They say colors can change your mood. - Sahara, Morocco

They say colors can change your mood. 

They say warmth can change your moves. 

They say patience can open new moments.

They say being present means observing every moment. 

We have passed 42 degrees Celsius. The heat is dry but very present. Sun is over us and sand is under us. The feeling of having a dry throat can be said to be the feeling I think of while I’m looking over the Sahara Dessert in Merzouga, Morocco. 

This is a two-day trip to get here with stops along the way. If you travel without stops you can do it in 8 hours from Marrakech - even though the more correct might be 12 hours. 

Sahara is a fascinating and well-known geographical part of the world with an area of 8,6 km2. From east to west, it is estimated to have a length of 4,800 km. This makes it a part of the world I have heard of. A place where the sun gives life and death at the same time. While I’m walking over the dunes, the sunset slowly starts behind me. The light becomes soft and the forms of the dunes become organic. The dunes remind me of the curves of human bodies with soft curves and the color of the yellow sand becomes more orange. Your vision of perception in the dunes disappears. It is hard to see how high the dunes are and the distance there are between them. Walking in the dunes with a bottle of water in my hand my first impression of the Sahara is as expected: The sun is hard during the day but then before sunset, it gets soft and leaves a nearly silk look over the dunes.  The air is dry and with a breath, the heat is somehow feeling more manageable than the 4 hours car ride took to get here from Aut-Ben-Haddou.

While I this evening am looking over the Sahara desert only one element complaining: my camera. It is the first time I have photographed with my small Fujifilm X100V and experienced it could not focus due to - yes you are guessing right - the heat… 

The Earth circulates the World. The sun is our lifeblood when we use its power and light in the best way. When the light from the sun turns off as the earth rotates Sahara transforms from a yellow warm place to being a dark warm place - the Sahara is opening for its second magnificent view: the view to the stars. This evening while locals from the camp I am living in started a fire - since 35 degrees Celsius in the evening of course is a bit cold - they also brought with them traditional drums. While they are giving a show for the 31 people who are spending this evening in the Sahara I’m walking into the nearby dune to watch the stars. 

The evening is clear. The ‘Big Dipper’ is easy to spot. While looking at the stars it reconfirms that I only have seen a small piece of the sand in the Sahara, the world, and what lives can give us. Every day newborn children breathe for the first time, while some breathe for the last. We call the the cycle of life: as we have the cycle of the earth. 

The trip to the Sahara entails different elements and experiences. One of these is driving through the Atlas Mountains and visiting the UNESCO heritage city Aut-Ben-Haddou. Maybe the name in it selves does not sound familiar, but if I give you the names of the following three films you might find a similar reference to these: The Gladiators, Indiana Jones, and Game of Thrones (season 3)? 

Your guess is correct: The three films are all filmed in Aut-Ben-Haddou. Later in August, this city will have three different film productions. While driving to the Sahara Dessert I also passed by another film production taking place not far from the the main road. 

Today only three families live in Aut-Ben-Haddou. The three houses where they live have solar panels on the roof and are the only houses in the city that have electricity. UNESCO forbids the installation in the city due to the thought that if it first gets allowed the city will change - as seen with the Medina in Marrakech, where a lot of Riats are turned into hotels. 

The temperature is 40 degrees while I'm walking over the dried river that separates Aut-Ben-Haddou from the new city built on the other side. One of the reasons people moved from the original houses where not just the age of the houses - that are formatted on the hillside of a small mountain - but since the river during periods of the year are over flooded which makes crossing impossible: to which Aut-Ben-Haddou is being isolated. In periods, Our guide tells us the flotting lasts up to 3 weeks. The river is dry, but at the entrance of the city, you find a green area with trees and palms. 

From a distance, Aut-Ben-Haddou looks harmonic and organised. You find an old gate that leads into the city, but as with many elements in our life, you find a double meaning, separation, or world order. As in many other cities in Morocco, Out-Ben-Haddou was separated into two parts: a Muslim and a Jewish part. They lived side by side without any problems. They used each other to survive since their way of living complimented each other. On one side were the Muslims: those who owned and farmed the land. They had animals, fruits, and food. On the other side were the Jews. The Jews were good businesspeople. They had sugar - which for centuries ago was more valuable than gold. The Jews arrived at Aug-Ben-Haddou, where they lived so they could trade with the caravans that passed by the city. The Jews were trading and had sugar and values, while the Muslims were farmers to which they complemented each other. This is another good example of how people with different religions and professions can live together as long as they complement each other so both gain from each other. 

Languages have many flavors around the world. In Morocco, the official language is Modern Standard Arabic and Standard Moroccan Berber which has 3 dialects: Tashelhit, Central Atlas Tamazight, and Tarifit. Today the younger generation is taught how to write and read Berber even though this has not been the case for years. Therefore, Berber is for most people a dialect that they can only speak. France is the second language, which almost everyone speaks as it has been taught in school since their separation from France in 1956.  Due to the history of Morocco, a lot in Marrakech and Saraha find it easier to communicate in Spanish than English, since Spanish is closer to France and Berber. 

Invisible Inc has been used for centuries. A well-known technique is to write with orange juice on white paper and afterward hold it over a fire to read it. Back in time, the Jews in Morocco found a way to send secret messages that only they could read. Their method was to use goat skin with a specific technique that made an inc they could write with. They then wrote from top to bottom - instead of from left to right - and by putting it over a fire the text appeared. 

Today this technique is used by different artists. While I’m walking up the city I stop at a small shop that has different artworks on the walls - all painted with this technic. They demonstrate to me how the technique works. In the beginning, only a yellow color is visible on the paper until you put it under fire. As the heat hits the paper a landscape becomes visible. This technique is often referred to as “Berber Fire Painter”. 

They Say Being present means observing every moment

2300 meters above sea level is the height I am in a few hours after leaving Marrakech on my way to the Sahara. The view is over the Atlas Maintains. Not only the height is interesting: but also the lushness that is in the mountains. In Marrakech, it is clear that the Atlas Mountains are not only of geographic importance it is also a lifeblood. It is from here that water, fruit, and farming can grow. 

The routes through the Atlas Mountains are curvy. It is summer and the temperature is here over 30 degrees. Most of the mountains are all naked while they project a red light. It is clear that the clay used to build “The Red City” Marrakech most likely comes from here. Rivers are dried out or with only a little bit of water. On the route, we pass different Water Power Plants - that have ‘summer holidays’ due to the dry rivers. While we drive on the twisty road through the mountains green oases are seen. It is clear, that during other periods of the year lushness blooms in these mountains. 

By observing different elements of the culture and landscape it becomes clear Morocco in one way is close to us in Europe, but still so far away, I am pondering the importance of understanding cultures, but also cultural points of reference and lifestyles. It can be said that a dentist might not be the first choice for many Marrocans - at least when I look at the teeth of the men I have seen. It might not be too surprising, but seeing people without teeth or where a few are missing highlights a different lifestyle than what you will find just a few hours' flight time further north. While driving to the Sahara some of the cities we pass feel like satellite cities that are not yet finished. On the way, in a city, I pass a series of four-floor buildings where there are no buildings surrounding them in a radius of 50-100 meters. This continues throughout the city. The houses have few windows with a facade in a dark brown clay color with a few read details. The few windows that can be seen are all covered with iron fences so no one can come in - or out. In front of one of these buildings, a big old Audi Q7 is parked in front. The car is on France plates. This is the only sign of life I see. I know it is said that beauty is found from within. Exactly therefore, when we talk about immigrants in our "ghettos” in Denmark, where the buildings have no beauty or identity, these buildings probably speak more to the fact that beauty must be found from within and one's frame of reference - which can be referred to as not only being what beauty is but also which building style you are used to. Everything is about perception: our perception of reality.

The same can be said to be the case when I glance over the Sahara and I feel its sand under my feet. In a short time I will have a small 8 hours bus trip to Fez in the Northern part. I have only seen a few dunes of the Sahara, but it is enough to have new thoughts: Perspectives being made and confirmation about how small we all are when looking at a bigger landscape like this. 

Therefore with the view over the Dunes of the Sahara, I can not stop thinking: 

They say colors can change your mood. 

They say warmth can change your moves. 

They say patience can open new moments.

They say being present means observing every moment.