Morocco Bound!

Like Bob and Bing I am Morocco bound. On Saturday 21st I headed off to Marrakesh in Morocco to go to the Sixth International conference on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM6). I was due to give two invited presentations and sit in on a special workshop on phosphates. Also, by chance, my sister Soo and her husband Mike were going  to be there on holiday for the first couple of days I was around. 
I flew via Brussels with SN and then  Royal Air Maroc to Marakesh. A first time with Air Maroc but not a bad experience.  All my travel was in economy as I was paying, but my colleague was in business  as he was on duty so we had a fun time on the  way down  - with access into lounges for both of us in Brussels.

Marrakesh was fantastic with old buildings and the souks (which I never did get to see) the original kasbah (which  I did see) and a new cuisine. Soo and Mike were staying in the older part of town in centre of the Kasbah.

Soo and Mike at their hotel poolside

Rue Kasbah, Marrakesh

Kasbah mosque and souvenir shops

A heap of Fezzes...................

Work went well but as I was on a cheap ticket I had to wait until Sunday to go home, unlike my colleagues who went home on Saturday. But on Friday we all went to the great phosphate mines  and we even got to ride in a drag line while it was working - a real fun day.

Electrical dragline removing over burden at the phosphate mine

Waste piles awaiting remediation at the mine site. There is a big remediation plan being readied for  implementation.