Morocco Part 1

Welcome to Morocco, for real this time. While I usually travel on my own, sometimes I splurge and do a guided tour.  It definitely has its advantages; for one thing, the hotels are far more luxurious than where I normally stay. It’s also really nice to have other people to share the new experiences with.  And totally I lucked out on this trip, the people I met were beyond awesome!  I booked my trip with Gate 1 travel www.gate1travel.com and I would highly recommend them.  This trip was entitled 13 day Kasbah and Deserts of Morocco.  I paid just under $2000 which included a single supplement.  

I arrived a day early and decided to spend my free time doing a little sightseeing on my own. I think I've said before that I hate taking taxis because as a tourist, I always get ripped off. Today was a brutal reminder. I asked how much to go to the souk, which is the huge outdoor market. I was told 50 Durham which is about $5. I thought that sounded fine and got in. The driver promptly told me that the souk was closed today. He then offered to take me to another market.  He said we would stop by a spice market on the way. I said okay to the market but no I did not want to go to the spice market. He insisted. I said no. He drove me there anyway.  It wasn’t a market, more of a shop and he said he would wait for me.  Of course, like fool, I went in and was promptly pressured to buy something.  I did want to try some of the spices; I just didn't want the quantity they insisted I take.

We get to the market and it's a very small version of what I envisioned souk to be. The driver indicated I should go in a mall and again said he would wait for me. After telling him no thank you several times, he insisted. I told him fine I will be back in an hour and proceeded towards the market. He was very adamant that I go to the mall. I told him I had no interest in the mall, I wanted the market. He was very insistent that I go in the mall but this time I walked off leaving him standing there. (I know, sooo many red flags.)  After walking around this very small market for a few minutes I quickly came to the end.  With little other choice, I went back to the mall. It turned out not to be a mall, rather a huge three-story shop selling everything imaginable. They had carpets, rugs, clothes, knick-knacks, porcelain plates, paintings, and on and on. This place had several security guards and they were busy following people around. They kept a discreet distance but there was no doubt that they were shadowing customers. I look behind me and sure enough I had my own guard. It was an interesting place to walk through, but not what I came for. I went back outside and walked around a bit more, this time picking up an unwanted tour guide.  He started following me, telling me about the things the various vendors were selling.  Even though I ignored him, he still tried leading me to various other locations.  After about 10 min of absolutely no acknowledgment from me, he finally gave up.  This same scenario would be replayed several times during the trip, it didn’t matter if I was alone or with someone.  I do want to point out, that while it was very annoying, at no time did I feel unsafe.  These people aren’t usually trying to outright rob or harm you, they are just pretty aggressive about getting you to pay them for something, and of course overcharge you when they can.  Which is not to say that you are not at risk from pickpockets of course, and obviously you wouldn’t follow them into unpopulated places.   

Eventually, it was time for my ride back. I tipped my driver and thanked him for showing me around. The entire ride there and back he did give me a bit of history of the city and commentary on things we are passing. I was pretty sure that he has overcharged me, but I only paid the equivalent of $12 so it wasn't that bad. Until I met up with the tour group that is. I asked our guide about the souk being closed in the afternoon and he said absolutely not. He then said my ride should have been about a third what he charged. As if all that wasn’t enough, the spices I paid $10 for, should have been closer to $2.  So now I'm really pissed at the absolute audacity of this ass hat! All I wanted to do was go walk around the souk and take in the sights. He instead decided to blatantly lie and take me to 2 shops where of course he got a kick back, and then charged me 3X as much cab fare to boot. I guess it just serves as a reinforcement to never trust taxis!  Even as I’m writing this, I’m mad all over.  Not even for the overcharging, which I expect, but the fact that he totally lied about the souk!  To be honest, I’m probably more angry at myself for not seeing it was a scam at the time.  And I can’t even enjoy the spices I bought because it just serves as a reminder.   

That night I got to meet the rest of my tour group and I really like everybody. There were 2 other single travelers, Christine and Donna, as well as 2 other sets of single women traveling together, Gail and Nancy, and Susan and Georgian   We all got along so well, we talked of potentially traveling together again. After the group meeting, I think there were 40 of us, my new core group decided to go to dinner. There were supposed to be some restaurants on the rooftop of the nearby mall, so we headed that way. Sadly, it turned out to be your typical mall food court. I got something called a taco which actually was more like a burrito, except that it was composed of chicken cordon bleu, french fries, a very rich mayonnaise, wrapped up in a thick tortilla; think Taco Bell crunch wrap. It actually was pretty good, but the mayonnaise was so rich I could only eat about half of it. We got quite a kick out of how exotic our first meal was. We laughed the whole time we ate. 

Day 3 - Our actual 1st day since day 1 and 2 were travel and arrival days.  We hopped on a bus for a tour of Marrakesh, also known as “Ochre City”. The itinerary said “Home to a population of over one million, Marrakesh was one of the major imperial cities of historical Morocco. The city is divided into two areas; the Medina, or the historical city, and the Ville Nouvelle, the European-inspired modern city.”    

We went to a few sites including the Saadian tombs.  Saadian tombs are one of the only remains of the Saadian dynasty, who claimed to be descendants of Muhammad, that reigned over Marrakech between 1524 to 1659.  This was very unlike Christian cemeteries, tombs, or memorials. It was a very beautiful building with plenty of tiled archways, but all the rooms were empty. The floor was tiled with some raised ridges. Apparently the ridge signifies whether a male or a female is buried there. It seems it is a Muslim custom to not identify the body buried there, only the gender  I gathered this only applies to royalty or important people, and not your average cemetery. I did a quick Google search, and this may be a regional (and historic) tradition.  In more common Muslim cemeteries, the body is buried without a coffin, is laying on its right side, and facing Mecca.  The marker is raised about 12 in above ground so people will not walk or sit on it.  Grave markers are simple, maybe just a wreath because lavish markers are discouraged in Islam.  However, today, it seems people are erecting grave monuments.  

We next went to the Bahia Palace.  It was quite a vast complex but, like the Saadian tombs, all the rooms were elaborately tiled and completely empty.  There were tiny corridors leading to yet more empty rooms and some inner courtyards. We got a little bit of history concerning the concubines and how they became very important if they had male children. As the male children reached puberty ,they were sent from this palace into one of their own to prevent infighting among the brothers, so lots of palaces.  I would have liked to see how these places were furnished; it was really hard to get an idea of how they lived just looking at empty rooms. 

Next stop was a culinary demonstration of how to make a traditional Berber dish of couscous. (Berbers are an ethnic group, also called Amazighs.) It was a very strange demonstration in that they took the raw ingredients, put them in a pot, and basically said pretend we're cooking. Apparently somebody was cooking somewhere though, as we were served a delicious meal of the real finished product. We sat down to tables already filled with food including cold potatoes, cold zucchini, chopped up tomatoes, delicious bread, tiny meat filled pastries, and finally some sort of sweet rice pastry. We scarfed all the pastries down and noticed one of the other tables didn't eat theirs, so we finished them off as well. We thought they were delicious! The main course was a huge plate of couscous over some delicious chicken. On top of the couscous were cooked vegetables including pumpkin, squash, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes. During the demonstration, all of the vegetables were put in the pot and boiled like a stew. Raw couscous was mixed with flour and steamed over the stew for 20 minutes. I'm not a fan of couscous, but the chicken was absolutely delicious.  

After lunch we visited Majorelle Gardens.  This was a very tiny but lush oasis in the middle of a very busy city. The whole place was covered with bamboo trees which were welcome relief from the hot sun.  There was a museum of Berber art and artifacts, but I skipped that and took my camera on a hunt for birds.

That night, 4 of us went out to dinner at a place called Dar Rhizlane.  It was one of the most fabulous places I’ve ever eaten!  It’s a hotel and restaurant in a lush serene setting with beautiful pools and double beds with pillows instead of lounge chairs.  Very much in a garden setting that reminded me a lot of the restaurant Dash in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The restaurant area was in a large garden with thick trees, dim colorful lights, and water fountains; so charming.    

We ordered from a set menu that included pastilla with seafood, a dish I would never would have eaten on my own; but it was absolutely divine!  It is had some kind of seafood filling, wrapped in layers of very thin dough. (think chicken pot pie that you hold in your hands) The main course was vanilla turnip puree, leg of lamb with atlas honey, mashed potatoes, artichoke, and sorbet for dessert. $33.  One of the best meals I’ve ever had, and the company of my new friends was the icing on the cake.

On day 4 we took a bus trip to the Ourika valley.  This is basically the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. We spent most of the day simply driving for a look at the small villages in the countryside.  When we got back to Marrakesh we were dropped off at Djemaa el-Fna, the largest square in the medina, and the souk I tried to visit the previous day.  I was instantly disappointed that I was robbed of the chance to spend unlimited time on my own, wandering through the vast network of narrow corridors of stalls and vendors at my leisure.  Out in the big square, we saw snake charmers with live cobras. We couldn’t get anywhere near them, even for a picture, because they were aggressively hounding us for money.  There were also monkey tamers, basically little monkeys on chains for people to have their picture taken with. It was really very sad to see how these monkeys were treated. There were plenty of food carts; selling everything from meat on a stick, a wide variety of fresh fruit and drinks, candy, pastries, bread, and more.  This aggressive hounding for money was replayed literally everywhere we went for the entire time in Morocco.  As soon as we stepped off the bus, people would surround us, either straight out begging or trying to sell us something.  As much as I hate to be rude to people, often this was the only way to be left alone.  I was disappointed that couldn’t even talk to locals without the inevitable asking for money. 

Christine and I wandered around the market, looking at some of the interesting wares on display.  It was the same in every market we saw; huge barrels with cone shaped spices, leather goods, raw tea or potpourri, raw indigo of all colors, paintings, tea sets, fresh produce like dates and figs, plenty of argon oil products, and much much more. Haggling is expected, in part, because if you accept ‘tourist price’ you’ll pay 2 or 3 times the fair price, as I discovered previously.   We made a few small purchases and then caught a cab back, this time we weren't overcharged because we told them what we would pay before we got in. 

That night, most of the tour group did a carriage ride through Marrakesh. It's a beautiful city at night, with lights everywhere you look. We took a spin around Djemaa el-Fna square and it was absolutely jam-packed with people; the atmosphere was very festive. We continued on to a restaurant and had another fabulous meal. After dinner we were entertained by various musicians and a belly dancer. There was another tour group in the room with us and I think they were ultra-conservatives. As the belly dancer was dancing around, I looked over at that group to see scowls on the men's faces. I don't know what nationality they were but they were definitely Western. Two of the men spent the time looking at their cell phones. The women seem to enjoy the show a bit more. But it was crazy how many of the people had frowns on their faces. I felt really bad for the performer, seeing those harsh looks.  I didn’t think she was dancing provocative at all. 

 

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