Morocco - part one

Visiting Morocco was a great adventure. It is unlike other cultures I have experienced, a few things reminded me of Thailand, but most  aspects were fascinatingly  new for me.  The day we left  (28th Dec) I was coming down with a cold and still almost a month later the snot and cough are persisting,  so that created a degree of difficulty I could have done without.   As colds do it also took the pleasure out of food and for a number of days I couldn’t taste all those marvelous spices Morocco is famous for.

Of course Giorgio got it too, but not as badly - weird  I know, as Australian men always have a worse cold than any woman does. New Years Eve we both were in bed at 10pm feeling crappy. I promise alcohol had nothing to do with it.  In fact we had dined in a no alcohol restaurant, as most are in this Islamic country. Some places  sell alcohol, mainly servicing the tourist market, but we did not seek them out  opting instead for an authentic Moroccan experience in places with decor like this.

Having visited and worked in Morocco over the years Giorgio knew the best places to visit and chose a great itinerary that took us from cities teaming with locals and tourists, over the Atlas Mountains, south to the desert edge and then across to the Atlantic Ocean.

We flew from Rome to Casablanca arriving late afternoon.  I felt overwhelmed by the  chaos, dust, dirt and incredible traffic … and that’s compared to Italy!!    Red lights are just a suggestion that is often ignored. People, horses and donkeys pulling carts, motor bikes, bicycles, cars, trucks all fighting for a piece of the narrow potholed road.  The drivers of beat up taxis seem to have no fear and push their way in front every time.  Yes, we did brave a ride in a taxi several times in preference to driving in that chaos ourselves! 

Each area/town had taxis of a different color: red, white, beige, yellow, blue, green...

Our little black Kia hire car was returned minus panel remodeling thankfully,  due to Giorgio’s skilled and patient driving … I am not sure what damage those giant potholes we fell into a few times done to the suspension though!

In places where the road has hazards there are no signs... but rock piles like this indicate a problem such as an extra rough surface in this instance they signal a steep embankment right at the edge of the bitumen, which here is wider and smoother than most areas.

Our exploring began the next day in Marakech  known for it’s a vibrant,  chaotic, seething, colorful, dusty, fascinating, huge city square.  One evening in  that square I saw a monkey in a grubby pink tutu (sad), 2 snake charmers, various acrobats, story tellers with a spellbound audience, fortune tellers, assorted music players, henna artists, food and drink options galore and ofcourse sellers of an astounding assortment of familiar and weird and wonderful merchandise.

A birds eye view of the square from a cafe, after dark it is packed with an amazing array of people and activity.



I am a little partial to reptiles, but felt sad for the life the snakes and assorted lizards must have centre city

The dried fruit was often crawling with wasps or bees

Piles of mint leaves were being dropped in the square where stalls are set up selling mint tea later - hopefully the boiling water kills any bacteria it has gathered from the ground.

I found plenty of colorful pottery to photograph to inspire my own creations in the future

When wandering through the central city areas where only locals usually venture I felt like I was having a little peek into where and how people live and shop.  Narrow dirt lanes, deep cold shadows from the taller buildings, a constant dust haze, veiled women, many with babies tied to their backs, motor bikes winding their way between the pedestrians. And such rich colors and smells stimulating my senses: carts laden with oranges or fresh green herbs, carpets, fabrics, spices.  And women wearing a rainbow of colorful robes. A feast for my eyes after weeks of the dreary winter wardrobes  the majority of Italians prefer.

We joked about finding a fruit cart cat after meeting so many cafe and restaraunt cats. They were all well mannered and appeared well fed, perhaps they have scraps supplemented by nice mice meals.



Lentils... what would our  health inspectors say?



I watched people handling several loaves of bread as they chose which to buy. Notice the dust haze.

Most women had their hair covered, about a ¼ covered the lower half of their face and 5-10% show only their eyes. Giorgio said this had increased a lot since his last visit and he believes it is a fashion or political statement. Women in rural areas only covered their hair and were quick to return a smile if I caught their eye. Every where they  were wearing long robes with the styles varying in each area we travelled through. Sometimes they were similar to our bath robes, of plain or patterned  fleecy fabric, but many times they were beautiful colors, rich textures and patterns, silky or lacey fabrics that I yearned to touch and photograph.

The days were sunny but  in those deep shadows and after dark naked ears quickly wished to be tucked up in a colorful hat or scarf. The chilled air must flow down from the snow capped Atlas Mountains which can be seen from Marakech.

The local people (men and women) often wore these colorful flat backless shoes 



Grass or reed weaving was practiced in many villages we journeyed through -  baskets, furniture and  fences, roof tops

Next time  the Atlas Mountians and rural areas of Morocco, plus some great experiences with the local people.