Europe 1979 Marrakesh to Folkestone

Djemaa el Fna Square Marrakesh, Morocco

Deb and the waterboys.

The narrow streets.

The camel market.

Snake charmer hucksters.

The governor (second right) and his barmen.

We were captivated by Morocco. It was such a exotic place, like nothing we had experienced before. When we arrived in Marrakesh we were overwhelmed by the activity and strange people we met in Djemaa el Fna Square. There were ornately dressed waterboys, snake charmers, dancers, animal acts, musicians, and all of them were after your money! For an amount you could pose with them. If you were reluctant one might drape a snake around your neck and then get Deb to take a photo and then charge you for the privilege. It was lively and exciting. We went to a camel market out of town and I took a picture of some camels with a man leaning against one. Immediately he came over looking for money because I took his picture. I refused and walked away, I didn't want to perpetuate this type of scam. If you look at the photo (the one labeled camel market) you can see he was hardly the centre object of my photo. We loved our time in Morocco. We spent most of it in Essaouira on the coast.

We were out of money and had to find a way back to London to make our return to Cananda. We took a ferry from Tangier to Ceuta Spain, and then boarded a long haul train to Calais. We had to change trains at the Spanish-French border because the track guage was different. THen we took the ferry to Folkestone and stayed at the London and Paris Hotel. They were not used to travelers coming by at this time of year and had to turn on the heat in the room. We stayed a couple of days and had great time with the 'govenor' and the locals. At that time pubs had to close by 10, by anyone staying in a room could stay and drink. The govenor handed out keys to all the regular patrons and we drank and played darts to the wee hours. In the centre of the photo is Peter, how came to visit us in Canada about two weeks after we got home! Then we took the train to London and flew home. What a great adventure!