Ma'a Salama and Shokran, Morocco

Goodbye and Thank You, incredible, exotic Morocco.  These are the two Arabic phrases most of us learned...although there was some confusion whether "salama" or the more colloquial "s'lama" meant either or both of "hello" and "goodbye".

Sunset and Koutoubia Mosque from our riad

We spent our final two days in Marrakech, a metropolis of 2 million people that would likely have overwhelmed us all if we had not started our Moroccan journey in Essaouira.


Walking through the night market in Djemaa El Fna is a singular experience. What words can I use to describe it - enthralling, intimidating, exhilarating, colourful, crowded, full of lights, sounds and smells that assault your senses, a shock-and-awe sensory attack.  Fantastic!  Put your speakers on max volume for this video clip.  Video image is not great, but I just wanted to capture the sounds.

Orchestrated mayhem in the Djemaa El Fna night market

"Magic" lamps from Marrakechi tinsmiths

So I say s'lama and shokran for the experience of a lifetime, for your charming people (the world needs more Fatouma's), for sweeping vistas of parched earth, crashing seas and snow-capped mountains, for the claustrophobic and riotous cacophony of your souks and medinas, for delicious, never-before-tasted foods that I will most certainly try to recreate back home, for the artistry and craftsmanship of your woodworkers, plasterers and zellij masters, for centuries of history crammed into your narrow alleys and sultans' palaces.