Sick of…strike that…Sick IN Morocco
Okay…so I finally left Marrakech. It’s back to motoring about…
It’s good to be on the move again…and with a ‘deadline’ for the first time this trip. Madrid, the 23rd, for my flight.
I took a little side trip to Essouira, a little beach town on the Atlantic coast. Famous for wind surfing and fresh fish…it offered the attractive possibility of a break from the heat that has taken hold of most of the rest of the country.
Well it sure was cooler! About a 35degree drop from Marrakech! And the wind coming off the ocean is so strong it’s hard to walk into it.
Well, wouldn’t you know it…I got me a cold. A good one too! A kind of sniffly, sneezey, coughing, sore-throat, fever cold! Oh man, did it suck!
It’s not pleasant to get sick when travelling…by any measure. Considering how long I’ll be on the road though, it was to be expected. Still, I felt like complete crap.
I enjoyed the first day though. Zakaria and I went down to the port and bought fresh fish strait from the fisherman’s boats. A short walk away there’s a few little restaurants that will cook up whatever you bring in. What a great meal! The freshest fish I’ve ever eatten, sunlight, local musicians and a sea breeze…not half bad, eh?
(Zakaria and I in Essouira)
We also got an awesome sunset the first day there….fresh from the bus it was a really welcome sight.
I called my sister on Friday from there too, to wish her a happy birthday. It’s funny, Morocco’s country code is 212, so she thought it might have been a New York friend and took the call. Little did she expect a call from little sis, half way around the world, talking to her while dodging snail vendors and carpet sellers. Anyways…another HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE…if you’re reading this.
Otherwise it was a pretty sleepy little town.
The wind was really making me feel worse too, so we headed out of there. We decided Casablanca, about 2.5 hour bus ride away would do just right. Unfortunately, the ride was actually 4 hours, we were told when we got to the station. We waited over an hour for the bus, which was half an hour late…and then took 6.5 hours! By the time I got to Casablanca I felt terrible and could barely deal with trying to navigate a new city.
Cheers again for Zakaria! First off, he speaks Arabic, of course…along with French, Spanish, German and, oh yeah, English. He’s like travelling with a electronic pocket language converter…thingie. He took over and dealt with a taxi, hotel desk clerks, food and medicine for me. …sigh…what a relief!
This is where I should also mention some crazy Moroccan homepatic type healing. Well…not quite. Zak gave me this crazy concoction of hot milk with black cumin and Halls in it…wow! It was a little strange, but it did make me feel better….strangely.
I spent the next day in bed, really trying to get better, because I didn’t want to prolong the sickness. The fever was making me quite irratable and really fatigued. Well…I’m better now. And I got to see a bit of Casablanca, such as it is.
Wow, what an ugly city. It’s big, and dirty, and quite unappealing. The only item of note is the mosque. The Hassan II Mosque is absolutely enormous!…the 3rd largest religious building in the world in fact. AND non-moslims are allowed in!!!
For a fee that is! In fact, they wanted about $8! Oh wait…that’s the price for Musslims! Non-muslims, well they have to pony up around $15! I refuse to pay to enter religious buildings…it seems a farce to me that institutes with so much money at their disposal need my money. Zakaria and I politely turned our noses up at the ticket counter and took off.
I did get some amusing pics while I was there though…gosh I love my digi cam!
From the mosque we headed straight to the train station. Bought our tickets and met a guy named Sam. (ha…I just got the movie reference there, lol) Poor Sam, who’s from Atlanta and currently studying in Spain, was travelling Morocco for a few days with a couple friends and got robbed. He’s been awake for 4 days, travelled from Fes to Casablanca to get a new passport, had no money to get the passport, had no ID to pick up WestUnion from home, had gotten an unpleasant reception at the American Embassy and had just missed his train to Tangier by a minute…the train that would have gotten him back to Spain that day. What a predicament! Oh yeah, I almost forgot…the day he was robbed was his 21st birthday!
Still, he was quite cheerful and smiling…I think in part for having someone to vent to. I saw Sam try to buy his ticket, hear the bad news and throw his water bottle on the floor in total desperation. Zakaria and I decided to go talk to him and see if he was alright. He shared his story over coffee and thanked up profusely for hanging out. Poor guy. I have to admit, I’m certainly happy it wasn’t me. You’d think a story so compounded by troubles would lead to a request for cash, but it wasn’t the case. This was the guy’s story, plain and simple.
Anyway…Sam, I hope things have started looking up for you, and school works out as it should. Cheers mate!
Okay…that’s all for now.
I’m actually in Fes at the moment but a storm just kicked up and I left my hotel window open. Further stories will have to wait…
Tags: Morocco
LizG
Liz,
Hope you are feeling better! Your trip sounds great so far. You know what the best part of your trip is? You don’t have to suffer through the Yankees losing every friggin’ night! Enjoy and safe travels!
Suke