Atlas Mountains, Berber Villiages, Snake Charmers, and the Souks
Hello everyone,
We are still in Morocco enjoying every minute… well I shouldn’t say every minute but most of the minutes. Yesterday, we went up to the Atlas Mountains.
First, we stopped to see a big mosque and our guide told us a little about Muslims and the Islamic community, as well as the history of polygamy in Morocco. It was quite fascinating! We then went to a small shop where we watched a young man use a completely manual potters wheel to make a tangine in a matter of minutes. Of course, we were pressured into the store after and yes, John and I bought a little something.
The next stop was a small Berber house in a small Berber village somewhere in the middle of the Atlas Mountains. Here, we were given a tour of a typical Berber house (the occupants of the house were going abouts their daily business). As the tour of the home came to an end, we were all told to sit in a large room where the mother of the house gave us a demonstration of how they make their mint tea here! As she finished making a large pot of the mint tea, we were all given some tea along with some fresh bread with honey, butter, or oil to have with the bread. The experience was…. we it was just such an awesome experience.
After a few photos, we jumped on a bus that took us into the Ourika Valleym where, on Mondays, from all over the mountains come to a market to stock up for the week. The Market was really hectic and the roads were crammed with people, donkeys, carts, kids, horses, etc. We were with a group so we stuck out like a sore thumb and people swarmed us trying to sell whatever they had. We swirved our way through the market… first stop: the MEAT section. Aziz, our guide, warned me that I could wait outside (being a vegetarian) but I went in to take a look. Whole heads of cows, goats, sheep lined the counters and floors, innards hung from hooks, tripe laid in big piles, eyes, hooves, skins… you name it… you could buy it there. It was quite disturbing but at the same time… just… wow.
We swirved through the rest of the market where we passed people selling pretty much anything you could possibly need… there were people following our group trying to sell everything. At the end of the market, we came to the parking lot…. where 90% of things “parked” there were donkeys! Again, this was such an awesome experience. We went for another huge Moroccan lunch to end the tour and then it was back to the apartment for us.
This morning, we actually woke up to RAIN! I didn’t think it would rain here but it was raining and it was raining good. Unfortunately, this is the day we went to the Souks (big market) but fortunately, it was still really warm. The Souks… basically, this is a big maze of artisans, vendors, everything… they are broken up into different sections (i.e. brass, iron, wood work, ceramic, dyes, clothing, slippers, etc)… so basically we weaved through this HUGE market again with vendors following us most of the way. Usually I’m pretty good with ignoring people trying to sell me things but there was one today that physically tried to keep me there to sell me a bracelet that I didn’t even want. He jabbed me a few times on the front of my shoulder telling me to tell him how much I wanted to pay for it and when I tried to turn away, he jabbed me harder. That really threw me off for the day… I don’t do well with high pressure sales and that is what it all is here.
In the middle of the market, we went to a pharmacy…. they gave us a demonstration on some different herbs and what not that “worked miracles” and what not. It was a fascinating demonstration but at the same time, it felt like a sales pitch. Of course, at the end, we were scammed into buying something… siiigghhh. Oh well… its all part of the experience I guess. We are nearing the end of our day today… John and I just bough jellebano? jelll something… they look like Jedi robes that everyone wears here. We were able to get a pretty good deal too. All that’s left for today is for us to walk past the snake charmers in the square and then head back to the resort for our Hammams… the perfect end to a hectic day of the market.
I don’t know whether we are going to come into town until the night we leave.. the sun is finally out and we are looking forward to sitting poolside.
Tags: Africa, Europe
cheng.ev
November 7th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Hi Mui: you are absolutely right about the souks — they are huge mazes of shops and people buy and sell everything there. We were offered serious money for Patrick when we were in the souk in Tangiers. Of course he was only 2 at the time and cute as a button. Enjoy and just don’t lose your way in the maze!
November 8th, 2006 at 9:08 am
Salut les copains, comment allez vous. j espere que votre voyage se passe bien. En ce moment nous sommes a torremolinos et demain on prend le ferry pour le maroc. A bientot et profite bien de cette aventure. a bientot majid et muriel
November 8th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
haha your aunt’s response is hilarious. I wonder how much I could sell chris for….
November 8th, 2006 at 4:12 pm
hey john and evelyn i’m glad to hear everything seems to be going well. I check your blog every morning in class. If you knew john as well as I do, him buying a piece of random meat is really not out of a character….in the slightest. He is after all the guy who dipbs in bread in duck grease and requires about 18 packages of ketchup to eat a regular fries from mcdonalds you don’t even want to know the amount of ketchup he uses for a large!! Hahaha Evelyn you should make john’s lazy ass update this once and a while!