Morocco: The Land of Tea, Camels and Bargaining

I’ve been back from Morocco for a few days now and I have no sign of food poisoning so I think it’s safe to say that the trip was a success! In one word, Morocco was crazy. We boarded our Ryan Air flight last Friday which was an experience of its own. The blue and yellow plane with saleswoman flight attendants left me feeling thankful to be alive…especially considering the trumpet chorus that they play when the plane lands. We got off via a staircase onto the runway, which is something I’d never done before and walked into the airport. When we walked by the baggage claim there was a cat sitting on the carousel which was just a foreshadowing of how many other weird things we would see and do in Morocco. We got to our hotel and it was really nice! Very arabesque and complete with a man who served us tea and cookies whenever we wanted. Our room had two queen size beds and a balcony which is a bit of a step up from the casa de Fina and Eloy  We didn’t waste any time and went straight to the market which was like a scene out of Aladdin…the main Plaza was full of different performers and right away we saw a snake charmer and got closer to take a better look but not too close since we were warned about how persistent some vendors and other people could be and we didn’t want them to try to charge us for anything…I touched the snake but then he tried to put it around my neck for a picture which probably would have cost me so we went to move away when all of a sudden a lady selling henna, wearing a full burqa with just her eyes showing came up to us…even though I had planned on getting henna done I didn’t want it then and when we tried to say no she forced her book on us and said JUST LOOK so I figured I could look at the designs and get an idea of the prices …well, that turned out to be a bad idea cause the second I was a tiny bit distracted by the book she grabbed my hand and started putting henna all over it…so I gave up and let her finish and then she screamed NOW give me something! And unfortunately I had just changed all my money over and had about 5 hundred dirham bills on me (100 dirham= about 10 euro) Luckily I had been smart enough to put one in my pocket so I told her Id give her 50 and she wasn’t having it so I had to surrender my 100 even though she was demanding 300…Then just to spite me she snatched my hair clip and said “Give me this little present!!” All in all it was really bizarre and I was slightly traumatized after hahhaha…Needless to say I was not ready to dive into bartering with the market vendors after that but I got some stuff and probably only got a little ripped off (I hope). I bought lots of souvenirs and gifts for friends and family and some jewelry and scarves. That night we got back to the hotel and had the buffet dinner there which was basically international food with a little Moroccan spin. You had to buy water at every meal since the tap water is not safe to drink, but we definitely took advantage of the buffet and it felt so nice to have so many options for a change. The next morning we went on a tour of the city. It was built in the twelfth century and is called la ciudad roja, or red city since many of the walls and buildings are built with red clay. The main, most recognizable feature of the city is the Mezquita. The top of its minaret is the tallest point in the city since by law nothing is allowed to be higher. Five times a day the speakers issue a call to prayer for Muslims and the mezquita is considered the twin of la giralda in Sevilla because they were built during the same time period by the same rulers. We spent the morning learning about the city and visiting the royal tombs which were home to some really cool mosaics and the Palais Bahia, one of the only Moroccan royal palaces that is open to the public. Another cool fact was that when we were in Marrakesh, the king of Morocco was visiting so there were national flags everywhere in honor of his visit. While we were on our tour, our guide, (who was this hysterical, badass Muslim lady whose name in Spanish was Graciela) took us down some less tourist-y streets so that we could get a more authentic experience. It was culture shock at its finest, winding narrow streets filled with people, animals, motorcycles, mule carts and horse drawn carriages with vendors trying to sell you everything imaginable. We passed by several gory butcher shops with what looked like full sheep hanging on display and full chickens missing just their feathers, while live chickens were squawking around in the background. At one stall I saw some adorable hedgehogs for sale and went to get a closer look at their cage only to see that they were gnawing on chicken heads. It was interesting, to say the least. The markets of Marrakesh were the most vibrant spots in the whole city, some common items for sale were hookahs, shoes, leather bags, jewelry and tea pots. I bought a Hand of Fatima necklace which is supposed to protect against evil and the five fingers represent the five pillars of Islam. Besides the market we went to a spice shop with remedies for everything including snoring, wrinkles, stress, and eczema…they also sold spices for meat and fish and I bought some Berber lipstick. After that we had lunch at a Moroccan café and it was one of my only meals outside of the hotel since I was scared of food poisoning. We had couscous and it was good but nothing great. Later that day, we went on a camel ride which was my favorite part of the trip. After getting over the initial shock of climbing up and holding on for dear life it was SOO fun. Somehow I picked the biggest camel in the caravan and literally needed help getting on when he was still laying on the ground…Things got even scarier when each camel tried standing up while his face was tied to a camel that was still on the ground but we all made it out alive and had a great time in the process…every once in a while the camels would let out these crazy groans and act up but the guides were really good and soo funny! Our guide was singing 50 Cent, Eminem and Who Let the Dogs Out and yanking our camels tails to rile them up. At one point during the 2 hour ride we went through a pretty poor town and it seemed like the entire town came out to watch us go by…a bunch of kids ran alongside us screaming things in Arabic and French and trying to get us to buy camels made out of palms fronds. It was pretty sad and the houses were really dilapidated, it made me feel guilty since they probably thought of us as ignorant tourists traipsing through their neighborhood. After the town we got to a little oasis of sorts where they served us tea, olives and bread and we sat on pillows in a little Arabic tea room. We got back our camels and for the whole ride a little baby camel was following along with its mama causing all kinds of mischief it was sooo cute! I loved the ride and now I can say that I rode a camel in AFRICA! On Sunday we went for a hike in the Atlas mountains. On the way there we stopped at a Berber house in order to see how they lived and of course have some tea and bread with butter, honey and olive oil. The tea in Morocco is soo good and it’s a mix of green tea and mint leaves. On our way to the Berber house some men were following us and shoving all kinds of trinkets in our faces to buy…but the best sales line was when one guy said “wanna buy a dagger to kill your boyfriend?” We drove a little further to the mountains and passed tons of treacherous bridges and beautiful landscapes. The hike was more rock climbing then hiking but it was amazing. We saw waterfalls and to get up on one peak we had to climb a ladder that was leaning against a wet rock wall. It was pretty nervewracking but luckily our guide was there to grab our hands and haul us up. It was the most beautiful hike I’ve ever been on in my life, and a great last day for our trip. I honestly didn’t expect to genuinely like Marrakesh a lot but I did! I thought it was such a vibrant, bustling, and exciting city and a great experience overall. I really want to go back and see more of Morocco one day if I can and next time I hope I’ll be better at bargaining!