Morocco

After a very long flight we arrived in Marrakesh and somehow (with no Arabic or French) almost made our way to the Riad Eden where we were to stay for the next 2 nights. Our taxi pulled up to a very narrow street and proceeded to let us out and hand us over to an elderly gentleman with a wooden cart who would show us the rest of the way through the Medina to the Riad. Again, not really understanding much and being able to say next to nothing, we put our faith in this man and began a journey of winding through the streets. From days of dessert raiders and general unplanned growth, the medinas (not unique to Marrakesh) twist and turn in an intentional attempt to confuse and baffle (hence the raiders of old would get lost). Alas, we found a lovely B&B, here called Riad Eden (thanks to A Zarr for the rec), run by a French couple, Emmanuel and Helene. If you end up in Marrakesh some day, this place is a little slice of luxurious heaven. We were greeted with mint tea which is a custom in Morocco; one we like very much. There wasn’t much of the day left so we went exploring this foreign land. Marrakesh is split up into two parts; the Medina, or old city, and the new city. They are very different. The Medina hasn´t changed in 100´s of years, if not a 1000. The New City is very modern and almost western. We walked through the tiny streets of the Medina dodging mopeds that were bobbing by weaving around the pedestrians. In the main plaza you can find everything from fresh fruit stands (the oranges are divine), dried fruits and nuts, monkeys and snakes, and street food galore. It was a sight out of Indiana Jones movie. We were expecting the Moroccan people to be a bit more western in appearance, but those in the Medina are still very strict in their traditional Muslim attire. Almost every woman was wearing a Hijab, or head scarf. Strict Muslim women are required to cover everything but their face, feet and hands when in public. And they don´t like to have their picutre taken, but more on that later. Anyway, we found our way to a roof top terrace to get a birds eye view of the central plaza, Jamma El Fna (and the satelite dishes) and took it all in. After wandering around for a couple of hours we returned to the Riad Eden for a traditional Moroccan dinner of Tagine, which is a clay dish with a cone top, of chicken and olives with preserved lemon which was divine. Tagine can be compiled of many different meats and veggies, but the presentation is always the same where they bring out the covered dish and remove it with a flourish like a silver lid in a shee-shee restaurant in the west. We didn´t expect to find much, if any, alcohol while in Morocco, as it´s a Muslim country, but we found that they actually have a good selection of local wines. The tradition was brought by the French, but the Moroccan soil seems to be well suited. For desert we had a lovely orange tart. We were pooped from a long day and headed to bed early.
Tuesday began with a wonderful breakfast at the Riad. Emanuel, our host, sat with us and gave us some suggestions for the day and helped us plan our next few days in this lovely country. We spent the day roaming the Souks, a bazaar set in the old town among the winding streets. Spices, flowers, jewelry, clothes, crafts etc. are all for sale here. It was a shopper´s delight. We saw many sights in the Medina and got some great photos. Charlie had a blast haggling with the proprietors as is an absolute requirement when shopping. Initial offer prices can be 2, 3, 4 times what the seller is really willing to accept. We made a stop through the famous and beautiful Jardens of Marrakesh were the ashes of Yves St Laurent were spread at his request when he passed away last year. Dinner tonight was in the new city. We walked to get a better feel for the culture. The streets are very busy here and full of cars, bicycles, mopeds and donkey driven carts. The walk took a little bit longer than anticipated as Charlie´s excellent logistical skills completely broke down in the twisting turning streets. Three enquiries of instructions later and some arguably sketchy streets, we found our way to Le Comptoir, a new restaurant and serves traditional Moroccan cuisine and a feast for the eyes. We had a fabulous meal and Vin Gris, rose wine. The table next to us were two young guys from San Francisco (Mike and Jimmy) and we became fast friends. The show began with two two women walking down the grand stair case with candelabras full of lit candles on their heads. Then the belly dancers came out. What a show. We were so impressed that we all decided we needed to retire to the upstairs bar to see more of the show and take in a houka. We ordered a shisha and watched more of the belly dancers. Upstairs turned out to be a bit more provocative than in the main restaurant (aka sleazy looking guys shoving bills in the cloths of the dancers; a big step beyond the Chilean cafe y peirnas) but it was an experience none the less. We said goodbye to Mike and Jimmy and took a taxi back to the Riad. See you guys back in SF!
Wednesday we arranged or a rental car to meet us at the Riad and we headed out to the Atlas Mountains for a few days. The drive out of Marrakesh was challenging (Charlie bobbing an weaving, Rawson holding on for dear life) but we made it and about an hour outside of the city things started to change. The landscape turned green and the snow capped mountains began to appear on the horizon. It is truly amazing how different the landscape here is. It seemed that every 50km or so things changed. We winded our way through the mountains, crested the summit and made our way through the Berber villages to our first stop in a small town named Boumaine at the gates of Gorges du Dades (Dades gorge). Along the way we saw the simple lives of these people everywhere. The women with their brightly colored clothes were harvesting vegetables and flowers in the fields next to the river, while the men were either herding their sheep and goats or trading with other men in the towns. It really felt like these peoples lives haven´t change since the Old Testament was written. We saw the sign for our Riad right as we entered the town, Perle de Dades. We turned down the small dirt road and took the Hundai where it was not made to go, more rally driving. We came to the end of the road and found, not our riad, but a river. Oops we thought, but then we saw a small sign written in French. We concluded that it said we needed to reach the riad from the other side of the town. Hmm, guess that Moroccan SIM card we bought came in handy after all. We called the Perle and they sent someone down to meet us and drive us to the riad. We drove around the town to the other side, 15km down a long dirt road and finally made it to the Perle du Dades. The name says it all, The Pearl! This riad overlooks the river, valley and town. The views were just stunning. The riad was a tranquil oasis. We took a mint tea outside next to the pool and watched the sunset over the town with the snow capped mountains in the background. Dinner at the riad was wonderful and peaceful, you almost felt you had to whisper. Early to bed, early to rise.
Thursday we drove to the Dades gorge through more Berber villages, beautiful landscapes full of brightly colored flowers, red and orange rock formations to the gorge itself. Quick side note, our INTENTION was to drive the Todra gorge the first day. However, signs are varying in reliability and frequency and the sign to the “gorge” didn´t exactly clarify which. So, we got to see Dades first! No Bry, the Google GPS didn´t work here. We were truly amazed at how beautiful this area is. We tried to get some photos of the locals hard at work, but they were not too happy when we snapped their picture. We were able to ask a few permission, but we quickly gave up in favor of good karma. The drive was truly stunning. The closest comparison to be made would be like driving through the Grand Canyon; it seems that huge and overwhelming. Along the way we made many stops for photos. Every town you pass through you are “waved down” by frantic children age 5-20 like they have the most important news. Selling everything from flowers to fossils to trinkets is the news. We made one stop at the highest point of the valley were we found a perfect turn off. Out from behind some rocks came a pair of boys, they must hide there knowing the tourist will be enticed by the view. A couple coins and half a loaf of bread later, we were the proud owners of some prehistoric ocean shell fossils from whenever this area was last under the sea. On route back, we had lunch at an inn along the road before heading back to the Perle for a 2nd night.
Friday, the Muslim day of rest, we visited another gorge, Todra. This gorge was very different from Dades. It´s warmer in this valley which allows the Palm trees the sun they need to flourish. The contrast of red earth, bright green palms and violet blue sky was fabulous. We felt so lucky to be here during this time of year. The flowers are all in bloom, red poppies (not poppies but they look just like them), yellow, blue, purple, white and orange. A true feast for the eyes. The Berbers use all of these flowers for natural color in their crafts. We drove deep into the gorge and after turning around we saw a Berber man looking for a ride. Hitchhiking here is very common and safe. We decided to give him a ride. He was quite friendly and spoke French, Arabic, Berber and Spanish. We were communicating well. He explained that he and his family were nomads and lived in the mountains for 10 months of the year herding their 100 animals (sheep, goats, camels), and the other 2 months in Tineghir, a small town in the Todra valley. He invited us to have a mint tea in his home with his family, we accepted. The home is simple and just 2 or 3 rooms. The adobe structure was a former Jewish home, as most in this town were before Israel was formed and they were all abandoned. Now they are just for the Berbers during their time to sell their goods. The Berbers do not pay for the use of the home. We entered the home and were invited to sit in the main room on the floor which was covered with colorful rugs. To one side was a loom where the sister was making yarn from Camel hair and weaving a rug. We met the older brother who was clearly the head of the family and spoke very good English. He explained to us that he learned English when the movie Jewel of the Nile was being filmed nearby. He worked on the film, although we aren´t sure if he was in the film as a local extra or if he was serving the crew tea etc. Either way he was charming and friendly, as they all were. We sipped our tea and viewed their crafts. The Camel hair rugs were exquisite. Our favorites were the Cactus silk rugs. He explained that the colors of the rugs we a mark of the nomads who made them. The black rugs were colored with magnesium from the caves in the Atlas Mountains. The red comes from the earth and represents Berbers from the desert, the true nomads. The blue represents farmers or those who don´t move around. And the white is the beach sand from the coastal Berbers. After all of our history lessons we headed to our next destination, Ait Benhaddou, where there is a faboulous Kasbah. Many films have been shot here including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and as we know, The Jewel of the Nile. There are several families that still live inside the Kasbah according to some. We saw some souks inside, but the most interesting part was that the entire fortress is made of adobe and seems to crumble beneath you. This site won´t last, what a pity. In order to tour the Kasbah you must cross a river, or wash rather. We looked for a place that we could rock hop, but found none. We rolled up our pants and headed across on foot. We traipsed around for a while and then crossed back over to the side where our Riad for the night was, Lokfel, also run by a Frenchman, Pascal, who had left the old country in search of better days. The riad was quaint and had a lovely terrace (but no view). We´d read about the dinner here and that you would need to book early. We did and weren´t disappointed. This was one of the best Moroccan meals so far. We retired early as we had to get on the road at 6AM to make our train to Casablanca at 11AM. Pascal woke early as well and greeted us with a fabulous cup of coffee and pastry for breakfast, way above and beyond. We shoved off in the morning light and got some additional fabulous shots. Especially nice were all of the fields of flowers. We´d call them wild flowers but as they are harvested for their color we don´t think they are wild at all. We made the train to Casablanca with no problems.
We arrived in Casablanca in the afternoon and were greeted by Adil Gharris, the nephew of Charlie´s good friend Rachid Gharris from university in Freiburg, Germany. Rachid was kind enough to have his brother, Houcine, and his family put us up in Casablanca for the night. Adil picked us up and drove us to his parents´ home just outside the center of Casablanca. Houcine and his family welcomed us into their lovely home. We were overwhelmed by their hospitality and generosity. In the afternoon, Adil took us for a tour of Casablanca showing us the highlights, as we only had this one afternoon there. The three of us then stopped at an ocean side cafe with a fabulous view to watch the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. We have much in common with Adil, we are similar in age and ambition, and got along splendidly. In the evening we all went back to Houcine´s for a home cooked meal, our best in Morocco. Monday morning we woke to another fabulous meal, coffee and breakfast on the garden terrace. We can´t thank the entire Gharris family enough for their generosity. We hope we are able to return the hospitality if they have the chance to visit us in San Francisco, or where ever we end up! Unfortunately, several of the family have been unsuccessful in trying to visit US; visas for Moroccan men 15-40 are all but barred from visiting our country since 9-11 regardless of who they are. We can only hope that this changes in the coming years and we can some day welcome them to our home as they did us, En sha-allah.
We were blown away by Morocco. The people were unbelievably warm and welcoming throughout the country. The architecture is beautiful and the spring flora and fawna are just lovely. The food was to die for. We highly recommend a vist and will be sure to return here one day, (after we learn French).
Avoir Morocco!We´re off to Madrid to spend a few days with Maria-Carmen! Stay tuned for more adventures with Rawson and Charlie!