Contrasts

On the train to Tangiers, I got this photo as we rolled through the Moroccan countryside.  It could be just about anywhere, and summarizes some of the contrasts in the country.  In the foreground, there's the modern, motorized transport to zip the farmer, a friend, and their produce off to market.  In the background, the timeless way to get the job done, with a donkey.

But it's not just anywhere, but a very particular location to which I did not have to pay any attention when I took the picture.  The camera recorded the GPS coordinates (and note it was my camera, in partial true optical telephoto mode, and not my cell phone).  If you don't check, all this, and more information, could be in every JPEG you share.

I can map where this photo was taken on the map with the topography and the rail lines.  The purple squares are all the photos that survived the culling when we got home, and the small black square in the center of the image is the location of the donkey.

We have seen other equids; this one was on one of the streets in the medina of Fes, which goes forever and and which would never allow a truck to get through.

Here is another horse cart, on the roughly parallel other main street (as close as the curving streets can be called parallel).  This street is wider, and in fact trucks can go through (notice the trash truck in the background).  They did not even fold in the mirrors while driving, and until I saw them squeeze through, I would never have thought they would make.  This is one more reason we don't intend to drive in Morocco.

The last horse we saw on our way to the train station in Fes.  The night before we had dinner on the second floor of the restaurant right next to the green gate (it's blue on the other side), whose umbrellas are visible.