Flight Diary Stats

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3 July 2011

Morocco 2004

Morocco

Crossing over by boat from Spain was exciting… we were going to Africa! OOOO! I felt so exotic… hahaha … so silly.

Morocco (pictures) was an interesting experience because it dispelled assumptions that I didn’t even know I had. 

What do I mean by that? Well, for example: I felt safe walking around at night in Rabat. But then again why wouldn’t I be safe in Rabat???

Our hotels on our budget Cosmos Tour were fantastic! But, why wouldn’t they be?? What was I expecting exactly?? Not sure really… but I liked it. No squat toilets Thank God. I am not that open minded.

We were there a little under a week, on a bus tour that also covered parts of Spain and Portugal (but not Gibraltar Crying face ) and during the Moroccan portion of the tour, we had a government approved guide join us on board, who took over the duties of our director. Interesting. This guy was so pro-Morocco (obviously) it was ridiculous!!!  One think I didn’t like about Morocco was the garbage everywhere, everywhere eeeeevvvveeeeeryyyyywheeeeeere and when we asked this government approved guide about it, he would reply: What garbage?  Ah ok, I see, push the good, deny the bad.

Beautiful Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. What you don’t see is me covering my mouth and nose with my sleeve because the water looked – and smelt - like a garbage dump. Such a shame!

Casablanca - Hassan II Mosque 01

Casablanca - Hassan II Mosque 11

Another example is like when we were in the Souqs and there were flies on EVERYTHING, he would say: “They are not flies, they are honeybees!” ya, whatever.

A lot of Morocco seemed rundown and unkempt and downright dirty to me, but I was told that beautifying the outside of your house is not a priority, the beauty is inside – most often house have interior courtyards with orange trees! That does sound nice, I must say…

My husband HATED it. LOATHED it. He had a bad case of culture shock. At the Djemaa el-Fna (Main square in Marrakesh) he said he hated it all so much he wished he was back at home at work. It wasn’t my cup of tea either, but I was more willing to at least enjoy it while I was there.  I said to him we are not here shopping for homes, we are here to see something DIFFERENT.  He wanted nothing to do with it and just wanted to go sleep right after supper… leaving me to ask other travellers on the tour if I could tag along with them and be a third wheel. So uncomfortable!  But I had a nice time – I enjoyed the Djemaa el-Fna by night, too bad I have no pictures.

Marrakesh - Djemaa el-Fna 4

After a few days, his disdain faded and by the end of the week he loved it and mentions to this day that he’d go back! Most of the other people on the bus had the opposite experience: loved it at first because of the novelty, but quickly tired of it and were looking forward to returning to Spain. Except for one man we remembered called Ian, who pronounced his name like ‘EEN’ (one syllable) who loved it SO SO SO much he did really want to move there from England.

I have to say, I think we saw the “Touristy” version of Morocco:

  • The Souqs in Marrakesh
  • The Tanneries in Fes
  • Dinners while being entertained by snake charmers and belly dancers
  • The home of a local man in the Ourika Valley  - now this was SUCH a scam!! HA HA good for him. Get a bunch of Western Tourists with Westerns ideas to come see your house, which by Western standards is shocking, but he’s the richest man for miles!!! HA HA, his kids were educated in Paris thanks to all the tips he received from all the tourists who feel bad for his living conditions. 
  • A walk through a market that sprung up at the side of the road

Wednesday Market 1

Wednesday Market 3

Wednesday Market 4

  • Seeing camels – how convenient that the herder just happen to appear on the side of the road just as our bus passed by… in a location convenient for pulling over! But I was happy, we got great pictures!

Camel Stop

Camel Stop - Frank's True love

Camel Stop - the Real Joe Camel

And of course, the pinnacle of touristy experiences : The Carpet Shop!  You can read about that here.

In conclusion, I liked Morocco, but I don’t think enough to bother to go back. I think I took advantage of my time there enough to not feel like I left something undone (did that make sense?)