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Published: October 16th 2007
A Gull in Flight
Photo From Essaouira Rock The Kasbah
Our final bit of Morocco involved a ton more driving. It seems that you can’t get anywhere in Morocco without driving a long way. The roads are definitely better than many parts of the world but the drivers are exactly the same. You start to wonder, after traveling this long, if most of the world’s population learns to drive by playing video games. Aggressive is an incredible understatement for the average day’s drive. While we successfully made it from point A to point B and, eventually, point C, there were many times it felt like the outcome was in doubt as we dodged oncoming traffic and sped around trucks, buses and cars. All in a days fun I guess!
Our first stop out of Marrakech was Ait Benhaddou in the eastern part of Morocco. The drive there was a bit harrowing because of the twisty roads through the Atlas Mountains. Moroccan mountains, which are big with skiers during the winter, are pretty impressive. Unlike the snow capped Alps, which are part reality and part fairytale, the Atlas mountains feel like the wild terrain of the Middle East. The mountains are rocky, craggy and brown
but no less impressive for their rather barren nature.
We stopped for a quick break in one of the highest passes of the whole range. From way up above you get a beautiful view of both the mountains themselves and the wild road which winds through passes, switchbacks and cliff side drop offs. While I would definitely say that a peek at these mountains is worth it, I would also warn that everyone who was awake for the drive was scared by the road or sick from the windy nature of the mountain passes. By time we reached our final destination for the day, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Kasbah, Crazy Kasbah Thanks to rock and roll, every kid in America has heard of a Kasbah, but I’m certain that very few of them know what a Kasbah actually is. Well, I finally got my chance to find out. A Kasbah is a fortified city used by, in this case, the ancient Berbers who lived in Morocco. It is also a pretty cool place to wander, take pictures and generally try and get yourself lost.
The Kasbah at Ait Benhaddou is one of
the nicer Kasbahs still existing in Morocco. It sits in a desert oasis which is kept green by a decent river, dry during the summer but fully running in winter. Due to the water source, the Kasbah area glows with life that can’t be seen for almost a hundred miles. After the drive through the Atlas and into the nearby desert it was shockingly beautiful to pull into town and see palm trees.
We only spent one afternoon in Ait Benhaddou which was ample time to explore the Kasbah and town. On top of the fun of exploring the fortress we also were lucky enough to get an opportunity to enjoy couscous - and a lesson in how to make it the Moroccan way - in a local home. The owner, affectionately known as Action Couscous, got his nickname because he has been an extra in many of the films which have used this location as a set. Most notably “Action Couscous” “starred” in Gladiator with Russell Crowe. Sure, he may have only been in the movie for ten seconds but that’s enough to be a star in Morocco.
After a day of exploring the movie set Kasbah
A Rest From My Toils
Photo From Essaouira (check out Lawrence of Arabia, The Jewel of the Nile, The Mummy, Gladiator or Alexander for a view of Ait Benhaddou in the movies) and some pretty tasty couscous we all headed back to our hotel for a very dark and quiet night’s rest. The morning would bring us more driving and, to everyone’s dismay, a back track trip through the Atlas Mountains during the 8 hour trip to Essaouira on the coast.
A Much More Manageable Town I’ll skip the grueling details of an 8 hour bus ride through mountains. It was a nasty experience, I’ll leave it at that. You don’t need to hear more! What is worth hearing about is Essaouira, the jewel of the Moroccan coast.
What makes a place stand out from the pack of cities and tourist destinations? Is it the people, the sights, the culture or the food? Really all of these factors, and many more add up to leave the traveler with a tangible feeling of a place. Some places, like Marrakech or Casablanca, leave you feeling kinda dirty and exhausted while places like Fes and Essaouira leave you hungering for more travel.
Essaouira is small
Just a Quick Break
Photo From Essaouira compared with the other major Moroccan destinations, but its size is part of what makes it so wonderful. There is no fear of getting dragged away from tourist areas like in Marrakech or fear that you’ll get lost like in Fes, instead it just feels comfortably navigable. Within its city walls there are amazingly beautiful back alleys, wonderful shops, interesting people and tons of ambience. Essaouira has all of the culture and foreign-ness of Morocco, just in a more manageable package.
We had two full days in Essaouira and got a chance to do all sorts of cool stuff. This rock star town of the sixties (Jimi Hendrix used to hang out here due to the high quality, cheap marijuana which was legal during the time. It is said the song
Spanish Castle Magic was written about Essaouira) lends itself to fun.
After a short tour of the markets we were free to do whatever we wanted. Most of the women on the tour, Kel included, spent their time shopping in groups. I personally went photographer crazy and the pictures show it. Check out all 58 pictures for this blog. I think they are some of
Just Having Some Fun
Photo From Essaouira the best I’ve ever taken.
While I was off shooting, part of the time with Lucas our Intrepid Guide and all around fun guy, Kel was hanging out with Jen and Carla, our Aussie friends. They spent a ton of time buying general Moroccan souvenirs and actually mustered up the courage to go to our hotel’s Hammam. I’ll let Kel talk about that experience (see below).
Who knew you could be THIS clean? When we checked into the hotel, some of the other girls and I noticed the hammam that was attached to the hotel with some interest. A hammam is essentially a bathhouse that usually includes steam room(s), a pool of some sort and an area for scrubbing, body treatments and massage. It is done single sex and is reserved for women during the day and men at night. Our new friend Jen got on the ball and reserved a time for her, me and two other ladies the first full day we were there. We were all a bit nervous, but excited about what was to come.
We were told to only wear bikini bottoms or underwear, no top whatsoever. They provided
A Shady Passage
Photo From Essaouira a traditional robe (called a chalabra) for us to wear into the hammam . . . and then we were all just half naked together. They herded all 4 of us into a very hot, very steamy room and left us there, sitting on rubber mats on the floor. We sat and sweated like we’ve never sweated before. At one point, one of the girls was able to lay on her back and do a full 360 spin around . . . slipping around in her own sweat. Fun, huh?
After a little while, a local older Moroccan woman - also topless - came in and started the hammam process. First she rubbed our bodies with black soap, made mostly of olive oil and fragrance, a traditional (and really nice) moisturizer and cleaner. Then, she dumped buckets of water on us to rinse off the soap. She left us to sweat for a little while after that again, before she came back and the fun really started.
She came back in with a bucket of water and a seriously abrasive mitt on her hand. She had us lay on our backs (and then stomachs) and literally scrubbed every
A Worthy Defense
Photo From Essaouira part of us that wasn’t under the bikini/undies. The mitt was like a Brillo pad - it hurt! Arms, legs, armpits, breasts & under breasts, stomach and more, nothing was off limits for the lady with the mitt. When she dumped water over us again, it was like a sweet respite from the burning of our skin. Felt great!
Finally, she washed our hair with shampoo/conditioner and dumped more buckets of water over our head and bodies. It was a unique experience - especially sitting topless with 3 other new friends for over an hour - and it was the highlight of Essaouira for me. I can’t remember the last time my skin felt so smooth (she easily scraped a layer or two off during the scrub down) and it was really fun to sit in the steam room and laugh and talk with the other girls. I’d definitely do it again - what fun!
The Extra Wrinkle of Traveling During Ramadan For the most part our tour group split up during the days to go off and experience everything that was Essaouira and then got back together for dinner at night. Considering our trip
A Weathered View
Photo From Essaouira coincided with Ramadan, the Islamic celebration of the date the Qur’an was revealed, eating was a difficult issue. From sun up to sunset followers of Islam are unable to eat, drink, smoke or have sex, thus it is extremely difficult for travelers to find restaurants that are serving food. There are definitely some pluses to traveling during Ramadan but there are a few negatives as well. On the plus side, nobody smokes giving you a virtually smoke free trip through Morocco which is normally a haven for smokers. Also, people are less likely to scam you or lie to you during Ramadan because of the religious implications. But, on the other side of the coin, all those smokers who can’t smoke during the day are extra cranky along with being hungry and thirsty as they wait for the sun to go down. A lot of places are closed during Ramadan and those that are open often have different working hours. It can be difficult to plan your trip because of the erratic opening hours.
Overall Kel and I found traveling during Ramadan to be a positive experience. We got a chance to see a level of devotion to
Painted Boat
Photo From Essaouira religion that you almost never see in the states. People in Islamic countries, even moderate ones like Morocco, take their religion seriously. It was eye opening to see a culture which is all too often bashed in the modern media because of extremism. It turns out that the average Muslim is a normal human being and, more often than not, is serious about their religion and having a peaceful life coexisting with others. I think it would improve the world if everyone from a Christian culture got a chance to see Muslims celebrate their religion during Ramadan, it might improve our international relations and decrease the stereotypes which seem to be prevalent today. Ok, enough soap box speeches…
By time our stay in Essaouira was over we were all ready to head back to Marrakech and get ready to say goodbye. As often happens on trips like these we were sad to say good bye to the other folks on our tour, but excited about going home or moving on to the next destination. We said goodbye to everyone on our last night in Morocco and promised to stay in touch, hopefully that actually happens this time.
Hope
Portuguese Ramparts
Photo From Essaouira everyone back home is well. Thanks for reading!!
Check Out All Three Pages Of Pictures...There Are Some Good Ones!
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Rebecca
non-member comment
incredible pictures!
Wow! You really captured the country with your pictures. So amazing!!