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Published: June 26th 2009
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In our week long break between retreats, we took a ferry over to Morocco (North Africa). Arriving in Tanger, we had a few hours to spare before our overnight train departed for Marrakech. Our first impressions of Morocco was that was an intense place. In the cities things are non-stop. Market stalls open early and trade late into the night. Everyone wants something from you and will stop at nothing to get your full attention. First, they test out up to six different languages until they figure out your nationality. We were very impressed with the number of languages that the average Moroccan can converse in. Everyone speaks their two official languages - French and Arabic. Then there is the local language of the Berber people that most locals are familiar with (and there are several dialects within this). On top of that, to be a street vender it seems you need to also have a repertoire of at least English, Spanish and German (at a minimum). Some street venders were able to pick your nationality just by looking at you (hmm do you think it was the boardies and haviana's that gave it away??) The most memorable vender we came
across recited to us many lines from Australian comedies including 'Summer Heights High' and 'Kath and Kim'. It sounded something like 'Hey Mr G...Look at me...puck you miss'. We were in hysterics!
So after our brief encounter of Tanger, we arrived at the train station to board our overnight train (11 hours!!) to Marrakech. We had booked sleeper tickets which meant we had a small bunk bed in a four person carriage. So the trip went pretty quickly as we slept through the night (or tried to at least!)
Marrakech in one word - 'intense'!! After surviving the short trip from the Marrakech train station in a 'petite taxi' (there were a few hairy moments along the way) we arrived a short distance away from our Riad (a Riad is a hotel usually converted from a small mansion built around a centre courtyard). We discovered that the rest of the way was on foot as cars cannot fit down the tiny streets inside the medina, or old city where we were staying. A local kindly escorted us there (for a small token of course). Once inside, we were mesmerised by the design of the riads. They look like
Overlooking the Djinna Al Fna
This is the main square in the medina, all the food stalls are setting up for the night nothing from the dusty (and smelly) streets, but once inside it's like stepping into another world. Our Riad was on the more budget end of the scale, but it was still far superior to most places we have stayed in on our travels. Our room was on the terrace floor (top floor) which had a view over the rooftops of Marrakech.
After one day and one night exploring the medina and various souks (markets), we were greeted the next morning by our guide for our trek in the Atlas Mountains. For the next 3 days, we had planned a trek to Toubkal Mountain, which stands 4167 metres above sea level and the highest peak in North Africa.
We drove to the base of the Mountain range, and started our ascent from a little village called Imlil, which is occupied by local Berber people. The first day we hiked for about 5 hours with a stop in another small village which is a place where many muslim women visit to make a pilgrimage (the waters there are said to have magical fertility powers). Only muslims are allowed to visit the sacred place where the water runs however (so no
Djinna Al Fna by night
The square really comes alive and is so crowded it is hard to move surprises in case anyone is wondering...Mum!)
The first night we stopped at a refuge at the base of Toubkal Mountain. The refuge is like a lodge where many hikers stay on their way up. There were probably about 30 people staying that night, and our dorm had about half the people. Our guide, Said (pronounced Say-eed), who is a local Berber, cooked us a lovely pasta meal giving us plenty of carbs for our hike up the mountain the next day. While we are on the subject of food, it's probably a good time to mention our experience of Moroccan daily eating and drinking habits...
Since Morocco was a French colony, their diet seems to be French-inspired, and by 'French-inspired' we mean a lot of sugary drinks and treats. The day generally begins with some sort of bread or pastry, accommpanied by a Moroccan tea (which is known as Berber whiskey to the locals). Moroccan tea is often served with a generous handful of fresh mint, and always made with a copious amount of sugar. It is so sweet you feel like you've eaten a whole box of krispy kreams afterwards. We soon realised that this Moroccan tea
is enjoyed several times a day, or it would seem in some cases several times an hour!! So consequently, we were offered tea many times daily, and it was difficult to refuse since it's a customary social drink. Every time we stopped somewhere on our trek, a pot of the tea would appear in an instant. Another interesting thing to note is the way the tea is served. It is usually poured from a good height in order to make the tea frothy. We were quite amazed at the skill the locals demonstrated when pouring the tea, usually from a full arms extension.
The next morning we began our trek at 6am in order to arrive at the top in the morning for the best views. Despite the fact that the temperature in Morocco had been well above 30 degrees, it was quite a bit cooler up the mountain and the higher we climbed the colder it got, and we wished we had packed gloves and thermals! There was still quite a bit of snow around, some of which we trekked through. The climb to the top took approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes (which we were pleased about
as we were told that it normally takes from 2 to 3 hours). When we reached the top the view was jaw-dropping. Our photos really don't do it justice. It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment and we were very glad we had done it. But what goes up must come down. This was by far the most difficult part of the trek as the Mountain is very steep and also very rocky. The only way to do it is to simulate skiing down (on loose rocks) in a controlled slide. All the other climbers that we overtook on the way up overtook us on the way down (but they were mostly Scandinavian and they had hiking poles!!) Eventually we reached the refuge and stopped for the night. Said cooked us an amazing tagine which we shared while we recalled the various moments along the days trek.
On the last day we headed back down to Imlil, with the aid of our mule and mule boy (Omar). Our mule carried our packs and supplies up to the refuge. We were pretty exhausted and glad to meet our taxi who would take us back to our Riad. For the next
two days we tried to experience as much of Marrakech as we could squeeze in. Unfortunately this proved a little too much for Ali, a meal the night before our train back to Tanger left her quite ill. Consequently the trip back to Spain was pretty awful.
But all in all, it was a very enjoyable and enlightening trip. Next up...France!
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