. I lay awake most of the night, nipping out in the dark to visit the loo on more than one occasion. Its hard work weeing into a hole without a nice comfy loo seat for support Sheila woke me up once to say she had saw an arm coming into the tent,but as it was so quiet outside,i thought she was dreaming.About an hour later all I heard was Sheila screaming and calling for Diana. We all woke up and went to look around to see if anything was missing.We noticed a bag outside the other tent,which hadnt been there earlier so we woke everyone up.2 bags were missing so we woke up Ken,who told us nothing much could be done as it was the middle of the night,but he went to look around the sand dunes to see if thay could spot anything.We tried to get some sleep after this but i dont really think anyone managed much! Anna :-)

nudge for anyone else who wants to add to day 2 Jack x

Day 2 Couldn't believe it when the alarm went off and it was time to get up! Sheila looked even more stunned than me! After a rather dry breakfast, washed down with something resembling tea it was time for the team briefing. 8am and already hot and as we listened to Ken and Tor we lathered on the sun screen and filled our platypuses with bottled water. Then off to the minibuses for the long drive to M'Hamid and the official start of the trek. The journey was 'interesting' taking us through hours of hairpin bends, most without crash barriers of any description, and oncoming vehicles for whom the game 'chicken' was clearly a favourite past-time. I was so glad I'd chosen to sit in the middle of the bus so that I couldn't see the sheer drops. Normally such roads have me screaming to be let out of the car whilst my kids roar with laughter, but I managed to hold it together and Yvette kindly drew the curtain so that we couldn't see anything! First stop en route was at an observation point with lots of rocks on the other side of the road for a little privacy for those needing a pitstop. Our first taste of outdoor 'facilities' and boy was I grateful for the bizarre present my brother sent me. Let's just say it helped me 'become' a man for such matters and if you want to know more then google SheWee. Next stop Zagora where we were inundated by small boys giving us straw camels for good luck. Obviously we were expected to pay for such good fortune but none of us had any suitable coinage except £1 coins which they weren't too happy with. Notes yes, coins no. Then off to the shop for our special headscarves at a rip off price. Mine stayed on my head for about 30 seconds after we got back into the bus. It felt like an oven clamped to my head! The others managed to keep theirs on. Once at M'Hamid a lovely lunch awaited us and we sat on the rugs in the shade of a lonely tree. The rugs were to become very familiar to us over the next week. The queue for the loo tent was quite long before we set off for the first few hours walking over sand and dunes. A gentle introduction to the rest of the trek but one which left me shattered once we reached camp. I quickly made up my bed and flopped on it drinking water from my platypus. I gather I looked like some kind of druggie! Dinner was soup, a delicious stew, followed by fruit and then I collapsed into bed only to wake an hour or so later for the loo. An interesting experience in the dark when you've forgotten to get your torch out ready! Twice more I was up before being woken at 2am by a commotion in the tent and the rest you know! Felt so sorry for Yvette and Paul and was pretty peed off about my trousers disappearing. Not knowing the bags would be found, minus money and phone, we were trying to deal with practical things like making sure Y&P had things they would need for the day to day trekking. I think this was when my reputation as Mary Poppins emerged as I kept saying 'I've a spare one of those in my big bag, you can have that!' Can't remember who asked 'How big IS your bloody bag?' Daisy

We settled in for the night, with 7-8 of us in a tent, hoping to get a good nights sleep. However what happened next was something nobody could have expected; as Paul has already outlined what happened, there isn't really anything I can add to that, it was a sickening feeling that thankfully had a successful ending the following morning with the bags being found, save for the money and Paul's phone being taken.

Day 2: We all made our way down to breakfast and afterwards made our way to the swimming pool for a briefing session from Ken, our tour leader. We got the lowdown on what problems/situations we would likely to face whilst out in the desert, for example, sunburn, dehydration and blisters. We also got given some general medical advice from the doc. Most of us left a holdall style bag at the hotel containing a fresh change of clothes for the final evening to celebrate having completed the trek. We then climbed into the buses that 5 hours later would eventually get us to our start point. Pretty much from this point on, we had been strongly recommended to drink about 5 litres of water each day. Whenever we needed one, we would be given a 1.5 litre plastic bottle of water, from where we could fill our water bottles or platypuses. Whilst the prospect of a long road trip in a warm mini-bus did not seem that appealing after the previous day's arduous travelling to and from airports, the journey proved to be a pleasant one. We travelled through some wonderful scenery (think it's called the Draa Valley) on a snaky mountain road. At one point we stopped at a roadside pull-in for a comfort break. A couple of Moroccan guys were already there with lizards on their shoulders. Being in tourist mode, I naturally made the 'mistake' of taking their photo, only for one of them to wander over towards me. My first thoughts were that he didn't want me photographing them - for a brief second I contemplated that he wanted to seize the camera - so I indicated that I would delete it, but he made it clear that he wanted some money for me having taken a photo. At this point I didn't have any actual Dirham coins on me, only about £2 in English coins and whilst he initially seemed a bit disgruntled, he eventually seemed satisfied and wandered away from me. We travelled on through what I would normally consider to be extremely remote territory, however we would regularly pass people walking along the roadside, or riding donkeys or selling boxes of dates. It feels like a well-worn cliché but it truly feels like another world. We eventually reached the town of Zagora and although we travelled through it, we soon stopped at a shop where we could buy a desert scarf. We had exchanged a twenty pound note with Ken before we left who had given us 300 Dirham in notes and used some of the local currency to buy a scarf. If we hadn't been careful, Paul and I would have ended up coming away with a rug or a carpet as well! Again we had to encounter the locals - this time children - hanging round by the buses, hawking small hand-crafted items in exchange for money or other such items about our person. There was only about an hours more travelling and then we finally reached our start point for the trek. We had lunch firstly, which consisted of bread, cheese, spam n'olive, salad and sardines. This would turn out to be the staple lunchtime meal for us during the week. The food was good, the only problem being flies hanging round while you ate, but there isn't really anything you can do about it other than shoo them away, so it was a case of just accepting it. After lunch, the fun and games were to start. This was it, the walking was to finally get underway. One thing that I've probably glossed over has been the weather. Although I had apprehensions about the heat that stretched back to when Diana first asked me if I wanted to do the trek, I think all of us felt that there would be some cool air during the daytime and Diana had talked about how it had rain when she did it 10 years previous. In the end it was incredibly hot - Cliff had a thermometer with him that consistently was registering close to 40 degrees C. We set off and the terrain to start of with was completely flat and hard in surface, akin somewhat to walking across a giant car park. However the terrain changes quickly in the desert and you can soon be walking on pebbles/much stonier ground or the sand dunes themselves. On this afternooon, we faced the challenge of some early dunes. It presented an awkward challenge so early on in the trek as our legs weren't properly worn in for climbing and we were still probably suffering a bit from travel fatigue. We managed OK in the end but it was a relief to know that it was only a short days walking. Still we got some nice photos of the sun casting shadows onto the dunes and we eventually got to camp for the night, where the tents were already set up as had a couple of 'portaloos'. Dinner was served and we had soup (a regular course each night), followed by some meat, mixed veg and sauce, and tinned fruit for dessert. We sat and talked for a while but everyone was understandably feeling somewhat cream-crackered, and were wanting their beds as early as about 8pm.

OOps - sorry. I seem to have lost the ability to copy and paste!! Look what happens after a week without technology lol. Here is the rest: can’t imagine how daft I look. Everything is so quiet and still. There are 2 toilet tents at camp so we do our wees (already I am wondering how many wee’s my thighs can stand) and head back to our tent. I feel cooler now so hope I will be able to drop off again pretty quickly. I can’t have been gone long when I wake in a panic to Shiela’s voice shouting ‘Diana’. Sheila had seen a hand come in the tent and try to grab her bag. It’s about 2am and everyone is awake now. Two of the bags have been taken from the tent next door, Paul and Yvette’s. I feel so bad for them as so much has been taken and I can’t imagine how they must be feeling. Ken is up and involved. There is nothing we can do at this moment. It’s the middle of the night so after a group fag we get settled back in our tents. I make sure my rings are still there (I put then on top of my kit bag) and am so pleased that they are. They belonged to my Mum and My Grandma and are irreplaceable. I so hope Paul and Yvette had nothing like that in their bags. It takes me a while as I am a little on edge now but I do manage to fall back to sleep.

Jack, will wait for you to finish before adding my 5 pence worth....