Day 6 - Drive, Drive, Drive

Justine and Catherine
This morning, we awoke at six because we had an eight hour car ride ahead of us. We ate breakfast, and were out of the Hotel Batha by 7am. On the bus ride, Sarah J. discovered (from Kenny) that apparently you don't have to lick the back of the stamps as of 5 years ago. Once settled, everyone on the bus fell into a shallow coma due to lack of sleep.
Out our windows, those of us who were awake saw the Atlas mountains, which the Berbers control. Those of us who went so far as to decipher the sounds coming from Ghali’s microphone also learned that weather changes very rapidly in Morocco (eg., from being cold in the snowy mountains, to the hot Sahara desert). Ghali also informed us the the weather and the length of days in the Sahara, strangely enough, are similar to Dallas, Sydney and Los Angeles. The weather in the Sahara is very polar; that is, it is sizzling hot during the day and freezing at night. Not the greatest camping conditions- but we had camels to ride!
Before we got there, we stopped at Hotel Kasbah Asmaa for lunch. Afterwards, we stopped for a panoramic view of the area (Arfoud). The region holds a record for one billion palm trees! It is also known as the biggest oasis in Morocco.
Once we reached our destination, we were greeted by the Berbers, who led us on camels deep into the dunes to photograph the sunset, which was breathtaking. Getting used to camel back was more challenging for some, as apparently camels are subject to violent mood swings and fits of discontentment. Jin Heang fell off of his camel twice, naturally.
(As an aside: most of the camels names were Bob Marley, Jimmy Hendrix, and Jackie Chan.)
After we had returned and gotten settled in our sleeping tents, we shared a traditional Berber supper. The food was accompanied by a live Berber music performance.
After dinner, everyone danced around the fire to the drumming and singing. Some of the people danced enthusiastically with the Berbers (including Jin Haeng, who did not hold back any of his signature moves). Later on, the musicians told us that they are straight descendants from the ancient Berber tribes. They told us jokes in Spanish to entertain us (which Suna translated.)
For example:
Berber: "Why are there waves in the ocean"
Ross Kids: “Why”
Berbers: "Because of the fish!"
(What?)
For the rest of the night, we danced and sat around the fire under the stars, whilst listening to Lucie and Rachel's improvised scary stories... which remain to be continued.