Morocco Day 4

We said goodbye to Fes at 8 AM and began to travel through farming country. There are lots of olive trees and it is quite green due to the many rivers in the area. I noticed a few red poppies growing wild in the countryside and there are many trees in bloom with white flowers.

Some of these are almonds and some are apples. Apparently this area is also good for cherries, plums and other fruit as well.

We are going through the Middle Atlas Mountains, and we are climbing a lot. Our driver is very experienced. He speeds when he can and crawls when there is lots of slow moving traffic especially going up hills. He sometimes waits until we reach the top of the hill, but occasionally he just passes. We have many near misses with other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, trucks and tractors. Abdellah advised us when we first started out, “Just don’t look!”

We stopped in Ifrane to stretch our legs. Irfrane is the Switzerland of Morocco. The town’s claim to fame is a lion statue. It is a summer resort with many villas owned by well-off Moroccans. The roofs are very long and steep as they get a lot of snow in the winter.

As we drive (and today is about a 9 – 10 hour day on the bus) it is rare to go very far without seeing people. It’s not just in towns that we see people, but the countryside as well. People are walking, working, sitting, standing, riding and waiting. Men are sitting in cafes drinking tea, coffee or water and women are walking carrying bags, often with small children in tow.

We stopped in a small town and had lunch at a local restaurant. We were the only tourists. The meat was hanging from on high and it was either grilled or cooked in a tagine.

I ordered a lamb tagine. There wasn’t much meat in the dish but the vegetables were very tender and nicely flavoured. I found lots of photo ops while I was waiting.

The drive to Marrakesh was a long one and we made a few pit stops. One place had some lovely rose gardens behind the buildings. I did something I haven’t done before at one of the rest stops – there was no other choice. There were only squat toilets in each stall – porcelain ‘bowls’ on the floor with slightly elevated spots to place your feet.I was a little afraid of slipping but I survived!

There was a whole lot of napping happening on the bus especially in the afternoon. 

We arrived in Marrakech around 6 PM and got checked in. Then we headed to the Jemaa el Fna Square. The traffic was unreal and when we finally arrived, I understood why. The crowds were also unreal!

It took a lot of concentration to keep up with the group, not trip, watch our belongings, and not lose sight of the person ahead of you. We headed to the stall where we were to have supper but they weren’t ready for us yet so we took a walk around. It was hard to see anything really, because of all the people and I think our guide worried for our safety. It reminded me of a very, very busy fair grounds back home.

We sat at long benches with sheets of paper for placemats. When our meal came, it was very good – cooked vegetables, meat skewers and of course bread and water.

Rather than make the bus negotiate all that busy traffic after we were done, we walked back to the hotel, about 20-25 minutes away. Crossing the street was an adventure and it took quite awhile before the sidewalk traffic thinned out enough that our group didn't have to walk single file.

We have a late start to our day tomorrow so we get to sleep in, yeah!