Moroccan Whirlwind
Where to begin? Surely the begining would be a good place…but I have little notion of where that might be now…so much has happened in the last few days!
-more-
Well…it’s quite hot in this internet cafe, so this might be the abbreviated version of things…but just to give news of what’s been going on.
On the boat to Tangier I met a family from Chicago. Mom, Dad, Daughter, daughter’s Fiance (he proposed the day before at the Alhambra) and best friend. They quickly adopted me and we spent the day in Tangier with a local guide…being taking for a bit of a ride…but it was done with a smile, so it wasn’t too bad. There was the obligatory carpet store stop, and mint tea, and couscous for dinner, so it wasn’t half bad. Seeing as how I don’t like Tangier much, it was actually vaguely pleasent.
On the boat I also met Assis who is originally from Morocco but now lives in France. He was home visiting his family and was taking the same train as us to Marrakech. He met us at the train station, and while the family had sleeper cars, I sat in second class with Assis and 2 other travelers he’d met -Rad from Serbia and Victor from Chile. Got to practice my spanish too, because Victor doesn’t speak any english.
In the morning Assis continued on to his hometown, but not before making sure the rest of us got a hotel without problems. We all shared a cheap room in the Medina at a tiny little place…where I encountered my first squat toilet. 😛
That day we walked all over the city, took in the markets (souks) and saw one of the local palaces, had dinner at the night market and, after quite a journey, found some cold beer to relax with. (The journey included a few kilometers of walking, a taxi to the only supermarket in town, Victor getting down on his hands and knees when we found out it was too late to buy beer in the market, a few more kilometers of walking, and finally finding a small cafe where we sat on the terrace and enjoyed Moroccan beer…silly? yes!)
Victor and Rad left for a trek yesterday morning, but I stuck around to meet up with Joey -another bootsnall member. During the day I went to the market and got a henna tattoo, thinking why not? I got a traditional design instead of a tourist flower and, much to my dismay, they covered my nails as well. I went straight back to the hotel to remove the henna from my nails, but too late! It seems I’ll have freaky oranage nails for 6 months! Ahhh!
Meet up with Joey at 5pm at his hotel. We spent the evening walking around, getting confused in the souks, chatting with the chefs and servers in the market and generally having a good time.
Now we’re looking into a Sahara trek…
And speaking of…Joey’s waiting for me. This is indeed the abbreviated version…there’s a million details I’ve left out, but I’ll fill in this sketch more when I get a chance.
For the time being, just know that Morocco is wonderful, vibrant, invigorating, and cheap. Can live quite well on $20 a day…or less, really.
Okay…so until next time…
Hope this post finds you all well, wherever you’re reading this…
*Liz
Tags: Morocco
LizG