A Tentative Exploration of Marrakech

Friday, November, 22, 2019: Casablanca-Marrakech:

A Tentative Exploration of Marrakech

Bonjour de Maroc!

By the time we broke through the clouds, we had just cleared the Mediterranean Sea and the northernmost shore of Africa (of Morocco) came into sight. I was so excited. However, there was a slight fog and it was very hazy—I did not get good pictures. The first impressions I had of Casablanca from my window was of desert barrenness—the entire landscape was the color of sand. And as we neared the airport ready to land, that same color was everywhere.

We had a one hour layover in Casablanca—so really all we got to see was the interior of a vast airport lounge as we awaited the announcement of our connecting flight. It was on schedule and we hastened towards our flight, also on Air Maroc. It was a very short flight (about an hour) and for almost all of it, we were above the clouds—so could see nothing below. 

It was a smooth touch down in Marrakech and emigration went well too. What occurred to me as we were landing was the uniformly orchre color of the entire city. And the longer I stayed there, the more it occurred to us that this city seems to be built entirely with red sandstone or sand quarried in its vicinity—all of which is a pink blush shade. It is pretty and reminds one of Jaipur, The Pink City.

We had an airport shuttle service waiting to pick us up. Our driver/guide was called Jamal and he was very helpful—he also spoke very good English. The airport is quite beautiful and we made sure we exchanged money before we left it as we knew that credit cards are hardly used in this country—all transactions are done by cash. As we walked out, we saw the first date palm trees. About five minutes later, we had a shuttle van that arrived to take us to our hotel and we got our first glimpse of the Adam Park Hotel that was only a five-minute drive from the airport.

Check in at the hotel was handled by Jamal. A man seated in the reception lounge got up immediately from his plush traditionally upholstered sofa with a tray containing glasses and a silver teapot and we had our first taste of the famous Moroccan mint tea. It was very good—hot, sweet and refreshing. When check-in was done, Jamal gave us instructions about breakfast tomorrow and told us about a large mall that was only a ten minute walk away. He also told us that there was a large Carrefour supermarket in the same place, should we wish to pick up some food. 

We followed the bellboy to our room—a very large one, spacious, clean and well appointed with its own balcony. It had a fridge but not tea-coffee service. We used the rest room and lay down for just a half hour to get some shut eye—neither one of us really slept. I guess the sleep we had on the flight was enough. It was already 12.30 pm and we decided to go out in search of lunch to the mall.

Lunch at the Mall:

The Mall is called Almazar and it i the third largest mall in Morocco (the other two being in Casablanca). It had a food court on the top floor. We were ready to eat and went to the Sultan Doner Kebab place where Llew got the Chicken Kebab and I got the Lamb Merguez one. We split them and found them to be very tasty as they were served in pita bread with a tzadziki sauce.  When we had eaten, we went out in search of a SIM card as I wanted to call Dad to find out how he was coping with his attack of the flu. The store called Orange was closed (much to our disappointment) but we toured the supermarket called Carrefour and I found a few things I would like to buy and take back to Connecticut—Lurpak butter, for instance. 

When we had taken a round of the food store (a real treasure trove!), we walked back to our hotel and took a bit more rest in the lobby. There was a free hotel shuttle bus taking us to the Medina called Djama El Fina which is the very heart of the city and we decided to go and explore the place. 

After about a half hour’s rest (which was very welcome to us), the shuttle service did arrive and in ten minutes, were in the main square of the city. 

Exploring Djama El Fina on Foot:

The first thing we saw as soon as we alighted from our taxi was the orche -colored minaret—beautifully decorated and towering proudly above the city as it is set in lovely landscaped gardens. Non-Muslims are not allowed in any of the Moroccan mosques except for the one in Casablanca (which we shall visit at the very end). So, we did not attempt to enter. Instead we tended to follow the crowd after our shuttle driver told us where to meet him at 7.30 pm for our pickup and return to the hotel. 

Out first priority was to buy a SIM card and we were quite fortunate to find one soon enough from a shop keeper. We paid 150 dirhams (DM) for it, which was approximately $15 and with it, we received about 30 minutes’ of talk time to India. We did not waste any time, but called my Dad immediately to find out, with some relief, that he is getting better even if he is still troubled by a terrible dry cough. The weakness and body ache remain but at least he is able to sit up now.

That done, we set out to explore the square on foot. It is a huge square with many little lanes radiating out from it. Each section seems to sell different kinds of goods—leather goods in one lane, glasses for drinking Moroccan mint tea in another; in another corner, orange juice vendors press juice freshly from sweet oranges and we had a lovely refreshing glass for just 4 DM each. There were dry fruit stalls whose vendors were doling out samples—we enjoyed fresh dates and salted almonds. As we were there at about 3.30 pm, the excitement of the evening had not yet begun. People sat mainly in the restaurants facing the square or in high terraces that offered sweeping views of the square and the activity below. Talking to the shop keeper gave me my first opportunity to speak French and I found myself very easily able to plunge right in—with confidence. For the rest of the week, my French received a thorough workout and I was really delighted to be able to use it with such convenience

As we’d had very little sleep and were really tired, we chose to return to the garden and find a bench on which we could sit and rest our tired feet after we were on them for over an hour. Both Llew and I found ourselves dozing off and decided to scrap the idea of waiting till 7.30 for our shuttle. Instead we would just take a cab and get back. 

With this new altered plan, we returned to the square after having rested for about a half hour and found that the place was buzzing with renewed energy as evening tourists and visitors hit the scene. Costumed men were extracting money for photos taken with them. Snake charmers had baskets filled with snakes including many cobras and they were blowing the pipes they use to get the snakes dancing—many hooded cobras were swaying to the music—very similar to what one finds in India. There were loud drums playing and the tempo got more lively as the evening progressed. 

Meanwhile, in the center, fresh tables were being laid for the evening meal that were supposed to be specialities of the land: we saw sheep’s heads (roasted and waiting to be devoured). The brains had been extracted and were on exhibition. Apparently, they are fried and served—quite deliciously. The sheep’s meat is turned into what looked like curries. A round flat traditional bread is eaten with these al fresco meals and there was one loaf at each setting. There were also kebabs galore—chicken, lamb, beef, fish—on skewers. Touts tried hard to get us to their stalls but Llew did not wish to eat anything outlandish and both of us were worried about our tummies especially as one of the touts told us, “Two full years guaranteed no diarrhea!” That was it. We were really put off trying anything unfamiliar and decided to get back to our hotel to eat. 

We were also getting quite tired and having enjoyed the flavor of this great big outdoor bazaar, it was time for us to head home. We found a taxi for 40 DM and made it back in five minutes. It was a thoroughly interesting experience—an assault on every sense: visual, aural, olfactory, even tactile. 

Dinner in our Hotel:

Back in our rooms, we relaxed just a little.I started to write this blog when I was reminded that we were supposed to return to the lobby at 7.00 pm to meet Jamal who was supposed to have picked up bus tickets for us to get to Essaouira where we intended to make a Day trip as we had a full free day in Morocco before our official package tour began. We made our way down and then waited in the lobby for a whole hour while we both dozed off a bit.

When he did show, he gave us our tickets (80 DM each one way) and told us that the bus left at 7.45 am. The lobby receptionists said that we could eat the buffet breakfast by. 6.00 am—which made everything fall into place.      

Not too long after this, we walked towards Traviata, the Italian restaurant attached to our hotel and chose Moroccan specialities. We had a Moroccan salad which was like mezze—three types of salad (tomato and cucumber, eggplant salad like babaganoush and roasted red pepper and tomato salad with lettuce—very tasty)—and pastilla which is a delicacy consisting of layers of phyllo pastry with minced chicken and minced almonds in the filling. The heavy taste and fragrance of cinnamon engulfed us as we enjoyed this treat with sparkling water for me and red wine for Llew. There was bread rolls and butter served at the table which made it a very filling meal indeed. 

Back in our room, we each had our showers, brushed and flossed our teeth and got our bags ready for our early morning departure tomorrow before we threw ourselves in bed.

     A bientot...