It took ages to decide: Portugal or Morocco?
With the promise of camel riding in the desert, Morocco won out and we booked flights for my birthday weekend. After a bit more too-ing and fro-ing, we made the call that a destination like this deserved a bit more time, so we flew out after lunch on Wednesday 9th March.
After a three and a bit hour flight, we landed in Marrakech, exchanged some pounds for Moroccan Dirhams (1.00GBP to 13.82MAD), and hopped on a bus to the city centre. I'll always remember Morocco for it's array of smells - sometimes pleasant, often pungent - and Marrakech was no different. After a short walk we found our Riad that we were staying in that night and quickly discovered the hospitable tradition of mint tea. Lots and lots of mint tea. Or 'Berber Whiskey' as it was also referred to in the North. You were offered tea whenever you arrived at accommodation or in shops, and you could take it with or without sugar. It was lovely!
We dumped our gear and set out to discover Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square and market place in Marrakech's medina (the older, walled city section). Unfortunately it was too late to visit the souk (the marketplace) but we had a meal in one of the many food stalls. The square was full of people playing traditional drum songs, gambling games, orange juice stalls and young guys trying to convince you that their food stall was obviously better than the one next door. "Amazing food, we have amazing food", "Don't listen to him, he's a liar. Look here, Michael Palin ate here!", "100% world guarantee - no diarrhea!". We finally settled and had skewers, a tagine and couscous. And, as promised; no diarrhea.
The next morning at 8:00am we were collected by our guide, Rachid ('Rasheed'). Rachid was Berber; part of the ethnic group in North Africa. He was a nice guy - fairly fluent in English as well as several other languages, one of which was French. Mike capitalized on this and spent the next three days of travel practicing his verbal French skills!* He had a lot of opportunity to practice: we drove, and drove, and drove, at least six hours every day.
*He also pestered Rachid for new French words, and wrote down 17 new words over the trip. Unfortunately my skills have diminished. In my defense it's a lot harder than it sounds!
Within an hour we were up in the snowy High Atlas Mountains, where we stopped for the most amazing Berber Omelette, cooked in a tagine and finished with some Argan cooking oil. Mike was a big fan of the Amlou paste or the 'Berber Nutella' which was made from ground almonds and Argan oil and served with flat bread. After purchasing some Amlou and Argan Oil from the small settlement we were in, we continued on through the ever-changing landscape in our 4x4.
We passed through the 'Hollywood of Morocco' - Ouarzazate where they filmed 'Gladiator' and many other films, before reaching our next stop.
Rachid took us to see a kasbah or casbah, kind of like a Moroccan fortress. This particular kasbah, Kasbah Amridil was in the middle of a massive oasis and featured in the movie 'Hannah' and on the 50 dirham note. It was very old and interesting and I sang 'Rock The Casbah' a lot.
We spent the night in a riad in the Dades Valley, with great views over the valley and the sunset.
On Friday we were headed for the desert. It was pretty overwhelming getting our first sight of what seemed like endless, expansive and daunting rocky desert. It seemed to just go on forever and ever. Shortly after we stopped at Todgha Gorge, a popular rock-climbing destination. It was pretty spectacular! Some of the villages were so run down, but then you'd spot a satellite dish so you'd know they were lived in. We also found out that virtually all of the houses had electricity and running water despite their appearance. Amazing.
We'd mentioned to Rachid that we were interested in buying a carpet in Fez but he made the point that it was better to buy them directly from the people that made them so you knew they were authentic, and took us to into the village at Todgha Gorge. In a very nondescript house, we met a family who spent half the year living as nomads tending to their flocks of sheep and the other half living in their house making the rugs on looms. The nomadic lifestyle is very common in Morocco and we could spot nomad tents as we drove along. A women's place in Northern Morocco is very much at the loom, in the kitchen, in the river washing clothes, or tending to her husband and children. The two ladies we met didn't appear to speak any English but seemed very nice. They made rugs from goat hair and sheep and camel wool.
After sharing mint tea and learning a bit about their lives, they showed us the rugs they had for sale. Some of the rugs were embroidered by hand with patterns that told a story of Berber culture. We decided that we quite liked one of the 'Berber picasso' rugs, and so the bargaining commenced. The shop owner started at 7,500MAD which was WAY beyond what we were expecting or ready to pay. Mike went in at 1,500MAD and so it went back and forth, but Mike stayed at 2000MAD. We reached a stalemate and decided to leave. Rachid and I were sitting in the car when one of the guys ran down the street - they had decided to accept our offer and we became the proud owners of a hand-made camel carpet.
We continued on our journey to the desert with Rachid pointing out things of interest along the way. Some stretches were fairly dull, so I napped on and off. I get it now why people drive their babies around to put them to sleep! At about 4:00pm massive red sand dunes came into view. No more napping - things were getting very interesting. We had reached Erg Chebbi, one of Morroco's two Saharan ergs (large seas of wind-blown sand). Some of the dunes reached 150 meters tall!
After purchasing some scarfs for wind protection from the sand and dropping off most of our gear, we were introduced to our beautiful camels! Scratch that, dromedary or dromedaire in French. You see, it turns out a camel has two humps, dromedary has one. Did you already know that? I didn't, so it was most educational. And, a little uncomfortable! We both felt a little saddle-sore afterward, but the two hours led by another guide into the beautiful red dunes as the sun set is an experience we'll never forget.
Turns out the desert is cold at night. I had anticipated this, but the whole time we were in Morocco it was fairly cool. There was one other couple besides us - a really nice Argentinian couple. The guides and the other couple all spoke fluent Spanish, while we struggled to communicate with anyone and everyone. Perhaps Spanish can be Mike's next language! We had a lovely meal, some very average Moroccan wine and played drums with the two guides before heading to bed.
We woke early the next morning so I could open my birthday cards in the desert before we climbed the dunes to watch the sun rise. Mike sang Happy Birthday to me in French, surprised me with a beautiful jewellery holder and Billy Joel tickets for his Wembley concert in September!!!! I've been dying to see him again. Once we had climbed the dunes, we had a go at dune-boarding. Mike fell off in a most spectacular fashion with a very accomplished barrel roll, badly hurting his back and neck in the process. Fortunately this came mostly right after a bit.
Mounting and dismounting a dromedary is a lot of fun! The get their back feet up first then their front feet and vice-versa when they sit down so you have to anticipate that to get a good lean on so you don't go arse over tit. The dunes were so peaceful. The walk out like the walk in was magical.
After a shower and some breakfast we were back on the road again and headed for our final destination, Fes. Now we'd read about something called 'Berber Pizza' or Medfouna Rissani and it sounded delicious. Mike asked Rachid if he could organise some and he put a call through to the next town, Rissani where they originated form to get one ordered for us. 40 minutes and 100MAD later we were the proud owners of a substitute birthday cake. And it totally lived up to the hype. Similar to an Italian calzone pizza, but much flatter and wider, it was full of minced lamb, onions herbs, spices and whole almonds. Delicious!
Like I said, the different landscapes in Morocco are ridiculous. A few hours later we were in the High Atlas Mountains, where hundreds of people had gathered on the weekend to enjoy the snow.
And Rachid's music tastes added to the experience. We listened to a lot of Moroccan and West African music, but veer off musically at tiimes. When we planned our trip, we never expected that we would be driving through lush, New Zealand-like green farmland listening to corny country music, the Backstreet Boys and Barry White.
When we finally got to Fes we said goodbye to Rachid, checked into the highest rated Riad in Fes (for a grand total of 23GBP) and drank more mint tea. A poor internet connection meant that I couldn't Skype Mum and Dad and Liam but we managed some WhatsApp voice messages instead.
We then went to the second-highest rated restaurant in Fes for dinner. Luckily our host at the Riad organised a guide to take us between the two establishments. The medina of Fes is an absolute MAZE of a place. Any doubts we had about hiring a guide to enjoy the medina the next day were quickly settled. For 140MAD each we were fed enough for a family of five. This feast included one of Mike's favourite dishes of the trip; Pastilla, otherwise known as pigeon pie! It was a strange mix, encased in pastry and dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. Very rich.
On the final day of our Moroccan adventure we were shown the sights and smells of Fes by a local guide. First though was our massive, bread-based breakfast.
We visited the famous tannery that was being restored for the first time in over a thousand years. Bad timing to say the least! We didn't leave empty handed though, we now own a camel-hide
pouf! We managed to squeeze most of a camel into our backpacks for the trip home.
The medina quarter of Fes was founded in the 9th century and is encased by 15 kilometers of wall with 14 gates, the most famous being the 'Blue Gate'. It is believed to be the worlds largest pedestrianized zone. Full of people, shops, rooftop terraces and donkeys (and satellite dishes), it was surprisingly cool and quiet in some areas. We visited the Medersa Bou Inania, the worlds oldest university and a beautiful riad, a traditional Moroccan walled courtyard.
Another highlight of Fes was our guide taking us to the tiniest restaurant. Literally, a hole in the wall with seating for five people, six at a squeeze. We had the only thing on offer; lamb kebab in Moroccon flat bread with optional seasonings of salt, paprika and cumin. Delicious. And to my pleasant surprise, no diarrhea once again!
With the promise of camel riding in the desert, Morocco won out and we booked flights for my birthday weekend. After a bit more too-ing and fro-ing, we made the call that a destination like this deserved a bit more time, so we flew out after lunch on Wednesday 9th March.
After a three and a bit hour flight, we landed in Marrakech, exchanged some pounds for Moroccan Dirhams (1.00GBP to 13.82MAD), and hopped on a bus to the city centre. I'll always remember Morocco for it's array of smells - sometimes pleasant, often pungent - and Marrakech was no different. After a short walk we found our Riad that we were staying in that night and quickly discovered the hospitable tradition of mint tea. Lots and lots of mint tea. Or 'Berber Whiskey' as it was also referred to in the North. You were offered tea whenever you arrived at accommodation or in shops, and you could take it with or without sugar. It was lovely!
We dumped our gear and set out to discover Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square and market place in Marrakech's medina (the older, walled city section). Unfortunately it was too late to visit the souk (the marketplace) but we had a meal in one of the many food stalls. The square was full of people playing traditional drum songs, gambling games, orange juice stalls and young guys trying to convince you that their food stall was obviously better than the one next door. "Amazing food, we have amazing food", "Don't listen to him, he's a liar. Look here, Michael Palin ate here!", "100% world guarantee - no diarrhea!". We finally settled and had skewers, a tagine and couscous. And, as promised; no diarrhea.
The next morning at 8:00am we were collected by our guide, Rachid ('Rasheed'). Rachid was Berber; part of the ethnic group in North Africa. He was a nice guy - fairly fluent in English as well as several other languages, one of which was French. Mike capitalized on this and spent the next three days of travel practicing his verbal French skills!* He had a lot of opportunity to practice: we drove, and drove, and drove, at least six hours every day.
*He also pestered Rachid for new French words, and wrote down 17 new words over the trip. Unfortunately my skills have diminished. In my defense it's a lot harder than it sounds!
Within an hour we were up in the snowy High Atlas Mountains, where we stopped for the most amazing Berber Omelette, cooked in a tagine and finished with some Argan cooking oil. Mike was a big fan of the Amlou paste or the 'Berber Nutella' which was made from ground almonds and Argan oil and served with flat bread. After purchasing some Amlou and Argan Oil from the small settlement we were in, we continued on through the ever-changing landscape in our 4x4.
 |
| Berber Omelette |
We passed through the 'Hollywood of Morocco' - Ouarzazate where they filmed 'Gladiator' and many other films, before reaching our next stop.
Rachid took us to see a kasbah or casbah, kind of like a Moroccan fortress. This particular kasbah, Kasbah Amridil was in the middle of a massive oasis and featured in the movie 'Hannah' and on the 50 dirham note. It was very old and interesting and I sang 'Rock The Casbah' a lot.
 |
| Like a real-life sandcastle |
We spent the night in a riad in the Dades Valley, with great views over the valley and the sunset.
On Friday we were headed for the desert. It was pretty overwhelming getting our first sight of what seemed like endless, expansive and daunting rocky desert. It seemed to just go on forever and ever. Shortly after we stopped at Todgha Gorge, a popular rock-climbing destination. It was pretty spectacular! Some of the villages were so run down, but then you'd spot a satellite dish so you'd know they were lived in. We also found out that virtually all of the houses had electricity and running water despite their appearance. Amazing.
We'd mentioned to Rachid that we were interested in buying a carpet in Fez but he made the point that it was better to buy them directly from the people that made them so you knew they were authentic, and took us to into the village at Todgha Gorge. In a very nondescript house, we met a family who spent half the year living as nomads tending to their flocks of sheep and the other half living in their house making the rugs on looms. The nomadic lifestyle is very common in Morocco and we could spot nomad tents as we drove along. A women's place in Northern Morocco is very much at the loom, in the kitchen, in the river washing clothes, or tending to her husband and children. The two ladies we met didn't appear to speak any English but seemed very nice. They made rugs from goat hair and sheep and camel wool.
After sharing mint tea and learning a bit about their lives, they showed us the rugs they had for sale. Some of the rugs were embroidered by hand with patterns that told a story of Berber culture. We decided that we quite liked one of the 'Berber picasso' rugs, and so the bargaining commenced. The shop owner started at 7,500MAD which was WAY beyond what we were expecting or ready to pay. Mike went in at 1,500MAD and so it went back and forth, but Mike stayed at 2000MAD. We reached a stalemate and decided to leave. Rachid and I were sitting in the car when one of the guys ran down the street - they had decided to accept our offer and we became the proud owners of a hand-made camel carpet.
We continued on our journey to the desert with Rachid pointing out things of interest along the way. Some stretches were fairly dull, so I napped on and off. I get it now why people drive their babies around to put them to sleep! At about 4:00pm massive red sand dunes came into view. No more napping - things were getting very interesting. We had reached Erg Chebbi, one of Morroco's two Saharan ergs (large seas of wind-blown sand). Some of the dunes reached 150 meters tall!
After purchasing some scarfs for wind protection from the sand and dropping off most of our gear, we were introduced to our beautiful camels! Scratch that, dromedary or dromedaire in French. You see, it turns out a camel has two humps, dromedary has one. Did you already know that? I didn't, so it was most educational. And, a little uncomfortable! We both felt a little saddle-sore afterward, but the two hours led by another guide into the beautiful red dunes as the sun set is an experience we'll never forget.
Turns out the desert is cold at night. I had anticipated this, but the whole time we were in Morocco it was fairly cool. There was one other couple besides us - a really nice Argentinian couple. The guides and the other couple all spoke fluent Spanish, while we struggled to communicate with anyone and everyone. Perhaps Spanish can be Mike's next language! We had a lovely meal, some very average Moroccan wine and played drums with the two guides before heading to bed.
We woke early the next morning so I could open my birthday cards in the desert before we climbed the dunes to watch the sun rise. Mike sang Happy Birthday to me in French, surprised me with a beautiful jewellery holder and Billy Joel tickets for his Wembley concert in September!!!! I've been dying to see him again. Once we had climbed the dunes, we had a go at dune-boarding. Mike fell off in a most spectacular fashion with a very accomplished barrel roll, badly hurting his back and neck in the process. Fortunately this came mostly right after a bit.
 |
| Mike dune-boarding. |
Mounting and dismounting a dromedary is a lot of fun! The get their back feet up first then their front feet and vice-versa when they sit down so you have to anticipate that to get a good lean on so you don't go arse over tit. The dunes were so peaceful. The walk out like the walk in was magical.
After a shower and some breakfast we were back on the road again and headed for our final destination, Fes. Now we'd read about something called 'Berber Pizza' or Medfouna Rissani and it sounded delicious. Mike asked Rachid if he could organise some and he put a call through to the next town, Rissani where they originated form to get one ordered for us. 40 minutes and 100MAD later we were the proud owners of a substitute birthday cake. And it totally lived up to the hype. Similar to an Italian calzone pizza, but much flatter and wider, it was full of minced lamb, onions herbs, spices and whole almonds. Delicious!
 |
| Berber Pizza |
 |
| So good! |
 |
| "God, Country and King", or in French "Le Dieu, Le Patrie, Le Roi" |
And the monkeys. In the snow. As you do.
And Rachid's music tastes added to the experience. We listened to a lot of Moroccan and West African music, but veer off musically at tiimes. When we planned our trip, we never expected that we would be driving through lush, New Zealand-like green farmland listening to corny country music, the Backstreet Boys and Barry White.
When we finally got to Fes we said goodbye to Rachid, checked into the highest rated Riad in Fes (for a grand total of 23GBP) and drank more mint tea. A poor internet connection meant that I couldn't Skype Mum and Dad and Liam but we managed some WhatsApp voice messages instead.
We then went to the second-highest rated restaurant in Fes for dinner. Luckily our host at the Riad organised a guide to take us between the two establishments. The medina of Fes is an absolute MAZE of a place. Any doubts we had about hiring a guide to enjoy the medina the next day were quickly settled. For 140MAD each we were fed enough for a family of five. This feast included one of Mike's favourite dishes of the trip; Pastilla, otherwise known as pigeon pie! It was a strange mix, encased in pastry and dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. Very rich.
 |
| Pastilla: Pigeon Pie |
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| The mint tea, loaded with whole mint leaves |
We visited the famous tannery that was being restored for the first time in over a thousand years. Bad timing to say the least! We didn't leave empty handed though, we now own a camel-hide
pouf! We managed to squeeze most of a camel into our backpacks for the trip home.
 |
| Big fans of Netflix |
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| The famous 'Blue Gate'. |
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Another highlight of Fes was our guide taking us to the tiniest restaurant. Literally, a hole in the wall with seating for five people, six at a squeeze. We had the only thing on offer; lamb kebab in Moroccon flat bread with optional seasonings of salt, paprika and cumin. Delicious. And to my pleasant surprise, no diarrhea once again!
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Petite dining. |
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| The exports, safely back at home. |
Oh Rach, what a fantastic trip! Couldn't have asked for a better place to spend your birthday :) - Ains xx
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