Laid Out

Dades

Kasbah Amridil where I slept in the entrance way.

Pictures Wim took inside.

Ait Benhaddou.

Again, pictures that Wim took for me.

Thursday September 21^st.

I woke up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach and diarrhea and later I vomited as well. I didn't get much sleep and felt dreadful.

In the morning I packed up and took my stuff down to the lobby but I skipped breakfast. I still felt bad and had no appetite. Wim's bag got put in the wrong van as there were two Intrepid groups staying here, which had left and we had to arrange with that driver to stop and pick it up. We boarded the van and headed off. We stopped at another great panoramic view of the valley but it was all I could do to stand there. I was exhausted and weak.

The rest of the day was a blur. We stopped at the Kasbah Amridil which is one of the best kasbahs in the country and has been used in a number of movies. I felt so bad that I didn't take the tour. The man at the door saw that I wasn't well and told me to lay down on a couch in the corner of the lobby. I gave my camera to Wim and asked him to take some photos for me. I slept until they came back.

Then we stopped at an Intrepid sponsored agency that provides prosthetics for handicapped people. I stayed in the van and tried to sleep while Samir drove off with me to get gas.

We stopped for lunch in Ouarzazate where productions such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Sheltering Sky and Black Hawk Down were filmed. The is the the 'Hollywood' area of Morocco and the site of the Atlas Movie Studios. I sat at a table away from the group and tried to sleep. The smells of the food were making me nauseous.

At 4:00 we finally arrived at our guesthouse in Ait Benhaddou for the night. Centuries ago, this was an important stop for caravans carrying salt across the Sahara. Today its grand kasbah, a fine example of clay architecture, has been listed as a World Heritage site. The owner wanted to assemble for a welcoming tea, but I asked Rachid to get me a room, which he did. I immediately went to bed. I knew they were going for a walk to a beautiful old village built on a hill, but I knew I couldn't do it, so I asked Wim to take my camera again. I slept through that trip and dinner and didn't wake up until 1:30, was awake for an hour and then slept until 7:00. Not the best day I have had.