20th Anniversary Dream Trip Contest

Great Travel Moment

We drove all day through the bleak Moroccan high Atlas and arrived at the beautiful Riad Maria on the edge of Erg Chebbi. After checking into our peaceful suite, we went for a sunset walk out on the wind-sculpted dunes. The only sound was the sand squeaking beneath our bare feet as we watched the setting sun change the colors around us. As the air cooled, Touaregs (a nomad tribe native to the area) wearing their traditional blue robes emerged seemingly from nowhere. After I snapped this photo, this man approached us and we struck up a conversation. He motioned to the east and said,"La bas, c'est l'Algerie" - we were only 40 km from the Algerian border. The stark contrast between this stunning, quiet sandscape and the horrors of a war so close by has stayed with me since that moment.