Couscous, Camels and Canadians - Morocco

The plane touches down and, after enjoying the unruly RyanAir arrival music, we walk out into the lovely afternoon sunshine in Morocco...
Wait, its December and yet I am talking about sunshine...How amazing! 

Yes, I managed to once again evade harsh and cold winters. Well... kinda... It turns out that Morocco isn’t quite the tropical paradise that I was expecting, as the dessert is nice and warm during the day, but then freezing cold at night.

Night time in the Medina

We arrived in Marrakech, and hopped on the bus to arrive in the main (and ancient) centre of the city, called Jemaa el-Fna (almost more difficult to pronounce as you would think!). By the time we got there it was dark out, and Morocco doesn’t really have streetlights, so it was a bit like entering the Cantina from the beginning of “A New Hope.” I say this because of the gloomy darkness and the only light coming from small fires and the large screen set up to accommodate the Marrakech film festival . This gave the entire surroundings (basically a small square overflowing with people) a glow that made what was already foreign almost overwhelming. I found myself speechless and stunned by the sheer novelty of my surroundings... Considering 3 hours before I had been in my now-comfortable Spain, it was quite a shock! 

Andrea (Canada), Helena (Finland), and I outside
of the hostel

Some flying Canadians! The Moroccans thought
we were nuts

Cayleigh and I doing some shopping in the Medina

 Morocco IS beautiful, the markets are positively fascinating with the mixture of colours, foods, smells, fabrics, and people causing a mosaic of sensory experience.  Our hostel was awesome, it was hidden down one of the tight streets in a maze of passageways that resembled an Indiana Jones movie set, with the ever-present danger of being hit by a passing donkey, horse, or motorcycle making the trip extra fun. 

Where are we?

Eating dinner on the first night!

That first night we went out and for dinner in the square by our hostel. This was quite the revealing experience because I, as the only boy, was bombarded by offers to eat, drink, and buy buy buy! The girls luckily made the decision for me as I was busy stammering out negations in every language while trying to figure out where the heck we were. The food was delicious and greasy, it hit the spot delightfully after the excitement our arrival. Of course, as soon as we stood up again people were on me to eat again, even if you said a hearty “Je viens de manger” they would counter with a quick “but you are so skinny!” – Even though this just brought surprised laughter from me, I wonder if this actually works on some people! Afterwards we headed back to the hostel and had a beer on the roof with some of the other residents, getting the down-low on tours...

Couscous, Chicken, and Pommes Frites

We work up early the next day and went up to grab the breakfast (pancakes!) and then went on the walking tour offered by the Lonely Planet book, which took us through the city to an ancient and beautiful palace that we toured. By the time we returned to the hostel we had decided to go ahead and pay for the dessert tour, which would take up the next three days. That night we went to the “Ville Nouvelle” and saw the profound contrast between the two worlds the Moroccan people live in. From women in burkas to girls in short skirts, from shops selling pig innards to La Senza, and most important from chaos to organization – it was shocking! 

Cayleigh, Helena and I freezing our butts
during a cold tour morning!

As we had decided to do the three day desert tour, we work up really early the 2^nd day and hopped on the van with some of what ended up being a very entertaining group of people. The mixture of young Europeans and 7 Brazilians (yay, got to speak some Portuguese!) brought the kind of enthusiasm that you really crave during a tour!

Spain, Finland, Chile & Canada with a beautiful valle
in the background

We drove and drove and drove. Stopping to see the sights whenever the driver deemed necessary (which was quite often, and always at really nice places!) We saw everything from ruined cities that have been used as the set of dozens of movies, to huge panoramic views of the beautiful Moroccan countryside -all the while laughing away with the fun tour group. That night we stayed in a cute little hostel, with the promise of a fun next day!

Giddyap!!

It was a rough morning heading out again (we did drink a bit the night before!) for another long day of driving and stopping in the hopes of reaching the Sahara by the mid afternoon. However, even with the sleepy butt, I knew as soon as my camel picked me up and took the first steps that it was totally worth it! The camels were really quite the amazing experience, as the padded along the 1.5 hour walk to reach our camp for the night!

 

We enjoyed a quick dinner of Couscous and then went out to enjoy the bonfire (doing the camel dance around it with the guides!) before being sent on a dune-hike! We zipped up the biggest dune around and enjoyed the vision of the dune-sea that surrounded us. This was one of those amazing surreal moments because one of the Brazilian guys decided to do a relaxation exercise with me and we sat there breathing softly in unison enjoying the feeling of being on top of the planet and seeing the shooting stars and marvelling at where we were and what we were doing.

 

Beautiful picture of the group and the Sahara - I still can't believe I was really there!

Frolicking through the valle!

That night was seriously freezing, but it was nothing 5 covers and keeping your clothes on couldn’t counter (maybe a snuggly camel to cuddle with would have helped!!) We got up early again and hopped back on the camels to get back to the van. This was probably one of the most awesome and most painful parts of the entire trip as my poor behind was just aching from the saddle... needless to say there are some photos where it looks more like a wince than a smile on my face! 

Rob of Arabia!              

 

Group photo - The Cliffs of Insanity!

The girls, ruins, and Me!
                                            

Helena and I playing with our soup
spoons before dinner :)

Smiling on the camel!
                                            

That day rushed by as we quickly left our group and hopped on a bus to reach the next city... The bus was an experience in itself. Between being stared at unrelentingly by the locals (like actually NEVER looking away!) and the novelty of seeing the pueblos we passed, it made for a wild day!

By the time we arrived in Fes and found our hostel we basically went out for a quick bite to eat and then came home to sleep. We were all pretty well exhausted after the tour and felt like a catch-up night would make the next day in Fes more tolerable.

In Fes, we did the more touristy things – seeing the leather cooperatives and going through the Medina (the marketplace area) to buy some souvenirs and Christmas presents. We had a fantastic time bartering with the locals and seeing the ancient streets that have remained the centre of the city for the last 1000 years. We eventually returned back to our hostel feeling tired from the pressure to buy buy buy and the sheer amount of the city that we had seen.

Beautiful sign, Arabic is
really starting to grow on me :)

Outside of our hostel in Fes

The next morning we woke up, wrapped everything up and hopped on a taxi to the airport and headed home.

My parting thoughts on Morocco you ask? Well... It was an amazing place to visit, and I am sure that the stories I have gained by going there will stay with me for quite a while to come; however, it was interesting to feel the inevitable culture shock from being in such a different country (maybe most characterized by the obvious difference in the role of women, or the offers to buy the girls off of me while we were there!) 

Finally, Merry Christmas to you all! There will be another post soon-ish that will hopefully encompas both Christmas and New Years here, cause I think they would be out of place on this post (just a bit!)

Love you all and am thinking of you,

Mucho Amor,

Rob

Here is an ass in two ways to say goodbye!