ok, here goes

It is really hard to capture the beauty of Morocco in a picture, but even harder to describe in words. I am going to try to relive each day as best I can, but I have to narrow down my 700 photos to a select few.

ok, here goes…

Day 1: March 18, 2007

Woke up at 4:30am to catch our flight to Morocco. Went to the largest airport known to man (in Paris). Downed our cafe and loaded the plane with extreme nervous anticipation. An excited Moroccan woman caused a stink with the stewards and I got to sit next to an old Moroccan lady who talked to herself during the entire flight (both of which added to our nervousness).  Arrived in Fez.  Half the land looked dry and half the land was green and well manicured.  First impressions while driving to our hotel still included slight anxiety about what we were getting ourselves into.

Went to our hotel which was a former palace. We were greeted by our guide, Saida, other traveler, Joy, and mint tea (which I am now addicted to).  Took off to tromp through the medina…a surviving medieval civilization supported by UNESCO. The narrow streets were a maze of overwhelming stimulation.  There were hole in the wall produce markets with olives, meats, breads, sweets, snails…you name it we could probably find it. Donkeys carried cargo while masses of people tried to walk through the narrow passageways and avoid getting lost.

Stopped in a Koran school then had lunch of couscous and salad. Viewed women in the process of making carpets and tried to avoid making a $5,000 rug purchase. Saw the leather treatment plant (a tannery) which was quite a site and smell (we had to sniff mint while watching). All of the places we were lead to were behind random passage ways which we never would have known existed unless we had someone guide us there…amazing.

Went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the first dinner. Dinner was in a dar, a house (now restaurant) without an open garden in the middle courtyard. The food was great…8 different salads to share, bread, wine, beef skewers, fruit and mint tea for dessert.  While eating we were treated to traditional Moroccan music and dancers.  Of course there was a belly dancer who required participants and I got to be a lucky contestant. Fortunately, Joy (the other traveler in our group) passed up the opportunity to belly dance so she instead was called to participate in a mock marriage which required her to get into traditional wedding attire, ride in a carriage and spin around on top the shoulders of three burly women, then dance with her new Irish husband (who was about my age).  I am so glad that wasn’t me.

Day 2: March 19, 2007

Had a great night sleep but woke up at 5am to the call for prayers (which happens 5 times a day).  For about 15-20 minutes loudspeakers throughout Fez call the locals to get up and pray…I wish I could capture the sound.  Went to breakfast on the terrace and then viewed one of the king’s 72 palaces with 7 doors.  Saw the Jewish section of town and a synagogue. Then went to one of the two fortresses to see a view of all of Fez.  Stopped at a ceramic studio and viewed men creating bowls, carving each tile by hand into the correct shape for a ceramic piece, then arrange by tiles upside down before pouring cement over the entire piece. Bought a couple of ceramic dishes.

Went back to the medina for lunch and met the proud owner.  His second wife was quite the cook (polygamy is ok in Morocco). Went to a scarf making site and practiced covering our heads then had our hands henna tattooed at an herb shop.

Went to fortress #2 for another view of the city. Stopped for coffee and cookies, an event that became common practice on our trip.  In Morocco women are not allowed to sit outside and be seen so at all the cafes you only see men.  We broke the rules and sat with the men (this was ok’d by our guide).  Went back to our hotel and my mom and I tried to get out for a walk, but got scared by a guy who was yelling at his donkey (we thought he was hollering at us).  Dinner that night was at a riad, a home (now restaurant/hotel), with a garden in the courtyard.  The interesting thing about Morocco is the appreciation for inner beauty.  Much like how women are expected to cover themselves in order to save their beauty for only their husbands to see, homes are also only decorated on the inside.  All the homes/apartments in the country look much like an adobe dwelling with no exterior decoration. But, when you get inside the ornate details of the home is unforgettable. This particular riad had been restored and was extremely impressive with intricate interior decorations…especially on the ceilings.  Dinner was in a cedar gazebo and the food was to die for (but too much for us to consume!!).  The meal started with at least 12 different salad dishes all of which could barely fit on our table, followed by a lamb/almond tagine.  Dessert was a phyllo dough with cream and cinnamon then cookies with mint tea. Overwhelming is the only word that can describe this meal and experience.

Day 3: March 20, 2007

Drove from Fez to Ifrane, a mountain vacationland plus university town, then through other villages.  Drove over the Mid Atlas Mountains and ended in Erfoud at an Oasis-esque hotel.  I succeeded in flooding the bathroom when taking a shower, but then realized that this happens to everyone as seen by the pools of water leaking out of the front door of each hotel room.

Day 4: March 21, 2007

Had what I deemed fry bread for breakfast then loaded a day bag for our trip to the desert.  Stopped at a ksar, a palace all on one level.  The ksar was pre-restoration, but essentially it looked like an old home/former prosperous palace made of mud walls (they did have a tv of course). Then went to a restored Ksar which is now a museum.  Some men from the Moroccan radio were there and asked us some questions about our impressions of traveling in Morocco. Hopefully people don’t know enough English to be able to really understand what I said!  I was terrible and couldn’t think on the spot.  We then went to a hotel and had what we called Moroccan stuffed pizza…essentially a big sandwich in the shape of a pizza stuffed with spiced beef (really good!).  During our lunch I all of a sudden had horrendous lower back pain and could stand up straight.  Not sure what did it, but it hurt.

After lunch we boarded Toyota land cruisers with a Berber “Blue Man” driver and headed to the Sahara desert. We arrived to the red sand land and our luxury tents for the night. The tents had pole structures to them and were covered with camel skins and burlap sacks. Inside my mom and I had our own four post bed and the walls were covered with a yellow sequined fabric.  It was quite the camping experience!

Shortly after we arrived, we climbed on to camels and walked through the dunes to watch the sunset.  My back was still hurting, but I wasn’t going to let this bother me, although it was hard to stay on the camel while tensing my back and trying to take picture after picture after picture.  There are not many times when I can say I watched the sunset with my mom on top of a red sand dune in the Sahara dessert.  It was quite the serene/surreal scene.

After the sun was gone (which went very quickly) we went to the main tent for dinner. Our server was an older man who knew a bit of English and talked to us in singsong all night…he was really something.  We had quite the meal for a place that is in the middle of the dessert without any running water..barley soup, beef and vegetable tagine, chicken/caramelized onion/raisin couscous and fresh fruit for desert.  After our meal the camel guides, cooks, and our server started drumming the night away and invited us to dance (which we did, but I couldn’t keep up with the old guy who could shake his shoulders faster than anyone I know).

That night my mom and I both had rumbling stomachs and feared the ramifications of having diarrhea while in the dessert.  Luckily there were semi-working bathrooms, but in the middle of the night there was a really strong windstorm and the thought of having to forge through a wind and blowing sand in the black of night to find the bathrooms which were not right next door, would have been catastrophic.  Instead we both stayed in bed and tried to sleep.   I also feared the tent crashing down on us when the big wind gushes came around.  I reassured myself that we had our four poster beds to protect us and I formulated my survival plan if such a situation should arise.  By 5:45am the next day we woke to still standing tents and no signs of irritable bowels.  Thank goodness.

Day 5:  March 22, 2007

Woke near sunrise to ride the camels once again and watch the sunrise.  It was very very cold and we were all a little grumpy from not sleeping the night before, but we did it and the sight was great.  My hands were too cold to be able to take photos.  The old blue man greeted us again in singsong and warmed us up with coffee and fry bread before we headed out.  We four-wheeled back to the Oasis hotel before heading to Ouarzarzate (Morocco’s Hollywood).  Along the 7 hour drive we stopped for coffee and cookies twice and had lunch of some of the best meatballs and turnip soup I have ever tasted.  My mom and I have both tried to recreate the meatballs, but have not come close.  Once we arrived in Ouarzarzate we cleaned ourselves and headed to dinner with the most amazing dessert selection ever.  We had some great conversation and a restful nights sleep without a wind/sand storm to wake up to.

Day 6: March 23, 2007

Slept in and had buffet breakfast.  Looked at a few shops across the street and did a few laps around the hotel to try and burn off some of the desserts from the night before.  Went to a kasbah (a fortified community),  in a short distance from Ouarzarzate.  At the kasbah we stopped at a female painter’s shop and played with her 9 month old son.  Little boys helped us cross a river but then insisted that we pay them for their services (a common thing in Morocco…everyone expects a tip for the littlest things, even taking pictures). 

Had lunch with a VIP seat and a picturesque view.  The meal started again with salad, followed by an omlete tagine, then beef tagine with potatoes and carrots.  Dessert was the traditional orange slices topped with cinnamon (try this!  it is simple, but such a great end to a meal).  Bought a scarf at a man’s shop then headed to another kasbah and viewed the interior of the building…the view from a room where one of a number of concubines once lived

Stopped again for coffee and cookies.  Returned to the hotel for another buffet dinner (we ate a lot on this trip).

Day 7: March 24, 2007

More fry bread for breakfast (now a staple for me, how deadly!).  Drove through the windy roads of the High Atlas mountains and I slept through it all…thanks to Dramamine.  Stopped for tea at the top of the pass and Saida ordered a tea with absinthe in it (supposedly to ease uneasy stomachs).  Ate lots of cookies.

Continued to drive and arrived in Marrakech.  Walked around the hotel and watched the European sunbathers from my balcony. 

Went to the medina to see the hundreds of thousands of tourists and stalls with shoes/produce/sweets/souvenirs, then to the square to view the snake charmers, storytellers, snail cookers, and eateries.  Had an apple soda (wouldn’t recommend it) at the top of a cafe terrace.  The scene in the square in Marrakech was pretty incredible.

Saida led us through the media down some random alleyways to another riad that no one would know existed unless they had the inside scoop.  Dinner was amazing: soup, salads, lamb with figs, and cream pastry dessert.  We met the owner of the riad/hotel who was a true gentleman and intellectual all rolled into one.  He notified us that not everyone from “the outside” is invited in his riad so we were very special/lucky people.  Marrakech is a very sophisticated and cosmopolitan land…very shi-shi and touristy, but also very young and alive.   

Day 8, March 15, 2007

Went to a painter’s garden/studio then a Berber museum then a palace with amazingly restored walls and ceilings.  After the palace we were suckered into buying Moroccan 45 spice.  It is certainly Moroccan, but I am not too sure when and how to use it. 

 

Next was a chicken and french fry lunch after going to the antique shop of the riad owner from the night before.  Turns out the owner of the riad is a major celebrity in Morocco and has pictures of him with Brad Pitt (wearing a jilaba, so silly), Will Smith, Pres Ford, and Pres Reagan.  Made me feel special but at the same time a bit simple and like I am just an ant in this big wide world or something.  After lunch we went shopping at a Moroccan Claire’s where they have scarves lining the walls and sell odd accessories.  I bought a modern looking coverup/jilaba.  We walked through the new town and then had our final tea/coffee/cookie episode in the shi-shi streets of Marrakech.  Our last dinner was also the most elaborate.  We rode a horse drawn carriage to a dar hidden amongst dark and scary alleyways.  Inside we were awestruck by the beauty once again. 

We had the typical fantastic salads (eggplant, lentils, tomatoes, sweet cucumbers, spring roll-ish things, carrots, olives, leeks), then a beef tagine, couscous, and my favorite pastilla!  Dessert was phyllo dough and cream and mint tea, of course.  Belly dancers and traditional music filled the air and the sense that the trip was nearly over came crashing down on us. I honestly did leave the dar feeling overwhelmed by both the food and the trip as a whole.  I would certainly recommend that people travel to Morocco (Vietnam first, then Morocco).  Oh, what a place.