The World Effect - Around the world travel blog

Marrakech, Morocco: Stuff and more stuff to buy

I am sure being the husband of a designer is not easy, but Beau has to give me credit for leaving Marrakech with the same size bag as when we entered.  This was an incredible accomplishment because the souk (market) in Marrakech is filled with design and fashion treasures.  Amidst the hustle and bustle of the standard souk foot traffic, donkey carts and motorcycles you can find a variety of handmade goods.  There is an abundance of spice and herbal stores as well.  The herbal stores have something to cure even the weirdest of things.  Even if you are not up for buying any it is a really fun experience to see and smell all the treatments. In the maze of the smaller dark alleys in the center of the souk, you will find the craftsmen in little rooms working hard to produce the goods for the shops.  The artisans tend to be grouped together by their chosen craft and all seem to be friends if not related in some way.  To find this area you will need to be ok with getting lost a lot and taking your time.  If this is not your style you can always hire a guide. There does tend to be a redundancy of goods such as the traditional clothing, shoes, lanterns, and tea pots but if you travel away from the tourist area (square) you will begin to find more established artisan shops on the edge of the Medina.  There are several furniture stores selling antiques and new designs in this area. We also found many stores that had there own artisans willing to work on custom designs.  I definitely want to come back here.  Actually this is the first place we can say on the trip that we didn't have enough time and really could have stayed a month more.  We will definitely try to come back sooner than later!    

The Marrakech Bazaar

Drawn in by the nasally sounding flute, I found myself staring right into a black cobra's beady little eyes.  The great beast of a serpent struck and missed me by a hair.  Just kidding.  I really wanted a photo of a snake tamer.  Knowing everything has a price in Morocco, I asked, "how much for a photo?"

"Don't worry, photos are allowed." Answers the tamer wearing a fez and a small green snake as an accessory.

"No, really how much for one photo?"

"Please, Please take a photo."

At this point, I figured I would snap a photo and hand him a 10 dirham coin.  I wish I had another lens so I could get both the tamer and the snake, but Meggan with the other lens was watching from an excessive distance away.  In retrospect, this was about the right distance.  Good call Meg.  So, I squatted down in front of the cobra with his head and upper third of his body well above the rest of his coiled body.  I took the photo, which didn't even have good lighting, but I wasn't going to pay for two.  As I'm standing up, I feel the weight of something smooth on my neck, then my arm and then my other arm.  I look down to find a really big snake (not poisonous, I think?) wrapping around me.  It was so very nice of the snake tamer's helper to let me test drive one of their snakes. 

"No, I don't want to hold your snake" I told the tamer helper, while he literally tied it on me.

The snake tamer came to rescue me, "250 dirham!"

Long story short, I got the snake off me for my original 10 dirham estimate, but not without many words.  This is their scam, so watch your back or you'll get a big 'ole boa crawling on you.  We had a similar circumstance when an owner told his monkey to jump on Meggan's shoulder.

Where were we?  Probably the craziest place we've been so far, the Djema el Fna.  This is the central square in Marrakech which is one of the busiest in Africa, if not the world.  It is also a UNESCO world heritage sight.  Don't let our scamming street performers deter you from checking it out.  This place is absolutely filled with life.  Walking through the square you will find musicians, snake tamers, monkeys, henna artists, magicians, acrobats, jugglers and more!  Another less known performance includes a guy dressed in a lab coat sitting at a table filled with teeth and pliers.  Apparently, he will pull someone's teeth for the entertainment of others.During the day this place is busy and at night it's a mad house.  For how famous the square is, it was refreshing that it has not driven away locals.  Everyone goes to the square from the young to the old. The food here is also another form of entertainment.  There are several stands of fresh dates, figs, nuts etc.  There are also stands with fresh orange juice. (Warning: some vendors dilute the juice with tap water.  If you want juice make sure you watch them squeeze the juice directly in your cup.)  Escargot? Yes, they have that too, cooking in butter. There is also several tented restaurants in the square.  We tried the tent with the largest locals crowd, number 31.  It serves flat bread stuffed with grilled sheep sausage.  It was great. Put on your game face, get ready to barter, and don't let them frazzle you.  Go here and enjoy the bazaar, it's fantastic! 

Tinerhir, Quazazate, and Ait Ben Haddou, Morocco: Kasbahs and Hollywood

  After a few days of hot sun and sand, the lush deep valley in the desert seemed like a mirage to Beau and me.  It is an unreal sight to see the bright green foliage of palms and crops in such a harsh landscape.  The town of Tinerhir is dependent on the stream that runs through the valley and the little rain they get for their crops and palm tree groves.  If you look closer to the Tinerhir picture you will see kasbah lining the valley floor.  The centuries old mud-brick houses blend into the hill sides and disappear.  A little bit away from Tinerhir, is one of the oldest kasbahs Ait Ben-Haddou.  Ait Ben-Haddou was built in the 16th century and was home to several families.  In the kasbah, there is still a family from one of the original descendants living there and taking care of structure.  It is a fight against the elements to keep this mud building from washing away after rain storms.  I am so glad it is still standing.  As a Hollywood film fan it is very cool to know the classic 1963 movie Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here as well as the Gladiator. You can find Hollywood's fingers touching all parts of this region.  Scenes of Lawrence of Arabia and many other big films have also been filmed in the sand dunes that we visited earlier.  There is also Atlas sound stage and studios in the town of Quazazate.  It was super excited to hear the direct yell "be quite, action!" as the tv production Ben Hur II started filming.

Many of the films shoot in the township of Quazazate as well since they are willing and excited to participate.  To name a few others; Babel, Sahara, Black Hawk Down, Hills Have Eyes II, Mummy II, Rules of Engagement and many more!  So don't be surprised when you see a star in the middle of the Sahara.             

The Sweetest Camels South of the Mediterranean

What's a trip to the Sahara without a camel ride?  Well, we didn't want to find out.  We took a stroll through the Erg Chebbi dunes in the Sahara led by our Berber guides. We've heard that camels can be nasty, smelly and potentially spit in your eye.  We had none of that.  Maybe they smelled a bit and made Chewbacca noises, but all in all, we had the sweetest camels south of the Mediterranean.

For those that have not done it, riding a camel is like riding a horse with really exaggerated movements and nowhere to put your feet.  It's a amazing watching their hooves expand and contract to displace the sand.  The mounting and dismounting is really fun.  It's like a 4 step move for the camel to kneel to let you on and off.  Meggan wants to give our dog a camel playmate when we get home, not to mention a Peruvian Alpacca, a cat from Buenos Aires and a beach dog from El Salvador.

   

Sunrise in the Sahara

It seems that waking up in the darkness to go somewhere special to watch the sunrise is a common occurrence for us while traveling.  This sunrise excursion has been the best yet.  We're staying literally at the foot of the Sahara desert's Merzouga dunes.  This is a very famous spot, when you think of the Sahara, you probably think of an endless rolling landscape of sand.  This is that spot. 3:30 AM comes too quickly.  We load into an old land cruiser to bump along a dirt road for 45 minutes further into the sand dunes.  We get out of the vehicles and we start walking further into the mounds of sand. There is no footwear needed.  The sand is softer than any beach I've walked on, it felt like sifted flour.  Our Berber guides led us to the top of a dune with a view as far as the Algerian border.  We watched the sky turn from midnight blue to gold.  The sand glowed orange.  This was unforgettable.

    

Fes - Leather and Looms

Inside the walls of the Medina of Fes al Bali is the world's oldest tannery. The Leather Souq tannery dates back at least 9 centuries and has not changed.  The facility is a series of man-sized stone vessels filled with various tanning solutions and dyes.   The first step starts with soaking the hides in diluted pigeon excrement to soften the leather.  Then the hides are soaked in a series of different vegetable dyes made from things like saffron, mint and henna.  The dying process dyes the hide as well as the worker.   The process is all done by hand with the men bearing the insane temperatures (well over a 100 F) while standing waist deep in the solutions all day.  To see how hard these men work for so little pay is truly a reality check for us.  We are lucky. Another important industry in Fes is the textile looms.  They weave all the textiles for rugs, clothing, upholstery etc.  The looms are essential because textiles are needed for so many different products in the Moroccan culture.  The best part of touring these looms is all the beautiful vibrant colors, which are seen in everyday life. Many of the yarns are hand twisted in the narrow alleys of the Medina.  It is a common site to see brightly colored strips of color stretched from a nail for a few hundred yards.  At the other end of the strips is someone at the other end busy twisting a few pieces yarn into a thicker one to be sold to the looms.      

Fes - Urban Labyrinth

Dodging donkeys, carts, wheel barrows, scooters, thousands of people (one of which was carefully cradling a goat brain in his palms), through a labyrinth of narrow alleyways was an intense experience.  Fes (Fez) is the third largest city in Morocco, but is said to have the largest contiguous car-free urban area in the world.  Words cannot describe the maze that lies in the Medina of Fes al Bali.  Every turn and man-made tunnel under buildings made us thankful we had a guide.  If someone dropped you off somewhere in the middle of the Medina, it could take a lifetime to find your way out.  Luckily, there is a back up plan.  If you get lost, gie a kid 10 dirham coin and they'll lead you out.

Wondering through the narrow alleyways is a sensory experience.  The seas of beige colored walls are splashed with the bright colors of textiles worn and sold by the locals.  The smells are strong, both good and bad.  Spicy tagine dishes bubbling over open fires, piles of spices in stands, pungent stenches of tanneries, chicken coops and goats.   The sounds of the traditional Berber drums and tambourines are mixed with street vendor pitches, children laughing and scooter horns beeping.  We loved every chaotic minute we were within the walls of the Medina. While we were there, we toured through a family run ceramics workshop.  They showed us every step of the process from grinding the stones into mud, to stomping the air bubbles out of the clay, to forming the pots to firing and painting. At this work shop they make traditional bowls, tagines, tea cups, mosaic tiles and much more.  The level of detail and craftsmanship that goies into ever piece was really impressive. 

Volubilis, Morocco: Are we in Tuscany?

Many times Beau and I looked at each other and asked "are we in Tuscany?" during our visit to the Roman ruins in Volubilis, Morocco.  I will admit that I didn't really know all the different landscapes that were going to encounter on our trip in Morocco but I definitely didn't expect to see fields of wild flowers and green pastors.  This year marked the most rain Morocco has had in 15 years.  So many areas that would have normally been brown are now alive with color. Not far from Meknes, you will find the breathtaking Roman ruins of Volubilis.  It was hard to imagine a beautiful site like this not covered in tourist pushing their way to the front of each view.  The 360 view is unreal and something you must experience for yourself.  The Roman village was home to an estimated 20,000 people in the 3rd century B.C..    We were amazed on amount of areas that are still intact.  There are several mosaics that you can see up close and really picture what the room would have looked like. Even the storks thinks it's a really cool and a great place!  

Rabat, Morocco - Lots of Guards

Rabat is Morocco's capital.  It was once a very important port city, but due to silting problems it now serves mostly as a political capital rather than the financial capital of Morocco.  The parliament buildings were an interesting sight swarming with heavily decorated guards.  Our local guide also gave us a detailed explanation of the king, why he recently added another wife and how the government works. Another major site, also heavily guarded is the Hassan Tower.  This was a mosque that was to be the largest built in the world.  The construction stopped after the king died in 1119.  The site is filled with columns of the incomplete mosque. Although never completed, this is still a very important Muslim sight.  On the premises there is the Mausoleum of Mohammad V.  Where there is always a man studying the Koran.  

  

Casablanca - Hassan II Mosque

Casablanca has the third largest Mosque in the world.  The Hassan II Mosque is a beautiful building of marble towering over the Atlantic Ocean.  Part of the floor of the Mosque is glass, so worshipers can kneel directly over the sea. The building has enough room for 25,000 worshipers inside and as many as 80,000 on the predestine courtyard grounds.  It must be an impressive sight to see this place at full capacity.  As non Muslims we were not allowed in the area of worship, but we did get to look in from the outside and it looks amazing inside.