Kasbahs, Random Photos and Marrakech

This woman just breaks my heart. She is a Berber woman who lives in a cave in the canyon behind a village. If you look closely you can see the tattoos on her chin. In Berber culture a young woman has her chin tattooed to mark that she is of age to marry. When she becomes engaged her nose is tattooed and when she weds her forhead. This woman has six children and only her chin tattooed. I cant help but think of the life she has had.... My assumption is that something terrible must have happened like having a child out of wed lock and she was banished from society. The fact that she has a child this young (and so many of them) also tells me that she is probably systematically raped by the local men.

Pictures from the road

Since most of the trip so far has been inside the car, most of my pictures are of fews from the window and the side of the road. We stopped a lot but not for very long and usually in random places. I dont actually know where most of these are....

Some are from towns we stayed in too, or walks we went on but I dont have the time to sort it all out.

Riding Camels in the Desert!

I got to ride a camel into a sand sea. It was pretty rad. My ass hurt for a few days after... its not comfortable at all. But it was a nice way to spend a night. We went out in the evening and came back at dawn. I can say I have ridden a camel but i dont htink it will be happening again.

The guy who led us out was the nicest guy I have ever met. I felt terrible for him when at the end her tried to sell us fossils. Most of the time I just say no and walk away but this guy broke my heart. I could have hugged him until his ribs broke I liked him so much. I should have taken a picture.... Im hoping Tanja or Zach has one.

The desert itself was amazing. Probably one of my favorite stops along this trip. I got a bloody nose on the ride out. It was a bummer but I have a funny picture of me with tissue stuffed up my nose now....