Morroco- a different world

We arrived in Marrakech at the same hour when we left Madrid. How is that possible? Spain and Morroco have GMT+1 and GMT, plus the fact that Moroccans have an hour delay because of Ramadan So even if when we left Madrid it was daylight, in Marrakech it was completely dark.

From the moment we step outside the airport, we noticed that here is another world, other people, other lows. At 9 PM in the evening the only chance to get in the city (about 2-3km) is a taxi. Of course the taxi drivers knows that and they are asking 8-10 times more for a ride. You can't go cheaper because nobody wants to negotiate, so you have no choice, you have to do it in their way, otherwise you will walk... and as a foreigner at that our in the dark you just don't want that. It was about 150 dirhams (about 14 euro) the trip to the city, we shared the cab with a Spanish an an Irish so we payed only half, even so it was too much! Eh... at least the driver driver stayed with us until we founded a hotel that we liked. We founded one near Koutubia, the most important mosque in Marrakech and also close to Djemaa el Fna, the most busiest square in Africa.

Koutubia

Unforgettable is what happened at the second hotel we saw, Hotel Salma. The mustache guy from the reception, very kind was presenting the offer they had, smiling, like Mr. Nicolae Guta does when he sings Romanian bad songs. Exactly in that moment a big bug was walking on the desk. The receptionist noticed my face when I saw that and very calm blow it away and continued to smile like in a toothpaste commercial, like nothing happened. :)
We found another hotel, cheaper and better, Hotel Sahir...

Djemaa el Fna, daytime

We walked to "Djemaa el Fna", the center of the old city (Medina). Because it was the Ramadan time, in the daytime is almost deserted but in the nighttime is very crowd. During this period, the Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink anything in the daylight (until 8 o'clock in the evening, probably they made the hour trick to help their stomachs to support this sacrifice easier). So, after the night comes, everything changes, suddenly that square is very populated. Everybody is eating, talking, having fun. They are acrobats (males only), cobras dancing, lots of African drums rhythms. There are also women which if you pay something will write your name in Arabic on your hand, We saw also Berbers dressed in their traditional costumes trying to make a picture with you and after that to ask you about 10 euros... anything, just for the money.

We ate there some sausages with souses and vegetables, very very tasty. You can find in the square dozens of stands where they are selling orange juice, food, spices, fruits, sweets. Each seller tries to make you to buy from him, they look like Kaa snake in the cartoons after "The Jungle Book" of Rudyard Kipling - was trying to hypnotize someone with his eyes saying "Come to me!... Come to me!"

First "dinner" in Marrakech

I can finally say that I had a cultural shock. I was a stone when I saw so many motorbikes in the city, no circulation rules (sidewalks, lighted crossroads, zebras), the people and the cars were sharing the same road. They respect the unique sense rule... There was a movie on internet called "it's happening only in India", showing something similar. Anyway, for me these kind of moments were unique.

A street in Marrakech (Medina)

There are not too many marks, you never know where you are, The street has a name, but there is nowhere written. Lucky me that I have a very good memory... otherwise usually you have to pay for information. Usually it's 5 dirhams (50 cents) but there are some people asking more. And another thing I noticed was that sometimes here they have 2 prices, one for locals and another one for tourists.

Marrakech, also named "the red city" due to his many red colored buildings was the old capital of the country, the name "Morocco" originates from this city. City's name it's pronounced Marrakesh but I choose to use on my blog the French way, cause it was a French colony.

We visited El Badi palace, built in 14th century, now just a ruin. It was one of the most grandiose building on its time, having inside 5 swimming pools and 4 decorative orange orchards. Lots of the decorative elements were taken away by a sultan which built for him another palace at Meknes...

El Badi Palace

Inside, one room hosts the Minbar of Koutubia mosque. It has almost 1000 years of existence. The Minbar is a kind of big chair with staircase and it was used when the imam was calling the people to prey. He is not going on the top, he stops at the middle of the stairs showing respect to Divinity.

Koutubia mosque old Minbar

If you are wondering what's "crying" there 5 times per day when the people are called to pray you can find the Adhan here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhan
Anyway, it's not like in the movies that everybody stops and they are putting the carpet down and start to pray. Everybody continues what is doing in that moment...

Something else... Arabic aromas... the seller stopped us on the street and explained us for 10 minutes all the products he had and what can be done with that: natural after shaves, teas, natural perfumes, natural deodorants, all kind of rocks, powders, so on. After such a lesson of botanic, geology... I don't know how to call it it was breaking your heart if you were not to buy something from him. Diana bought Jasmine perfume. It is still smelling good :)

Moroccan Sprite...

We finished with the ruins and we went to see Bahia Palace, where it was hosted the sultan's harem.



The trick was simple. If we saw a group of tourists with a guide we were getting close to them and heard what he explained. This is how we found that in a big room with two doors the sultan was going to be entertained, someone was singing, reading to him, others were dancing for him. The two entrance were used by the artists. When some artists were tired, others were coming on the other door assuring a non-stop entertainment for their master.


A worker was sculpting models in ceramic blocks to be used for decorations for walls and sidewalks. We bought a star from him to have a souvenir, we changed some money (euros into dirhams) and he gave us another star bonus :). Now we have two. One is blue and the other one is white.

Saadi Tombs

These graves are from the times of Ahmed I el-Mansour sultan (1578-1603), the one who conquered Sudan and invested the resources in the country infrastructure. Here are more than 200 graves, around 60 being from Royal family members from the Draa valley. From what we heard from the touristic guides, the mourning ceremony is very simple at Muslims. They bury the body after several hours. They cover it into a white sheet, without a spectacular ritual. Because all the people are equals in front of Allah, they just yell something like "May Allah receive you" and he is putted in the grave with the head oriented to Mecca.

What was interesting here was the way we reach these graves; I told you at the beginning that here there not signs on the streets, so it's good to have a map with you, otherwise you have to pay for information. It was a big surprise to see on a wall a big sign for "Saadi Tombs" pointing to a shop. OK, we entered encouraged by a smiley guy. On the other side of the shop it was a wall and several ways, like a labyrinth. There were also some kids "playing". As soon as they saw us, they asked: "-Toumb?" of hich we replied: "-Oui" "-Yes" "-Toumb" "-Tombs", happy that someone will help us to get out from there. :) And the little guys are taking us for a walk in the small labyrinth, smiling and pointing with the hand to follow them, until the entrance. They were smiling and waiting for us to give them some money... Only in that moment, after we checked the map we realized that we've been tricked. :) Probably the guy with the shop was earning more from the kids comparing with what he was selling in the store. Everyone is giving some money to a smiling kid which is helping...

OK... we saw the graves and on the road to the center we entered into a jewel shop. It's clear what kind of jewels are sold there, the seller saying initially 800 dirhams for a silver bracelet , and after 2 minutes saying 50 dirhams the last price. Of course we didn't bought it... :)

Another curiosity: high volume of old cars :)

We ate in the central square some meat balls with lots of vegetables and potatoes. Moroccans have dishes, you must try the chicken soups "tajine" and their traditional sausages. I don't know exactly what are made of, but they have a very good taste!


We decided to stay one more day in Marrakech, to see also the Ourika Valley of High Atlas Mountains. The location can be reached by renting a taxi. With approx. 50-60 euros you can rent a "grand taxi" for all day. It's really cheap, if is a group of max. 6 persons. There are 2 kind of taxis in Morocco: "petit taxi", having a Tico dimensions and "grand taxi", these being the old Mercedes (Cobra) which are used to transport 6 passengers. How 6? :) ... well... like that joke with the Elephants, 2 in front and 4 on the backseat. This is how they are doing it and it's practical. The total cost is negotiated at begging of the travel and it's split at the number of clients.

After we founded out how much is the bus ticket we decided to try once. I really wanted to try a bus like that, full of Moroccans, as seen at TV... just to feel that I am in Africa! What I appreciated was the lack of bad smells inside, although the bus was full. They are poor, but clean. How much did it cost? 50 cents/30 kilometers...

From the middle of the road we rented a taxi to take us to Ourika village. On the road, we enjoyed the backseats, feeling that we had all the space in the world! With the driver we couldn't spoke because he knew only Berber and Arabic. The landscape is very nice, a mixture between red and green, their national colors by the way...

Near the road there can be seen old villages, like some small fortresses...

We got the Ourika village, where the local guides were expecting tourists like the eagles are searching for a pray. We were still in the car while they were knocking in the window asking in all the languages they knew if w want to go to the waterfall. First impulse was to do it by our own forces, but still... we were in High Atlas Mountains in an Muslim country, with no signs and nobody that we knew. Conclusion: we needed a guide. We choose Mohamed, a young Berber boy. We noticed that on the way to waterfall the signs were missing... they are not stupid to put signs for that when they can have nice money for the small service of guiding... :)

The road was a half an hour, while we were absolutely convinced that Mohamed deserved his money. He helped us to make it, there were 2 parts where we couldn't succeeded without him.

Ourika Waterfalls

There are 5 consecutive waterfalls on a small river, but only one is easy to be reached, for the other 4 you need to be a very good climber. We stayed on the standard route, the usual way for tourists. It wasn't easy even this way, but somehow we did it.

Mohamed explained us that up there in the mountains there are nuts orchids and there's a permanent fight between Berbers and the monkey for them. We saw some free macaques, several meters from us. It was not planned to see the monkeys, but if it happened so, is was just a reason for more joy. Until that moment I saw monkeys at Targu-Mures zoo only, never in their own environment.

One macac

in High Atlas Mountains

Ourika Village

After the mountains there is Sahara. We would like to visit that too, but it was just not realistic, an expedition there is lasting 2-3 days. More than that, the situation in Western Sahara is not fully stable. We founded out that in the past there was a Spanish colony, the Spanish promised independence but the Moroccans occupier that province, the main reason for that should be the phosphorus mines there, a big source of income. Lots of people in Western Sahara want independence, but they are not using violence to claim it.

We t could sleep in the Berbers village but we returned to Marrakech in the evening to stay at the hotel, for better conditions.

Sahir Hotel

On the last day spent in the ex-capital of Morocco, we visited some tourist objectives marked on the map: the covered bazaar (souks), the oldest Almoravid building and Marrakech museum.

The covered market can cheat you very easily, it's pretty big and you can get lost very fast, it's streets are not the same with the ones marked on the map :) ... we got lost and had to pay 1 euro to someone to tell us the way back to Djema el Fna. I remember that the kid wasn't satisficed with that 1 euro and he was asking for more...

Souks

You can find almost anything there, less latest technology products.

Marrakech Museum

Textures, carpets, glasses, interiors, so on...

Settle

Caftan

Almoravid Koubba is the only building left from Almoravid dynasty. It's placed near Ben Yousef mosque. It's from 1117 and it was used as purifying place before pray. It's amazing what kind of advanced hydraulics systems they had in that period... we saw the water tanks, old pipes...

Almoravid Koubba

We would liked to stay more, but we had to respect the plan, in the same day we had to get to Casablanca and Rabat.

Drumul spre Casablanca

O alta experienta noua am avut la autogara. Nu e ca la noi... :D Din momentul in care ne-am apropiat de cladire am fost asaltati de oameni care se ofereau sa ne ajute sa luam bilete si sa gasim autocarul. Am citit de asta inainte sa mergem in Maroc, stiam ca asteapta de la noi macar o moneda de 5 dirhami, e o practica obisnuita aici. Cum ne-au vazut si ca aveam bagaje, au napadit pe noi. Noi "no merçi, no merçi"... am zis ca dupa 3 zile de stat acolo putem sa ne descurcam singuri. Dar... surpriza! :) Era scris doar in araba. A venit pana la urma unul din multime si ne-a tras de mana pana la un ghiseu, ne-a aratat ca are stampila, deci parea cat de cat oficial. Ne-a dat biletele pana la "Casa" (Dar el Beida), care sunt bineinteles scrise doar in araba, taxandu-ne si pentru bagaje, in 100+20 de dirhami. Am inteles cat avem de platit, doar ca nu am putut verifica daca e pretul real pentru ca pe bilet nu apareau cifre, totul era scris in cuvinte. Nu stiam sigur nici daca sunt bilete adevarate... :)) In fine, unul din "oficiali" ne-a condus pana la autocar, unde alti "oficiali" ne-au cerut iar bani pentru bagaje, de data asta 10 dirhami. Le-am explicat ca am platit o data pentru ele, le-am aratat 10 degete si dup-aia inca doua si le-am zis "cent vinght". Pfoai... cum au auzit asta, 3 din gasca de "oficiali" de la autocar s-au dus tinta la "oficialul" de la autogara, probabil sa-i ia banii ce i-am dat noi pentru bagaje. Daca stiam ca suntem taxati mai ieftin la autocar, ne luam biletele de acolo, ca se poate, dar fiind prima data (si probabil ultima) cand mai mergem cu autocarul in ...pentru ca timp de o ora masina s-a invartit in jurul autogarii, timp in care "oficialii" strigau cat puteau sa vina lumea care mergea la Casablanca. Mai erau oameni care faceau scandal in autocar si am vazut ca unii primeau bani inapoi, dar asta e... daca nu stiam limba nu am inteles ce se petrecea acolo si sincer nici nu ma interesa, vroiam doar sa ajungem cat mai repede la ocean.


Dupa ce in sfarsit am pornit cu adevarat, a fost o calatorie lejera, am povestit cu Jamal, un tanar profesor din Aghadir, un oras din sud. A fost foarte amabil, ne-a spus ca ne ajuta sa ajungem la Hassan II, cea mai mare moschee din Africa si ne-a invitat la el in Aghadir cand o sa mai mergem in Maroc. Inca mai povestim pe messenger, eu in engleza si el in franceza. Ne-ntelegem...

Casablanca

Am ajuns in sfarsit in autogara din Casablanca... orasul alb. E cel mai mare oras din Maroc, practic jumatatea din economia tarii e acolo. In trecut a fost un port de pirati, care era atacat frecvent de forte armate europene (oare de ce) si am inteles ca a avut dealungul timpului o oarecare independenta chiar si fata de sultani. Numele de Casablanca vine de la francezi, care au colonizat tara o perioada buna de timp. Aproape toate orasele marocane au 3 zone: centrul vechi (medina), partea veche frantuzeasca si cartierele noi. Fiind cel mai mare, in Casablanca este un contrast intre zonele frumoase si cele nu prea estetice, care predomina. Seamana cu un mare furnicar si impresia pe care am avut-o venind din Marrakech a fost ca seamana mai mult a oras modern, cu blocuri mari, bulevarde, doar ca e putin cam murdar si neingrijit. Stiam ca in afara de moscheea aia mare nu prea avem ce sa mai vedem acolo, asa ca am alocat vizitei noastre in oras... 2 ore. Am vazut deci moscheea, e mare si am intes mai tarziu ca se putea vizita si de catre non-musulmani, dar asta e, n-am stiut atunci ca se poate asa ca am admirat-o doar de afara. Soferul de taxi ne-a zis, zambind sa fim atenti la buzunare ca in zona se fura, asa ca am fost cu ochii in 4.

Am zis ca de acum incolo n-o sa mai mergem cu autocare in Maroc, a fost doar o data de dragul experientei ("experienta trebuie trait!", vorba lui Gabor Hunor :P) asa ca am zis sa incercam o noua experienta, trenul, ca oricum, pana la Rabat, era doar o ora de calatorit si daca nu era bine, macar trecea repede.


Spre marea mea surpriza... arata mai bine decat ale noastre! :) Ma asteptam sa fie mai prafuite, dar nu... arata foarte bine, sunt curate si au aer conditionat. A! si nu am mentionat ca la gara scrie si in franceza, se anunta bilingv la megafoane si bineinteles pe bilete cu pretul e scris in cifre.

Rabat

Am ajuns la Rabat, am vizitat si Medina, Am papat un fel de hamburger local cu niste carnaciori si sos (de fapt am luat 2, ca mi-au placut foarte mult), am gasit cazare foarte faina la pret acceptabil. Erau si aici "ghizi turistici" dar daca le-am zis ca nu vrem ne lasau in pace, capitala si orasele de la ocean (aspectul si mentalitatea oamenilor) seamana foarte tare cu cele europene. Ei spun ca sunt mai educati decat cei de langa munti... In sfarsit informatii pe care nu trebuie sa le platesti... indicatoare... o lume mai normala.




A doua zi am vizitat Turnul Hassan si Mausoleul lui Mohamed al V-lea, regele care n-a vrut sa accepte sa semneze prelungirea protectoratului francez si a fost exilat cu famlie cu tot in Madagascar. A fost o revolutie si pana la urma a fost reinstaurat de catre popor, fiind un adevarat simbol national. La moartea sa, fiul sau i-a facut un mausoleu, langa moscheea Hassan, ramasa neterminata din anul 1199 (din lipsa de fonduri pentru ca au pierdut Andaluzia). Am fost deci sa vedem mausoleul mult laudat si pretuit de marocani).



Am gasit acolo cativa "ghizi turistici" care abia asteptau sa "prinda" pe cineva. A fost unul amuzant care cerea destul de mult pentru 15-20 de minute de vizita cu explicatii. Pana la urma am platit 20% din cat a zis el, ca era mai interesant decat altii, macar stia de Ilie Nastase si Nadia Comaneci. Speram sa aflam lucruri in plus fata de ce era scris pe wikipedia, dar cred ca singura informatie noua venita de la el a fost salarul pe care il are imam-ul care citeste din Coran inauntru (in jur de 700 de euro+ bacsis gras de la rege). Ia sa vedeti ce vizita ghidata am avut: Ne-a zis ceva de genul "Mohamed had 2 suns, the old one and the young one, small one, second son I mean. Only one was king, the big one, the first son of Mohamed. The other son, the second son was not king"... si tot dinastea... cand nu mai stia ce sa zica incepea cu "Romania and Marocco friends :)".. Stiam bineinteles ca inauntru sunt sicriele regelui Mahomed al V-lea si al celor 2 fii ai sai, era logic ca steagurile dinauntru reprezentau provinciile marocane, stiam ca afara in stanga se vede in departare vechiul fort, stiam ca in turnul Hassan poti sa urci sus cu un cal daca vrei pentru ca nu sunt scari, se foloseste un sistem de rampe. La sfarsit, ca un bonus parca, i-a zis "multumesc" unei garzi de la intrare care ne-a grijit bagajele cat am fost in mausoleu. Daca am vazut ca n-am castigat mai nici o informatie de la el, l-am pus sa ne faca poze... :)


Fes

N-am stat mult in Fes, pentru ca ne-am saturat de stilul lor de negociere, diferenta dintre marocanii din Marrakech si cei din Fes pe care i-am intalnit a fost ca cei din urma nu spuneau tot adevarul, minteau cu nerusinare. Chit ca Fes-ul a fost cel mai mare oras din lume in jurul anului 1200, aici fiintand si o universitate foarte veche la care studiau si multi europeni, am hotarat sa sarim peste orasul asta si sa mergem cat mai repede spre Tanger si apoi in Europa, la plaja...

Tanger

Crossing Gibraltar