Back to the coast and Marakesh

It was time to leave the Atlas Mountains behind but first we had to walk back to the village at the bottom of the valley...about a fifty minute walk. It was useful that both of us were born in the Year of the Goat as most of the walk was on what appeared to be a goat track!

We watched the sunshine hit the top of Jebel Toubkal as we made our way back to the bus. We had a different bus today, same driver, after yesterday's frequent stops to attend to an 'annoying light ' on the dashboard. The road was very narrow and winding and we experienced a rapid stop on one corner to accommodate a passing truck...if Michael had stuck his finger out the window he could have touched the truck and on my side I was looking straight down into the river a few hundred feet below. A kick start for the heart.
Our hosts had packed us a picnic so we stopped for lunch in a eucalyptus grove, then gave what hadn't been eaten to a homeless man on the side of he road.
Before arriving in Essaouria, we visited an argon oil factory to see the process. The argon tree produces a fruit which has a seed a little like an almond. The kernel is processed and the oil used for salads as well as cosmetics. A few purchases were made.

Argon fruit

Nuts are ground, residue formed into patties for animal food, oil used in cosmetics and salad dressing.

By the time we arrived at Essaouria, on the coast, the skies had opened and it was very much like north coast winters day...cold, wet and blustery. 

The name Essaouira means image, which is appropriate since it's such a picturesque town.  This laidback artists' town is a former Portuguese trading colony and was once home to sizeable British and Jewish populations. The town faces a group of rocky islands - called the Mogador - and is surrounded by an expanse of sandy beaches and dunes.

It's still a busy fishing port and its pretty harbour is filled with tiny colourful boats which go out early every morning for the day's catch. Visitors who have been seduced by its charms include Orson Welles and Jimi Hendrix, who (according to local legend) spent much of his time here in the 1960s. More recently, filmmaker Ridley Scott chose the ramparts as an important location for his film, Kingdom of Heaven.

Busy seaport of Essaouira

Samir took us to a local restaurant for a very tasty meal and an introduction to Gnaoua music. This form of music was brought to Morocco centuries ago by slaves from he south. The main instrument is a guitar made from camel skin...and the performer is able to swing the tassel on his fez while he plays!

Our guided tour the next morning with Rashida was very interesting as Essaouira has a mixed history. She also pointed us to the best hot chocolate cafe in town, which of course some us visited. 

After having the best tagine to date, lamb with prunes and almonds, I wandered through the medina while Michael went with some of the others to experience a hammam. He came back feeling very relaxed after have boiling water poured over him, sitting in the steam room, being covered in black soap which was then removed, before being exfoliated with a 'sandpaper' glove...his description. There was also a massage thrown in there as well. 

Samir shopped for dinner ingredients and the hotel cooked us Tagines around the fireplace. We followed up with a few rounds of cards before people succumbed to weariness.

The weather had cleared a little the next morning so we took a stroll along the beachfront before checking out the best hot chocolate in town...and it was seriously good! We returned to our lunch spot of yesterday before boarding the local bus for the drive to Marrakesh.

By the time we arrive everyone was weary, including Samir, so we ate a delicious meal in the hotel and retired early.

We all decided that a walking tour was a good way to introduce us to Marrakesh so Samir organised a guide for us. During the tour we visited the Palais Bahia, the ruins of the Palais Badi, reputedly one of the most beautiful palaces in the world in its time and the Saadian tombs, a recently uncovered gem of the Medina. After a wander through the souk we returned to the Place Djemaa el-Fna for our final group dinner. In the evening the area is full of singers, drummers, dancers, snake charmers, fortune tellers, tooth pullers, storytellers, jugglers and even old medicine men, who all make up what has been dubbed the 'greatest spectacle on earth'...but if you even look like taking a photo there is someone by your side immediately asking for money!

Souk in Marrakesh

The majority of our group departed the next morning but 4 of us had booked in for a tagine cooking class. Karima met us at a local coffee shop and after buying all our ingredients, including VERY fresh chickens we went to her home. Her mother and sister help with the preparations, while we had a demo on the correct way to make mint tea before cooking our Lemon Chicken Tagine. 

After our lunch it was time to prepare for a train trip to Casablanca where we had an overnight stop before flying back to Singapore.

Karima, her mum and sister.

Karima attending to our lunch

All set to cook

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Atlas Mountains and beyond

Today saw us heading towards the Middle Atlas Mountains. Our first stop was at the village of Ifran, a place where you could be excused for thinking you had been transported to an Alpine village in France or Switzerland. Apparently earlier this year it was named as the second cleanest town in the world! Moroccans from the bigger cities come here to ski and escape the heat in the summer.

Samir with ice from the pond

Autumnal tones in Ifran...it was freezing!

Crossing the plains we passed through Apple and cherry production areas before stopping in a wooded are to interact with Berber macaques.

We stopped at a village and had a BBQ...the best chops I have ever eaten...and I can tick off one of the things I have missed about Australia...BBQ!

After we arrived at our hotel in Midelt Samir led us on an afternoon walk along the top of a gorge and through the mud-brick village of Berrem. Approaching it from above you felt like you were stepping in to a scene from the time of Jesus ( apart from the smattering of satellite dishes on some of the rooftops.)

Mud brick village of Berrem

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View from the rooftop of accommodation in Midelt

The following day we crossed the High Atlas Mountains, at 1907m, stopping for some panoramic shots of the river and the Ziz Oasis. This was not what I always imagined an oasis to be...a fertile spot in the middle of a desert area. Instead it is actually an area along a watercourse and is 170km long.

Ziz Oasis

We stopped in a market in Arrachidia and purchased items for a picnic lunch, including olives, bread, pomegranate, bananas, almonds and cashews...delicious!

From here we travelled to the end of the road arriving at the Erg Chebbi dunes on the edge of the Sahara Desert. We traded our vehicle for an older form of transport, camels, and rode off in to the sunset. Some members of the group elected to climb a sand dune and walk the last bit, but myself and two others elected to stay on the camels. I sure was glad to arrive at camp after an hour and a half on a camel.

Mikey of Arabia!

The night in the desert was amazing, very cold, but we had come prepared so once in bed we were as warm as toast. The blankets felt more like carpets they were so heavy. The night sky, with a nearly full moon, was full of stars and we were entertained around the campfire by drumming and some pretty lame jokes. I could now tick of number 2 on my things I miss list...a sky full of stars!
We were up early the next morning to climb the nearest sand dune in time to witness the sunrise, before riding our camels back to the inn for breakfast. All went well until my camel decided to stand up in the middle of my dismount. At the time I had one foot on the ground and the other at the top of the saddle so I crashed to the ground fairly heavily. Apart from being winded I was ok although I am not sure that I haven't cracked a couple of ribs...time will tell.
Our next stop was Todra Gorge. On the way we visited a well preserved Berber Kasbah and visited the Berber Museum. We noticed that the women in this area did not wear the long Kaftan but rather tie what looks like a bed sheet around themselves to cover their form. Before we arrived at our destination we stopped in a supermarket to get some supplies...alcohol was available but you had to go in to the storeroom out the back and it was placed inside the plastic bag before you returned to the shop to pay for it.
This area has been subjected to some heavy rain (Samir tells us they have have had as much rain in 2 weeks as they usually get in 20 years!)and flash flooding about 2 weeks ago and the hotel where we were staying was across a bridge which was washed away. The locals have rebuilt the bridge which was more basic than anything we encountered in Nepal, although closer to the ground!

new bridge across to our accommodation!

We had a quiet day here with 2 walking options. Michael and Leslie elected to go on the more demanding one (4 hours) up the mountainside where they had tea with a nomad family in their cave home.

Nomad family in their cave home

He claimed it gave him flashbacks of Nepal. The rest of us chose the easy option (2 hours) which was a walk along the river bank through the farming plots, taking care due to the amount of riverbank washed away in the recent flooding. We continued on through Todra Gorge. Parts of Mission Impossible 2 and The Mummy returns were shot here. We then met up in a local restaurant for Berber pizza and an introduction to Berber carpets. This time it was Michael's Xmas present, just a small example of a locally made mat.

Todra Gorge. A recent rock fall that squashed part of a guest house

Todra Gorge

The next day on our way to Ait Benhaddou we visited the Horizon Association for People with Disabilities and passed through the Dades valley . When we stopped at the Kasbah Amridil we were entertained by a very pleasant guide. This Kasbah is on the 50 Dirhum note and has featured in a number of movies as well.

"Kasbah Amridil which features on the 50 Dirhum note

The whole area seems to be regularly used for movies and Atlas is one of the companies with a studio here.
We stayed overnight in Ait Benhaddou, a kasbah town that has featured in Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. It seems I have somes movies I have to watch when we get home!  We took a stroll to the top of the ancient Kasbah passing an area that was used in The Gladiator before our host gave us a how to cook couscous demonstration.

Ait Benhaddou

Ingredients for couscous

We had the longest drive of our tour today( about6 hours), crossing the Atlas Mts again via theTizi n Tichka Pass at 2260m. It was cold and windy up there and some of the roads we travelled were very winding.

Our holiday "summit

We stowed our luggage at the tiny town of Imlil, at the end of the road and with just an overnight pack walked up to Aremd for the night. It took about an hour and was reminiscent of last years trek in Nepal...made me pleased I was in Morocco and not Nepal! From the terrace at the guest house we had a fabulous view of Morocco's highest Mountain, Jebel Toubkal. In our rooms we found examples of the local clothing to wear...jeelaba, with a hood, and a kaftan, no hood. Of course we had to try them!

Local Attire!

Jebel Toubkal, the one on the left, Morocco's highest mountain

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Morocco- Days 1-4

Ready to depart Singapore on a bright sunny morning. We survived the first leg of our trip, Singapore to Dubai, without any dramas. The leg from Dubai to Casablanca was so empty that each passenger could have had a row of seats, so that was 3 for Michael and 4 for me. This was fortunate as when we arrived there was a 'systems failure' in the immigration area so it took almost an hour to be processed. We were met by our booked driver but then had to wait for another passenger, who didn't turn up, so from arrival to leaving the airport was over 2 hours. Not a great start!

Woke to overcast, wet morning but ventured out after breakfast. Wandered through the old Medina being pestered constantly by 'friends' who just wanted to help, then on to the Hassan II Mosque for a group tour.the Mosque is the second largest mosque in the world , second only to the one in Mecca. On our way back to the hotel we passed Rick's Cafe so had lunch there, a must considering we were in Casablanca! After a short rest we then meandered over to the 'new Medina' before returning to meet our tour group. All in all we covered about 15km today.

Hassan II Mosque

Rick's Cafe

We met the rest of our group, a total of 8, of which the only male is Michael! We have 1 Kiwi, 1 Canadian and 6 Aussies. Fortunately our leader, Samir, is male, so Michael is not completely overwhelmed. We have begun to think there is some connection between us and the breaking of droughts! Samir tells us that it rarely rains in Morocco but in the last 2 weeks there has been massive rainfalls (what they usually get in 20 YEARS!) resulting in flooding, bridges being washed away etc!!!

A breakfast we got used to...with minor variations!

Following a typical Moroccan breakfast the next morning we had a one hour train ride, travelling in a very crowded second class to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Samir gave us instructions and sent us off to explore the Kasbah and the Mausoleum containing the remains of the current king's father, uncle and grandfather.

Inside the Kasbah in Rabat

 He didn't really give us an idea of the distance so it turned out to be quite a walk but luckily on returning to our meeting place he greeted us with a mixed box of very delicious pastries...the best according to him.

Mixed pastries

Then it was time to board another train, this time in small, very packed compartments with a number of locals who clearly would rather we weren't there. We arrived in Meknes in time to check in to the Hotel Majestic and head out for dinner.
Meknes was once an imperial city of Morocco and the capital of one of its most colourful eras, when the Sultan Moulay Ismail (a contemporary of Louis XIV) set out to build his own version of Versailles, constructing walls, gates and over 50 palaces with an unstoppable labour force of over 25,000 slaves.We all decided to take up the optional walking tour of Meknes which turned out to be a great option. Our guide, Abdullahtif, was very knowledgeable taking us to visit  Moulay Ismail's immense Heri es Souani Granary, a mammoth architectural feat and the city's now crumbling imperial palaces and certainly gave us a greater awareness of the sights we saw as well as guiding us through the Medina. When Samir met us he led us back in to the Medina to our lunch spot,the smallest 'restaurant' I have ever been in, for camel burgers!

this is the entire 'restaurant'!

Michael enjoying his camel burger

After lunch we travelled on to Volubilis, Morocco's most impressive Roman ruin. Volubilis was one of the Roman empire's most remote bases, which remained affluent until the 8th century. The main structures remained intact until they were damaged by an earthquake in the 18th century, after which much of the marble was taken for construction in nearby Meknes.Our guide here looked like Joe Peche, and was determined to drop as many English colloquialisms in to his spiel as he could. 

'Joe Peche' our guide, with Samir, group leader

Group Photo at Volubilis

From here it was on to Fes, Morocco's most traditional city, where we stayed for 2 nights. Fes is the most complete medieval city in the Arab world. The most ancient of Morocco's imperial cities, it exists suspended in time.
We spent our day in Fes with a local guide, Aziz, who began our morning with a visit to the gates of the Royal Palace before a walk through the Jewish Quarter, followed by a visit to a ceramics factory where we saw the whole process from the grey clay being prepared through the making and glazing of pottery items. Apparently grey clay is best because, unlike terracotta it does not contain any lead. It was here that I was able to convince Michael that a tagine would be a suitable Xmas present.
After this we headed into the Medina, one of the best preserved and still functioning in the world. Descending into the labyrinthine alleyways of the Medina is like taking a giant step back to the Middle Ages. Preserved by the French for its historical value, this preservation also led to the decline of the city's importance, as both government and financial centres were set up elsewhere in the country. With the Jewish population moving away in 1956, and too many rural poor moving in for it to handle, this ancient centre of learning is only a shell of what it used to be. Still, it remains a fascinating living museum. It was an amazing, although at times, claustrophobic area. We visited a tanning/ leather area which I am guessing looks much the same as it did 500 years ago...and smelt pretty bad as well. We were each given a sprig of mint to sniff on when it got too much.
We visited a number of other outlets including fabric, metal work etc and by the end of the day were rather over the shopping experience. We did have a delicious lunch of Moroccan salads and Tagines in the Medina.
After a very light dinner Michael and I had a stroll along what the locals refer to as their 'Champs Elysee' before an early night.

Delicious lunch with Leslie and Jessie.

Gates of the Royal Palace

Preparation of skins for leather

Inside the Medina in Fes