What do you get when you cross a T5 VW van converted camper, a fantastic community and a camera? An amazing experience, that’s what. From the top of the High Atlas, to small villages of Amezmiz and Marigha, cities of Taroudant and Agdz and a few nights deep in the Sahara desert - it really was a breath taking experience. But, with so many experiences to talk about, it’s hard to pinpoint a direction for the trip as a whole. One of the things people know of of Morocco is the religion. The clear divide between men and women is astonishing, and leaves an incredible void between husbands and wives. The men with the men; watching football and smoking Kief, and the women in the kitchen, nattering with friends, looking after the young and manning a stove.
“Morocco: honest, natural beauty.”
Another Moroccan tradition is the Hamam - known as an authentic Arabic bathing place. Again, a huge divide in gender and a big difference in the way men and women are treated by others. But there’s so much more about the country and culture which people miss. And this of course is the land. Seeing Morocco through a windscreen makes you appreciate its real beauty; hours spent just staring out of the window is a surprising eye opener in such a place. From badly constructed road layouts that are actually perfectly symmetrical each side of a topiaryesq tree, or a never ending barren scape of a dusty dirt track accented with electricity pylons; Morocco has made me appreciate this simplicity of beauty in nothingness more than ever. It’s things like this which make you step back, look at your surroundings, and really appreciate and respect something for it’s honest natural beauty.
Lois Golding
29.