The death of Henry Kissinger , aged 100, prompts one of my weirdest memories........
In 1981 I went to Morocco and travelled to Erfoud, in the Sahara, with a Welsh couple and two local guys they knew from several previous visits.
As we left, on our way to cross the Atlas mountains to Marrakech, one of the guys suggested we visit the "Blue Source" (IIRC) a famous oasis. We arrived and left our vehicle, to be met by big Moroccan gendarmes intent on separating out the foreigners. I asked why and was told that "Some bigwig is coming from Casablanca" and we were to meet him. We were given dates and camel milk and asked to wait in a specific area, decked out with big cushions and looking very "Arabian Nights". There was no arguing, these gendarmes were big, armed and "had their orders".
Eventually a big black limo arrived and a woman got out, looking like a model and not like she had just travelled several hours through the desert. Then a stocky man who was immediately recognizable..... Henry Kissinger. Why he was there, I don't know - the Spanish Sahara situation was going on and the Soviets were sniffing around, but (as far as I know) he had no official standing at that time.
We had to line up and shake hands with "the bigwig", who asked "Vair do you comm frum" in an accent that seemed even thicker than on TV. Being the tyke I was, I really, really wanted to say "Russia" to see the reaction, but I chickened out
Then we got back to the vehicle and were on our way - never understanding why Kissinger had been there, why we had to shake his hand or anything else. We had, however, learned that it was best just to "go with the flow" and not ask too many questions.......
Didn't know he was still alive. I doubt he remembered me......
