My final sunset

That’s it! I’m packed and ready for my transfer to the airport which is picking me up in just under an hour. I slept sooo well last night - over 9 hours - and can only hope that this is a pattern set to continue once I’m back in England. 

What to say about Marrakech? After our early morning arrival, we ventured out and were surprised to see how quickly the city had come to life. What greeted us was the usual assault on the senses. 

The Jardin Marjorelle which in latter years was owned and cared for by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge might have afforded some respite had it not been so busy with tourists. It seems that Marrakech is very popular with the French and Brits at this time of year! Crowds aside, it was still nice to enjoy the shade of palm trees and see the Art Deco house nestled amongst the foliage and mirrored in the garden’s many pools.

The Bahia Palace after lunch provided more of an opportunity for quiet reflection with its many beautiful rooms and peaceful courtyards. The stained glass used throughout created some beautiful effects in the bright sunshine and I spent an enjoyable hour taking it all in.

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the different souks in Marrakech medina. I gave the snake charmers a wide berth and made for the spice market where I was treated to a riot of colours, smells and tastes. It is so easy to lose yourself both literally and metaphorically in amongst the different stalls with their friendly traders and I was surprised to eventually wander out into a square to find the sun setting behind the mosque.

Dinner was with the rest of the group for the last time and I said my goodbyes to those whose company I had enjoyed. Mika has been the model roommate - quiet, considerate, clean and tidy - but has also become a friend over the course of the last few days. 

I will look back on my week in Morocco fondly. I’m not sorry to be going home (I think my eyes, ears and nose need a rest!) but I’ve loved being somewhere so completely different and learning more about this exotic corner of North Africa. Life will in London this January will seem particularly grey in comparison! 

Where the waves meet

I was a little sad to say goodbye to our characterful room in Chefchaouen on New Year’s Day but our next stop, Tangier, beckoned. 

We arrived just in time for lunch which we enjoyed down by the ferry port with the faint outline of Spain in the distance. 

It was good to see the sea and after some sustenance most of us hopped back on the bus with Lahcen who had promised to take us to the point where the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea meet. Tangier already looked more like the French Riviera than anywhere else we had visited and the viewpoint we drove to high above the waves certainly had the same feel.

After breathing in some salty air we moved on to Hercules’ Cave where the Greek hero was rumoured to have rested before claiming the golden apple from the Hesperides in the Atlas Mountains. 

After a couple more hours wandering the medina, seven of us met up to go to a local family for our evening meal. Our host cooked us a delicious soup followed by chicken and vegetable couscous which set us up perfectly for the overnight train journey ahead.

A fault on the train meant that our four bed couchettes were not available. Lucky for us ladies who were reallocated to single berths in First Class. Not so lucky for the chaps who had to make do with sleeping on seats instead! 

I can’t say it was the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had but at least I was up and raring to go when we rolled into Marrakech on schedule just after 7am. I’m definitely ready to make the most of my final day in this colourful country. 

Happy New Year!

I woke up with a spring in my step on New Year’s Eve. Four of us from the group had decided to hire a guide to take us up into the Rif Mountains for a half-day hike and I couldn’t wait to leave the city behind and get up into the fresh air. 

My fellow hikers and our guide Mohammed set off at what I like to call Markspeed - it’s a bit like warp speed but quite possibly a little faster - so I definitely got a physical workout as well as the headspace I so desperately needed! 

We had the trail to ourselves and Mohammed did allow us the occasional pause to take in the view, which was also useful in my case for catching my breath! As with all the guides we’ve encountered on our trip, there was nothing he didn’t seem to know and it was nice to learn about the local flora and fauna for a change and to see him interact with the odd local we encountered in the small farmsteads that lined the route. He was a gentle soul and I felt very safe in his hands.

We reached the summit of our walk at around 10am with the sun still low in the sky and mist on the horizon. I made the most of being able to see for miles around me and felt the tension in my shoulders release.

On the way back into town around lunchtime, Mohammed also treated us to a short bonus tour of the medina and I spotted a couple of places that I was to make a beeline for later in the day.

After a tea and a snack in Casa Aladin overlooking the main square, I head back to the hotel to freshen up and then steeled myself for an afternoon of shopping. I’m so bad at it though, that it mostly turned into an afternoon of photo taking and getting lost.

We met back in the hotel lobby at 6pm to celebrate one of our group’s birthdays with cake and then played some fun games until it was time to head back out for one final wander and dinner at the little taverna up the road. 

We made it back to the hotel at around 11:30pm and decamped to Larry and Yoko’s room who had invited us to see in the New Year in with them. I started 2019 in the company of two Japanese, two South Africans, an American and a Scot, toasted their health with mineral water... and was in bed by ten past midnight. All-in-all, a great day!

Perfect blue buildings

Today as our bus made its first stop and we clambered our to stretch our legs, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I’ve loved being in amongst the hustle and bustle of the cities but I’m now definitely in need of some wide open spaces and an uninterrupted view of the sky.

As previous blogs will attest, I do enjoy a good bus journey, which meant that most of the day was spent glued to the window taking in all the little details of day-to-day life in rural Morocco. A lot of the farming here is still very labour intensive with donkeys and mules doing much of the heavy work in the fields. It also seems to be a good time to harvest olives, with big sheets spread out under many of the trees to catch the fruit as they are shaken or beaten out of the branches.

Following our arrival in Chefchaouen mid-afternoon, Lahcen took us for one of his special ‘orientation walks’ which gave us a fabulous flavour of what this pretty little town has to offer. I think the walk took a little longer than he’d planned as it was hard to walk more than a few steps without someone stopping to take a photo or haggle with a trader over some new purchase!

Our hotel in Chefchaouen is utterly charming. Tonight, I may not be beside the apple green sea but I am amongst some perfect blue buildings. More tomorrow...

Yallah, yallah!

You need your wits about you if you are going to successfully navigate Fes medina. At one point having got caught up in a human traffic jam, I lost sight of anyone else in my group and was incredibly grateful for Lahcen who appeared magically at my side and somehow wove a path for me through all the crowds to rejoin them. He did the same for others throughout the day - it’s quite a talent! Having laughed at Aziz, our local guide, and his stories earlier in the day about how he sometimes happens upon blonde-haired, blue-eyed tourists who got lost in the medina years ago, I’m no longer entirely sure he was joking!

Given my deepening claustrophobia, I didn’t know how I would respond to a day spent in the narrow alleys and noisy crowds but fortunately there were so many interesting things to distract me that it was hard to feel uncomfortable for long. 

Whenever it threatened to get too much, Aziz would cleverly lead us to an open square or quieter street and, at one point, to my favourite place of the day, a madrasah where sunlight filled the pretty courtyard. 

This was a particularly welcome respite after the stench of the tanneries!

Over the course of the day we visited the ceramic school, the leather and textile districts and part of the food market which would be enough to turn the most committed meat-eater vegetarian! 

I am now the proud owner of a tablecloth which I probably paid far too much for and which is definitely too garish for my flat but, hey, that’s all part of the experience, right?!

The evening was spent simply absorbing all the sights, sounds, smells and tastes I had been exposed to throughout the day and I’ve awoken refreshed and looking forward to our trip to Chefchaouen. Yallah!

Cock-a-doodle-eeyore

This morning the call to prayer, a cockerel and a braying donkey all competed to see which was the most effective alarm clock. The combination of all three could certainly not be ignored and there didn’t seem to be a snooze button! 

Fuelled by a tasty breakfast, we made straight for the Roman settlement of Volubilis, arriving just after 9am. This was an inspired bit of planning by Lahcen as we had the place entirely to ourselves and were able to take our time exploring the site and quizzing our knowledgeable local guide, Abdul. Those Romans definitely knew how to pick the best spots and it was very satisfying to be in amongst the ruins as the sun came up and the surrounding countryside came to life. That includes the stork which had made its nest atop Volubilis’ tallest pillar!

From Volubilis, it was back to Meknès for a couple of hours free time. I can’t say I was blown away by the city itself but I did enjoy the last little wander we took through the winding streets of the medina to our host’s home for lunch. I turned down the kind offer of a camel burger and joined the vegetarians for lentils, spicy potatoes and some ratatouille-style stew - a wise choice as my meal was very tasty and I ate every last mouthful.

After lunch, we made our way back to the train station where we grabbed a quick coffee before boarding the train to Fez. I squeezed myself into a compartment with a couple of other group members and a lovely Moroccan family - sign language goes a long way in such situations but I’m starting to wish my French was better, especially given that my Arabic is non-existent! 

We’re now spending a couple of hours resting in the hotel before heading out for a special dinner. I might even have to change my clothes for this one! 

More tomorrow after our day-long tour of Fez.

Little donkey, little donkey...

It was actually two little donkeys which carried our large amounts of luggage up to our guesthouse in Moulay Idriss, La Colombe Blanche, earlier this evening. I have packed lightly compared to many of my fellow travellers but my protestations that I could quite easily carry my own bag up a few steps were quickly dismissed - the donkeys, or more likely their drivers, were not to be done out of a job! 

I’m now snuggled up in my sleeping bag under a heavy blanket in our little room overlooking the guesthouse’s courtyard. The bed may be as hard as nails but I reckon I am still going to get a good night’s sleep after a very full day and with what feels like a very full stomach. A delicious tagine with couscous and lots of warm bread home cooked by our host Mohammed and his family was just what I needed to round off a very satisfying day.

We left Casablanca bright and early this morning from a surprisingly space-age station and were treated to a beautiful sunrise en route to Rabat. 

Once in the capital, which everyone immediately agreed was much nicer than Casablanca, we dropped off our bags and went in search of our first sights of the day: The Hassan Tower, the only remaining part of a mosque destroyed by an earthquake in 1755; and Mohammed V Mausoleum, where the present King’s father and grandfather were laid to rest.

We were joined there by very few other tourists so were left in peace to enjoy the impressive architecture and decorative carving of both structures - the inside of the Mausoleum’s dome was particularly stunning, glittering as it did with gold and jewels.

Next we headed along the water’s edge past lots of fishing boats to the Kasbah, a real rabbit warren of pretty alleyways painted blue and white and surrounded by a beautiful and highly-scented garden. 

One of my only French sentences came in surprisingly  handy on the way back to meet everyone for lunch - who knew ‘Ou est la Gare?’ would be exactly what I’d need to ask one day when faced with a map that seemed to bear absolutely no resemblance to the layout of the medina in front of me. Good job I’d also learnt my droite from my gauche as well, so could just about understand the answer!

After lunch, it was back on board the train, this time to Meknès. From there, it was just 40 minutes by taxi to Moulay Idriss, which would be our home for the night.

Before dinner, we were treated to an interesting walk through this walled city’s cobbled lanes. Non-Muslims are not allowed to enter the complex surrounding Moulay Idriss’ mausoleum but it was still fascinating to hear about its origins and about the annual moussem or pilgrimage which takes place here every August. 

We also visited the public bakery for bread straight out of the stone oven and watched the sun go down again from a terrace overlooking the city walls. The people here are delightful, especially the children many of whom greeted us with a cheeky smile and a cheerful Bon Soir as we made our way back to the guesthouse. 

I’m tired now but looking forward to what tomorrow has in store.