This is the 2nd part of the article about the vibrant colours of Morocco. Here are the links to the Part 1 and Part 3.  

First time in Morocco?" a border security officer asked me with a strained smile. "Oh, is that an Arc'teryx bag you have? Can you lift it so I can show it to my colleague?" "Hey buddy, this is the bag I was talking about, from Canada." His colleague suddenly brightened up with excitement as my bag most certainly broke the monotony of his stamping routine. I stood there, waiting to get my passport back, unsure how much I should worry about my bag or any other possessions in this country. "Welcome to Morocco," said the officer cheerfully, "You'll like it." And I certainly did: Morocco turned out to be one of the most exotic and culturally rich places I've ever visited.

This is the third and the last part of the story about my 2020 ultimate road trip to British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies. You will learn about a lesser-known but no less spectacular Yoho National Park and see Canada's own real desert located at the south end of the hot and dry Okanagan Valley. British Columbia is undoubtedly the most biologically and geologically diverse province in Canada!

This is the second part of the story about my 2020 ultimate road trip to British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies. You will get a closer look at the two most iconic national parks in Canada - Banff and Jasper -  the number one reason most overseas visitors come to Canada. Both are located entirely in the province of Alberta, but we also will take a quick detour into the neighbouring Kootenay National Park to see its gorgeous Marble Canyon.

Northern New Mexico makes a perfect place for sci-fi movies: frequent UFO sightings, a former secret federal research facility that developed nuclear weapons, extinct volcano caldera that still seeps through cracks in the form of fumaroles and hot springs. But there is something else, completely different, hidden in the ponderosa pine forest just outside of Los Alamos: a ghost village of the ancient and now bygone Pueblo culture called Bandelier National Monument.

Imagine not just one canyon, but a wave of hundreds or thousands of them carved by water and gravity as far as you can see. Sounds exciting? That's about Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah. Little known place before it became a national park in 1964, Canyonlands National Park still looks and feels worlds away when wandering a bit off the paved roads. In fact, the park remains largely unhampered, so you can explore it on foot or from your 4x4 for days or even weeks without seeing another person, that's how vast and remote it is. 

The whole generation of Americans grew up on Western movies featuring John Wayne and other fearless cowboys fighting unruly Native Americans. But how well do we know the period preceding the Expansion of the American West and the forming of the United States in their present borders? Bent's Old Fort hidden in the vast plains of Colorado under the endless blue sky is a living book that was once at the frontier of the Anglo-American civilization.

You heard me say how much I like the American Southwest for its vast and simplistic beauty. Well, Arches National Park in Utah is yet another place in that region that had been sitting on my bucket list for quite some time before I had a chance to visit it this past winter. Though not entirely unique as other places on Earth feature natural sandstone arches, the park holds the largest concentration of them - more than 2,000. Scroll down to check them out and learn five things about these natural marvels before visiting Arches National Park yourself.

American Southwest is plentiful of natural wonders and perhaps the most diverse place on Earth in geological features such as mountains, volcanos, canyons, badlands, arches, mesas, butts and so forth. Last year's spontaneous trip to Colorado, New Mexico and Utah was my fourth trip to the area after Texas, Arizona and California, and I can tell you that you can make a hundred trips to the American Southwest and still find new and unusual places that will awe you. But you have to be careful while planning your itinerary there because it's easy to keep on visiting places that will look the same after a week or so. My approach is to always find the right balance between nature, urban areas, history and entertainment. The place I want to show you today is a natural phenomenon called hoodoo. And while you can find hoodoos in other places such as Alberta, these ones have a very unusual pencil-like shape.

Among all the things I like about the United States, their national parks are my favourite ones. I always enjoy visiting them no matter the season and the weather. Since the first national park was created in 1872, the goal has always been to provide recreational opportunities with the conservation coming after. As a result, most of America's national parks are very accessible and often draw big crowds, especially those parks near major highways and cities. It obviously seems appealing to me that tourism brings more profit to some areas than traditional mining of natural resources, but I believe there should be a better way to control crowds since most visitors to the national parks come to see nature, not other people. So I was really glad that Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, which I visited this past December, was still a hidden gem with fewer visitors compared to other "big boys" in the Southwest such as the Grand Canyon, Zion and Arches.

Joshua Tree National Park became a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world by offering unparalleled rock climbing and bouldering experience. With over 400 monzogranite formations and more than 8,000 climbing routes, everyone can find the perfect wall that best suits their skill level. But if you're not up for climbing, there are plenty of other activities at the park including hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, nature viewing and even stargazing. Yes, Joshua Tree is home to some of the darkest sky in the world!

The Saguaro cactus is one of the symbols of Arizona and the American Wild West. And for a good reason: unlike other cacti I have seen before, saguaro's size is just mind-blowing. A grown-up one can be as tall as 55 ft / 17 m - it's like a 5-story building! - and weighs up to 8 tonnes. Can you imagine? You absolutely have to see it at Saguaro National Park to believe it.

Monument Valley had been sitting at the top of my bucket list for a while, so I was really thrilled once I had an opportunity to see it. It's a sacred place for Navajo people, and I tend to agree, too, as Monument Valley with its 50 shades of orange seems out of this world.

The Grand Canyon is one of those iconic places that people usually associate with the United States. And while other popular places that attract tourist crowds from all over the world such as Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Las Vegas Strip and Hollywood did not impress me much, the Grand Canyon in Arizona definitely did.  It's a place of unparalleled beauty, endless vastness and desolation like no other on Earth.

I did not expect much when I was going to Valley of Fire State Park located just one hour's drive north of Las Vegas. I knew it was a popular place, but I was convinced that this was because of its proximity to Las Vegas. However, the park and its beauty exceeded all my expectations! So if you like nature like I do, this place has to be on your bucket list.

Even though Death Valley is the hottest and one of the driest places on Earth, you'd be surprised to find out how many living creatures, in fact, call it home. The valley looks empty, desolate and inhospitable at the first glimpse, but take your time and you'll see how attractive this place can be with all its vastness and eternity.