I'm Reading- Just starting to read "The Luminaries" by Eleanor Catton. Given to me as a Christmas gift from Boris.
All photos by me unless otherwise noted.
All photos by me unless otherwise noted.
There's something about having a car, and your own mobility while traveling that can't be beat. Taking buses and trains and getting rides is fun and an interesting experience, but there's nothing like being able to have the flexibility to stop where you want when you want, and check out the scenery. Today, our destination is Taghazout, a small town a little bit north of Agadir on the southern coastline of Morocco.
The drive was a beaut, and the roads weren't too crowded. The road winds through mountains with tons of Argan trees, and along the side of the road are guys selling large bottles filled with the oil. The views were stunning, especially when we reached the coast again after cutting inland for some time. It is a desert lansdcape, and is incredibly dry. There are lots of dry river beds and streams.... goats and goat herders all along the way. There was a big swell hitting the coast the day we were driving down, and we got to see it on our drive down towards the coast. The vegetation is mostly low brushy growth, and cacti. There are lots of prickly pear cacti, and olive trees and Argan trees clinging to the dry earth. Palm trees in places, and fig trees near towns. As we neared the coast, we drove through a valley with Banana groves and eucalypus trees. One sad part though, is that a lot of the landscape is littered with debris and pieces of plastic clinging to tree branches.
You pass a few beaches with resorts along the way, a few large scale construction projects, and finally hit the little town of Taghazout. The surf breaks on points one after another as you drive up to it, and it's a pretty amazing view, I must say. This is a town that is pretty much based completely around surfing. It is tiny, and has some accommodation geared towards surfers, and a handful of little places to eat. It is also a dry town, interestingly enough, but the next town over (about 5 minutes away) sells alcohol. It has potential to be a cool spot, but has some catching up to do in terms of the amount of people that want to go there, and the options of places to stay and eat. In other words, its infrastructure has not quite caught up with the influx of surfers and others who want to visit! There is a ton of new construction happening in the area. There were also a lot of older english couples traveling through the area in RV's. The town consists of reddish brown clay building, stray dogs and cats, some little convenience stores and a beautiful view of the surf. It's pretty dirty.
Our first night we stayed in the town at an apartment above Surf Maroc, a surf shop/ surf tour company based there. There was a little cafe downstairs also, with coffee, smoothies and snacks. The apartment was fine, it had a great view and a little kitchen, but the bed wasn't the greatest, and the bathroom was miniscule, and had one of those showers located right above the toilet so the whole bathroom gets wet when you take a shower. We found some food downtown that night that was pretty unremarkable, so I won't comment on it.
Next day, Anchor Point had some great waves, and we went down there and surfed for awhile... I sat on the cliff overlooking the wave for awhile, until I was approached by a Moroccan man selling some jewelery. I politely told him I didn't want to buy anything, but he was very persistant. He kept asking where I was from and then started saying kind of rude things, like, Americans never buy anything and they are too arrogant, etc, and being really pushy, so finally I just had to tell him to leave me alone. That is one downside to Morocco in general. Sometimes it is hard to understand their mentality for salesmanship... if they were friendlier I would be more likely to buy something from them! But as a woman, most salesmen in Morocco treat you like that, and it's not the most pleasant experience.
That day, we decided to try out another hotel. We went to stay up the road north of Taghazout about a fifteen minute drive, a hotel called Paradis Plage, one of the few modern, larger hotels. The hotel was pretty quiet because it is the off season there, but it still had a full staff. It supposedly was an "eco-friendly" hotel, a fashionable term I suppose in this day and age, and they turn the water off during the day so as to conserve it, and their landscape design is based upon using plants that are found growing native within a 10 mile radius of the hotel. It was clean and comfortable, and came with breakfast, and the staff was great, bed was very comfortable, had a nice little terrace that we could look out over the ocean and watch the sunset. It had a little bit of a funny vibe about it though, like they were trying too hard, and it was a little bit tacky. The food (other than the breakfast buffet which was pretty good and had a ton of options) was pretty awful.
Because the food was so bad at our hotel, the next couple of nights we ate at a place in town called Dar Josephine, which I would probably say pretty safely is the best restaurant in Taghazout, being that there aren't very many. The prices are pretty good for the quality that you get. Ask for the warm homemade bread with olive oil to start- they serve it with salt, pepper, and spices; it is amazingly delicious, and is cooked in their wood fired oven right on the spot. They've got good tagines, along with some western choices like lasagna (a lot of places have lasagna in Morocco which is kind of random), and a fish of the day which we found to be hit or miss. It has a lovely outdoor seating area though, and around four resident cats depending on the time of day.
We got to see Dane Reynolds and Yadin Nichols (professional surfers) and a few more pro surfers surf at a couple of the larger more challenging breaks up the coast to the north of Taghazout called Boilers and Draculas. We saw some pretty amazing waves up there, and it was fun to watch them surf! They make it look easy and super stylie!
Overall it was a pretty cool visit to Taghazout- Josh loved it for the surfing aspect, and if I weren't there he probably would have stayed for the whole trip. It was fun for me for a few days, but I don't know that I'd want to stay there for much longer as the town doesn't have much to offer an amateur surfer at that time of year.
After a few days of surfing, we drove from Taghazout back towards Essaouira to return our rental car, enjoying the scenery as much as we could, but also being tailgated by a few crazy drivers, which was a little bit stressful. Back through banana groves, eucalyptus trees, Argan trees clinging to desert cliffs by their black roots, palms in select locations, olive trees, and prickly pear cacti. Passing by people and skinny, mangy looking donkeys laden with an incredible amount of weight, and people riding side-saddle at times.
From Essaouira, we got a ride back to Marrakech from a tourism transport company, for about $50 US. We decided that it was worth it since we had a lot of baggage, and it definitely was in the end. We got door to door service, right to our next Riad, previously booked, in Marrakech: Riad Palais Sebban. It was also nice because our driver stopped along the way to let us take photos of the Atlas mountains, and we got to ask him some questions about life in Morocco. It is a funny thing because once you talk to one guy or get a ride from someone, or help from someone, they always want to recommend another of their friends to help you next with something else. I guess that's inevitable in a poor country with a competitive tourism industry.
Given more time there are plenty of other places that we'd liked to have visited in Morocco, but we'll have to come back another time!
Riad Palais Sebban is located towards the western side of the Medina in Marrakech, about a five minute walk from Jemaa el Fna square. It is down a nice quiet back alley, with some other posh-looking entrances nearby. There are a couple of large pots with palm trees in them flanking the doorway to the Riad... we were led through the doorway, beautiful and made of intricately carved wood, and down a second indoor hallway, and then through another doorway and into the main lobby. My first thought was, "This place is stunning". There are so many incredible details everywhere- tilework, woodwork, painting, furniture, plants, the pool and courtyards. Everything is beautiful there. It is cold though, as everything is open.
The Palais Sebban was built in the 19th century, and combines Moroccan and Andalusian architecture. We had to switch from our original room because it just wouldn't heat up at all, but the next one we switched into was nice and cozy. The bathroom was pretty funny and had a very short door leading into it, josh was about a foot and a half too tall for it!
Shower and bathroom tiles
Upstairs courtyard tower, Palais Sebban
The food at this hotel was also pretty good- we ended up eating most of our dinners there because we didn't want to wander around the medina at night and risk getting completely lost. We especially enjoyed the traditional Moroccan lentil soup called harira, served with dates, and the fish of the day, usually a small white fish with lemon sauce, and josh enjoyed the penne Arabiata.
A side note: Most places you go either to eat or drink in Morocco give you a nice little complementary spread of olives and nuts and bread after you order whatever it is that you order.
The staff at this hotel was also super friendly. They explained to us the meaning of Inshallah, an arabic word which they kept saying, meaning something like 'If god wants". They were young muslim men and they were all super helpful with any questions we had and suggestions. They kept saying that Josh looked like a Berber man (an ethnicity of people in Morocco who usually have big beards, and have their own beautiful craftsmanship) with his big beard, and gave us berber names: Fatima and Hassan.
A digression: The Berber people lived in North Africa long before the Arabs, and there is still a large Berber population in Many countries of North Africa. In Morocco, about 40% of the population identifies with being Berber, although probably many more have Berber Ancestry. The Berbers are identified by specific language, culture, and customs, such as dances and music and crafts.
We spent our last few nights in Morocco in Marrakech staying at the Palais. We spent our days walking through the Medina and the souks, and visiting the sights of the city. Marrakech is not a very attractive city on the outside... the streets are dirty and small and the buildings are mostly a red/brown clay color. The streets are cobbled and winding and there are many dark alleys... But there are so many little treasures within these walls and streets! You never would guess the beauty that hides behind these walls, like little oasis' in the desert. There are myriads of Riads of all different kinds- upscale, budget, old, new. My favorites are the historical ones, decorated in tiles of all colors, and carvings and courtyards and tropical plants, beautiful rugs and crafts.
The souks are incredible, if more than a little bit overwhelming. They take up a large portion of the winding streets in the middle of the Medina. Some areas are covered, and some are not... different little stores line the streets, and there are different areas that specialize in different things, such as textiles, spices, tannery, silver. Along the main areas though, there are shops of all kinds. I was totally in awe of all of the beautiful things and colors, and was totally overwhelmed with how to accomplish all the shopping that I wanted to do! Bargaining is a must at the souks, as often the shop workers will ask you a ridiculous price at first just to see if you will bite. I am not the best bargainer, but luckily Josh is great at it and I am lucky that he didn't mind too much coming along and helping me out.
The rug shopping was my favorite... we picked a large rug shop with tons and tons of rugs stacked against all of the walls. First, we picked which colors and dimensions we were interested in, and the shop assistants began to unroll rug after rug on the floor in front of us. We would say yes and no depending on which ones we liked and didn't like until we had selected about 8 that we were somewhat interested in. Then we eliminated four more until we ended up with four rugs that we wanted to bring home with us. We had to a haggle a bit before we settled on a price that everyone was happy with. We felt that it was a really great deal for what we got, and felt we each had found our own spirit rugs. The workers at the rug shop packaged up all of our rugs and a couple of pillow covers into tarp material, and it is amazing how compacted they get them! It ended up being a small roll up that we could check into the plane. Pretty great!
We also got a handful of leather handbags, and a leather duffel bag with rug pattern on the size which I am totally in love with. Once again it took a lot of haggling to arrive at a good price but we were pretty happy in the end. Of course, the more you buy of an item, the better the price you will get. I also just HAD to get a moroccan tea set with a beautifully engraved silver tray and teapot, and decorative glasses for making mint tea at home and trying to perfect my pour. There were many others things that tempted me: silver jewelry, wood crafts and little silver engraved clutches, leather shoes and slippers, and wedding blankets.... Unfortunately I didn't have enough room in my bag, or time to spend in the souks to purchase all of it! Next time.
Our second day, we went to the Majorelle Garden, a garden designed by Jacques Majorelle, a french painter. He bought a 4 acre piece of land in Marrakech in 1923, and in the coming years added more adjoining parcels of land until his land reached nearly 10 acres, in the center of the city. He built a house on the land, and over the next forty years, he added to the gardens on his property, using plants from all over the world. He opened the garden to the public in 1947, for the cost of a small fee, due mostly to the high cost of maintenance of the garden. Toward the end of his life, he was forced to sell the garden. In 1980, Pierre Berge and Yves Saint Laurent bought the garden to save it from becoming a large hotel complex. Yves Saint Laurent was said to have gleaned an enormous amount of inspiration from the garden.
It is a very beautiful place, though perhaps not as large as it once was. There are enormous cacti, and succulents, and there are little plaques all over the garden outlining what plants are in the different areas. There is also a small cafe and a museum, and a memorial to Yves Saint Laurent along the back border of the garden. The museum is located inside what used to be the studio, and it is a beautiful bright blue colored building. I loved wandering through this garden and enjoying the exotic plants and the design of the garden, and all of the different beautiful vibrant colors, mostly shades of blue. We ate lunch at the cafe... a little overpriced, but located in a pretty patio, and I got a Moroccan salad which I enjoyed. I definitely would recommend checking it out if in Marrakech! Entry fee is about $5 per person.
Another sight we visited was the Ben Youssef Madrasa, in the heart of the Medina. It took us awhile to find it, but we did eventually, after wandering through the streets and following signs for a restaurant we knew was nearby.
The Madrasa used to be a college of Islam. Founded in the 14th century by the Sultan Abu al-Hassan, it is the largest Madrasa in all of Morocco, and is a neighbor to the Ben Youssef Mosque. The Madrasa has 130 small student dormitories around a large courtyard with carvings of cedar, stucco, and marble. The carvings have no human or animal forms, but consist of geometric patterns and inscriptions, as is required by Islam. It is a stunning structure, and the carvings and tilework inside it are works of art in their own right. The dormitories are absolutely tiny, but they all have a little window with a nice view of the courtyard. Unfortunately at the time of our visit, the pool was not filled. Entry fee was about $5 per person.
For lunch that day, after visiting the Madrasa, we went to a place nearby that I had read about called Le Jardin, which consisted of a large space with lots of plants, and a few different levels, and a small shop. We enjoyed our lunch there immensely: I got a lentil salad with yogurt, and josh got a tagine. I loved the little shop, (called "Pop Up Shop", incidentally), which had items that were a little bit more expensive than the souks, but were also more original, and better quality. The store is run by designer Norya Ayron, and contains items such as nice little leather clutches in various colors, with original Tuareg African made tassels, and beautiful Kaftans and Kimonos in original prints.
Le Jardin, Marrakech
A few final remarks on Morocco.
This country is an interesting mix of French, Middle Eastern and African, with a plethora of microcosms: Arabic, Berber, and French are just a few. Being in Morocco, like in France, definitely has made me wish I spoke a little bit of Arabic, or french, in order to communicate better, as english definitely was not a language that most people spoke well! Arabic struck my interest on this trip, as being a language completely different from any I have studied previously, being someone who has only focused on romance languages, and one with a completely different alphabet nonetheless.
Wandering through Morocco, there is the almost cloying smell of Orange Blossoms everywhere you go. It is a good scent, but is very sweet, and sticks to everything, and follows you everywhere! I only realized what it was when we went into a spice and essential oil shop.
Morocco is not necessarily a kind country to women. I should not generalize, I know, because we met many very nice people along our way, mostly those who helped at our various Hotels and Riad's, and who we got rides from. A lot of the muslim men though, and mostly the salesmen, were very rude and disrespectful to women, and you don't see the women being able to do nearly what the men do.
You must drink, and brush your teeth with bottled water, which most hotels are pretty good at providing.
Josh and I had an interesting conversation about what a third world country actually is, what defines it, spurred by observations of life in the city. We had been talking about how some parts of Morocco seemed very third world, with garbage everywhere, and people living in shanties. But then we began to think about how many places there are in the world that are even worse off than they are here. I looked it up online, and there are a few definitions that I found, on dictionary.com, drawing from different dictionaries of the world. The first, somewhat vague, "the underdeveloped nations of the world, especially those with widespread poverty", another, a little more specific, "the group of developing nations, specifically of Asia and Africa, that do not align themselves with the policies of either the U.S. or the former Soviet Union", and more specific still, "the less economically advanced countries of Africa, Asia or Latin America collectively, esp when viewed as underdeveloped and as neutral in the East-West allignment. Also called Developing World". Interesting.
Leaving Morocco was just as chaotic as coming, the Ryanair check in counter was overrun, and people kept cutting in line. It was extremely inefficient and frustrating. We also had to change money back into dollars, and we ran into a little difficulty when the cashier told us we needed a receipt to prove where the money came from- we had not saved many of our ATM receipts, but eventually scrounged up an exchange receipt from when we entered the country. We finally made it through though and flew during the afternoon hours over the straight of gibraltar, a pretty cool view since it was a clear day.
We had one night in Spain, before the long flight to our next destination, Indonesia! It was nice to be able to relax and enjoy some of our favorite little spots in Madrid, and say hi to Boris' Mom, and repack our suitcases for the tropics!
