From Asia to Africa

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• Entry from Marrakech

Trip Start May 26, 2008 Trip End Jun 27, 2008

  Marrakech, Morocco
Wednesday, July 2, 2008

One could travel through Asia and Africa in the amount of time it has taken me to sit my busy bum down and write this. I haven't been dreading it. I have simply been going non stop since Vietnam. I have accumulated countless stories so rather than retelling those, I will try to explain what has been happening to me through the places I've been and the people I've met. I'm sorry to those of you that were anxiously awaiting a story about smelly streets, a horror bus ride or some war history. This is going to be more of a story about Elana being in love. Love from my personal experiences which are hard to express. In love with life, love for a country, love with a partner and love with a brother. But what is an artist unless they are continually evolving and challenging themselves to explore things they aren't comfortable communicating? This trip isn't only about me snapping photos of my journey through continents which encompass different cultures, beliefs, food and people. It is about me discovering me through these things. Time to step out of the box and reflect. So I will begin where I left off, leaving Vietnam.


From Vietnam I went back to Thailand to do a trekking trip in the North from a beautfiul place called Chang Mai. I was really excited to hike through the wild and reflect on my trip, my life. I wasn't looking for anything specific other than being able to be in nature. The trek was three days long and it included an hour sitting on an elephant through high marsh and a dirty rafting trip on an authentic bamboo raft down the mekong. There were 6 others on the trip. They were all friends traveling in pairs and then there was moi- solo. Right away I made an effort to communicate with them in English fearing that they might be exclusive since they each had their other. They were all very nice and we got on really well throughout the trip. One of the pairs was a French girl and guy. Initially I thought that they were a couple, a naive assumption based on most men/women traveling duos. The moment I saw the guy for the first time, my heart skipped a couple beats. I was thrown off balance as well. His humbling pressence and soft eyes and smile made me want to get to know everything about him. I knew right away that there was something special with him. This guy I will continue to speak of has a name of course and so from now he will be known as Julien. Julien, the man I finally allowed myself to completely fall for. I'm sure you could anticipate that something like this would happen to me on a year of hopping around the globe. It is probably my parents biggest fear; that I be whisked away by some foreign man, taken to their land and rushed into starting a family. Well this hasn't happened yet, I can assure you. Up until this point,  I had been pretty distant every time I meet a guy cause I didn't want this trip to be about me and someone else. This trip is about me and I didn't want to be persuaded to go somewhere or do something because of a man. Well, I certainly couldn't deny the immediate connection that we had so I allowed myself to open up and give myself to him (no pun intended). Because my most serious relationship previously had been with a foreigner, I have a very open attitude towards living in the moment and not thinking about the future. Julien and I both shared the same beliefs so we took advantage of every day that we had together. We spontaneously did things special for eachother and together. We insipired and challenged one another. He gave me confidence and a sense of freedom that nobody has ever been able to give me. Why is it that I fall for men that live so far away? What is my problem! It must be a commitment issue, since deep down I don't have a sense of security that will bring me back home. I allowed myself to open up about every feeling, desire and dream. In Canada, I feel detatched from men. I don't know. I guess that is something I'll have to wait and find out whenever I return home. Maybe some things never change though. From Chiang Mai, we traveled in Laos together for two weeks. Laos was by far my favorite country in Southeast Asia. It is still so untouched and has a great mixture of things to do outdoors, landmarks and history. People are genouine, generous and friendly. There was absolutely no hassling whatsoever in Laos. Julien and I stayed up most of nights just talking and talking. His female travel counterpart, Amelia was amazing. She was just so excited for him that she let him branch off while I was around. She had never seen him in that light so she was happy doing her own thing. So that is where my love story ends for the moment. I am going to visit him in France in a couple of weeks and we are planning on taking a 2 week road trip in Portugal this fall so it isn't the end yet. Is there ever an end to anything?


From Bangkok I flew to meet Tyler in Morocco. The days leading up to this event were combined with mixed feelings of nostlagia- for the place and people I was leaving and so in love with and for the person I meeting and missing for a year, my brother. I couldn't wait to see him! I'm sure you have all felt this before. I played out 100 situations in my head of how we would meet. Tears streaming down our faces and all. Of course, this wasn't the case but sometimes I like to be a bit dramatic. I envisioned me spotting him at baggage claim, bumping into him by accident in on our stopover Madrid...of course none of this happened as well. It is never how you imagine it. I arrived in Marrakech about 10 minutes after him and I came out into the arrivals looking everywhere for him. Actually, when I didn't see him at first, I figured he missed his flight. That week he had alreeady missed two so I wouldn't have been suprised. Then between two bodies a small head emerged and said "Looking for someone?" There he was. A moment so simple and natural that millions of people undergo every minute but that was the being of my existence at that specific point in time. It was so great to see him. I am proud to say that for the first time in our entire lives, I have a flatter stomach than Ty. No but seriously, he looks so healthy and happy and handsome. We had so much fun together. We basically had a year of catching up to do cause no matter how many skype calls and e-mails exchanges, it doesn't get as personal as being there. Even though we have both been through so much this year, our relationship has remained the same. I'm still the same old bossy, controlling big sister. We just have more knowledge and exciting things to share. Tyler isn't as passive anymore but he needed me to remind him of little things like leaving his book or perhaps his passport on the table at a restaurant. Tyler could easily pass as older than me though and it happened many times where I was asked for ID. 


We spent 10 days basically talking non stop. We both sunburned our lips so they were chapped beyond belief and it made it very uncomfortable to speak.  However, we plowed our way through the pain and discomfort cause it was a gratifying trade off.. Marrakech was a little to much. People eveywhere from all directions trying to sell things. It was very easy to get lost in the souks. We spent the first two nights there and were dying to leave. People were pushy, aggresive and only after our money. I would have been very shocked had I not come from a part of the world that relies so much on tourism. Tyler was experiencing it for the first time and it was WAY worse than anywhere I have been yet. Men approached him from behind with snakes and demanded money after forcing them on him. Like, are these people mental? I'm sure most tourists punch them when they do that. Men grabbed me and tried every stategy to get me into bed with them. I can understand in a Muslim counrty why men are so persistent with western women but I mean come on. I had a man with me! We actually did pretend that we were a couple so that I would be left alone, though most of the time it made no difference. With our hostel, we signed up for a 3 day trip into Mezdouga in the Sahara desert. Other than being ripped off on the price and having an incredibly obnoxious, short tempered, ill manered, defensive, 23 year old guide named Youssef, ( a character I have mastered) the trip was unreal. There were only 6 of us in total. Another Canadian brother and sister and a Mexican couple who had the same strong feelings against Youssef so it just turned into a joke. Parts of it were a little ridiculous though. He would take us to the most expensive restaurants, places to get water, to buy turbans etc... plus, he would get a commission! It's all about commission, isn't it mum? Now that I am thinking about it, that guy made me sooo angry but that is besides the point. We really had an amazing time. Ty and I laughed our way through the camel ride into the desert. I have never seeen an animal shit so much in my life. I think camels have constant diarrhea. It is so bad that we weren't sure if we were walking on a rock on camel ka ka. They also have to be the funniest mammal alive. They are always smiling and eating. If only all people were like that, how entertaining would the world be. Camels kept Ty and I constantly amused while in Morocco. The trip also involved driveing through the atlas mountain range which was breathtaking.

After our trip in the desert we went to a place called Essaouira. A hippy haven where Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix once wrote music (castles made of sand) and Tennessee Williams mapped out his first draft of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It was really chilled out and relaxing. I will admit that we smoked our fair share of hash and roamed around the souks getting lost for most of the time. It was very relaxing, something we both needed after going non stop for so long. We ate so much tagine at the beginning of our trip (a Moroccan type stew dish made in a clay pot) that towards the last couple of days we lived on pizza. Italian food is the only other ethnic food that has managed to make its way into Morocco and it is very easy to get tired of eating tagine and Moroccan salad every meal. We met some rather interesting characters while we were in Essaouira. We were invited for tea on two occasions with Berbers men who taught us about their culture. We witnessed many fights while eating on the street. We made friends with a dog named Kifi who led us to crazy castle ruins. We learned the French word for peanut, which I thought was arachide but am pleased to share with you is KAKAWETTE. We met a man selling this treat out of a basket. He was sceaming KAKA... KAKAOUETTE. We thought he was metally insane so we ignored him and then Tyler approached him to see what the famous kakaouette were and they were peanuts. Apparenlty it is not the word in arabic or berbere but it is french. We got a deal at a beautiful hotel because we were the only costomers so we essentially had a terrace to ourselves. It was a really amazing time that we shared together staying up to all hours in the morning and blabbing.

I'm sorry to leave this so abruptly but I must be somewhere and i have to send this today or I will be really angry with myself. I will try to write again more frequently but since I'm now in Europe with no direction it might be hard. Don't give up on me and I won't give up on myself. Talk to you again soon.

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