Marrakesh, Morocco (Post #54)
Today is Saturday October 1. It is hard to believe it is October! This is Michele typing using a French/Arabic keyboard so my punctuation will probably not be correct. We left Chefchaouen, the beautiful small mountain town in Northern Morocco, on Thursday September 29 after having 2 great breakfasts. The breakfasts included bread, eggs, butter, honey, jam, chocolate, olives, and very fresh Moroccan goat cheese. The goat cheese has the consistency of feta but is slightly sweet. Before I go on, here is a picture of Chefchaouen:
We left at 1:15pm and took a 4.5 hour bus ride back to Fes just to spend one night there. The bus ride was the most insane thing ever! As usual, we were the only non locals/Moroccans on the bus and we had a bus driver that was stopping for no one. If someone or something was in the road they better get the hell out of the way because Crazy Bob, as we called him, was not stopping for anyone or anything! It is common to see donkeys, carts, goat and sheep herds, and people with sacks on their backs along the side of the road and several times he almost hit these people/things. To sum the bus ride up in one word: scary! Well, we made it to Fes alive and walked from the bus station to a hotel (good thing they had a room), checked in then walked to the train station and bought tickets to Marrakesh for the next day (Friday, Sept 30).
On Friday morning we got up early and went to pastry and water man. He is a guy we regularly buy our breakfast from since he has good prices, always has a smile on his face, and can communicate the price to us (for example, “10 and 8” means 18). Our 8 hour train ride from Fes to Marrakesh was pretty uneventful except that we shared a train cabin with a family and with about 3 hours left in the train ride the little girl threw up all over the place.
We got to Marrakesh and took a taxi to the main square, Djemaa el Fna. We walked around looking for places to stay for about an hour. We were surprised to find many places filled up. Eventually we found a place but for the hour we were looking we had to shake off many touts. Touts are people who try to get you to stay in “their” hotels/pensions because they will get a commission. Sometimes they can be relentless. We have now perfected the phrases, “La Shukran” and “Non merci” (no thank you in Arabic and French).
After checking into our hotel, we went to Djemaa el Fna to get some food. This open air market/square is a wild place. In the sqaure, there were many Muslim women selling hena (the procedure of semi permanent ink tatooing) as well as storytellers, musicians, boxing, and other things going on we could not quite figure out (some things involving chickens). The other thing about the square is at night there are more than 100 restaurants set up and all the vegtable bits (for salads) are is piled into tall, perfect pyramid shapes. The other foods are also perfectly presented and 5 seconds after you sit down, there are 10 things put in front of you. The foods range from soups, stews, and salads to roasted sheep heads and snails. Oh yea, and there are no less than 20 huge stands selling fresh squeezed orange juice. I can not remember if I mentioned that because Morocco is 99 percent Muslim there are very few places that sell alcohol. The range of drinks include tea, coffee, fanta, coke, fresh orange juice, and water.
This morning in the square we saw a guy with a large monkey and people selling lizards, turtles (including baby turtles 1 inch small), guinnea pigs, and chipmunks. We did not know if these animals were for eating or for pets or what. After our little walk around Djemaa el Fna we went to a travel agency and signed up for a 3 day trip out to the Sahara desert. We will go to a small town, Merzoga, near the Algerian border to embark on a camel trek in the desert dunes. We also signed up for a 4 day trek in the High Atlas Moutains where we will go with a guide and a mule to summit Mt. Toubkal. We are very excited about both trips!
Time for lunch now….bye!
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Tags: Category #15: Morocco
Michele Harmon
Hi Michele & Mike – I got into your blog today and see I have a lot of catching up to do. I thought when you wrote something I would get it in my email so thought you were not writing anything for a long time. I will try to keep up now after I get caught up on your travels. Sounds like you are getting along fine and having a great & interesting trip. Thx for info on your dad, Michele. Got a nice picture of him, and Monica, and thought he looked quite good. Bill keeps getting a bit weaker and short of breath but is still haning in there, which has been over a year and a half. I love reading your blogs and feel I am right along with you on your excursion. Love to both, Aunt Wanda.
Does it feel somewhat surreal to be in places like that? I look at that picture, and it’s just so alien from what i’ve experienced…
You guys are so hardcore…
WHats up Guys!!
Just trying to catch up on your all’s global wanderings. Sounds awesome so far, though I need to read on. Glad to hear that you are both well (over being sick) and enjoying Morrocco!! It has been too long since I checked in, though its great to see that you are staying true to your blog and keeping copious notes of your adventures. Just wanted to say hola and that things are well here. Had a blast pacing Sean A. at Wasatch and have really been enjoying the trails around Portland, especially in the Columbia Gorge and Forest Park. I actually just got back from a run there and was remembering when you all first told me about Forest Park and the great trails there. Looking forward to catching up on your travels and staying in touch.
Mike
I’m so behind on your travels but I read a few entries from time to time. It’s time to give you a little Westat news: WE GOT CLEARANCE AND WE’RE IN THE FIELD … do you believe it. Debbie Rudy asked about you yesterday, so I shared the URL for Entry numbner 59 with her. We’ll see if she has time to even log on (she still to busy for words). All is going well here. Scott got two new projects and of course I won’t let him drop mine. He’ll be involved some, but not like I’d like him to be. Oh well. In the meantime, all is well and I enjoy reading about your adventure. I’ll leave another note soon.
Bj
I really enjoyed reading blog today! You have great style of writing. Ever thought about making it profession? And everyone who has taken the bus ride in Morocco or asked locals about the price knows how good you have described it although it may sound funny and unrealistic.. 🙂