麗人帶您走進一千零一夜摩洛哥20天旅行20天小視頻合集

 

現在喜歡用視頻的方式記錄我的旅行

 

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1. 麗人私人訂製摩洛哥001卡薩布蘭卡

 

 

 

2.  麗人私人訂製摩洛哥002a - 首都拉巴特

 

 

3. 麗人私人訂製摩洛哥002a - 老皇城梅克內斯

 

 

 

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Here is the travel journals my brother wrote to record our wonderful trip. I keep a record here for myself or whom are insterested in reading. Enjoy!

 

 

1),

In Meknes, Morocco, we stayed in a Riad one night. It’s my first and amazing experience, even for a man living in Beijing’s courtyard house (四合院) for years.  We got there after a seemingly long walk through narrow and complicated streets with a number of turns in the evening. The sun set already behind the the Royal Palace walls. The sky started turning dark. The day was fighting hardly for last light.  Birds flew different directions, trying to find a night place.  People were hurrying home or other destinations as pandemic curfew would be enforced at 8.  My room is at ground floor with a high double carved wood door.  In my room, a little lovely round coffee table and a ottoman lie at foot of a queen bed, two elegant lights were on night stands with a complicated design. Two sidewall lights above bedhead are covered by a semi stainless column, sending soft lights up and down.  Some framed artwork hangs on walls, richly decorating the room. 

 

I had a solid sleep as I was so tired from a almost sleepless night before and a city tour of Rabat, the capital of the country.  In the morning, I was half sleeping after a profound one.  I turned on my bluetooth speaker and played my favorite music and at same time recalled the good start and nice memory of my Morocco tour up to date. Outside my window, above the soothing music was early morning birds’ singing and pigeons mummering.  After a couple of stretching, I reluctantly got up, took a shower, and went out exploring the Riad.  A lovely yellow cat greeted me at door by stretching itself and flipping over.  I could see an expression of flattering across its face.  I was wide-eyed with the Riad’s architectural design and its delicate decoration.  This is a typical Morocco Riad.  It is perfectly located and in a lovely little seclusive place to retreat from the noise of Meknes Old Medina.   The front door is opened into a small but busy street.  Four marble columns at front and rear corridors provide support of the structure.  The columns, walls, and floor are all covered with exquisite mosaic which has its typical design of repetition, symmetry, and variation with full of details. The Riad has two floors, a terrace with a hot-spa, patio tables & chair, and two person-rocking chair, and a roof with a panoramic view of a big portion of the Old Medina.  At one corner of the yard stands a tall palm tree shooting heavenward.  A variety of green plants are here and there without any conception of cluttering. Vines climb up through second floor to terrace.  The courtyard has round and rectangular tables with chairs squared neatly under them, extra wooden chairs at corners, long bench seat with soft cushions standing against wall, built-in cabinets display Moroccan art pieces.  The yard lighting fixtures are in torch style, mounted at both sides of my door and the stairway leading to the second floor.  The second floor has several balconies overlooking the yard. Windows are arched wood frame with cast iron grates.  A flight of spiral stairs leads to the terrace that has a little garden covered with young spring flowers, red, yellow, blue, which symbolizes the developing spring.  On the high roof, I very much enjoyed the view of the Old Medina and the Royal Palace beyond a series of roof tops.  There I could hear rooster crowing on and off continuously.

 

The Riad was built more than two hundred years ago.  We felt sorry to leave for our tour.  Nonetheless, we still have a number of chances to stay in beloved Riads down the tour road.

 

2),

We arrived in Chefchaouen, Morocco on our 4th day of the tour.  The city is so called the “Blue City”.  After checking in our hotel, we rushed out venturing the city with a lot of expectations. 

 

Chefchaouen is a new name after its original one - Askaouen, titled as the nearby mountain, Benat lala Menana, resembles a pair of goat horns. The big portion of the city lies on the slope of the mountain, facing eastward. The primary structures are two floor stone buildings connected and stretched out.  The city appears in a stepped way, neatly and colorfully. Almost all buildings are blue, light blue, and dark blue. Per our guide, Rachid hadj, two primary theories are behind why a majority of city buildings are blue-painted. As the city is located at lower slope of the mountain,  a rapid river passes between, some locations over boulders, and flows through the city and continues on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. In Morocco, the water of rivers is always considered blue. The second theory is when the people of southern Spain immigrated to Chefchaouen centuries ago, they wanted  to distinguish themself from the locals so they colored their houses blue.  After European descendants left the area, Moroccans remained the tradition to paint their buildings in blue after either a new construction or a facade/house renovation.   Additionally, Moroccan people believe the color of blue could expel mosquitoes away. Chefchaouen is an UNESCO city which attracts tens of thousands of tourists every year until the COVID pandemic.  The hotel we stayed consists of multiple buildings including reception and a restaurant serving traditional Moroccan food, a swimming pool with the bluish water with the blue-painted bottom and side walls.  The water surface reflects the city in day and night. A number of guest buildings scattered on a gently sloped area.  We might be among two-handful guests. The touring business got hit hard.  The hotel manger told me he served a lot of Chinese travelers before the pandemic. Now he has only four (us) so far this year.

 

Before his departure, Rachid reminded us to be careful to talk with locals in that we don’t know who and what they are and what their intentions are. The dealing of marijuana is very common in the city.  Dealers could pretend to talk with us friendly and try to sell us drugs.  We might not be aware of drug dealing business because of communication barrier. Undercover cops could detain us for a long time scrutiny. It takes time to prove us innocent. 

 

At 6 in the following morning while my travel partners were sleeping, I sneaked out for an early morning tour. It was still dark. But cock-crow already started and echoed in the quiet valley. From time to time I could hear dogs barking in chorus in the distance.  A lot of cats either ran ahead or followed me, hoping to get some food.  I was the only one in the tiny and narrow alleys. Some valleys smoothly curve, some swing back in different elevations.  Sometimes I walked into short dead ends. Along my way,  I could hear sparrows twittering and water gurgling at the other side of the walls. It sounded morning activities were taking place. The street and business neon lights seemed to lead me to get in deeper in alleys and higher to the mountain.  When the sky turned to grey from dark, people started showed up in a hurry manner.  

 

At one point, I sat, lonely, on a parapet wall of one street looking around, the mountain, the city, the people. The sky was palpably lighter, an immaculate gray clarity spreading slightly upward from behind the high hill in the east. I looked at the Blue City.  I told myself I love this city as the color of blue makes it synonymous of peace, love, and joy.  At around 7:30, I rushed back the hotel for a morning shower and breakfast.

 

3),

On the 7th day of our Morocco tour we arrived at a small resort, near the city Arfoud at the outskirt of the mysterious and gigantic Sahara Desert.   Before reaching to our camping tents, we could sense the legendary desert was near as vegetation was less and less at both sides of country road. The land was barren largely, under the Sun’s brutal baking. 

 

Sahara, in Arabic, means emptiness or the Garden of Allah.  From documentary movies of the Discovery Channel, the Sahara Desert has a lot of nicknames - the Face of Africa, the sea of sand, the land of fear, the biggest dust bowl of the earth, etc. It is as big as the US continent in square miles.  Its sand could bury the earth land in 6 inches deep.  During our camel riding tour, we saw a lot of sand dunes in different patterns. Wind is the architect who relentlessly creates formation of breathtaking sand dunes. Sand dunes in the Sahara include types of Barchan/crescentic dunes, linear dunes, transverse dunes, Star dunes, parabolic dunes

 

We had a long expected camel ride upon our arrival. Our camel riding guide is a Berber, his name is Umar.  He mounted us one by one on our own camel.  I was at front of the group. I named my camel Captain.  All camels were chained for the purpose of easy control. He led us over 1.5 hour tour along the outskirt of the Sahara, sometime into the desert a little deeper.  Our camel ride started around 7:00pm. The sun was still pretty high but hiding behind haze.  Sometimes the sun broke out and put its eternal shining on sand dunes and us.  The desert was so quiet I was amazed I could not hear the sound of camels’ steps but only their breadth. I noticed my camel’s feet spread as they touched sand, so they would not sink into sands. It seems that camels are created for harsh environments like deserts.  Camels could survive without drinking any water for 2-3 months and without any food for 1-2 month. That’s why camels are primary transportation “vehicle” in deserts.  The camels were walking slowly and rhythmically. Typically camels are obsequious, they are giant but cute.  In the riding, Umar stopped periodically to take pictures for us, individual or group ones.  He didn’t talk too much and was always in a composed manner.  My travel partners had different requests or postures for photo shooting.  Umar fulfilled each request without showing any frustrating and complaining.  Occasionally my Captain detoured a bit to eat grasses off the path.  Umar pulled it back in time to avoid any danger like sliding down high sand dunes.  We passed low bushes sporadically, some lonely trees here and there, near and remote.  All the sceneries imply the shortage of water.  At one point, we met a group of kids who stared us curiously and in somewhat intimidation.  Some waved us back in a preserved way.  Between sand dunes, one of my travel partners suggested playing the beloved song - the Sound of Silence.  The music touched our hearts and travelled deep into the desert.  Though perpetual silence, sand dunes also have lives.  Sometimes they sing; sometimes they whistle; sometimes they whisper, sometimes they talk to each other.

 

Around 2 am, I was woken up by the desert wind and the tent door rattling against the wall. I got up and went outside.  I looked out in the direction of invisible sand dunes in the distance.  They must be sleeping  now. Above me was clear,sky full of shining stars as dense as I saw in Antarctic years ago.  I stared at the sky, whispering to my heart the universe is endless.  The course of the Milk Way was like a giant rift across the sky letting the faint white light through intermittently.  I regretted I couldn’t stare long as we had a tight schedule in day time. I went back in bed but was hard going back to sleep. I put the movie Casablanca on.  In the morning I recalled remembering Lisa was pushing Sam to play “As Time Goes By” before I fell asleep. The rest of the movie continued while I was in a desert dream.

 

4),

Into 10th day, our Morocco tour was full swing, wheeling smoothly as scheduled with some unexpected surprises

 

In Fez, especially the Old Medina dated back to 9th century, the street system was not planned well from the beginning and added as piecemeal as time went by, like a maze with wide and narrow alleys. Some alleys are wide enough to let horse/donkey wagons pass through; some are too narrow to let two persons walk abreast.  The major streets or alleys are strewn with various stores, vendors, and other establishments. Close to the lunch, our local guide Aziz led us through a serious backstreets with several turns to a restaurant, Najarime.  On the way, I was wondering what kind of restaurant it was waiting for us ahead, off the centers or squares. After I entered the restaurant, my jaw dropped widely.  What an exquisite restaurant!  I murmured. I had a visual shock first and then the shock moved deeper inside me. A huge contrast was created by the opulently decorated restaurant. Its interior is covered with mosaic everywhere in a typical Moroccan or Arabic styles/patterns.  Several bronze chandeliers hung in high ceiling (25-30 feet) provide soft foot-candles. Dining tables or booths are made of wood and symmetrically setup.  Each booth is roomy for four diners.  Not too long, two western women came in with their guide. I whispered to my partners they are Americans as I eavesdropped somewhat American accent. My partners stroke a small conversation. We learned one of the the women comes from the Bay Area, California, the other from Miami, Florida.  JFK was their rendezvous.  Like us, they were so bored stuck at home because of COVID 19. Their itinerary is half ours, which made me a little pride. 

 

We departed the Sahara in the morning and got to a small town, Skoura, in the evening.  After checking in our hotel, we had a dinner in the hotel garden.  What a beautiful garden with lanes looping around and a blue water swimming pool. The garden is densely filled with high palm and olive trees (countless tiny olives were swinging slightly under evening breeze), a pond covered with plants, spring flowers are everywhere.  Vine-made lanterns hang on the trees, down shooting lights.  Before going into our rooms, we had a French Moroccan style dinner. We were under big olive and fig trees and surrounded by various color spring flowers.  Our food were nicely presented and delicious.  After Moroccan cheese cake was served, I played the movie Casablanca for everyone. I became a cicerone as I watch this movie over 100 times. After the dinner, we went to our rooms.  The main hotel is two story mud-like building. It has terraces in different levels and lovely rooms and suites. My suite is located on a higher terrace.  The suite was large, comfortable in the dark, being lighted only by candles that rested in a small cute coffee table. Several floor lamps were placed here and there on the floor. I sat out on my terrace. I was the only one there owning the whole terrace. I still had some leftover French red wine.  I looked around. It was so quiet. All the noises were drown in the darkness of the night. Looking up to the sky again, I was wondering if the stars knew I already left the Sahara, maybe not as I didn’t bid a goodbye, my soul still lingered there.  I really enjoyed the profound silence of the night.  The hotel we stayed is Les Jardines de Skoura, meaning the Garden of Skoura, a definite highlight in our stay in Morocco.

 

The next morning I asked Rachid to alter our itinerary by extending our time here and had a French Moroccan lunch.

 

5),

 

In Morocco, we visited all four imperial cities - Fez, Marrakech, Meknes, and Rabat. Fez is my favorite and a must to probe again if I have another chance. On the second day in Fez, we had our breakfast at roof terrace of our Riad, located at a hilltop in the 14th century town.  The old imperial city spread out in front of me like an impressionist image - clouds creating a play of light and shadows on pastel colored roofs.  Though we couldn’t see any city activities from the birdview, I presumed people already started their daily routines. We quickly completed our breakfast and went out to venture the old Medina, or a huge man-made labyrinthine. The old Medina, aka Fez el-Bali, was put under UNESCO protection in 1981.  Exactly 13,385 buildings were counted in 1980, including 143 mosques as well as almost 500 palaces and patrician houses.  The old city had approximately 9,400 streets, alleys, aisles, and cul-de-sacs, like arteries connecting every corner of the Medina. 

 

Walking through the labyrinthine of streets, alleys, and aisles vitalizing Fes el Bali made me feel like stepping into the Thousand and the One Night - the great walled imperial city, some cobbled lanes no wider than a barrel length, dimly lit and bewitching, where street-side stalls sold anything locals could ever wish to buy.  There were mountains of spices and the fresh cut herbs, saffrons, aniseed, pickled lemons, mounds of gleaming olives, small cedar boxes with embedded camel bones, fragrant pointed leather slippers, large and small Tagine pots, rough Berber rugs, woolen djellabas, golden caftans, amulets and talismans.  It seemed I was looking through a kaleidoscope.  For safety cercerns, we were told not to go off the main streets.  Nevertheless, we couldn’t control ourselves.  Now and then we detoured but came back quickly.  Every street has its own smell, their special background noise, and their very special flair.  In the middle of the day, the streets and alleys were crowded.  Men in djellabas, veiled women, and happy-faced kids hurried through the streets and alleys bathed in diffuse sunlight.

 

One of the major attractions was the tannery. After climbing through the narrow and steep spiral stairs, we stood at the tannery’s balcony looking down at the large workshop. My mask could filter out Coronavirus save the odor of smelly liquids in the bins down below.  It was about lunch time. Not many crafters were there working.  A half dozen of crafters waded between bins/pits, piled up furs, turned them into the shimmering yellow, red, and blue, and spread them out to dry.   Fez is Morocco’s main leather city. The tannery we visited provides the finest leather goods.  It was called Moroccaneries in Europe.  There I couldn’t control my impulse for purchasing. Now I have total seven leather jackets in my closet.

 

The first madrasa in Arabic world is located in Fez el Bali. Moroccans proudly claim it was the very first university in the world.   Unfortunately, it did not open to public.  I took a couple of photos at its front gate.

 

Fez, the Morocco’s greatest jewel in my opinion, is the only medieval city that remains entirely intact in the face of the earth.  We only had one day to enjoy the beautiful jewel.  I am sure we didn’t see the essence and entirety of Fez el Bali nor the real life of locals.   Next time I want to stay two whole days, or even more, and explore the inner and very center of the city where I want to wander all days and visit the mausoleum of Moulay Idriss III, said to be the second most important sanctuary of Morocco.

 

6),

On the 12th day afternoon. We arrived at a small endearing town, Imill.  The town is located at the High Atlas, the highest mountain in North Africa.  After several flights of irregular stairs, we got to our hotel, comfortably sitting on a mountain slope facing north.  A swift brook due to relatively steep gradient of it bed curved smoothly along the valley and flowed by our hotel. Sometimes it hopped over timeworn boulders happily.

 

Rachid took us out for a hiking after our checking in. It started to sprinkler but didn’t hamper our eagerness to venture the town and the High Atlas.  Imill is well know of produces of walnuts, cherry, and apple. The fruit trees were everywhere. A lot of houses had their backyard planted one of the tree plants.  The town has a primitive but effective and unique irrigation system. The brook was considered as a main artery of the town and many ones, up and down.  Every year the fruits are shipped out all over the country and also crossed the strait to Europe.  In our hiking we ran into some friendly locals, shepherds. As the sprinkler intensified we ran back our hotel.  The brook swollen and ran more violently. Not too long after we came back to the hotel, a hotel employee set up the fireplace where we all huddled. Later on by the jumping flames, we had another Tagine dinner.

 

The next day when I woke up, the day light already broke.  My room was bathed with early morning light. I laid lazily in my bed.  The room was filled with my music again.  Framed by my picture window, the mountains, forests, and houses on the other side of valley were standing still. The sun had not risen high enough behind the mountains to touch the valley, but the day started to dance with light. Before the breakfast, one of my travel partners and I went out for an early morning stroll. The town was still sleeping.  In the distance, the mountains were capped with snow. Fog lingered low and clouds slowly drifted high. The sky is clearly blue between clouds.  The aroma of the brook, the mountains, and the forests was nice and was bringing me a very fresh start of the day.  The morning light continued until it covered the mountains, the whole valley,  and then the whole town.  Imill is a winter ski resort and called Morocco “Alpine”.  It is on the top of my list if I want to come back to Morocco again.

 

7)

We got a special treat in Essaouria, Morocco.  Rachid came to our hotel on time conducting a city tour from the Old Medina, the beach, and the seafood market.  After leaving the seafood market, I noticed a young man was following us, conspicuously or invisibly. I was a little worried and put my guard on.  From time to time, I checked on him with corner of eyes. When we checked items with street vendors he also stopped not far away, at other side of corner. When we got into a local bank he also stopped and guarded the entrance. He never moved his eyes away from us even he was talking to his acquaintance.  As my worry increased,  I talked with Rachid for my concerns. He smiled and joked “The authority is after you”. “WTF” was my response. He then told me the young gentleman was an undercover police.  We stood out from locals and became the center of attention. He found out our nationality at the fish market and then escorted us since then to the end of the day tour.  At one time I was thinking to take a picture with him as I felt so specially treated by the local authority but had concerns of blowing away his covering.  I asked Rachid to inquire if it was ok.  He nodded without any hesitation.

 

At a seafood market inside the Old Medina, we wandered around and checked a lot of the catches of the day.  A lot of fresh seafood made my stomach long for a seafood banquet.  I consulted with Rachid if he could find a chef to cook for us. He made a couple of phone calls and said he luckily found one for us. We purchased various seafood including spider crab, Atlantic lobster, argon eel, and some other fishes we didn’t know their names. Afterward, we went to the chef’s restaurant. There we witness his cooking right in front of us. The seafood was so fresh and delicious. The meal was anonymously considered as the best one in the trip.  It only cost us around $80.00. 

 

In picture one, can you find the cop. In picture 9, the blue plate so beautiful and Moroccan style.  I asked chef if I could keep it as a souvenir. The chef said yes and asked me to remember who gave me the plate.

 

8),

I had another lifetime experience I want to share with my friends.  At Marrakech, we were invited to go to our guide Rachid’s home in his hometown, Tanaghmeitt, Azilal, approximately 100 miles northeast of Marrakech.  We left Riad right after 9 in the morning.  In about 20 minute’s driving, we put city center behind and reached to the wealthy suburban area, soon the suburban villas was replaced by the shantytowns and then by open fields. I was sitting next to the driver, Rachid. We had a lot of small conversations covering from politics to weather. A lot of time I gazed out the windshield. The landscape of central/southern Morocco slipped slowly by - small fields scattered with the cactus and sheep and goats, aged man perched on donkeys, olive, apple,  and orange groves, farmsteads, and snow capped mountain Atlas in the distance.  A large potion of our driving was parallel to the mountains Atlas, ranging approximate 450 miles east-west way. The east end originates in Algeria; the west end touches the Atlantic Ocean.  We detoured a bit to see Morocco’s Niagara Fall, the Ouzoud Fall. The Fall is a stepped one. Its height is about 350 feet.

 

We got to Rachid home after 2 in the afternoon. We were greeted by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ait El Hadj.  We had a tajine lamb for our late lunch. I have to say this tajine was the very best one I ever had in Morocco. Rachid’s dad shopped the lamb with the best part of a sheep at a local butcher store the day before. His mom spent more than 3 hours cooking it.  The lamb was cooked with onion, prunes, tomatoes, and some spices.  The meat was so soft it slid off easily from the bones. It was not too salty neither too sweet. It was just perfect.  We chatted with Rachid’s mom a bit while we were eating.  She is also a Berber, born and grew up 15 miles away.  She got married more than 4o years ago. She and her husband, a military retiree, had four offsprings (two boys and two girls). She does regular farming work  daily.  To pay for the lunch, I labored tough and skill needing work - milking.  The cow was not happy at one point and tried to kick me away. Rachid’s family had two adult cows and one 3-month old cute calf.  We also visited their family farming land, almost 10 acres large with a variety of crops. 

 

On the way back we picked up Rachid’s friend Sam.  Sam has US green card. He was stuck in Morocco because of the COVID-19.  The US authority wouldn’t permit him to return as he stayed overseas over a year. He hired an immigration lawyer to get him back to San Diego, California. We wish him good luck. 

 

Traditionally, Moroccan people do not invite foreigners to their houses since the colonial era, so called French Morocco time.  They had this belief deep in your hearts - you can concur my country but you can never ever conquer me in my house neither my soul.  With that mentality, Moroccans did not invite non Muslims to their houses, especially French.  It changed a lot nowadays but still I know not many foreigners get invited through my readings.  We are the third group of guests invited to Rachid’s house.  As Rachid married to an Australian woman, his in-laws got invited for his wedding in his house. The second visit was two westerners brought by his younger brother Yusuf.  I feel honored and believe a new friend made.

 

9),

On the 3rd night in Marrakech, I stayed at Royal Mansour Marrakech. It was truly luxurious experience, etched on my memory.  Before the Royal Mansour, the highest class of hotels I ever stayed is St. Regis New York, a five star hotel at 55th street off 5th avenue.  Royal Mansour Marrakech is categorized as a 7-star hotel, outclassing every aspect of St. Regis, in my opinion.  After we passed the security gate at a thoroughfare of Marrakech, made a several graceful turns underneath two rows of fully grown trees along the path (approximately 100 yards), entered a pair of huge Arabic style arched doors opened slowly by two door boys, finally we reached the hotel front entrance.  There we received a heartfelt welcome from the hotel manager, his assistant, and a porter.  To be precautionary, the staff measured our temperature and handed us face masks before we entered the hotel. Then I was escorted to my Riad No. 8.  I was briefed my unit, functionality of each space, how to use digital control of lighting fixtures, room services accommodated, dinner location and time of breakfast served. 

 

After the manager and his staff receded, I hurriedly inspected around my unit.  At front, It had a little open court in front of inner front door.  A faucet mounted on the wall was continuously pouring water to a semicircle basin made of marble.  The water was seemingly brimming.  Two chairs were placed under high plants at one side of the court.  My unit had three levels.  First level had a 20-foot ceiling delicately crowned, a living room with a long soft at one side and a rectangle coffee table, a small office with an executive desk, a square table and two comfortable sofa chair for afternoon tea. The whole floor was in pastel color. On the coffee table was placed welcome champagne, bottles of still and sparkling water, tropical fruits, cakes, cookies and biscuits, and a vase of carefully pruned flowers scented the room with the sweet smell of the late spring.  Three flights of stairs up was my bed room and a master bath.  A king size bed was against wall at middle of the room. It had a large walk-in closet as wide as the room.  The intricacies of the high ceiling were only faintly illuminated by the many rays of light that streamed from lights hidden in the crevices at ceiling.  The rugs were thick, the heavy curtains hid the windows, and on the bed the covers had been pulled back a corner to reveal the whiteness of clean sheets.  The bathroom is roomy with enclosed toilet and shower compartments. An oversized bathtub was under a bay window, two-bowl vanity was opposite to the compartments.  The top level was an open patio. A small 1-yard deep swimming pool reflected the blue sky with drifting clouds. Two beach chairs are parallel-placed next to the pool with pillows and beach towels on them. The terrace also had a tent covered dining area. All three levels had a butler space accessed via a centrally placed service space.  So the servants needed not to use my stairs to serve me wherever level I was.

 

Outside my unit was a huge garden full with thicket, all kinds of spring flowers, olive and pomegranate trees, young plum trees, orange trees hang with oranges from the year before, large and small fountains here and there. There are 53 riads total hiding in the garden. Between riads were many open shallow trenches. Water rippled audibly from one end to the other.  The sun was high and flooded wherever it could reach.  Now and then a bird or a pair came sailing into the range of my vision, plunged, glided, and landed at the treetops.

 

I fell asleep when the night had reached its furthest point. No night birds stirred in the bushes. A profound silence fell onto the garden and prevailed the night. 

 

Royal Mansour Marrakech was a heavenly lodging with friendly staff, professional service, delicious cuisines, and opulent decoration.  It refined my conception of luxury.

 

10),

Marrakech Adventure (1)

 

For as long as 20 days in a multicultural country like Morocco, we experienced a lot we would never forget.  Some experience enriched our journey and made you think a future return; some made us obnoxious, some even sickened us.  On the day before we flew back to the States, we had a mini adventure in Medina, Marrakech. 

 

Due to the pandemic, most establishments in Marrakech were closed save the necessities of living or emergency. We felt something missing in our hearts about the westerner-favorite city. We decided to have a last-minute city tour, primarily visiting nearly 900-year-old Koutoubia mosque and well known Famma El Fna square, the microcosm of Morocco. 

 

We left our hotel around 10 in the morning and walked to the mosque and the square which were next to each other.  We were told by the hotel front desk it would be 5-10 minutes walk.  The sun hadn’t risen high; the temperature was in the mid of 70s; the middle morning breeze swayed the fronds of palm trees and freshened us spiritually.  We needed have a brunch first before anything else. As the Muslim holy month Ramadan was in its full swing, we had hard time finding a restaurant open or food vendors at the square and nearby.  We inquired around but got a lot of heads shaking back and forth, maybe because of language barrier or people in a hurry, not intending to entertain with us. Luckily, a gentleman approached us and questioned if he could offer any help.  Learning we needed a meal (my stomach felt completely concave at the moment), he led us to a restaurant located at a remote corner of the Famma El Fna square.  It was the only restaurant opened and served traditional Moroccan food with a lot of choices of Tajine.  Lamb Tajine, beef skewer, and Moroccan salad were on our stomach list. The gentleman awaited us while we were eating. He wanted to take us for a guided city tour and to a souk not far away. We wanted to enjoy our delectable meals in a leisure manner. I gave him 20 dirhams as gratitude and told him it would take us a while to complete our last lunch in Morocco. He insisted on waiting for us, which made us a little unease. Later his boss showed up and pushed for the service.  We were worried to be trapped and responded with a clear NO. The gentleman and his boss left.  At the end of the day I was thinking what if we used their service. Our course of the day might havebeen diverted to a positive land. 

 

We continued our brunch. A little later, a guy came in, greeted everyone, and sat at the back of the restaurant, where typically the restaurant owner or manager sit when business is slow. He struck a couple of small questions. The interactions made us feel he was genuine. He said almost all the establishments were closed except one souk where Berbers from the Mountain Atlas had an exhibition of leather tanning (he didn’t mention any product selling at this point). As the Koutoubia mosque and Jamma El Fna were deserted, we had no places to go. So we told him we would like to go to the tannery after our meal. He offered to take us there. It was approximately 15 minutes walk. After our brunch, we set off to the souk. Right outside the restaurant, the guy claimed he was a friend of the restaurant owner. His name is MooMoo, a Moroccan Berber from Mountain Atlas. He and his French girlfriend had a 5-month baby girl. They met before the pandemic and had an accident at back seat of a car. His girlfriend went back France after learning her pregnancy but MooMoo got stuck in Morocco. He showed us his girls’ picture - a really adorable baby girl and pretty young French lady full of the allure of adolescence.  At this point, I turned my guard off. A benign sensation diffused inside me (later on I realized he showed the picture in order to earn our trust).

 

11)

Marrakech Adventure (2)

 

We strolled through narrow Medina alleys, strewn with various shops selling djellaba, chechia, and turban; piles of spices and nuts; fresh fruits and vegetables; meats of lamb and cow; Arabic style jewelry; and mosaic products.  Girls and boys in groups walked by, some greeting us in Chinese, Japanese, and English.  At a school gate, groups of students and patients were waiting for the school opening. It was before 2pm when locals hadn’t swarmed into the alleys to get food for dinners after sundown.  Some alleys were so narrow we had to stop and got into shops to let upcoming people pass by. Now and then motorists with loud motor roaring came up quickly from either behind or front.  We maneuvered to make space for them to go through. Everyone was calm and patient. No one complained, yelled at each other, or cast a malicious glare on another. Sometimes even donkey wagons passed through, causing temporary traffic stagnation.

 

After approximately 10 minute walk, MooMoo told us he had to go back and another Moroccan could take us there. The new guide is small and thin; he was very talkative. He told us he was 35 years old, married with 4 kids. He started an age-guess game.  He guessed one of my travel partners in 20s. He would marry her and have another 5-6 offspring if he were still available. Exaggerating wildly, he guessed my age in 30s (Do I look like I am 39 now?  Come on my friends, you could be an one-minute liar).

 

Near the entrance to the tannery, we were introduced to another Moroccan, tall and stout. We were given bundles of mint leaves for offsetting the nasty smell of tanning process.  Days ago, we visited a tannery in Fez. There we overlooked its operation at a balcony in the distance. This time we were at ground level, close to tanning pits and vats.  Moroccan tanning process utilizes pigeon manure or droppings. The whole tannery and its neighborhood stank, tinged with the smell of sewage drain, urine, and donkey or horse waste.  Some cats, fully-grown, lay in the sun, lazily playing together.  When we passed by the skirts of tanning area, swarms of flies raised and then settled down afterwards.   The workers demonstrated how they moved hairs from camel, goat, and lamb skins and how they dyed the skins into different colors. I felt nauseated and almost reached to a point of vomiting. I lost interest in learning anything but wanted to leave the tannery as soon as I can.  Finally, the demonstration was over. We were led to their show room. There we were handed to another Moroccan, not kindly but sly looking. 

 

Like a typical salesperson, the new guy introduced his products (leather ottoman and jackets, sterling silver plates, brass lamps, carpets, etc.) one by one and bragged how his products were better than others. He claimed his leathers were naturally treated and chemical free.  We were with courtesy listened but not interested in buying any.

 

12)

Marrakech Adventure (3)

 

At a corner of the show room, a couple of brass candle lamps on the shelf caught my eyes. I had to admit I was a little obsessed with Morocco lamp design due to its uniqueness and elegance after I spent some time at a lamp store in Fez. The guy quoted a high price I would never buy with. We continued our way out. He caught me and asked me to give him a price.  My partner offered a very low one.  He groaned and looked like mad and gestured we better leave (later I realized he pretended to be angry to create an air of threatening, and then a better position to bargain). I interfered in trying to comfort the “agitated” salesperson.  I offered a much higher price, being rejected. My other partner gave another number lower than mine (probably she didn’t hear my new number), which provoked the guy further.  He yelled he didn’t want to deal with non-honest people and might hurt us if it were not the holy month Ramadan. I did a lot back patting to calm him down and raised my price one more time. I also told him that would be my best offer.  I could leave without the two candle lamps as I was not in love with them.  The salesperson complimented I am a good person he was willing to deal with.  He haggled again. I was resolved leaving with empty hand and signaled my partners to exit.  The salesperson “reluctantly” accepted my best offer but added I had to give him another 100 dirhams as a bonus. “Hell No”, I murmured between my teeth.  His assistant packed the two lamps. I handed him the amount of cash agreed.  He reached out one hand and questioned where his bonus was. I was exasperated at that moment as you (my friends) know I hate to be pushed. I declined at first but my second though hinted me I should give him a couple of bones otherwise he would really bite. I pulled out 50 dirhams and handed to him. He was still asking for 100.  I said could return the two lamps. The salesperson backed off. 

 

After we exited the showroom, the tall and stout guy appeared. He tried to take us to a jewelry store owned by Mountain Atlas Berbers.  We didn’t want to stay there any longer. We shook our heads and spoke “No” half loud and were trying to find a way out.  To see no use or no further profit from us, the guy requested a fee for tannery visit. We Imperturbably argued we were told no visiting fee from the beginning nor told we needed pay any product demonstrating. The guy raised his voices, which attracted attentions from bystanders in an open court, some of who stood back on walls, some squatted, some sat on ground against the bases of wall, some even lay on ground.  They all turned, stared at us, and exchanged some words we didn’t understand. I felt my hair at back of my head rose and stiffened.  I sensed somewhat dangers was closing in. I collected my two partners asking them to stay close to me. We slowly backed out along the route in.  The guy followed us, keeping bugging us for a payment.  About half way out, I told him I would call police if he wouldn’t leave us alone.  He backed off a bit but still followed us and requested with a retraced manner.  Outside the tannery, I felt we were out of  the danger zone. I gave him 20 dirhams.

 

We were somewhat relieved and wandered slowly back to the Jemma El Fna square, trying to remember the way we came in.  At one intersection, we were a little confusing and hesitating. A guy in glasses asked us if we wanted to go to the square. We nodded. He started another scheme stating we could visit a market on the way to the square in a gesture to go.  Without thinking, my two partners followed him and turned into a small alley. A young man stopped me and pointed to another way to the square, the totally opposite way.  I called my partners back. We walked away from the “nice” guy.  He came back and stared at the young man with a menace.

 

13)

Marrakech Adventure (4)

 

At the square we felt extremely exhausted, mentally and physically. We would like to get some fresh juices. While we were waiting for our juices, a henna painter approached my two partners and persuaded them to have their hands or arms painted. They turned her down.  After a while, a young girl walked by. The henna painter stopped her and hennaed the back of her one hand after they exchanged some words in Arabic. I had to admit the painting was pretty and graceful in arabesque.  The girl gave the painter 10 dirhams and walked away with smiles on her face.  After 10 minutes or so, another tall charming girl came, stopped, got painted, and paraded away.  Sameness took place with the henna painter.  Additionally, this girl explained how the henna worked with different patterns/design and how cheap it would be while getting her hand hennaed. We believed it was a trap.  Young and pretty ladies were used to show how the henna worked.  If we got hennaed it would be 50-100 euros, in lieu of 10-20 dirhams. Both young girls were side-kickers to allure foreigners into their profit scheme.

 

On the early evening, one of my two partners and I went to the same restaurant to have our farewell dinner. We sat on the terrace. We wanted to witness the sunset while we were eating. MooMoo appeared. He tried to sell us his story with a fee. We told him we were reaching the end of the tour and were almost broke.  I jokingly asked if he was the ringleader of the group. He stolidly denied and found an excuse and left.  We continued our dinner and enjoyed the sunset without any disturbing. 

 

When I left Essouria, the Riad owner, a senior Switzerland native, told me to be alert in Marrakech. There are a lot of con artists in the streets of Marrakech. I responded with a sneer, “Don’t worry, I have a lot of experience of hoaxing from China to the States. I am a pro”.  In Marrakech, I was crest fallen.

 

14)

The Sahara Desert (1),

In the Sahara Desert, our excursions included two camel ridings (we missed the sunset with the first one so requested the second.  That’s the beauty of private tours), visiting a nomadic Berber family, and scavenging for sea creature fossils.  After a hearty breakfast, our local guide drove us in the boundlessness of the desert.  The Sahara Desert is marketed with its vast ocean of sand with its swirling crest.  The real Sahara consists primarily of gigantic arid and semi-arid land and only a small portion of sand and sand dunes.  Driving in the Sahara, our driver counted on his memory for the locations we headed to as there are no asphalt roads nor GPS we are now so used to.  Rachid let me sit next to the driver.  He sat behind the back-seat row, facing backward.  I joked with the driver he should drive on more bumpy rocks.  Not too far into the desert.  We found a Berber shepherd and a flock of black goats (maybe a couple of hundreds, I estimated) between the sky and a thin line of desert landscape.  My travel partners requested a stop to take pictures.  When the car door was opened, they all ran to the goats like “wolves”.  The goats puzzled first, their eyes questioning what the heck of these Asians doing, then ran away in all directions.  It seemed Rachid and the driver knew the shepherd.  They conversed for some time while we were busy taking photos with the black goats.  Before we left, I took a picture with the shepherd.

Travel is the best teacher.  It introduces us new places and lifestyles we would have never imagined.  It forces us out of comfort zones and reminds us how lucky we are, and a lot of people out there need help.  Our next stop was a nomadic Berber family.  When we reached a Berber house in the middle of nowhere, a senior nomad welcomed us.  His name is Omar but known as Baamar.  He is a 75 years old widow.  His wife passed away last year.  They had 4 sons and 3 daughters.  He lived with one of his sons and his daughter in law.  I looked about.  The landscape was interminably barren, raw, and full of savage rocks without vegetation.  Inside, I was shocked with his living condition.  His house and the court enclosure were built with mud bricks.  No electricity was available.  Water was obtained from a well not too far from his property.  His kitchen is outside for the concern of fire incidents.  Camel manure was used to cook.  After sitting down on a Berber style carpet at his living room, we were served traditional mint tea and freshly baked bread.  His living room is also his bedroom.  The room seemed big as it was not furnished except a coffer at a corner, a rickety coffee table in the middle, and a couple of carpets at both sides of the coffee table.  We asked him some questions about his life with the help of Rachid’s translating.  At the end of our visit, I gave sad-eyed Baamar some cash and wished him healthy and fortunate.

 

15)

The Sahara Desert (2)

We continued our desert exploring the endless flat desert around and beyond, broken here and there but sharp crests of rocks rose above the surface like dorsal fins of many monstrous fish.  Our SUV stopped close to a huge rock, almost flushed with the ground.  We all stepped out looking for sea creature fossils.  Over the years, scientists had found various fossils of fish and shells that typically lived in the sea.  The fossil findings proved the Sahara Desert used to be under sea level.  The sun poured down on the bare earth.  There are no shadows, beside our own.  We bent our bodies searching.  Luckily, I found two pieces I wanted to take with me home.  Suddenly I found four little kids running toward us from a distance.  The front runner was a teenage Berber girl; the rest were three boys, in a gap of 2-3 years to the youngest.  When the kids were close, the girl laid a number of stone souvenirs, stuffed camels, and other handmade items under her feet without saying a word but eyeing us longingly.  The kids were in ragged clothes; they looked depressed and pessimistic.  Sadness suffused in my heart.  I really felt commiserated for them.  Kids like their ages in China and the States have everything they desire; they don’t need to struggle like these Berber kids.  I had a heart murmur I wanted to help them and buy whatever I could.  After the serious business, I collected rocks and piled them up.  I really hoped my piled rocks would stay for a while and complimented by other tourists passing by.  One of the boys approached me and fearfully reached out one hand.  I intended to give him several dollars.  Rachid stopped me and said “Don’t! Otherwise he would keep doing these”.  I withdrew my hand out of my pocket.  The boy went away disappointedly.  I regretted it immediately after we drove away.  Since then the boy’s image, his big eyes, and fearful reaching hand flicked through my mind now and then.  I should’ve given him five dollars, which could make him happy for a long while.  I won’t repeat the same mistake in the future.

 

16)

In Morocco, we visited all four imperial cities - Fez, Marrakech, Meknes, and Rabat. Fez is my favorite and a must to probe again if I have another chance. On the second day in Fez, we had our breakfast at roof terrace of our Riad, located at a hilltop in the 14th century town.  The old imperial city spread out in front of me like an impressionist image - clouds creating a play of light and shadows on pastel colored roofs.  Though we couldn’t see any city activities from the birdview, I presumed people already started their daily routines. We quickly completed our breakfast and went out to venture the old Medina, or a huge man-made labyrinthine. The old Medina, aka Fez el-Bali, was put under UNESCO protection in 1981.  Exactly 13,385 buildings were counted in 1980, including 143 mosques as well as almost 500 palaces and patrician houses.  The old city had approximately 9,400 streets, alleys, aisles, and cul-de-sacs, like arteries connecting every corner of the Medina. 

 

Walking through the labyrinthine of streets, alleys, and aisles vitalizing Fes el Bali made me feel like stepping into the Thousand and the One Night - the great walled imperial city, some cobbled lanes no wider than a barrel length, dimly lit and bewitching, where street-side stalls sold anything locals could ever wish to buy.  There were mountains of spices and the fresh cut herbs, saffrons, aniseed, pickled lemons, mounds of gleaming olives, small cedar boxes with embedded camel bones, fragrant pointed leather slippers, large and small Tagine pots, rough Berber rugs, woolen djellabas, golden caftans, amulets and talismans.  It seemed I was looking through a kaleidoscope.  For safety cercerns, we were told not to go off the main streets.  Nevertheless, we couldn’t control ourselves.  Now and then we detoured but came back quickly.  Every street has its own smell, their special background noise, and their very special flair.  In the middle of the day, the streets and alleys were crowded.  Men in djellabas, veiled women, and happy-faced kids hurried through the streets and alleys bathed in diffuse sunlight.

 

One of the major attractions was the tannery. After climbing through the narrow and steep spiral stairs, we stood at the tannery’s balcony looking down at the large workshop. My mask could filter out Coronavirus save the odor of smelly liquids in the bins down below.  It was about lunch time. Not many crafters were there working.  A half dozen of crafters waded between bins/pits, piled up furs, turned them into the shimmering yellow, red, and blue, and spread them out to dry.   Fez is Morocco’s main leather city. The tannery we visited provides the finest leather goods.  It was called Moroccaneries in Europe.  There I couldn’t control my impulse for purchasing. Now I have total seven leather jackets in my closet.

 

The first madrasa in Arabic world is located in Fez el Bali. Moroccans proudly claim it was the very first university in the world.   Unfortunately, it did not open to public.  I took a couple of photos at its front gate.

 

Fez, the Morocco’s greatest jewel in my opinion, is the only medieval city that remains entirely intact in the face of the earth.  We only had one day to enjoy the beautiful jewel.  I am sure we didn’t see the essence and entirety of Fez el Bali nor the real life of locals.   Next time I want to stay two whole days, or even more, and explore the inner and very center of the city where I want to wander all days and visit the mausoleum of Moulay Idriss III, said to be the second most important sanctuary of Morocco.

 

• 漂亮大氣坦誠，讚！羨慕摩洛哥深度遊！ -海上的霧- ♀    (0 bytes) (5 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:31:44

• 謝謝，比較深度：）） -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (2 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:56:46

• 大片！身材好，裙子漂亮，人很美，照片也拍得好。泳裝照太驚豔了！ -杏梨桃李- ♀    (0 bytes) (9 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:36:59

• 謝謝，周末快樂！ -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (1 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:57:21

• 讚！太多的美片～有個誌同道合的女友一起玩真開心。去年你倆也一起去的埃及吧。膽子也很大。 -zacao- ♀    (0 bytes) (5 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:45:04

• 不同的女友，誌同道合很重要：）） -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:58:12

• 完美大片！ -白梅格- ♀    (0 bytes) (4 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:46:04

• 謝謝 -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (1 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:59:52

• 跟團去過摩洛哥，還是比較貧窮的國家。 -相對強度- ♂    (0 bytes) (6 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:52:00

• 是的，貧富懸殊較大，富人少，窮人多 -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (1 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:56:12

• 異國風情漂亮 -銅鑼燒- ♀    (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:55:40

• 謝謝親 -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (1 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 17:01:00

• 閑逸優美漂亮，肌膚感覺十分潤澤保養得很好，讚！ -逍遙白鶴- ♀    (0 bytes) (4 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 16:59:11

• 謝謝白鶴姐，膠原蛋白多些，嘿嘿：）） -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 17:01:44

• 美腿+美食 -lovecat08- ♀    (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 17:01:15

• 可愛cat 也在這兒啊！周末快樂 -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (5 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 17:02:35

• 這時候還敢到處去玩? 不過卡薩布蘭卡聽說挺美的。。。 -古道陽關- ♂    (0 bytes) (4 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 17:01:57

• 可是卡薩布蘭卡我個人感覺沒太多玩頭。最喜歡菲斯，然後撒哈拉沙漠，其次索維拉及海鮮，藍城，艾特本阿杜，阿特拉斯山區，梅克內斯，我排 -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (10 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 17:05:36

• 還好。以後就人山人海人滿為患了 -liren- ♀    (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 17:06:34

• 哇, 這麽多麗人的美照! 在酒店沙發上那張真好看! 像個少女! -迷不迷- ♀   (0 bytes) (4 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 18:07:04

• 照片漂亮， 11a 的餐廳我也去過，菲斯很有名的一家，，，， -heka- ♀    (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 18:14:49

• 重遊前世故地 -fuz- ♂    (0 bytes) (3 reads) 05/07/2021 postreply 19:16:49

• 謝謝分享！太美了，好多套衣服我都很喜歡。羨慕你到處旅遊。 -nydct- ♀   (0 bytes) (4 reads) 05/08/2021 postreply 12:33:35

 

 

 

 

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Have a nice day! Liren