Morocco

I arrived very hot and disgruntled. We had had some  very cold mornings at home so I dressed for a cold, early morning start. Needless to say it wasn't cold. Madrid was very warm, the hostal was roasting, the airport was roasting, the plane was roasting and Marrakech was pretty warm. I didn't want to unpack in Madrid so I stuck to the same clothes, by the time I had queued an hour to get through customs and then got lost finding the hotel I was sweltering and exhausted.
In the airport I had virtually decided to do nothing else for the day but, after a rest and a change of clothes I revived and went out.
I wanted to go to the station to get my ticket for Saturday.
I went on the bus, once I found the right one, this was an adventure in itself! It took nearly an hour, as it was now rush hour, I asked a lady to tell me when I got to the right stop, she did and I pressed the bell, this caused a lot of giggling from a group of girls by the door. Apparently the bells don't work, you have to bang hard on the door until the driver hears!
I decided to walk some of the way back, in fact I walked all the way back and it took half an hour! Crossing roads is a very dangerous business but I made it.

El Koutoubia Mosque, by night

Then I went for food in Djemma el Fna, the main, enormous square in Marrakech. The tables are communal and I was joined by a young Canadian, so that was nice. Then it was back to the hotel for a well earned rest.
Day 2

El Koutoubia mosque from Djema el Fna

I had planned an itinerary for today but I couldn't find the route I had planned, then 3 separate people told me about a Berber market that had been running for 3 days and was finishing today. By the 3rd I succumbed and let him lead me there. He assured me he was walking in that direction and wanted to practice his English. In fact he took me to the tannery, it was interesting but I had to pay and I was then escorted to the shop, there was no way I would get out till I bought something!

the tannery

I learned not to believe anyone, not only those who tried to guide me somewhere but also those who told me I was going the wrong way because I never was.
Eventually, by accident, and without help, I found myself on the route I had intended to do, so all was not lost.

I found a nice place for a mint tea!

After my mint tea and some little cakes I went to visit the Ali ben Youssef Medersa, a 14th century theological college.

Day 3
I felt better this morning. I was very tired yesterday evening and a bit depressed. Today started well, I knew where I wanted to go and it started without a hitch. It was the day of visiting palaces and beautiful houses, really relaxing. I visited  Dar Si Said, which houses the Museum of Moroccan Art and the Bahia Palace.

After that I took the wrong road, eventually I realized my mistake and turned back, but somehow I took a different route back. I was almost right when I saw a place with enormous open doors and a massive square inside. I started walking towards it then realised that it was the mosque, so I stopped. A young man said 'that's the mosque, the Badi  palace is over there' and pointed in a different direction. I thought I learned yesterday not to believe anyone but I went on the direction he said. A few minutes later he caught up with me, I kept saying to leave me alone but he persisted, I realised we were walking round in circles and I got cross, so he prepared to leave me but asked for a present. Again I said no, then he held out his hand and I shook it but he leant forward and kissed me on both cheeks, at the same time he managed to touch me on the breast. I was surprised by the kiss but,  living in Spain it is not so astonishing, but when he touched me I really lost it. He tried touching me again, and again asked for a present. He nearly got one, and not the one he was wanting. We had been speaking English but now I yelled at him in French and he got the message. I was furious and felt defiled but I soon found where I wanted to be, in the direction I'd been walking originally, and I calmed down. I really thought I was well too old to be sexually harassed!

The Badi palace, a ruin but a home to storks!

The rest of the day went o.k. so I'm relaxed and ready to move on tomorrow. Surprisingly I think I will miss the big square, Djemma el Fna, and all its activity.
Day 4 to Tinerghir
A long bus journey through the Atlas mountains.  The scenery was spectacular.

We stopped for coffee and a comfort stop.

The outskirts of Ouarzazate, where they filmed 'Star Wars'

A film studio in Ouarzazate

The journey was a little disconcerting as the driver spent much of it talking on his mobile phone - and it wasn't a hands free!
I arrived in Tinerghir as the sun was setting, the colours were wonderful.

Ruined Kasbahs near Tinghir

The hotel is super too, dinner was wonderful, everything is wonderful.

Kasbah Petit Nomade, my hotel for 2 nights

Inside the hotel

Day 5 Todra Gorge
I thought I was going to walk there and back but my host insisted on driving me up and I walked back. First there was a 'palmeraie' an oasis, then the gorge proper.

The inevitable opportunity to sell.

 The following are views on the walk back.

Spot the goats!

Day 6 Skoura
Just a short bus ride today. We passed lots of deserted villages with ruined kasbahs (old forts), I gather it's like Galicia here, the buildings belong to families who can't agree on what to do, and there is no paperwork to prove ownership, so they are all in ruins.

There are also lots of dry riverbeds, it hasn't rained since last winter, some of them are very wide, it seems impossible that there can sometimes be so much water.
I am staying in another kasbah tonight, the kasbahs in Skoura are decorated and look very elegant.

I was going to try and find my way around the oasis on my own but the owner was taking a German couple so I went with them. I'm glad I did, it would have been difficult to do alone, and there was a treasury of ancient kasbahs.

making bricks

A hole, one of a series, showing the underground watering system

Kasbah Ait ben Moro, a museum

Day 7 Ouarzazate
Another short bus ride. I'm staying in a hotel here, I expected  it to be shabby but it is actually very nice and the first place that has offered me heating in the evening.
I had lunch in, what looked like, a French type bistro. Supposedly I had a 'chicken Caesar salad', fairly simple to do but that meal rates in the top 2 worst meals I have ever had. One I will never forget. It even had fish in it, I tried giving a bit of fish to the cats and even they wouldn't eat it;-)
In the afternoon I visited the Taourirt Kasbah

There's a lake in the distance, there is some water in Morocco!

Day 8 Ouarzazate to Fes
The day started well enough with the bus journey back over the Col de Tichka (2260m). I made the mistake of sitting on the same side of the bus, not a serious mistake but some of the views on the other side looked much more impressive.
Then it was a train from Marrakech to Fes. When I planned and looked at the internet I was sure the arrival time wad 20.20. I phoned the Riad to let them know I would arrive in the evening, then to the train. Lots of people were on the train ahead of me and it was difficult to see where the seats were as the windows were filthy and the blinds were down as the sun was streaming onto that side of the train. I walked right to the end of the train and found a compartment with seats, then the train really filled up. At the next station there were hundreds of people waiting and at the next, the corridor was packed solid. Apparently it is a big holiday this weekend, I hadn't realized that that would happen. The train moved quickly enough but it kept stopping, for up to half an hour sometimes. When it stopped all the smokers got out onto the side of the track. It took 4 hours to do the 250km to Casablanca, it was dark by the time we got there so I could see nothing. I soon realized that we were not going to get to Fes by 20.20! The journey continued in the same fashion all the way and took nearly 12 hours, we arrived in Fes at 02.20 (I thought that maybe this was the time it should arrive and that I had read the numbers back to front, but when I checked later I discovered that, according to the timetable, my train should have arrived at 22.20) I phoned the owner of the Riad again at 21.00, when I realised my timing was wrong, he said not to worry, I should simply get a taxi from the station to the nearby square and phone him again and he would come and meet me. When I tried that the only answer I got was a recorded voice telling me that the number didn't exist, fortunately there was a Night watchman in the square and he pointed me in the right direction and the owner did hear the bell. I felt really bad, thinking that I had made a stupid mistake, but now I am not sure who made the mistake.
For most of the journey I shared the carriage with 5 young soldiers going on leave, I fear that in England that would have been an experience to avoid as they would probably be downing cans of beer, but these lads were drinking Sprite and were quiet and polite.
Day 9 Fes/Meknes
This Riad can best be described as quaint but it is handy for the Medina and the bus station, and the owner let me in at 02.45!
I took a bus to Meknes, everywhere was crazy busy, the holiday is for the birth of Mohammed, strange that it coincides with Christmas.



Day 10 Christmas  Day in Fes
A Friday and a big religious festival here in Morocco. It doesn't feel like Christmas, it's too light and too warm. My hotel was a Riad, or old town house, near to an ancient water clock, now mostly in ruins.

I opted to stay in Fes today as it didn't worry me if the shops were closed. The Medina has some beautiful architecture and it is not as bad as Marrakech for being hassled though people did keep trying to second guess me and tell me where I should be going.

A funduq or old inn for caravanseai

entrance to a private house.

  


My day had started by trying to find the restaurant I planned to dine in but I couldn't it. I wanted to have a meal with wine and there are only a few restaurants that serve wine. I coudn't find the ones I had originally planned but I found there was one near where I finished my morning tour, so I had an early, and very expensive,  lunch but it was delicious.
In the aftenoon I headed for a local garden, described as Andalucian,
   
I hadn't been their long when they turned everyone out to close it.
Day 11 Meknes and Fes
Today didn't work the way I planned. The plan was to visit the Roman remains at Volubilis. This required a bus to Meknes, a Grande taxi to Moulay Idris and a walk on to Volubilis. The bus to Meknes worked fine but a Grande taxi requires  5 people going to the same place. I waited for a while but no-one else wanted to go to Moulay Idris, I realised that if no-one wanted to go then the chance of anyone wanting to come back was slim. I decided not to risk it, instead I went  into the Medina of Meknes, which I didn't visit the other day.

Medersa Bou Inania

Then I returned to Fes and went to visit the Jewish quarter, this took some finding, I wouldn't have managed without the help of an older man, who then wanted me to pay him a fortune. I didn't pay what he wanted but I paid more than I wanted. The Jewish quarter was a disappointment, the houses are dilapidated and most seem empty.

The home of Charles de Foucould

UNESCO is providing funds for the upkeep, but so far there are only wooden props holding up some walls. I wondered back through the medina, past shops with some colourful clothes and some wonderful material shops.

Day 12 On to Tangiers
I learned on my last train journey that I needed to get to the train early, so I did. I got into a long carriage but made the mistake of taking a single seat behind a door. It wasn't long till the train was packed. I couldn't get to my bag, which was under my seat, and someone sat on the arm of my seat so, for the 7 hours of what I expected to be  a 5 hour journey, I could barely move. The journey was like the last one, lots of long stops.
I arrived in Tangiers tired, hungry, thirsty and bad tempered.
Now I've had a meal and feel better. I have a t.v. in my room, we are 45 kms from Spain so I expected to see some Spanish programmes but at first I could only find Arabic, even programmes from Dubai, but now I've got BBC world news and CNN, lots of floods in the UK.

The view from my room, over the roof of the Grande Mosque

the Grande Mosque minaret

Day 13

I started by going to the Port to get my ferry ticket, walking past the ancient citadel.

The 15th Century Portuguese citadel 

 Then I went to visit the town. I went to St Andrews Church, an Anglican Church built in Moorish style.

wartime headstones to British dead.

the doorway

 To comply with Moorish tradition there are no graven images, the Lord's Prayer is written in Arabic and there is a niche directed towards Mecca, now there are some Russian icons on one wall. It is a real inter-faith experience.

I thought this was a view towards Spain, but it is a view across Tangier bay!

 There was not really a lot to see in Tangier, I would have done better to take the bus to Chefchouan    and only have spent 1 night here, but again, hindsight is a great thing. I had a last Morocam meal in a little restaurant and spent the afternoon being lazy and watching TV.
Day 14 travelling back.
I got to the Port earlier than I needed, I thought that Customs etc. would take a while but it was all very quick. There was a 09.00 ship with another company and I watched as people continued to arrive at 09.15! Cars were really searched. Nothing is on time in Morocco.
It started raining as we boarded the ship and visibility was nil as we crossed to Tarifa.

A view of Gibralter, shrouded in mist!

With hindsight I would have spent less time in cities and more time in the beauty spots on the other side of the Atlas but it has been an intersting experience.