Photos

Hey CCM readers, here are some photos from the trip so far. I know you are all eagerly anticipating our next entries, we should have a few more up over the next couple of days as we are back from the no internet Sahara desert, Enjoy.

Sunset at the Koutoubia mosque in Marrakech. This is a great place for an evening stroll with the local Marrakchi's.

Dinner at the crazed Djeema el fna, there are about 100 of these stalls to eat at every night.

Please Touch My Monkey

We started the day with breakfast on the rooftop overlooking the 70 metre high minaret of the Koutoubia mosque. Walking across the djeema el fna we entered the souks (markets) looking for the Ali Ben Merdessa or Islamic school. The school was beautiful as was the neighbouring Musse Marrakech, but the real experience was the souks.

The souks are an intense place. You walk through crowded alleys with motorbikes squeezing through. A man jumps in my face and grabs my arm yelling Hello, look please, maybe later. A veiled woman comes at us from, the other side holding her hand out for whatever change we may have and in the corner of my eye I spot the meat stall. Oh yes the meat stall is a great place. This is why we are veggies. A whole side of cow hangs, livers splayed out and the greatest sight of all, strung out like garland is the fat, sinew and tendons of some poor animal. Turning right down another alley and we spot a hanging fox, whole dried iguanas and dead vultures. Apparently the fox is not for sale, ruined my shopping day. Welcome to the white magic souk, filled with ingredients for magical potions for love were told. If you ask nicely you can even get some illegal rhinoceros horns in the back.

Parts of the souks exist largely for tourists, however the mentioned areas are all local. In the blacksmith souk it feels as if you are walking through a factory. Men file, grind and pound away then sell their wares in the shop front. As crazed a place as the souks are, they really do wear you down, it has been our favourite place to wander. You need patience and a sense of humour but with both its an unforgettable place.

At night we are drawn back to the djeema el fna, seems like all locals and tourists come here at night. The square is the heart and soul of this African city. First up we hit the snail stall. No garlic butter here, just a bowl of sticky gooey snails that I pull out of their shells with a toothpick, delicious. Jordana tastes one and stops there.

Leaving the square for the night we walk through the snake charmers, henna artists and of course the monkeys. A man approaches with his monkey wearing a diaper and shinny vest. Please touch my monkey. Whoa, we just met buddy.

Ramadan

Allah akbar, ashhdu an lallah ila allah

I'm awaken this morning at 4:30am by the call to prayer. The call to prayer in Marrakech is a powerful and eerie sound. With so many mosques the city is filled with the chanting from each muezin all blending together. I wonder how many people are actually making their way to pray at this ungodly hour? Two hours later the muezin is at it again, proclaiming sunrise. Being the holy month of Ramadan fasting will now begin until sunset.
As Tourists you are not expected to fast for Ramadan, however it is sign of respect to participate. Jordana and I tried hard to not let anything pass our lips. However in 37 degree heat we gave in and discreetly drank 1 litre of water in about 30 seconds.
It really is in incredible to watch everyone scurry about just before sunset. People buying food for the nights fitr or breaking of the fast. Then when the call comes that it is sunset the streets of this noisy city of 1 million come to a hush. Shopkeepers who cant make it home feast with others in their shops or on a small table on the sidewalk.
I really cant imagine going this whole month of Ramadan fasting from sunrise to sunset. But the fasting is one thing, also given up this month is smoking and sex. Of course there is no beer to begin with, so this is not the month to come to Morocco looking for a bender. It is however quite a sight to witness.

Marrakech; To Look is Free My Friend

After 12 hours of flying we finally arrived in the hot dusty city of Marrakech. Upon exiting the oddly empty Menara airport we were pounced upon by taxi drivers. I quickly heard that about 5 of maybe the12 drivers were named Mustafa, maybe I misnamed the blog. Our driver drove like a madman whose wife was about to give birth in the backseat, we swirved into oncoming traffic and around bikes and donkeys at breakneck speed. In the end we arrived safely at the edge of the Medina of Marrakech.

Jordana and I do not do reservations, this is a great way to travel but also a bit tough in a large, hot and dusty city. The streets of the medina are very narrow, so the taxis let you out on the edge of the old town. We wandered around looking for a hotel sweating like a fat kid in a bunny suit, kinda like the one I wore on the Halloween of 84. We were followed by touts who yelled come look my friend, to look is free. The thing with hotel touts is that when they follow you into a hotel they also get commission, which means that you end up paying that commission. Hence you try to avoid all touts. This leads to you turning into a rude guy who ignores everyone on the street who tries to speak with you.

As it so often works out just when things are looking like they cant get any worse we stumbled upon a fantastic little hotel, Riad Hamza. A riad is an old restored house and is huge. This riad is 4 floors with a centre courtyard open to above with a water fountain and a small seating area. The tile work is beautiful and we have breakfast on the roof top terrace.

We showered up and headed out to check out the town. Strolling through the Djeema el fna which is an assault on all your senses. The djeema is a huge square filled with snake charmers, monkeys dancing, story tellers, fresh orange juice and best of all an array of food stalls. It was here we enjoyed a fabulous dinner of calamari, aubergines, olives and bread. After dinner we were pretty wiped out having not slept in over 24 hours, so we headed to a quiet cafe. We ended the night people watching, while sipping fresh mint tea and eating sweets which Jordana insisted upon.