It will go viral...new secret to Souk Salesman book

17 Secrets...Ernie must be planning a sequel, an updated version to Secrets of a Souk Salesman
as in my copy of his book there are only 16 secrets...could this be the 17th Secret??

In actual fact there are only 17 secrets and the first one is that 17 is a sacred sales number. But it actually doesn't count as one of the 17. 

Number one is to have in your heart and your mind and your soul that you truly deserve this sale regardless of customer need. Never be distracted or confused by customer need or lack of customer desire.

More to read...more to discover

Johnny La Rue

It was him...it was Ernie....

It was the Cuban beat of the drummer!

And I just missed him.  As I walked in the applause was deafening and the standing room

only crowd blocked my way to the stage.  I could see the back of his red vest as he turned the corner at the back of the stage and I yelled ," Ernie...Ernie..".  He paused and then I knew without any doubt it was him.  

So close

By the time I made my way to the back of the room he was gone.  But I did see a white pad with penciled notes laying on top of a Bata drum .  They were in my shoulder bag within seconds and I was out of the restaurant/club and back at my hammock shortly thereafter

Time to read what he wrote...

Signing off....Johnny LaRue

Ready to leaps forward

I am laying in my hammock feeling the breeze off  the Sahara as twilight approaches. The sounds from a local band are intertwined with the cool wind and the distinctive Cuban beat of the drummer is masking  the noise from the vendors in the local market.  Wait a minute!!! Cuban beat!!!

I have to check this out.

Time to run!!!

Johnny LaRue

A CLUE !!!

It is well known that you can't drink the water in the Sahara as it has to be purified first, at least this is what I have heard.  Imagine if you can my surprise  when I looked closely at the label of the bottled water I had been drinking. ....


Johnny LaRue

THE SAHARA, NEAR YET SO NEARER

As the saying goes..".what happens in the Sahara, stays in the Sahara".  I am in M'Ahmid sitting in an outdoor cafe with my bottle of water enjoying the view of the desert in the near distance.  The dust colored road will end and my trek into the Sahara will start tomorrow morning.  I just wish I had a clue of some kind to help me on my quest.  I need a sign, I need something to show me that I am on the right path and that I am headed in the right direction...

KEEP ON POLKAING IN THE FREE WORLD

I haves been reading this blog with great interests, both Yosh and me ( I am Stan).  Yes, it is true, I am a member of that world famous Polka Band that is on every ones lips and tongues.  PBG . Polka Band Gobi.  Yosh and Me ( Stan) we go to that big desert, the Sahara for our gig and before we goes to this
packed , standing room only polka party in the desert, our manager said we are going to have a surprise guest to play with us. A man famous for his Cuban drumming.  He played with us under the stars. He
was a very intense player..very. This fine man, he  add his Cuban beat to our Pink Floyd Songs.
When we did one of our many encores and when Yosh does his famous one finger accordion solos this drummer man missed not one beat.  After those two nights we did not see him again.  This man was very wise and spoke about many wise things. ..like how do you know where you are in the desert and
then he went away on a one day trek and that was the last we saw of this fine man.
We wondered and wondered some more, Yosh and I ( Stan)...could this have been Mr E???

See our poster from our stop in the Sahara from our World Polka Tour.

Kumar...do you think this was this Mr E man.?

ERNIE WAS IN CASABLANCA

Has to be Ernie

It must be Ernie, he has to have been here in 2006.  I went to the newspaper morgue files ( where clippings of past newspaper articles are kept ) and found this clip of a major event in August of 2006 but only part of the clipping was here.  This has to have been Ernie.  All I need to do is to find where the book signing was!  The trail is heating up, it is hots and more hots!

Johnny LaRue

MARRAKECH THE FIRST DAY

Marrakech Airport

Marrakech Airport

I was being followed. No matter which way I turned he was always a few paces away.  As I was changing my money at the money booth I caught his reflection in the glass. He appeared to be reading a local newspaper but he was holding it upside down .  The lettering on the paper was all backwards and funny looking

 I'm a professional and I know these things.

I needed to come up with a plan so I sat on a bench and took out my pen and my leather covered pad and proceeded to list out my different options.  I needed a clear head and writing in my pad always cleared my head.

My plan was to go into the Medina but that was too obvious and simple.  I needed to throw them off.
So rather than do the obvious and simple I decided to
go to Casablanca and visit Rick's Place.
Time to put my professional skills into action.
I am debating if I should call Kumar for help.
We shall see.

Johnny La Rue

YOU DO NOT WANT TO FIND ERNIE !

THE MAN

I received this phooto in the mail along with this message:

Dear Sir,
Ernie does not want to be founds.  You doose not wants to flys to Morocco on Friday.

Oh My!!!

Dear Kind Readers,
I have traveled many twisty roads in many
twisty countries and this is a first for me.  How did he get my email address?  And why does he not want me to travel to Morocco to find  Ernie Ashbury.
 There are many more questions that I can ask but I forget them right now so will ask them later.  Am I shaken...am I stirred with this message?  Yes, I am  shaken but I am not stirred.  Who is this person who calls himself "THE MAN" .
Do I stick it to the man and leave on Friday?  I have no choice, I have to see this through and I have to find Ernie Ashbury.  Wish me well my dear friends, I need your good wishes. I will redouble my efforts to find Mr Ernie...this is my fate and it is my destiny.

Johnny LaRue

IS THIS ERNIE ASHBURY???

This phooto was sent to me by I do not know who from.  It just arrived with a note that said

"  The 23rd most interesting man in the world"

Could this be the first public phooto of Mr "E"

It was postmarked from Morocco

I am familiar with this alleyway from my visits to Marrakech , to the Souks of Marrakech so I plans to go to this very spot and see the Souk Salesman that took this; find out when and find out if this is Mr Ashbury.   

Wish me well

Johnny La Rue

Mister "E" in Istanbul, could it be"

I have to post this message from Leon Armbinger.I knew once the word went out on Ernie Ashbury the messages would come flooding in...

leon armbingearApril 14, 2013 at 8:55 PM

I don't want to get too excited at this point. But I was in Istanbul is 2002 at what I guess you could call an outside mall. And I personally experienced the most amazing sales prowess that I had ever encountered. And while I parted with seventy five us dollars for nineteen turkish trinkets the experience alone was worth the cost. It wasn't until some 15 hours later that I realized I didn't need the trinkets, I had no place to put them. And they didn't fit in with the decor of my house. But as if magic as I spoke to the vendor it was as if I was transfixed. Standing behind him was an English looking gentleman whom he referred to as Mr. E. Could it be?

Do you want two or three of the gold bracelets ?