Morroco - Marrakesh and Fez

We heavily debated spending time in southern Africa on this trip, but due to our timing, it just didn’t work out. Kids were dying to at least step onto the continent, and Morocco has always been on my list of places to see, so we chose to spend 10 days there – very unsure of what to expect.  After almost 5 months in Asia, much of which we spent in “3^rd world-ish” countries, we were coming off of about a month in first world “luxury” – Turkey, Greece, Spain, Portugal – so we were ready to jump back into a little less comfortable traveling again. Good thing we were prepared. 

Morocco was much more, and much less, than I expected – all rolled into one diverse package.  Our travels consisted of 4 nights in Marrakesh, 3 nights on an excursion into the Sahara Desert, and then 3 nights in Fez.  If I could do it again, I would probably skip Fez and head instead to Essouaira in western Morocco, which I’m bummed we missed, as I hear it is fabulous.

Marrakesh was everything I expected it to be – loud, bustling, aggressive.  We expected to be more wowed by the souks and bazaars in Marrakesh than we were  - maybe because we have spent so much time in crazy Asian markets, it was fun to do a quick walk-through, but not a place we opted to spend a ton of time.  

We were torn on Jemaa al’Fna, which is the main plaza outside of the main bazaar.  We loved the food booths set up around – all of which (admittedly) have the EXACT same menu, so they rely on showmanship and charm to woo in customers. Our favorite plug, “we promise – no diarrhea for life!”  Each stall is numbered, and as you walk by them (there are probably 100), they yell out their numbers to you, “Promise you will come back. Number 34. Best one. Cleanest. Don’t forget. You will come back, later, yes? Promise. Don’t forget Number 34.”  We ended up at Number 114 because they were funny. 

Each time they would pull a customer in to the open air seating area, all of the cooks/workers would sing and clap, “that’s the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it, I like it.” By the end of the meal, they even had Maggie joining in.  It was way more appropriate than that last sentence sounds.   We didn’t like, however, the trained monkeys and snakes that were everywhere in Jemaa al Fna. Traveling around Asia will bring a strong distaste in monkeys to even the strongest animal lovers, so we avoided them like the plague.

While in Marrakesh, we stayed in the Medina (the old walled city), which we really enjoyed. 

The Medina is a maze like no other, and getting lost in there is a rite of passage to all visitors. We were lucky to stay in a riad (traditional Moroccan inn) that was on the same block as a museum, so there were always signs pointing us in the right direction.   Getting home was never a problem. Getting other places, however – not so easy. Everyone who goes to Morocco will tell you – boys and men are on every corner offering to give you directions to whatever landmark you are looking for. We only fell for the trap once – a kid on a bike who biked with us until we did what he said (which was to walk about ¾ of a mile all around the medina instead of the ½ block down the road straight to the site we were looking for). He then insists on being paid. Brian gives him a little change – he insisted on more. That was one of the things I liked least about Morocco – and this constant asking for more money is omnipresent there. Frustrating after spending time in Asia, where they are persistent about sales, etc, but aren’t intimidating at all.

One thing I did LOVE in Marrakesh especially was the doors.  In the Medina, and really most of the country, doors are painted and designed beautifully, and really stand out amongst the monotony of the Medina itself.  It was a great contrast – splashes of color and design amidst ruddy browns and reds.

 

 Add in the occasional wandering donkey, and it was definitely like being in another time, although the motorbikes that race through the very narrow streets and tight corners (fast! way too fast!! makes Hanoi traffic seem manageable!) kept us from any daydreaming.

Our time in Fez, post-desert tour, was unremarkable except that we had booked ourselves into what was called a typical Riad, but was actually a “disco-hotel” that had blaring house music and flashing lights every night until 12pm – they toned it down the last night because nobody was interested, but made it hard to get any work done! We didn’t love Fez – too much aggression, very few smiles, and one of the first times in 6 months I have felt a need to watch Maggie closely.  In fact, on our last day there, as we walked through the Medina in Fez, three little girls her age trailed behind us. We are used to getting a little extra attention in non-European countries because of the color of our hair, but they took it a bit far – and yanked her hair – hard! I had to turn around and ask them to knock it off – so they poked me. But at least they stopped pulling on Maggie’s hair!

Foodwise, we loved Morocco until we didn’t anymore.  There is very little variance in terms of food – almost every place had the same menu, so with the exception of the occasional place where we had a pizza, every lunch and dinner consisted of some grilled meat, couscous and/or tagine with vegetables, and a Moroccan salad.  And no alcohol to be found – we had one bottle of wine our entire time there! Cheap, healthy and delicious – but after 10 days straight of it, we had enough couscous, tagine, and kebabs to last us a long time! We weren’t sad when it came time to leave Fez and head to Barcelona