Arabian Nights

Just by reading the title to this post, I am certain you now have the opening song to Aladdin stuck in your head.  AARRAAAABBIIAANNN NIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTSSS.   You’re welcome.  Now, buckle up (which we could not do while driving through the Atlas Mountains, but more on that later), this is gonna be a long one.

Thanks to Instagram and Pinterest I have had my eye on a trip to Morocco for a long time.  Finally, as my friends and I came near the end of our various, but all equally hellish, master’s classes, we decided to treat ourselves to this epic vacation.  One day instead of doing our homework, we booked our tickets and our hotels. Marrakech, here we come.

London Gatwick (via bus from Victoria at 3:40am) —-> Marrakech International

We took the early flight out of Gatwick because it was cheaper, and because we wanted basically a full day in Marrakech when we arrived.  We booked a riad, Riad Lavende, right in the Medina and it was beautiful.  When we got there, we were immediately served our first Moroccan mint tea and breakfast outside on the patio.

                   

Once we were full of Moroccan pancakes and fruit, we set out into the city.  We read a lot of mixed things about how to dress in Marrakech, so we decided to err on the side of caution, and covered up to some extent.  This in no way hides the fact that you are four Americans apparently, but at least we tried to be a little bit respectful and keep our shoulders and knees covered.

First stop:  Cyber Park Marrakech

This is just a beautiful park in the Medina… with CATS.  We found cats everywhere, and I loved every minute (don’t worry, I resisted touching them).

Next, we walked by the Koutoubia Mosque on our way to Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square in the Medina where the souks are located.

Once in Jemaa el-Fnaa, NEVER STOP WALKING.  This is not a drill.  As soon as you stop walking, you will be swarmed with women grabbing you and asking if you want henna, and men trying to sell you things.  Look while you walk, and always keep moving, you won’t regret it.

We didn’t stay in the Medina for long on the first day because we got up so early that morning, and had another early start the following day.  We did, however, get a delicious meal.  Chicken tangine, couscous, and orange juice for the win.

Day Two:  We booked a 2 day desert tour to pick us up from our riad in the city, go through the Atlas Mountains, and into the Zagora Desert for camel rides, and a night in a Berber camp.  We got picked up at 7:00, and I won’t lie, things were a bit sketchy in the beginning.  Contrary to some of my thoughts at times, we did not have to call Liam Neeson, and we were on our way (after about an hour of sitting around in the van).

As you might have noticed, I’m usually a big fan of private tours.  We did not do a private tour this time, and I will admit, it was a bit rough.  The van (I told you we’d come back to it)  was in NO WAY comfortable, BUT, we did all gain a few new muscles while trying to keep ourselves in place as we flopped around in our seats like wet noodles while driving through the mountains.

We stopped in the High Atlas Mountains for a toilet break and snacks, and it was COLD.  We did not fully prepare for how cold it would be for this part of the trip.  Pro tip: bring sweatshirts and jackets.

After another couple hours of flopping around the van, we stopped at Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah for a tour and a lunch stop.  This spot is used for filming a lot of things, like Gladiator (ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!) and Game of Thrones (KHALEESI!).  It was not cold here.

This is the part of the trip where I reached peak American tourist fashion.  Peep the camera on the neck, backpack, AND jacket around the waist.  I’m not proud, but here we are.

After the tour and lunch, it’s back to the van for a couple more hours, with a stop for snacks.  Peasant snacks to be exact.  If anyone can explain this flavor to me… please do.  I ate the whole bag, so clearly I wasn’t that concerned, but it’s still puzzling.

FINALLY, just when you’re about to lose your shit and start screaming in the van, you arrive in the desert, where camels promptly greet you.  Luckily, a car took our bags to the camp, but I think we could have survived on the camels with them.

Okay, real talk.  After one 20 minute camel ride, your butt and probably groin muscles will hurt for about three days.  Or is that just me?  Either way, ouch.  Staying on a camel is hard.  Glad we got that out of the way.  Now enjoy the photos that in no way suggest how painful this can be at times.

We made it to the camp just in time for a beautiful sunset and some mint tea… before being abandoned without dinner for a few hours.  Don’t worry, they eventually fed us, but let’s just say our camp site did not get the full experience the others did.  We made our own fun anyways, by being the annoying Americans playing Head’s Up in the middle of the camp.  Sometimes you just have to.

 

We enjoyed being out under the stars, and eventually, we did get dinner.  While at dinner, we made friends with some of the other people who had been suffering in our van all day, and another cat.  Score.

The next morning, we woke up at 6:00 to see the sunrise, ate a small breakfast, then opted to ride in the car back to the van with our bags, instead of another camel ride.  We had some time to kill while we waited for all members of our group to return from their camps.  So we hung out with camels, naturally.

Anndddd we’re back in the van, made the usual stops for snacks, then stopped in Ouarzazete for a “45 minute tour” of the “Kasbah.”  This is in quotes, because it is a lie.  We did not go in the Kasbah, just looked at it, and the 45 minute tour was over an hour of walking through the town.  The walk also involved stopping in a rug shop so they could try to sell us rugs, and spending 10 minutes just staring at a man who was an extra in a few movies.  Strange tour, if I’m honest, but at least there was more cats.

The entire experience was amazing, and I would recommend a desert tour, but maybe a private one would be better, that way you aren’t spending so much time waiting for everyone to come back to the van.

Once back in Marrakech, we switched to an all inclusive resort (Iberostar Club Palmeraie Marrakech) outside of the Medina (where they are allowed to serve alcohol) and posted up by the pool for an entire day to let our muscles recover from the camels and the van.

After our day at the pool, we decided to take on the city again.

First Stop: Jardin Majorelle.

This is the garden that Yves Saint Laurent purchased in order to keep it from being knocked down for commercial real estate, and it is beautiful.  TIP:  Get there like RIGHT when they open, maybe before.  We got there about 2 hours after opening and had to wait in a queue for over an hour to get tickets and get in.  But it was worth it.

Entrance is 70 Dirham or 7 Euro.

Next stop: Bahia Palace

This had no line and entrance is 10 Dirham, or 1 Euro.  This is a palace that is no longer in use, but has endless rooms of beautiful textiles.

Since we did a test run on our first day, now we were ready to go back to Jemaa el-Fnaa with our shopping lists and a restaurant for lunch in mind.  So we went back through the souks.  Somehow, all of the men working here could immediately tell we spoke English, and would yell the strangest things at us to try to get us to shop at their shop.  None of their “compliments” worked, only made us walk faster and avoid eye contact.

Also, due to the snake charmers yelling at people and expecting money if they stopped and took any photos, I was afraid to stop and take photos of too many things in the souks, but we did get a couple.

            

We stopped at Nomad (Moroccan hipster paradise) for lunch, and it was delicious.  Sadly, we couldn’t get seated on the outside terrace, but we did get to go up and enjoy the view (and the hats) after our meal. *We were too hungry to take the time to document the food.*

That about wraps up our trip.  We spent another day at the hotel before heading home, went to the spa, and made sure we got our fill of the buffet on our last day of all inclusive food.

A few tips:

1. Bring toilet paper.  You never know when you’ll need it.
2. Pack an all white outfit.  I’m sure this only applies to our resort, but everyone got the memo about the all white party but us.
3. Bring hand sanitizer or wipes if you’re a germaphobe.
4. Maybe bring 3-6 cat carriers so you can capture your new friends and bring them home (also bring cat vaccines and flea meds).
5. Get smaller bills/coins.  Its hard to barter and pretend you’re low on money if you have a bunch of big bills. (I am not good at bartering regardless.)

And finally, I will leave you with our favorite/the weirdest thing one of the men in the souks yelled at one of us…

We assume this is a compliment? Really unsure. 

 

BYYEEEEEEE

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