Morocco Trip

Li and I just got back from a couple weeks in Morocco: Marrakesh, the desert, and Essaouira (a coastal town). Photo highlights.


Flight

Do not fly Royal Air Maroc if you can help it.

We flew this airline from New York to Marrakesh via Casablanca and we will never fly it again. The toilets had no toilet paper on an 8-hour flight. In fact, the first flight's toilet was clogged with two rolls. Some time during the flight, someone removed the two soaked rolls and put them next to the sink. Also, a passenger was so incensed at the rudeness of service that she threatened to punch a flight attendant.

Marrakesh

Riad: We stayed in Riad Aguaviva in the medina (old town), near Bab El Khemis (which isn't touristy). The owners, David & Manel, are amazing. They made us feel like they were entertaining friends: great personalized advice, walked us to the main square on the first day to ensure that we didn't get lost, free laundry and drinks.

David gave us two good pieces of advice: 1) Only ask directions from people on wheels (bike or car) or behind a counter, so they can't accompany you. 2) Don't pick up hitchhikers or stop to help with a car breakdown because they'll either carjack you or take you to a shop and ask you to buy stuff.

Room at the riad

Dress: Women's attire varied. Some wore full burkas, some wore just a head scarf, and others didn't cover their heads at all. It was funny to occasionally see the contrast of a head scarf on top and skinny jeans below. The only no-nos are shorts, skirts, and skimpy tanktops. Men often wore Obi-Wan Kenobi robes.

Jemaa El Fna Square: This is the main square in Marrakesh. There are snake charmers, monkeys, singers, story tellers, henna ladies, and food vendors. We tried orange juice, various bean soups, mint tea, snails, yogurt, sour milk with couscous, ginger tea, and potato sandwiches. The hygiene was sketchy (cleaning plates involved dipping them into murky water), but we were fine.

Snails at Jemaa El Fna

Louts: A few times, young men tried to misdirect us by telling us that we were heading to a closed area. They probably wanted to show us the "right" way and then ask for money. In the Jemaa El Fna square, food vendors were particularly aggressive about getting us to eat at their stalls, saying stuff like "bloody Americans" or "shut up" when we ignored them. Vendors were much nicer away from the main square.

Souks: These are markets scattered around the medina (old town). You can buy all sorts of goodies from shoes to lanterns. The merchants near Jemaa El Fna are super aggressive and they'll follow you for a bit. We visited a souk for locals (which reminded me of home depot) and those merchants didn't care about us, which was a nice break.

Shoe shop

Majorelle gardens: Nice garden rescued from bulldozing by Yves Saint-Laurent. It had the best museum displays in Marrakesh. I enjoyed seeing the clothes and heavy-looking jewelry.

Gardens

Hammams: We visited a public hammam (steam bath) with our riad hosts. We were the only non-locals there. After washing, you use black soap (with a crisco consistency) and use a scrubber to exfoliate. The local women were very kind, sharing tips and watching over me to ensure that I didn't mess up. 

Sahara Desert

Rental car: Our riad hosts kindly helped us get a good deal on a rental car (30 Euros/day which is still expensive). They also lent us their gps device. Driving out of Marrakesh was nerve-racking with all the cars & people going any which way they like.

Car scams: A few times on the lonely desert roads, we encountered a car on the side of the road with its hood up. Its owner would vigorously try to flag us down. We didn't slow down (per the advice we got in Marrakesh). We did have to swerve out of the way to avoid one really aggressive miscreant who leapt into the middle of the road to get us to stop. Scary!

Ait-Ben-Haddou: We stopped at this traditional mud-brick city at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site. The contrast of the beautiful mud architecture with the bright blue sky was breathtaking. We climbed to the top of the city, avoiding as many vendors as possible, before leaving for Ouarzazate for the evening.

Ait-Ben-Haddou

Erg Chegaga dunes: We drove for hours to reach M’hamid, the last town before the Sahara desert. It was already dark and there really wasn't much going on in that town. We found the one legit-looking tour agency and ask if we could camp in the desert that night. Within a few minutes, we were in a 4x4 for a 2 hour journey to the camp site between giant dunes. What a bumpy ride! When we arrived, folks were singing french and berber songs around a camp fire. Li sang a few Beatles tunes (Across the Universe) before we ate the best tagine (Moroccon stew) of the trip. The cucumber & tomato salad was also pretty darn good

The stars in the desert are extraordinary. You're so far away from light pollution that you can see soooo many stars. It was a great experience. The other amazing experience was seeing the sunrise over the dunes which extend as far as the eye can see. We hiked up a series of large dunes to reach the top of the highest one. The glow of the rising sun bathed the dunes in a warm glow...simply beautiful.

For the record, we didn't ride any camels.

Photo of the dunes

His Majesty: For funsies, we decided to stop by a fancy hotel to see how much it would cost for the night. We were stopped at the driveway by 2 guards. They asked us what we were doing there, our names, where we were from....they made us wait for a bit while they called people on a phone from the gate. It was really odd and unwelcoming behavior for potential guests. Finally, they let us through. We saw some secret service. We tried to park and some man came running towards us "No, not there. These are for his majesty. We finally got the hint. We arrived at the lobby, asked for the restrooms, and then asked who the famous person was....it was the king/president of Morocco. He was staying for the weekend!!! In any event, we decided to leave as soon as we saw the price for a room. When we tried to drive away, the gate was closed and they grilled us with questions. Bet they thought that we were up to no good....but they let us go.

Essaouira

Goats in trees: Yes, it's true. We saw goats jump into Argon trees. They like to each the nuts and leaves. My guess is that 2-3 goats might find their way into the same tree. When we came across a tree with 7-8 goats, I bet the shepherd hoisted them into the tree to charge people for the photo-op.

Drive-by goat photo

Seafood: It took us 2 days to reach this coastal town. We loved watching the local fish market in action during sunset. The seafood was yummy and inexpensive (& it's fun to bargain with them over the price and extra "gifts" that you want like an extra fish for your platter). 

Fishermen

Markets: We found the same types of vendors as Marrakesh; however, they were more mellow about selling to you. While walking through the old town, we stumbled across a bakery with piping hot baguettes. We bought one fresh out of the oven for the equivalent of 1 cent - very tasty!