Whiskey Jack Adventures: Marrakesh, Morocco

This is the first rest day the guides have not provided a tour of some sort so we were on our own. They are off to wash some of the construction mud off the bikes. But before we get into our day let us tell you about last night!

We were shuttled down to the main square for a view of the sites. The area was really quiet, probably due to the rain and cooler weather, though the rain had stopped by the time we got there. Sergi gave us a bit of a tour of the square and the surrounding area and some advice on what to expect and how to deal with the vendors. Into the medina we went. What an experience with pedal bikes, scooters, people, and lots of action in the very narrow street. Street vendors of all kinds selling food and anything else you might want. We eventually made it through the mess to the restaurant. It was the usual Moroccan fare with the “salad” started of seven little dishes of stuff, olives and the lovely bread. The main course was lamb tagine. But then the real entertainment began. The music got louder and out came the belly dancers. One had a tray of candles on her head. She was fully clothed. She proceeded to place it on Tom’s head. The next one came out scantily dressed and some men’s eyes did not leave her chest! All in all a lot of fun.

Today we decided to hire a driver and car to see some of the sites. We shared this with fellow tourers Tom and Debbie and the entire four hours of his vehicle and time was only 500 dirham, about 50 US dollars. He hoped to make some extra money by taking us to places of his choice: a guided tannery visit to see the process and purchase the result – it cost for the “guide”, a visit to an argon oil factory (same MO) – we declined and a restaurant for lunch (same MO) – we declined. The tannery visit was a little more interesting than the one in Fez as we actually walked among the vats. The smell can be pretty bad but they gave us each a sprig of mint to smell. They also have nesting boxes around to encourage the pigeons as they use the poop for the lime. We did tour a palace: Palais de Bahia and a tomb: Tombeaux Saadiens and marveled at the intricate woodwork and mosaics. As well we got him to take us to an olive orchard to walk around.

We finally got him to drive us to the famous medina and leave us there despite his protestations that we should go here or there. Poor guy. We didn’t co-operate much with him.

The Medina of Marrakesh is very famous and undoubtedly you have heard of the snake charmers of the medina. We were warned about them trying to force drugged snakes on people. Also about the monkey handlers trying to get you to hold a monkey. We gave these a wide birth, although one of them caught Norma taking a “free picture” but she quickly escaped. There are many markets called souks specializing in fruit, textiles, jewelry, etc. We had a look around and walked the 45 minutes back to the hotel, looking forward to an early dinner and evening for a change.

Tomorrow we ride to Rabat, the capitol of Morocco. The weather forecast is good. BTW we heard today the pass we came over yesterday closed in the evening and the view from Marrakesh shows a lot of SNOW up there. Lucky for us as if it had been closed yesterday our day in Marrakesh would have been cancelled and we would have had to make the over 800km trek around. We are not going back.