morocco wasn't really part of the original plan that pert and i devised when we plotted out our stops, but this one guy i met in my athens hostel just sold me on it. after checking out ryan air prices, i had decided i just had to make it happen. this was my second time in africa, (first time was egypt almost 2 years ago) so i wasn't too anxious. more excited to speak french more than anything after playing the charades and limited spanish phrases game for about 3 weeks.
i walked around and explored a bit on my own. my riad was really close to the famous square place jeema el fna. this square is huuuuuge and really came to life at night. there were tons of food stalls everywhere, henna tattoo ladies begging you to go to them, and entertainers of all types including and not limited to...snake charmers. those who know me well, know how big of a sissy (could substitute a different word here) i am when it comes to those things so you can imagine my discomfort walking around the square careful to avoid any areas where i heard the flute being played.
i signed up for a 3 day excursion that started the next day. i was really excited to do a tour because for a few days because i wanted someone to do the thinking for me. i wanted someone to tell me when to get into the car, when to get out, when to eat, when to sleep. i considered it my little break before portugal :) this excursion took us through some berber villages, the atlas mountains and then you ended the second night by spending the night in the sahara desert!
after the first day, i definitely thought to myself 'what the eff did i sign up for' because there was sooo much driving. after driving for a while, the unfriendly driver who wore absurdly bright paints with the country of africa printed all over them, would tell us 'PHOTO' and then yell 'LET'S GO' when it was time to get back into the oven. yeah, that's right...we were traveling around in freaking africa, in a minivan with NO AC.
this made me very angry because i had specifically asked on the phone before doing the tour if there would be AC. i was told yes, then homeboy tells us there isn't AC which i found it hard to believe because, well, we are in africa. the weather's not exactly moderate here. it was on the second day when i was sweating from sitting that i decided to ask if there was AC again to which he replied yes there is and i yelled are you shitting me!? that's when homeboy told us he wanted us to pay him an extra 150 dirham EACH for him to turn it on. fuck. you. i was so livid but being my stubborn self i was not about to give into this game. i was half yelling at him in french and english to which he replied he had two children at home. NOT MY PROBLEM, DUDE! yeah...we never got the ac in the end. however, we stopped to get gas and somehow all this gas ended up all over his body which was karma at its finest.
anyway, back to the tour, we stopped at a berber village which was cool to check out. all the buildings there were made out of clay. i noticed that about the parts that i saw in morocco...all the buildings were the same color perhaps because they were all made out of clay. although these villages are cool to see, i really question if people really live there, or if they're just tourist attractions. i mean...these places were in the middle of no man's land.
the highlight of the tour was definitely the sahara. we got the zagora and then rode camels to the tents that we would spend the night in. we got there, then climbed a huge dune to attempt to see the sunset, to realize that there were a lot of other dunes in the way after we got to the top. oops. but we still took some nice pics. we had some good tagine for dinner and then listened to the berber men play drums and sing for us before sleeping outside. it was so quiet and peaceful there. i really enjoyed it. i woke up every now and then because of the wind, and at one point i looked up in the sky and the stars were amazing! the moon had moved enough that you could see the stars so well, and there were so many. i was a happy camper. the next morning, we woke up early and watched the sunrise which was also cool. the it was time to head back to marrakech. at the end, i will say that the tour was worth it becuse i got to see the sahara and had a great night there. homeboy didn't even try to ask for a tip because he knew better. i kind of wished he would've though so i could've laughed in his face.
one thing about marrakech that was annoying was you didn't know who you could trust because everyone is always after your money. i couldn't walk more than 10 seconds without someone either telling me 'kinochiwa' or approaching me to ask where i'm going. they always wanted to lead you somewhere so that they could get you to tip them in the end. i will say there were some people who out of the goodness of their hearts helped me with directions, but for the most part, everyone just wanted my dirhams!
on the flip side, one thing that i will miss about morocco is the fresh squeezed orange juice! for about $0.50 you could get a glass from the square. it was so tasty and refreshing especially in that heat. the tagines and couscous were very good as well. that's all i ate the four short days i was there. it was definitely a nice change eating vegetables again after all the jamon i consumed in spain. spending only four days in morocco was definitely very short, but i'm glad i fit it into the itinerary. i won't lie though, i'm pretty excited to go back to europe, but sad that portugal is my last stop :(
i arrived and it. was. so. hot. it put seville to shame. i found my way to my riad (kind of like a hostel, but essentially an old building that is open with a central courtyard that goes for several floors complete with a roof terrace) and was welcomed with mint tea. that is one thing i loved about morocco--mint tea is their whiskey. everywhere we went we were greeted with mint tea, and my riad had awesome people working there who would make us tea at all times of the day. oh how i will miss ibrahim.
the souk at jemaa al fna
spice market
i went to a tannery to check out the leather making process which was a very interesting experience. i had to bargain with this old man so he could show me around because these are family owned establishments. after getting him to 10 dirham (~$1.50) from 50 dirham, he shoved in my hand a few stalks of mint and off we went. why mint? because the leather process can be very smelly and this was supposed to mask it. it didn't really. from what i gathered, after they skin the animals, they wash it in the vat looking things, then at some point, pigeon poo (excrement de pigeon en francais) is involved because i think some chemical reaction happens and it helps the leather somehow, then they let it dry, then dye it if they want, then let it dry again, and voila: leather. i wouldn't really take my word for it because homeboy tried to speak english and tell me what the process was, but it was so bad i told him to just do it in french and well, my french isn't what it used to be soo...yea. in the end they got me to buy a bag. i probably paid too much despite bargaining. i don't want to talk about. but whatever, i'm on vacation, right?
a lady in the berber village
todra gorge
this made me very angry because i had specifically asked on the phone before doing the tour if there would be AC. i was told yes, then homeboy tells us there isn't AC which i found it hard to believe because, well, we are in africa. the weather's not exactly moderate here. it was on the second day when i was sweating from sitting that i decided to ask if there was AC again to which he replied yes there is and i yelled are you shitting me!? that's when homeboy told us he wanted us to pay him an extra 150 dirham EACH for him to turn it on. fuck. you. i was so livid but being my stubborn self i was not about to give into this game. i was half yelling at him in french and english to which he replied he had two children at home. NOT MY PROBLEM, DUDE! yeah...we never got the ac in the end. however, we stopped to get gas and somehow all this gas ended up all over his body which was karma at its finest.
le asshole
the highlight of the tour was definitely the sahara. we got the zagora and then rode camels to the tents that we would spend the night in. we got there, then climbed a huge dune to attempt to see the sunset, to realize that there were a lot of other dunes in the way after we got to the top. oops. but we still took some nice pics. we had some good tagine for dinner and then listened to the berber men play drums and sing for us before sleeping outside. it was so quiet and peaceful there. i really enjoyed it. i woke up every now and then because of the wind, and at one point i looked up in the sky and the stars were amazing! the moon had moved enough that you could see the stars so well, and there were so many. i was a happy camper. the next morning, we woke up early and watched the sunrise which was also cool. the it was time to head back to marrakech. at the end, i will say that the tour was worth it becuse i got to see the sahara and had a great night there. homeboy didn't even try to ask for a tip because he knew better. i kind of wished he would've though so i could've laughed in his face.
on the flip side, one thing that i will miss about morocco is the fresh squeezed orange juice! for about $0.50 you could get a glass from the square. it was so tasty and refreshing especially in that heat. the tagines and couscous were very good as well. that's all i ate the four short days i was there. it was definitely a nice change eating vegetables again after all the jamon i consumed in spain. spending only four days in morocco was definitely very short, but i'm glad i fit it into the itinerary. i won't lie though, i'm pretty excited to go back to europe, but sad that portugal is my last stop :(
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