Maroc. Que je l'aime bien ici! So much so that I have ditched Spain in order to stay here an extra week. I'm at Essaouira with a friend I have met since being here and we have rented a flat for the week. It's right near the beach and I'm finding it kind of like having a holiday within a holiday. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
I never went on the tour that I had booked, I had a bad case of food poisoning strike me down on the afternoon that I was set to leave and could not face the prospect of getting on a bus in that state. So I cancelled, but I think I have wound up doing so much better!
I have been lucky to meet some very warm and generous people since being here, who have opened their homes and shared meals with me, helped me avoid tourist traps and shown me a Morocco I would not have seen had I been in a bus full of other Aussies. When I was well enough, I travelled with Abdoul to Zagora and then into the desert. It was absolutely amazing, there aren't really words for it.
We took a rickety bus from Marrakech to Ouarzazate, through the mountains and past snowcaps and then back into the heat. Quite a drive! All along the route you see small villages and kasbahs and stalls selling wares to tourists on the most unlikely, remote hairpin bends in the road. Several times I found myself thinking 'How is this possible?' if not 'This can't be possible!' - the latter usually in the context of 'This can't be possible, we can't seriously be in a bus overtaking a truck on the wrong side of the road in the middle of a mountain pass!' And before that I had thought riding around Marrakech on a moped had been scary!
From Ouarzazate we took a 'taxi collectif' for the remaining 200km to Zagora. Very cosy, as I had to share the front passenger seat. Still, it's all been part of the experience and I wouldn't trade having done it.
In Zagora we stayed at Chez Ali. Beautiful, highly reccommended. Clean rooms with western toilets, lush beautiful gardens and great food. We got a great price, too, because Abdoul is friendly with the proprietor. In exchange, we put ourselves at his disposal to help drum up business amongst other hotel guests who wanted to go to the desert, and I was a useful translator (it could get a bit Chinese-whispers-ish, going from English to French to Arabic and back again).
From Zagora, the Sahara. Truly amazing! We went with some other guests from Chez Ali, so that there were four Berbers, three French, one Italian and me. It was so much fun! We ate great food (again and again), and road camels to the big dunes. I'm talking BIG, like 20m and more in height. We climbed to the top of a really high one and from there looked out over the desert towards Algeria. We played in the sand grabbing each other by the ankles and dragging each other down the dunes, then scrambling back up to grab someone else. When night fell we ate again and then were treated to a great show of Berber music by the campfire.
We slept in tents in the desert that night, and it was so calm. The following morning I was the second person awake, and we just sat quietly on the dunes and let the vastness of the space take over. We road camels on a tour through the desert that day, before catching the bus back to Zagora.
Zagora is a lovely town, small, but charming. Did a bit of shopping there and ate well (yes, I can see reading back over this that food has been something of a focus).
One day at a cafe two girls approached us and asked for our leftovers. We bought them a tagine and some bread. From a child protection POV Morocco has been eye opening to say the least. These two girls had no parents and so were simply on their own, at 14 and 7. I wanted to buy them some clothes and some more food, but they declined.
After a couple of days it was back to Marrakech to again stay with the family who have been so warm. I've really enjoyed being so included and seeing more of what life is like here. I have been to a hammam with Hafida and Henan, but it was a normal hammam, not one for tourists, and it was just lovely without being tarted up. Another day we went and looked at a new appartment development - mortgages are something of a novelty here and everyone wanted to see how beautiful a place bought 'on credit' could be compared to what you could buy outright for the same initial outlay.
Now I am in Essaouira. We caught the bus here yesterday and have soaked up sun and sand (I even have a tan-line on my feet! Something of a novelty for me). I have seen three very differnt parts of Morocco, between the tumult and chaos of Marrakech, the expansiveness of the desert and the chilled nature of life here. The beach here looks something like Bondi would if very few people went there (if you can imagine that), although with less surf because there is an island in the middle of the bay. There are all kinds of souks, the best of which is the fish market because the fish is so fresh here. Last night for tea we went to the fish market, chose our fish each and squid and had it grilled on the spot. With salad and olives and bread included it was fantastic! And under 15 bucks for the two of us to boot!
Yesterday I went dye shopping and bought indigo and a heap of other natural dyes in the most beautiful colours. Can't wait to get them home and start playing with felt. But if I have to pass a few more days here first I'm sure I'll cope :)