a week in Morocco


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Africa » Morocco » Grand Casablanca » Casablanca
October 18th 2008
Published: October 18th 2008
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Day 1 - October 10, 2008
Our flight



Gim was next to a giddy, giggly middle-aged German lady who talked to him all the way to Frankfurt. When she learned that we are staying at the Frankfurt airport for 12 hours, she told us of good places to see near the airport so we can walk around. But alas! Because of my Philippine passport, I could not get out of the airport without a German visa (I can almost hear Rich from here).

The Frankfurt airport has teeny-weeny restrooms, and food is really expensive - a bottle of soda for almost $5 and a hotdog for $6. Not a great place to get stuck for 12 hours.


Day 2 - October 11, 2008
Rainy Day in Casablanca



We woke up to a Casablanca morning (or what’s left of it) at 11:30 am. Jetlag?!? Had brunch at La Riad Restaurant at Rue Mohammed and El Quorri. They have heart, liver, and kidney sandwiches, which sound more palatable when spoken by our young Moroccan waiter in French. Sorry, folks, but we are no Andrew Zimmern, so we simply had the Moroccan salad -- has beets, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and some salsa (or we think it’s salsa), and chicken sandwich and beef sausages (Dh 120). Not bad at all to start our day.

Then we went to the old medina. I guess the best way to describe it is wet and dirty. A lot of stalls (“souqs”) of all sorts -- scarves, bags, shoes, household items. Inexpensive souvenirs you will find here.

Went briefly to the majestic Hassan II Mosque but it’s closed to the public during times of prayer (which are sunrise, lunch, afternoon, sunset, and dinner). Open to the public (with tour guides who speak Arabic, French, English languages) at 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, and 2 pm. Since we got there at 4 pm, we had to come back the next day. Beware of taxi drivers charging you an arm and a leg to get you back to your hotel (they ask for Dh 30-80). Usually it costs only Dh 10 to go back to the central medina. Walk down a couple of blocks north and hail a taxi instead.

Went to the new medina or “Nouvelle Medina” or “Quartier Habous” afterwards (Dh13 from the mosque). Much nicer and cleaner stalls, with lively and colorful souqs of traditional garbs, lamps, jars, jewelry, paintings, silver/copper/brass wares with Moroccan music playing in the background. Gim noted that this is exactly how he has envisioned Morocco to be.

For you with sweet tooth out there, we walked some more and found this bakery called “Patisserie Moulay Ismail”. It’s jam-packed with locals. We therefore concluded that this place must be good! We got different kinds of pastries (vendors do not speak English) but with the use of our lips, arms, fingers, grunts, we were able to convey what we want (Dh 55 for 500 gms of goodies). We even got sweets for free!

Oh by the way, locals just handle everything using their hands, the breads, the cookies, the candies, dates, the mops (!). We got hep A vaccines and Imodium, so we have nothing to fear (we tell ourselves that 😉

Walked some more and we found ourselves at a local market. We found a corner of souqs that sell olives of all colors and sizes, another corner for spices (loooots of paprika, curry, and even mounds of saffron!), different kinds of leaves (can’t tell one from another, except the obvious ones like basil, rosemary, lavender), and meats (a whole camel head with its tongue sticking out, anyone?).

Dusk set in, and like good tourists, Gim and I headed back to the hotel. Thank God for Gim’s internal GPS, we can walk and walk and walk and he is able to lead us back to our lair. But before we headed home, we again passed a place that’s literally spilling with locals, so we sampled their “harira” (a sort of a vegetarian chickpea soup) and some bread with fish, potatoes, eggplant, again the salsa-like sauce - all for just barely $1 (Dh8). A man sitting next to us gave us some sweets (honey cakes) that he said is usually eaten with the soup (he gave it to us with his bare hands, but what the heck, we are eating soup by the street side). The table is communal, which is fairly common here.









Day 3 - October 12, 2008
Train ride to Marrakech on a beautiful day



While still in Casablanca, we had breakfast at our Hotel (Ma’amoura), which has roti, but where is the canai??? Yup, they got their Moroccan crepes but it has no dip (like a curry soup, the “canai” in Malaysia).

We finally were able to enter the Hassan II Mosque and we were transfixed by all its splendor. With most of its walls and floors are made of marble, ceilings of intricately carved cedar, some 3000 workers worked 24/7 (in shifts) to finish this magnificent edifice. Designed by a French architect, completed in 1993 (took 6 years, some parts are still being built), it cost more than half a billion dollars. Outside, however, one will note the stark contrast between the opulence of the mosque and the poverty of its surrounding residential area.

Then we took the train to Marrakech, we met 2 Moroccan women and Adam, a 1-yr old happy child who kept us entertained during our 3-hour ride. Gim kept on noting the direction where the satellite dishes on the rooftops face, as well as some scattered solar panels seemingly out-of-place on the roofs of isolated clay houses in the desert.

Once we stepped out of the train, we noticed how better maintained Marrakech and how much more tourist-friendly it is compared to Casablanca. After a series of twists and turns, Gim was again able to navigate us through the maze of unnamed alleys and Riads (B&B) to find our place, Riad Dalia. The terra cotta-colored houses, the narrow alleys and heavy wooden doors of Marrakech found their way into our hearts. Upon entering Riad Dalia, we were positively in love with Marrakech, Morocco. We love the rose-scented garden, our room bedecked with colorful tapestries, the terrace with roses on the rooftop, the orange misty glow of Moroccan sunset, the faint smell of incense, Moroccan music wafting in the air. We are in heaven!

And yup, Gim noted that we can hop on rooftop to rooftop like Spiderman while on the terrace of our Riad.

After settling in our rooms, we walked around the alleys, haggled for earrings and bracelets (you wouldn’t believe how much fun haggling is -- a pair of earring offered to me for Dh220, I was almost able to get for Dh 25!!! The storeowner jokingly offered Gim 5000 camels in exchange for me! We weren’t sure if that’s cheap 😉. These vendors are really adamant for you to even look at their goods and wouldn’t let you out of their stores without buying, so be strong! Willpower, ladies…

We found ourselves in the midst of the crowd at Djeema-el-fna. This place is intoxicating! This is the center of the medina (meaning old city), which is the heart of Marrakech. The best freshly squeezed orange juice for Dh 3, belly dancers (actually male ☺), the yummiest harira, kebabs, and side orders for Moroccan salad, olives, salsa-like dip, and of course the Moroccan-“handheld” bread, are all here!!! The kaleidoscope of colors, the enchanting sounds, the infinite array of smells, are just overwhelmingly delicious.

Our hosts at the Riad served us dinner of chicken and beef tajines (oh-so-heavenly), a concoction of pomegranate, milk, and orange slices for dessert, mint tea. To cap the night, we had rose wine at the terrace. This is definitely one memorable Moroccan night for Gim and I.


Day 4 - October 13, 2008
Palaces



The usual Moroccan breakfast is the “handheld bread”, butter and jam, orange juice and mint tea (that’s super sweet), and the brown organic egg. Actually everything that they serve you hear is pretty much what we would call “organic” in the states - no fertilizers/pesticides, weeds being pulled meticulously by hand, and no GMOs.


Gim and I headed to the Koutoubia (a mosque built around 11th century and has 70-m tall minaret), then went in search of the palaces (El Badi and Bahia). Everything is closed during times of prayer for the Moslems, so we had to wait until 2:30 pm. I got myself a really gorgeous Moroccan scarf for Dh 30, which Gim eventually found out to be made in China!!! (just like everthing else..) The El-Badi is also the home of the minbar (a pulpit built in 12th century). Then we went to see the Dar Si Said which contains the Museum of Moroccan Arts. Unfortunately the texts are in French and Arabic only. Admission fees are to these palaces and houses are only Dh10-20.

We next visited the Saadian tombs, where Saadian princes were buried. A peaceful place with roses planted everywhere. All tombs are covered with Morocan zellij (tilework).

We walked around some more and found guided tours to the Sahara desert with camel rides, so we booked for 2 days and 1 night tour which we both got so excited about.

For dinner, we went again to Djeema-el-Fna and ate lamb tajine at Café Argana (Dh140). This restaurant has a terrace that overlooks the Djeema. Then, we shopped for some more Moroccan earrings, necklaces and magnets. This time we had spicy cinnamon tea, “good for the sinuses”, then back to our beautiful and inviting riad.


Day 5 - October 14, 2008
Camel ride in the Sahara



Woke up early for our tour. At around 7 am, we met up with the group at the Djeema, then we were off to Zagora. We had to cross the Mountain Atlas to get there. In our van, we had 3 Italians (one was a couple and one was a really funny guy all by himself and cannot speak a word of English), 2 Australians (both female teachers), 2 English sisters, 1 Spaniard (with dreadlocks).

Stopped around 2-3 times along the way before lunch to get some good pictures of the views. We had cross Atlas Mountain by its zigzagging roads. The highest elevation we reached was 2260 meters. Our driver unfortunately speaks little English so he wasn’t much of a tour guide. We ate at this place called Café Taourirt for lunch called Quarzezet, where some Hollywood films were shot, including the “Mummies” and “Kingdom of Heaven”. It took us 6 hours from Marrakech to get here, as Quarzezet is halfway between Marrakech and Zagora.

We finally got to our destination at around 7 pm, some of the people in our group got talked into buying scarves for Dh50 by the locals. The Berbers helped us tie the scarves into turbans to protect us from the wind and the dust of the desert. Finally the moment has come! We chose our camels and we started our 2-hr camel ride to the Saharan desert.

The camel ride was actually very bumpy and we all felt our groins to be bruised. The camels are really tall!!! Much much taller and bigger than any of the pictures of camels that we have seen. Bumps and pains aside, the whole experience was soooo cool! While dusk was setting in, we can see the full moon trying to hide among the clouds, and we can see the desert on the horizon.

After 2 hours of bumping, thumping, and groaning (not what you’re thinking, Micah!) all of us, as Gim calls it, got “pain in the butt”. We have reached our campsite without anyone falling! Yey! Berbers served us dinner of chicken and vegetable tajines, with the bread, oranges and pomegranates, and…. supersweet mint tea of course (this time, with sand)! We retired to our tents (which we shared with the Italian couple) and felt the howling of the wind and splattering of sands outside our tents pretty much all throughout the night. Biting cold, sand and wind everywhere -- no bathroom breaks here!

For a campsite in the desert, there is amazingly a nice toilet and showers! But after a few uses, flushes stopped working, and it was really cold to take a shower in the morning. The full moon was a perfect complement to our adventurous day, which was good that we didn’t need to use flashlights, but because the sky was too bright, we didn’t appreciate much stars. Can’t have it all…


Day 6 - October 15, 2008
Heading back to our Riad



Woke up at sunrise, took pics. Breakfast was only bread, jam and the sandy tea. Got on our camels for another hour before we saw our vans. Lots of local kids begging for a few dirhams. Gim gave away cookies, and got mobbed ☺

Traveled again up Mt. Atlas, zigzag roads… then we reached our Riad and had dinner at the Djeema (morrocan salad, rice, eggplants, green chile, potato cake, and mixed seafood - Dh140). Then haggled for 2 pairs of earrings and a bracelet. Gim got an offer again from the Moroccan storeowner for me in exchange for camels. This time Gim asked for 20,000 camels (we still have no idea how much they’re really worth). We realized that if we ran out of money, Gim can just easily sell me here (kawawa me).


Day 7 - October 16, 2008
Essaouira, the windy city



We both woke up with headaches, thanks to Mefloquine (we think). Walked around Djeema one more time. We finally saw the snake charmers. Gim not afraid at all of snakes, see pics. The djeema looks kind of bland during the day, not much happening. No food stalls, no music.

We also visited the Ali Ben Youssef Mosque & Medersa, Musee de Marrakech. All three for Dh60 per person admission fee. We think it’s better to hire a tour guide next time we come here. Although we eavesdropped a bunch of times during the tours to the different museums where there were tour guides hired by another group 😉

Then we checked out of our riad and headed to Essaouira. Took the SupraTour bus (Dh 80 per person). The trip was 3 hours. When we got off the bus, there were man-driven pushcarts everywhere. Two men helped us find laundry place and the other bus station to Casablanca. We left our luggages overnight in the bus station for Dh 10 each. The 2 men asked for Dh 70 afterwards.

Headed to Dar Liouba, our riad. While on our way to our riad, we passed some overflowing sewers that stink like hell. Good thing our riad is gorgeous! It’s octagonal and has cedar carvings in the middle of the stairway. The room is chic in white and blue. The shampoo and douche (bath gels) smell heavenly. Gim tried opening the window but the stink of the sewers and mosquitoes are sifting through. No TV by the way in this riad, as our first one (Riad Dalia).

We proceeded to walk along the restaurant row along the city wall. For dinner we went to Café Les Alizes, a small place with Moroccan tiles on the walls, and candles on each table. We had a set dinner of harira, couscous, bread, and desert for Dh 99. Food is great. A lot of people (mostly French) are waiting for seats by the time we were done.

Our bellies satisfied, we went back to our riad and retired for the night.


Day 8 - October 17, 2008
Goodbye, Morocco!



Woke up at 8. Went for a walk along the city walls and found the ramparts with rows of cannons. Then went to the port where we saw hundreds of seagulls merrily flying and gliding around. Bird poop everywhere, but otherwise a lovely sight with fishermen hauling nets, fishing boats being repaired, tourists just soaking in the sun and the sights. Essaouira is a refreshing and quaint place, always with gentle breeze to buffer the heat of the sun.

We noted more dogs here (but cats still rule the streets - really they are everywhere, including the airport), and much less of the crazy motorbikers. The houses are more often white than terracotta. The walls around the medina as well as the old ports are very intriguing. There are definitely more shops in Marrakech than here and the vendors are much less pushy. The medina is no Djeema-el-Fna, but the salty smell of sea and the lulling sound of the waves is what makes Essaouira special in its own right.

Lunch was fantastic. We went to the rows of fish grills and they offered us a variety of seafood (fish, spiny lobster, calamari) for Dh100 including breads, salads, and drinks. Gim negotiated the price from Dh 150. He is now an expert haggler ☺

We went to get our laundry at around 1:45 pm but the shop was closed (lunch break ends at 3 pm) and almost got a heart attack as our bus is leaving at 2:15. Luckily a lady told us to just keep on knocking which we did. We did get our laundry back, whew! That was a close call.

Bus ride to Casablanca was uneventful, we both had headaches the entire way anyway (I am officially stopping to take Mefloquine starting today, Gim is thinking of halving the dose). After 6 hours, we got to the bus station, a really sketchy place which smelled of danger everywhere. Gim the expert haggled for taxi ride but eventually gave the driver more than he haggled for anyway, bless his heart. He is such a great guy, Gim ☺

Our observation about Moroccans:
1. They are not dog lovers, but they do love their cats - cats are everywhere, whereas we have only seen a couple of dogs in Marrakech. We saw a little bit more doggies in Essaouira but cats still outnumber them by the dozens.
2. They are really warm and friendly people, and for them haggling is a sport.
3. They do not know how to use thongs and serving spoons. Liquid soaps, tissue papers are rare finds in restrooms.
4. Females are, more often than not, on the heavier side, with full bosoms and much more fuller behinds, while men are seldom overweight (I have not seen an overweight man here)
5. They love motorcycles (they have the old models) and they drive it like maniacs, you literally have to jump out of their way, or it will be bloody.
6. It is a wonderful blend of French and Arabic culture, as evidenced by the architecture, the language, the food. More people here speak French than English. Better brush up on your French if you plan to come here. It irked me to find out that the explanations for museum pieces and historical places are only in French and Arabic. Honestly I thought the universal language is English. Obviously I have much to learn.
7. Coffee shops, restaurants, and bars at night have barely any women at all (except where there are tourists). This is true in Casablanca.
8. They love wearing jackets and their long coats with pointed hoods even if it’s too hot outside.
9. It’s hard to find American food like burgers and any kind of chips! They have no junk chips whatsoever in most stores. Chocolate bars are hard to come by as well.
10. Bring your own tissue papers for the toilets and your own table napkins when eating at Djeema. By the way one of their cookies is called “Filipinos”.
11. They love their tiles, brasswares, lamps, mint tea, Moroccan crepes, tajines.

BTW here is our link to more photos of our wedding.
Our Wedding Photos

At the airport, we found out that I need visas for Italy, Cairo, and South Africa. Therefore we are changing sails to Bangkok for now 😊




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18th October 2008

c'mon
gim's internal gps - reminds me of europe '99 - c'mon! the wedding looked wonderful - sorry to have missed it. enjoying the blog - make sure you have fun in between posts!

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