back from morocco!
Hello darlings, it's been a while. We've been back from Morocco nearly two weeks, so I really should have updated before now.
The trip was really good. Maybe not quite what I'd consider a holiday, but interesting foreign travel nonetheless.
After a slightly shambolic change in Casablanca, we arrived in Marrakech Saturday night, were picked up at the airport by our hotel transfer, then dropped in the medina near our riad where the roads ended, where a local kid took us down the narrow passageways in the dark to a remote corner where we were staying. Thank goodness we had 5 euros on us for a tip. We had a mint tea with the weekend porter then headed for bed.
Sunday morning was very stressful for me. After breakfast we ventured straight out into the medina but could not find the main square for anything. After a long and somewhat expensive tour of the tanneries (by locals of course....) and three paid-for misdirects by children, we finally found it. Then the dreaded walk back, not really knowing how to find the derb where we lived. More wandering and more touting, all the while dodging mopeds, scooters, and donkey carts. It was all a bit too much for me. Somehow we managed to find home. Calm, safe home. Getting scammed once or twice by locals is all part of the experience in foreign lands (boatman in Abredeen harbour HK anyone?) but the last kid just really annoyed me because we just couldn't get around. Luckily our riad owner, Thierry, was trustworthy and the place was peaceful and quiet.
It was still early, but neither one of us wanted to go out into the madness again. The wife wanted to rest and read, and anyway I fancied a hamam, so that's the afternoon settled. Thierry said as part of his service, he'd book the hamam and take me, if I wanted a proper experience (i.e. used by locals and not a spa). That's exactly what I was looking for, and thank goodness he took me. I had no idea what to do. He bought the scrub mitten and the soap sort of stuff (which I never caught the name of), paid the people at the entrance, and took me in. I stripped to my undies in the lobby, then we went into the hot room, where I sat on the marble floor against all the tile work and relaxed while he played with buckets and spoke to locals. The place was packed with men and children, all scrubbing each other down. I loved just sitting there taking in the room and the action. What a great tradition. Anyway, he eventually returned with some hot water. We wetted ourselves then rubbed the brown, aromatic goo all over ourselves. He then gave me my mitten and spoke to a short, dark, toothless man who lead me to a cooler room. I was instructed to lie this way and that on the floor while the short man pulled, stretched, and scoured me to within an inch of my life. When I was all clean and rinsed, Thierry collected me; we put our clothes back on and walked back to the riad. I took careful note of the route and landmarks!
After all the excitement, I wanted a nice place for dinner; somewhere that caters to people such as ourselves. The nice place around the corner was booked up, and several others Thierry tried were closed, but finally he got us into Dar Zallidj. Different part of the medina, of course. We were advised to take a taxi, which we did. Unfortunately, it was the Marrakech vs Casablanca football match (ooooh!), so many streets were closed off by gendarmes for security. After finding an open entrance -- and picking up his wife on the way! -- our taxi driver set us down at the spot for the restaurant. Which we could not find. Children saying, "c'est fermé," giggling. But, after not too long, a man in a hooded cloak holding a lantern came and guided us down some more narrow passageways to the big wooden entrance, with a carpet and the smell of incense spilling out. They took us to the roof terrace for the sunset and an aperatif before seating us in the courtyard for dinner. A nice bottle of Moroccan wine (Medallion) was ordered. And relax.
Our success in finding our way home in the dark after dinner prompted us to head straight out Monday morning. We had a coffee in Cafe de France, some of the best orange juice on earth in the big square, then quite a good shop in the souks. Short rest in the riad, then back out to the square for dinner in the famous food market. Frenetic touting, particularly amusing English ("it's M&S chicken"), and we settled in to a place that looked clean. The food was so-so (nothing like the tagine and salads from the night before) but cheap as chips. After dinner we had an encounter for a monkey man: I got my photo, but he did not get the amount of money he wanted. 200 dirhams? Howabout 50 and a half a pack of cigarettes. Normally I'd feel guilty, but I reckon he can get whatever else he wants from one of the three children who we paid the day before. Anyway, we went in search of mint tea before going home. What we found was a cute kid peddling something that certainly was not mint tea. It was strong, gingery, good, and cheap. The little cakes were good too. Plus, he was amusing. Very cheap night and fitting end to the evening.
Tuesday we were off across the Kingdom of Morocco. We'd advertised two seats on our private tour which were taken up by a pair of American girls. One had never left the country and the other had only been to England once when she was in school. Quite an adventurous trip, I'd say. Anyway, they were lovely and we all got along great. Our guide, Hassan, was also excellent. Better than his English skills would foretell, heh. Anyway, I won't list all the cities we went through, but there was a lot of driving to get to Erg Chebbi. Almost all of the scenery along the way was amazing. Stark desert against oasis is an incredible sight. We stayed in a converted kasbah once night. We saw the famous ksar from all the movies. We saw nomads herding their goats and sheep. We ate at our guide's house, couscous prepared by his mother, and found it the best food of the trip. We bought a rug, obviously. And spices. We road a camel over the stunning dunes of the Erg Chebbi to watch sunset, see shooting stars, sleep under a Berber tent, then ride them back for sunrise. Yeah, good tour.
We arrived back in Marrakech Friday evening in time to change and go around the corner to the fancy place we couldn't get into on our first night, Le Foundouk. I thought I'd find the city stressful after several quiet days driving across the country, but in fact, the bustle enlivened me. We walked around to the meeting point where another man in a cloak led us in to an even more stunning restaurant. Food maybe slightly better than the first night, with the exception of the salads. I had pastilla. Pigeon pie. Heavy, but good. Elipse de Sahara was the Moroccan wine for that evening. I'd buy a case of it, if I could find it. I had some lovely flavoured homemade icecreams to end, and we strolled back to our riad to pack for the flight home. As I said, not the most relaxing time away, but we saw so much.
The trip was really good. Maybe not quite what I'd consider a holiday, but interesting foreign travel nonetheless.
After a slightly shambolic change in Casablanca, we arrived in Marrakech Saturday night, were picked up at the airport by our hotel transfer, then dropped in the medina near our riad where the roads ended, where a local kid took us down the narrow passageways in the dark to a remote corner where we were staying. Thank goodness we had 5 euros on us for a tip. We had a mint tea with the weekend porter then headed for bed.
Sunday morning was very stressful for me. After breakfast we ventured straight out into the medina but could not find the main square for anything. After a long and somewhat expensive tour of the tanneries (by locals of course....) and three paid-for misdirects by children, we finally found it. Then the dreaded walk back, not really knowing how to find the derb where we lived. More wandering and more touting, all the while dodging mopeds, scooters, and donkey carts. It was all a bit too much for me. Somehow we managed to find home. Calm, safe home. Getting scammed once or twice by locals is all part of the experience in foreign lands (boatman in Abredeen harbour HK anyone?) but the last kid just really annoyed me because we just couldn't get around. Luckily our riad owner, Thierry, was trustworthy and the place was peaceful and quiet.
It was still early, but neither one of us wanted to go out into the madness again. The wife wanted to rest and read, and anyway I fancied a hamam, so that's the afternoon settled. Thierry said as part of his service, he'd book the hamam and take me, if I wanted a proper experience (i.e. used by locals and not a spa). That's exactly what I was looking for, and thank goodness he took me. I had no idea what to do. He bought the scrub mitten and the soap sort of stuff (which I never caught the name of), paid the people at the entrance, and took me in. I stripped to my undies in the lobby, then we went into the hot room, where I sat on the marble floor against all the tile work and relaxed while he played with buckets and spoke to locals. The place was packed with men and children, all scrubbing each other down. I loved just sitting there taking in the room and the action. What a great tradition. Anyway, he eventually returned with some hot water. We wetted ourselves then rubbed the brown, aromatic goo all over ourselves. He then gave me my mitten and spoke to a short, dark, toothless man who lead me to a cooler room. I was instructed to lie this way and that on the floor while the short man pulled, stretched, and scoured me to within an inch of my life. When I was all clean and rinsed, Thierry collected me; we put our clothes back on and walked back to the riad. I took careful note of the route and landmarks!
After all the excitement, I wanted a nice place for dinner; somewhere that caters to people such as ourselves. The nice place around the corner was booked up, and several others Thierry tried were closed, but finally he got us into Dar Zallidj. Different part of the medina, of course. We were advised to take a taxi, which we did. Unfortunately, it was the Marrakech vs Casablanca football match (ooooh!), so many streets were closed off by gendarmes for security. After finding an open entrance -- and picking up his wife on the way! -- our taxi driver set us down at the spot for the restaurant. Which we could not find. Children saying, "c'est fermé," giggling. But, after not too long, a man in a hooded cloak holding a lantern came and guided us down some more narrow passageways to the big wooden entrance, with a carpet and the smell of incense spilling out. They took us to the roof terrace for the sunset and an aperatif before seating us in the courtyard for dinner. A nice bottle of Moroccan wine (Medallion) was ordered. And relax.
Our success in finding our way home in the dark after dinner prompted us to head straight out Monday morning. We had a coffee in Cafe de France, some of the best orange juice on earth in the big square, then quite a good shop in the souks. Short rest in the riad, then back out to the square for dinner in the famous food market. Frenetic touting, particularly amusing English ("it's M&S chicken"), and we settled in to a place that looked clean. The food was so-so (nothing like the tagine and salads from the night before) but cheap as chips. After dinner we had an encounter for a monkey man: I got my photo, but he did not get the amount of money he wanted. 200 dirhams? Howabout 50 and a half a pack of cigarettes. Normally I'd feel guilty, but I reckon he can get whatever else he wants from one of the three children who we paid the day before. Anyway, we went in search of mint tea before going home. What we found was a cute kid peddling something that certainly was not mint tea. It was strong, gingery, good, and cheap. The little cakes were good too. Plus, he was amusing. Very cheap night and fitting end to the evening.
Tuesday we were off across the Kingdom of Morocco. We'd advertised two seats on our private tour which were taken up by a pair of American girls. One had never left the country and the other had only been to England once when she was in school. Quite an adventurous trip, I'd say. Anyway, they were lovely and we all got along great. Our guide, Hassan, was also excellent. Better than his English skills would foretell, heh. Anyway, I won't list all the cities we went through, but there was a lot of driving to get to Erg Chebbi. Almost all of the scenery along the way was amazing. Stark desert against oasis is an incredible sight. We stayed in a converted kasbah once night. We saw the famous ksar from all the movies. We saw nomads herding their goats and sheep. We ate at our guide's house, couscous prepared by his mother, and found it the best food of the trip. We bought a rug, obviously. And spices. We road a camel over the stunning dunes of the Erg Chebbi to watch sunset, see shooting stars, sleep under a Berber tent, then ride them back for sunrise. Yeah, good tour.
We arrived back in Marrakech Friday evening in time to change and go around the corner to the fancy place we couldn't get into on our first night, Le Foundouk. I thought I'd find the city stressful after several quiet days driving across the country, but in fact, the bustle enlivened me. We walked around to the meeting point where another man in a cloak led us in to an even more stunning restaurant. Food maybe slightly better than the first night, with the exception of the salads. I had pastilla. Pigeon pie. Heavy, but good. Elipse de Sahara was the Moroccan wine for that evening. I'd buy a case of it, if I could find it. I had some lovely flavoured homemade icecreams to end, and we strolled back to our riad to pack for the flight home. As I said, not the most relaxing time away, but we saw so much.