Morocco Magic

I'm on an airplane flying somewhere between Madrid and Moscow, but mentally I am still in Morocco. Life never ceases to amaze me. The universe is constantly giving us exactly what we need; to learn, to grow, to flourish. What I needed was Morocco. Just at a time when I'd felt so mentally exhausted, physically disgusting, and financially depleted, something urged me to leave Europe behind and flee to this colorful country in Northern Africa. It cracked my heart open, leaving me with a smile on my face, a tan on my skin, and sand on my toes.

Although I had an entire list of places to visit and things to do, upon arriving in Tamraght I decided I'd rather be a local for a couple weeks and just stay put. I was feeling all out of whack after 3 months of constant movement between European cities and I knew I needed to regain my peace of mind. I went to Morocco to reunite with a close friend I'd met in Bali while completing our yoga teacher training. She's been living and working in this small beach town for just under a year and it has quickly become home for her. Two and a half weeks later and it felt like home to me too. 

[The woman sitting next to me on the bus had henna covered hands, too cool]

I quickly adopted the 'early to bed, early to rise' lifestyle that is typical in towns revolving around the tides. I fell in love with surfing, although I have a lot of learning to do, and I reconnected to my yoga practice. I saw the sunset almost every night and was able to catch a few sunrises too. I learned how to cook tagine, pour the perfect tea, and analyze the waves. I went to the spa for a traditional hammam treatment, quite literally an overweight Moroccan woman giving me a sponge bath and body scrub (didn't hate it). I even managed to learn a bit of French and Arabic.

[Tagine!]

[Beach buds]

[I totally played creepy paparazzi on this couple but how sweet are they?!]

Bryony, the friend whom I was there to visit, was in a yoga training at a nearby luxury resort when I first arrived. She had two other friends visiting and within minutes of them picking me up from the bus station we were old friends reconnecting. We went for road trips seeking out the best surf, exploring the local markets, and trekking to Paradise Valley. Blaring music, having sing-a-longs, and laughing until we cried.

[Road trip, searching for waves!]

[Playing photog]

[Banana Village market]

[My favorite!]

[How do they grow so much produce in such a dry country??]

[Paradise Valley]

[I love you Börni Bö!]

I only stayed at B's apartment for one night before going to visit her yoga training at the posh Paradis Plage. We know how much I enjoy a nice resort and pretending I live a five star life, so as luck would have it I somehow managed to stay there for a total of 8 nights thanks to the kind generosity of fellow yogis (thank you Angelic and Christi, I love you). I reunited with my beloved yoga teachers and some other fellow teachers from Bali. Living in my fantasy bubble for a week, I took surfing lessons and lounged around on the beach, sipped mint tea while chilling at the surf house, and strolled along the sand at sunset. Life couldn't get much easier.

[Balcony view at Paradis Plage]

[Doing what I do best]

[Paradis Plage]

[Sun beds and hammocks, Paradis Plage]

Back in the local village of Tamraght, I went with B to her yoga class every morning. An open air studio on the roof of a surf hostel overlooking the ocean. Seriously? I need to move. There's awhole lot of chilling in Morocco. Yoga, surf, relax. Eat. Drink mint tea. It's the simplicity of this lifestyle that has me wishing this airplane would make a U turn and take me back. The food is delicious. The people are friendly. The scenery is gorgeous. The weather is perfect (no humidity!). There isn't a doubt in my mind that I'll be back before long. 

[Yogi loves from all over the globe]

[Cool beach vans, I want one!]

[Calamari lunch time]

[One last sunset before heading to the city]

[Half asleep and trying to blend in]

I love you Morocco, I will see you soon!

I N S H A L L A H ❤️

Philippines Thus Far

It's hard to keep up with the blogging and wifi is never a guarantee around here so I'm starting to keep a daily log of everything I'm doing and will post a few days at a time whenever I can. Taking this blog diary style. Here are the last 5 days!

Nov 12-13: Landed in Manila and got to the hostel late. Woke up and explored the city with Bryony, Paige, and Rei. We gorged ourselves on pancakes for breakfast and got lost amongst the beautiful gates of foreign embassies. Flew out to Puerto Princesa tonight and are heading to the underground river tomorrow and then on to El Nido! We had dinner tonight at the local hotspot. It reminded me of a carnival at home. Right on the water, dozens of little stands set up selling food and souvenirs. Filipino children chasing eachother around, teenagers sharing towers of beer, and adults dancing to the beat of the music. We were the only white people so you know it was authentic. I get nervous in those situations because I never know if were going to get robbed or raped. But as usual, everything was fine. I think Southeast Asians are known for their friendliness so maybe I should let my guard down a little. "Hello ma'am, thank you ma'am, you are very pretty ma'am!" Filipinos are so polite! Plus water here is FREE.

Nov 14: Woke up at 7am and hopped on a bus to check out one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! The underground river is an 8km long river underneath caves of rock and calcium deposits. We had to take a motor boat to the opening of the cave and then hop on a paddleboat to actually go through the river. It was dark with bats flying around and water dripping from the ceiling but it's unlike anything I've ever seen. A total of 45 mins though and I was happy to see daylight again. We got back in the van and were on our way to be dropped at the bus station for El Nido when the van made an unexpected stop. Called Ugong Rock, we thought we were taking a bathroom break and ended up rock climbing through this cave and then ziplining to the bottom. So much fun! Hopped back in the van and held on for dear life as this driver drove roughly 100mph down a road that sharply turned left and right every 100ft. We finally made it to the bus station alive and climbed onto the bus to find it filled with Filipinos. Luckily I got the front seat and avoided car sickness for the next 6 hours. This country is breathtaking. Or atleast this island of Palawan is, and I'm sure the rest of it is just as gorgeous. We showed up having no idea where we were sleeping tonight, so happy to have made it to a hostel with a hot shower and working wifi. Plus our beds have curtains around them which I always love because its like my own little room. I don't know when I'll unpack my backpack again but I'm slowly adjusting to this lifestyle. I'm hoping I can survive without doing laundry until I get back to Bangkok in a month. I've resorted to not wearing underwear and most days the most I get dressed is a bathing suit and a sarong so I should be able to make it happen. Could really use a nail salon though, if my fingernails get any longer they're going to start growing veins.

Nov 15: A much needed day of relaxation today. Slept in a little bit, had free breakfast at the hostel (score!) and then headed to the most beautiful beach. Its a mystery to me why the Philippines are not a huge backpacking destination. Had this been in Thailand or Bali the beach would have been packed. Instead there were only a handful of tourists and a few local families. We swam in the ocean and napped in the sand all day. Had lunch in an adorable gazebo right on the beach. Sipped fresh fruit smoothies, ate veggie salad, and played scrabble before walking down the beach and passing out again. Woke up to the sun going down and a (slightly) cool breeze coming off the water. Ahh, paradise. Jumped on a tricycle taxi and explored the little town a bit. Stumbled upon a local basketball game and sat in the stands to watch the game as all the other spectators watched us instead (white people?!). Dinner cost about 85 cents and for $22 tomorrow were doing a full day island hopping tour. Can't wait!!

Nov 16: Had a full 8 hour day of island hopping. Snorkeling, swimming in secret lagoons amongst mountains of rock, and eating fresh seafood cooked right on the beach, today was complete bliss. You can't beat swimming with electric blue fish and watching the sun go down while swinging in a hammock on a desolate island. It took the better part of an hour to comb the dreads out of my hair and my legs are all scraped up from coral but it was totally worth it. (Even after the cuts and scrapes on my legs and feet, I still think water shoes are for dorks). Follow all of that up with dinner on the beach to the tunes of Bob Marley and I'm going to sleep a very happy girl. Oh ya and I dropped my laundry off! Sunday funday has been a success.

Until Next Time

Sad to be leaving Bali today. After a month and a half it really started to feel like home. Spent the last few days in Canggu, a surfer town on the west coast with beautiful beaches and beautiful people. It has a much more laid back vibe than some of the other popular beach towns and after the sensory overload in Ubud and Seminyak, I found it very refreshing. 

I found a gem of a hostel that felt more like a vacation home and met some pretty awesome people. If you are ever in Canggu stay at The Temple, for $14 a night you get a room cleaner than my own at home, a sweet pool, and a kitchen. Plus Berlin, the Balinese guy that runs it will show you a fun time and teach you to surf (or go catch some waves with you if you're already a pro). 

In the last 3 days I cruised around town on the back of a motorbike, watched the cotton candy colored sunset on the beach, learned to surf, taught my first yoga class, ate fresh Mahi Mahi and rice using a palm leaf as a plate and my fingers as utensils, and danced all night to live music at the local hotspot (Deus is the place to be on Sunday nights).  I'm really going to miss this place but I'm pretty sure I'll be back before long.

Off to Bangkok for the next 48 hours. I'm excited to do some solo exploring and see what this crazy city is all about. On my to do list: get multiple Thai massages, eat copious amounts of pad Thai.....that's all I've got (suggestions welcome). I don't speak a word of Thai and I have none of the local currency in my wallet, or any idea what the exchange rate is. But that's all part of the adventure..

Thailand here I come!