Greetings from Marrakech or, as we like to call it, hassle hell. We landed in Casablanca 3 days ago, rented a car (a Citroen with the grill held on with masking tape) and headed south to the Atlantic Coast town of Essaouiria, made famous by Jimmy Hendrix. Within minutes of our journey we discovered that Morocco has NO road signs. Oh, what fun it is to drive in an unmarked countryside!
Due to the lack of signage, what would have been a 5 hour journey took 7 1/2, complete with a speeding ticket outside of Marrakech. We had spent over an hour navigating the outskirts of Marrakech only to be pulled over less than a mile outside of the city in a speed trap. Either my “petit Francais” or the officers’ extreme pity for Sean having to travel with someone possessing “petit Francais” resulted in our fine being halved and being shown the proper route to Essaouiria. If only we had been pulled over an hour earlier!
On our drive we have seen arid landscape with lots of donkeys, goats, sheep and a few wild camels. The towns are teeming with stray cats and kittens, all of whom are fed by the locals and quite friendly. No alcohol anywhere as this is a strict Muslim country. Shame as we often really need a drink. Suicidal pedestrians, cyclists,moped-ists, donkey-cart drivers, buses and the like constantly dart in front of our car, leaving our, or at least my, nerves shattered.
Essaouiria was cool, pleasant and laid back with the sound of the surf lulling us throughout the day and night. The townspeople were friendly but never pushy. All spoke Arabic, French and English. We spent much of our second day in the souk a/k/a marketplace, looking at the diverse array of foods and spices, handicrafts and livestock in various states of butchery. Unlike the sanitized U.S., where we are greatly removed from the original source of meat products, Moroccans buy their meat sources – usually goats, sheep or chickens – live, can have them
butchered right there in the souk or choose a carcasse from the butcher’s window.
Marrakech, on the other hand, is a frenzied, traffic-choked, sultry city. Pause to tie your shoe,
catch your breath or sneeze and 10 people appear, wanting to shine your shoes, breath for you or blow your nose. We learned a valuable lessson re: dining alfresco. Only do it if you want to share your meal with countless children, elderly and infirmed adults. Or if you want your shoes shined, your nose blown . .
Tomorrow we are heading south to the High Atlas Mountains. We plan on exploring the oasis area of Oazarate and several casbahs, one of which was the backdrop for parts of Gladiator, The Sheltering Sky and Blackhawk Down. Perhaps we’ll even ride a camel.
You just never know.
Happy Memorial Day!
Kathy and Sean
