Morocco Trip

Well the trip was a blast. Spent a week in Marrakech which was a desert town and Essaouira which was along the coast and the weather was more mild. I arrived in Marrakech for one night before taking the 190 km bus ride the next day to the ancient coastal town of Essaouira. Marrakech is a city in southwestern Morocco in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.

The first night Fafa, Pierre and myself went to dinner in the Medina. Basically it was an open air market where thousands of people congregated to shop for local goods and eat at one of the dozens of food stands serving fresh Moroccan cuisine. It really was exciting to experience a totally different culture that I was plenty curious about but had only my prejudices and views from what I've read. The trip changed some of my beliefs. I knew I was in a whole other world when I heard the call to prayer in the afternoon on my first day. It would blair over loudspeakers over the entire city 5 times a day. If you were up at 4am like I was, you would hear it at that time as well. Fun. So anyway, back to the story...

The next day we took a bus to Essaouira which was fun to see the countryside and vastly different terrain from one region to the next. The ride took 3 hours because we were traveling on a congested 2 lane road with several people riding on motorbikes which the bus would constantly try to pass with oncoming cars not far off. Lotta fun! When we would pass through a village, you would see pictures of Moroccan King Mohammed VI plastered all over the city streets along with the country's flag. That was something I was unaccustomed to seeing. Also there were roadside stops on the way to Essaouira with Moroccan police who would either flag you to stop for further inspection or wave you on.

Finally arriving in Essaouira, it was a beautiful coastal town that depended heavily upon tourists. As we drove into the city you could see several windsurfers having a good time. Since Morocco is obviously a Muslim country, alcohol was forbidden, yet you could still find a few bars that served alcohol, but they were tailored for tourists.

The riad we stayed at in Essaouira was lovely but you wouldn't have guessed it walking to it for the first time. You walk through a maze of back alleys where the smell of rotting trash was quite pungent at times and voila.. You enter your riad and feel like you're in a 3 star hotel. Basically a riad is a multi-story home converted into a hotel with 6-12 rooms. We would eat breakfast each morning on the terrace which was always a treat. There was an array of pastries for breakfast from pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant), to homemade muffins with jam and butter, along with the normal coffee and customary Moroccan mint tea.

I found Moroccan people to be some of the friendliest I've encountered anywhere. They're very warm and welcoming. The merchants tried to sell you anything and everything and didn't take no for an answer. I got myself stuck in countless conversations and bartering just by opening my mouth and saying yes to whatever they said.. BIG MISTAKE.. Once I did that, they wouldn't let me leave alone til I bought something. So I have quite a few gifts from the trip. Some of the highlights of the trip were going on a camel ride in Essaouira, going on a carriage ride through Marrakech, visiting the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech which was a garden full of exotic cacti and plant life which was quite amazing to see given the harsh desert climate. We visited a leather tanning market, took a carriage ride through Marrakech seeing some of the palaces, and visited a madrassah (Islamic school teaching the Koran). Visiting that school was quite strange for me personally.

The food was amazing as well. I had a lot of couscous, tagines and got to try my first Pastilla where the meat is pigeon. I also had one of the best lamb dishes I ever tried so that was special. We went to an amazing French and Thai restaurant while in Marrakech. Moroccan food is a combination of European and Arab influences, typical Moroccan dishes include tagines, gently steamed stews, and pastillas, sweet and savory flaky pies. Spices also take center stage in Moroccan kitchens, with chilies, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, saffron, paprika, and ginger often playing starring roles.

One last anecdote:

I was searching for the riad we were staying at in Marrakech and this local outside his shop starts talking to me. He asks me to stop for a few seconds and not wanting to be impolite I stop and talk to him for a minute. For the record, 95% of the time somebody asked where I was from I answered American, but a few times I answered Canadian to avoid getting a bad price on something or to keep the conversation short. Anyway he says to me, you don't have to be scared several times, which I really wasn't, I just didn't want somebody to try and sell me something after a long day of that anyway. He invites me into his home in the back of his shop for tea which he said was to be hospitable. I didn't want to be rude or offend him, so I agreed. So we head through the back of his shop and down some stairs into his home, all the while I'm thinking, what are you getting yourself into Matt, YOU IDIOT!? We proceed to have some tea and a nice chat in a combination of French and English while discussing my lovely country of CANADA (I felt bad at lying from the beginning) but no point opening up that can of worms now. He tells me about his family who are from the mountains, etc... all the while repeatedly telling me, he doesn't care if I buy something from him, he just wanted to welcome me.

Shockingly, (eyes rolling) he asks if I'd like to see some of the rugs he has. I agree to since regardless what I said, he was going to show me the rugs. So I'm sitting there the whole time thinking how the hell am I gonna extricate myself from this situation. His daughter all the while was sitting on the couch and smiling at me. So he and his daughter proceed to go through what felt like a warehouse of rugs and carpets pointing out to me the quality and attention to detail done on each one, and what each pattern on the rug signifies.. (SOMEBODY SAVE ME, I'M TELLING MYSELF BY THEN) After putting the rugs into 2 piles of like or dislike which he taught me how to respond to in Arabic, which naturally i now forget.

We narrowed down the selection to my 2 favorite rugs which is where we got to bargaining. There was nothing really to bargain over in my mind. I didn't want to buy shit, I just wanted out of there, but not wanting to be rude i humored him. He asks me what I'm willing to pay for them, and not wanting to get cornered I repeatedly tell him I'd like to think about it a bit more and come back tomorrow. He writes down the number 5400 dirhams (Moroccan currency, 10dirhams=1 euro) I laugh at this figure inside. He asks me to write down my offer. I didn't want to buy the rug regardless of the price so I had to think of a number that he wouldn't accept and write down 400 dirhams which is about $40. He then wants to proceed to BIDDING STAGE 2. At that point, I had to shut down the silent auction before he asks if I want to pay by Visa or Mastercard. Apologetically I tell him I don't want to buy at this time and will return. After about 50 minutes I talked my way out of there without buying anything. He was clearly disappointed, but its not my fault that a harmless cup of tea turns into bartering for a rug I didn't ask to see nor wanted. Oh well, it made for a memorable story that I won't forget anytime soon.

Hope you were entertained.