Me in Morocco: Merrakech, Tangier, Casablanca

March 2019

Morocco is such a fun and interesting place. A fascinating mix of cultures with Berber, Arabic and French influence. Morocco has two primary languages, Arabic and French. You see and hear both regularly.

Here is a look over the main square in the Old Town part of Marrakech . It is a tourist hotspot and has a lot of interesting things going on as you will see.

I HATE snakes, but before I knew it I had one around my neck, so I went with it.

The markets are full of a wide variety of goods. The most common are: carpets, spices, argon oil, tea pots, jewelry, cloths, knifes, ornate boxes, shoes, etc…

Lots of colorful spices, teas, and aromas everywhere you go.

Berber jewelry. The Berbers are the people originally from south Morocco.

A lot of donkeys working.

Get your eggs and chicken fresh.

This shop owner had a good reason to have such a big smile. I am a terrible negotiator in these sorts of situations because I feel bad trying to take money away from people who can clearly benefit more from it than me. Even when you overpay the prices are still low.

Because I got spices and oil here, I got a 5 minute massage as well. One of the benefits of not being a hard negotiator is that they like you more and take you to other peoples shops that are outside the main area. You get more stories and information this way.

These women are making argon oil. You crack the nuts and then churn them before refining.

The Koutoubia Mosque was built in the 12th century. It is the tallest building in the city and can easily be seen throughout. The three spheres on the top symbolize the three primary monotheistic religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

There are lots of nice parks and fountains scattered throughout the city.

Olive trees

Lots of oranges growing around the city.

Seven stories up and I’m on the top of the “Red City.” All of the buildings in Marrakesh must be red.

A new friend told me that a few years ago a local “sold” this canon to a tourist for an outrageous sum of money. The tourist showed up with a truck to try and take it away, then got arrested for trying to steal public property.

Lots of green carriages offering rides around the city. These horse got a well deserved water break.

I was walking down the street and noticed a cool looking door. Decided to check it out, which was a great decision.

For a time, I had this room all to myself because I was on the early side arriving at 6:30. Later when watching the movie, I realized they filmed a Men in Black International scene here.

This was the “salad,” which was really several delicious dips. The pumpkin was my favorite.

With the meal came lots of entertainment. I heard the people at the table next to me speaking English, so I introduced myself and ended up having a really nice time with the Bromberg family. They are stereotypical Canadians, exceptionally kind and welcoming.

My Riad (small hotel) was just one sketchy ally away from the Berber Market.

Had a nice stay, this is the kind of room $40 a night gets you. It was clean and comfortable. Though there was an awkward situation with the Moroccan man running the Riad.

One night, after having dinner with a friend, I came back to the Riad just to grab my jacket. My friend is a local Moroccan girl. I invited her in while I grabbed my jacket. She warned me that she probably would not be allowed in. I thought the idea of leaving her alone in a dark ally at night seemed ridiculous, so I asked her to come in with me. As soon as we walked in, the manager came up to us and very aggressively, and rather rudely, insisted she goes outside. It was a pretty awkward moment, she immediately went outside and I ran upstairs to grab my jacket. When I came back downstairs he waved his finger in my face and told me I could not do “that” here. He clearly thought we had other intentions. At first I was upset that he was so rude to me and my friend. Then I was able to accept it as a cultural difference and went on to have a fun night walking around the city. Aside from this incident, the manager was very helpful and kind.

A traditional Moroccan breakfast was included with the room.

Took a day trip to the Ourika Vally. First stop was for tea and camel rides.

Camels move so awkwardly, very different from riding a horse.

Our next stop was in a Berber House. This is the basement where the cow lives and work is done. I have to say, the only two things I did not like about Morocco was the treatment of animals and the aggressiveness of men. Everyday I saw animals being treated poorly (it is fair to say I contributed to this mistreatment) and saw at least one fist fight. When our guide saw me trying to be kind to animals, he praised me so highly. As if it was something abnormal to be nice to an animal.

This is the shower space. You squat in here and clean yourself with soap and water from a bucket.

Toilets like this are common in many places around the world.

Dining room table with pictures of leaders.

This is the ladies whose house we were in. She made us tea and served us food.

I am amazed that these stairs work.

The architecture was very interesting. Every room is on a different level and most rooms have 1-3 walls. This is to help with ventilation.

Great view from rooftop terrace.

They cook over fire in addition to a propane stove.

All of the water for everything in the house comes from this tap. However, water and electricity are free. As well as education through college. America doesn’t even have this yet. Despite free education through college, many youth are not able to take advantage of it because they need to work.

This is the second time the tea was poured. I poured the first round, not knowing about the proper high pour. After I poured everybody a cup, everybody put their tea back in the pot. Then another guy properly poured the tea. You are suppose to pour it high to add more oxygen and get white bubbles on the top of the tea.

Everything our host served us was produced within eyesight of the house. The honey and olive oil were delicious, the butter, exceptional.

TV room. They do not have internet, but phones can get data.

Before we went into the valley, we made another stop at an argon oil shop. Argon oil is a major product in Morocco. It provides many benefits for the skin and hair.

These local kids were pretty funny. Morocco was in the World Cup this year, a lot of kids had this same Morocco World Cup jacket.

Much of the cooking is done by propane. This is how people get the gas for their homes and restaurants.

There are many restaurants lining the river in the Ourika Valley.

Natural fridge.

It is really nice to lounge in the river after hiking in the valley.

Everybody was parked liked this.

Berber Tagine for lunch.

The Atlas Mountains, you can ski in Morocco.

My Moroccan friend, Asmaa, look me to the Olive fields and this large pool where you can fish and swim over the summer. It is a nice place to go for a picnic.

It isn’t olive season. I’m only pretending to pick olives.

Didn’t even know I had a shop here.

I learned how to high pour. How do you like these bubbles?

After three great nights in Marrakech, I flew up to Tangier. On a clear day you can see Spain. It is a nice beach city. Common vacation destination for Moroccans and Europeans, especially Spanish.

A look at local markets.

In every city I went to, I saw mosques, synagogues, and churches. Here is a little church with a puppy.

Some really incredible trees here.

I drank some superbly poured tea while reading Moroccan children’s stories.

Good street art throughout the city.

Old military fortress.

You can tell by the blue paint that this is the wealthy part of town. These houses are not owned by locals.

This is wear Mic Jagger and The Rolling Stones would stay in Tangier.

A rare 8 sided mosque, most have 4 sides.

In this picture you can see a goat, and Spain.

Local artist at work.

A cool cafe with an even cooler cat.

Nice doors are kind of a thing here.

The Tangier beachfront.

The best player had one shoe.

Standard commerce.

Luxury shopping.

After riding a camel it was nice to be on a horse. And this was a very nice horse.

All the the airports and trains stations (this one) were very nice and have great architecture. Interestingly, when I tried to change my train ticket time, there were a lot of people waiting around, but no line or list. A local saw me confused and told me to just go up to the desk while the attendant was helping somebody else and interrupt them with what I wanted. I felt really rude, especially being an outsider, but wanted to get it done, so I did, and it got done. I felt like I had cut in front of about 20 people, but nobody seemed to mind. Morocco really wants to be tourist friendly. A local was telling me that if a local commits a crime against a tourist the punishment is much more severe.

From Tangier I took a train to Casablanca for my last night. To be honest, I am glad I only had one night here. The city does not have much to offer other than the worlds second largest mosque. The largest mosque is is Saudi Arabia, though this mosque has the world tallest religious tower.