today i didn't even have to use my AK, i gotta say, it was a good day

After the worst bus ride I have had in recent memory I arrived in Azrou. It's a small berber town of about 50 000 and I think Moroccans in big cities would call these people hicks. Moroccans in big cities are also uniformly crappy people. Azrou is probably the best looking place I've visited in Morocco, it's cradled in the foothills of the middle atlas and looks down onto a huge plain of farms, with more mountains on the other side. The mountainside is covered with large trees, and if you squint it kind of looks like parts of British Columbia. You have to squint because even though the trees are great, there are still the usual piles of garbage everywhere.

I left Marrakesh thinking all moroccans were total jerkoffs, but now, as I stated earlier, I only believe that all Moroccans who live in big cities are total jerkoffs. Everyone I've met here has been really nice and I am glad I decided to visit this town.




Today I had a pretty excellent day, but it kind of began yesterday when this carpet salesman invited me into his shop for mint tea and, instead of selling me a carpet, drew me a map of the best walking routes in the area and told me to come back the next day and he'd explain to a taxi driver where to take me.

The next day I went to this big weekly berber market and it was kind of weird, I was expecting tourist junk, but it was only boring practical things like pots, clothes, and sheep. so many sheep. After that I had a crappy breakfast, but at least the coffee in Morocco is always fantastic. Then I met the carpet guy and he got all my shit sorted with the cab guy.

The walk was great, it was mostly up hill and there were great views of the valley. It was kind of strange to be in the middle of North Africa and be in a large forest, but I got used to it pretty quick because the forest was full of barbary apes (which aren't actually apes). When I was about a third of the way through the loop I found myself in a tourist trap campground place, but I was the only tourist. There were a few Moroccan dudes offering horse rides on the healthiest horses I have seen in the country. One of the guys was super friendly, especially after I told him all the arabic words I know and he offered to take me on the horse for $6CDN. I was a little suspicious about this as a result of my past camel-related experiences, but I have been told that a camel is just a horse designed by a committee, so I was willing to trust this guy to not fuck me over.

My faith in the superiority of horsemen was rewarded greatly because my guide turned out to be a great ride. He took me out for more than the promised half hour, and we hung out on the plataeu of the mountain for a while. It was an awesome alpine meadow and so quiet. The way back was kind of upsetting because we went through the campground and all the french tourists just throw their garbage into the forest and forget about it. the pigs.

I drank mint tea with the horse guy and his friends until a big bus of tourists arrived, then I kept on walking. I was going steadily for about 20 minutes when i saw a group of morrocan guys having a barbeque picnic on the grass and listening to arabic rap music. they invited me over and we had an awesome time. They didn't all speak very good english, but mostly they could understand my french so that wasn't a problem. They were probably the nicest dudes I've met so far and they made me eat lots of their delicious grilled chicken. They then gave me a tour of the region, stopping in all the best small towns and not letting me pay for anything. They took me back to Azrou around 7, we ate a delicious meal, and they made me promise to email them, which I will. excellent people.

Now I'm kind of worried about Fez. Probably I'll only spend a day or two at the most there. goddamn city moroccans.