Travel

Tangier & Marrakech, Morocco

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By the time I got to Tangier and the Marrakech, I was starting to feel like most Moroccan towns were the same. They have their Kasbah and Medina, pretty mosques, interesting markets and so on. Despite this feeling I did best to keep my eyes open to interesting experiences..

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Tangier

Tangier is on the north coast of Morocco. From certain points you can see where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea, and you can see the Strait of Gibraltar. While these are three separate ‘bodies’ of water, I honestly think if you get to the top of Morocco, you have seen all three!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIf you make it to the kasbah and then ignore the wharf developments,  you get a decent view across the water to Spain. Many people travel from Spain to Morocco or vice versa via the ferries which operate reasonably frequently. I was surprised by how small the distance is between Spain and Morocco! So it is certainly an option I would recommend taking!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWithin the kasbah walls is a super cute cafe called Salon Bleu, being several stories high and having rooftop sofas, it is a brilliant spot to stop for a cuppa and slice of cake and just take in the view of the city and the water.

Our visit to Tangier was only a short one, as we only went there in order to catch an overnight train to Marrakech. So after a half day wandering the streets we were off again to the final destination of the North Morocco Adventure.

Check out all my photos on Tangier on Flickr

Marrakech

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhile the town of Chefchaouen is predominantly blue, the city of Marrakech is all red, well red-brown. Supposedly it has earned the nickname the “red city”. The reason for the colour, according to our tour guide, is that the people who settled in the area and built it up as a city came from the desert, the Berbers. As a desert people they created Marrakech to be the colour of the desert so it wouldn’t hurt their eyes. My guess is that it would have been more about what resources they had access to, but everyone likes to hear random stories right?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMarrakech is a very busy and very popular city and was  a bit like all the other cities on steroids. More noise, more colour, more smells and more aggressive touts. The thing that I saw more of, that thoroughly appalled me, was more animal cruelty. Walking through the main square Jemaa El-Fna were many horse and carts, snake charmers and monkeys with metal collars being pulled around by chains who were clearly terrified, hurt and angered by being yanked around by men. This was painful to see, so honestly I walked straight through the square quickly so I didn’t have to witness the cruelty going on. During the day the square isn’t overly exciting, but I heard that I really comes to life at night time and is a great place to eat. With only one day in Marrakech, this wasn’t something I personally experienced.

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I can’t say I saw a great deal of Marrakech, but I generally enjoyed what I saw. I wandered through the medina and souks. Checked out all the colourful things for sale. Some friends tried their hand at bargaining for jewellery. Navigating the narrow alleyways remains fun, you never know what interesting things, sights, smells or street art you will see in your adventures. The Marrakech Museum was worth a visit, the building itself is gorgeous and a rabbit warren of fascinating rooms. Also while it is on the pricey side, the Majorelle Gardens were quite spectacular. I would have liked to visit the palace and the mosque but as I said I had very limited time in Marrakech.

Our tour ended with a visit to a dinner and belly dancing show in some random street in the medina. Which was a fabulous way to end the tour and to say “goodbye and thanks for the fun times” to all the members of the group.

Check out all my Marrakech photos on Flickr

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Lonely Planet: 3 for 2 Promotion

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Time for another Lonely Planet promotion, they are  offering 3 for 2 on all books, eBooks and digital chapters!

Bundle up any combination of print editions, PDF eBooks or individual chapters, and for the first time, this deal also includes our new print+digital bundles. For a couple of extra dollars you’ll get a print edition in the mail plus a digital version delivered to you straight away!!

Visit the Lonely Planet Store to snag a bargain!!

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Chefchaouen, Morocco

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAChefchaouen is by far my favourite place in Morocco. It is in the Rif Mountains in the north of Morocco. Our guide told us it was built in 1511 by Berbers, Arabs and Jews. I was told by a random on a bus that the town name means “look at the two peaks”, though I am not confident of this. The name does however relate to the two peaks which some say are shaped like two horns; and I do believe the peaks behind the town are important in the town’s history. In the event of invasion, fires were lit atop mountain peaks to provide signals to nearby towns as a warning.

Chefchaouen is also sometimes referred to as Happy Valley, as there is a large amount of Marijuana grown in the area. I have heard that it is also fairly readily available in town, and is more commonly referred to as kif. For this reason, it is apparently quite a popular place for backpackers to visit, though I must say this certainly wasn’t on my list of things to do.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADespite other reasons for it being known t the travelling community, Chefchaouen is primarily known for being the blue city (in case you are wondering, no I do not know why everything is painted blue). A huge number of the buildings in the city are painted/whitewashed in various shades of blue, and sometimes purple. Often the tops of building here left as orange, but the walls, doorways and window frames were often beautiful combinations of different shades of blue. Despite my day of arrival being grey, glum and rainy, I throughly enjoyed exploring the narrow alleyways of the city. The following day and explored the same narrow alleyways and more and enjoyed it just as much the second time around. It is a gorgeous place to explore!!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn stark contrast to all various shades of blue, the Kasbah in the town center is completely orange. It costs very little to go in and see, but it is also not overly worth it. Nevertheless I found it interesting.

Things to see and do in Chefchaouen include exploring at random, visiting the kasbah, exploring beyond the city wall or enjoying the view from the city wall, and hiking in the mountains (I didn’t go hiking myself).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAA word of warning, as with any place in Morocco and in fact many other countries. You will be hassled on the streets to look in stores, to buy products and to eat at specific restaurants. I found this a standard annoyance throughout Morocco, so Chefchaouen was no better or worse. What did bother me however, was the children. They would come up to you and essentially demand money. In one case we were asked by a girl if we had a pen, we produced a pen and she took off with it, we had thought she wanted to write something to show us. There was another case where someone on the tour had an ice cream taken from her hand by a child. Also it was here that boys yelled racist comments and threw stones at a member of our group.

So I love the city of Chefchaouen, it remains my favourite, but please be wary of the children.

View all my Chefchaouen photos on Fickr

 

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Meknes and Fes, Morocco

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Meknes

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe tour made a short stop in Meknes, where we had a local guide tour us around for a few hours. We visited the Heri Es Souani granary which was built in 700 AC. It is built partially underground, and the smart use of high vaults and water flow systems were fantastic in keeping the grain cool. The granary sounding like something that would be boring to visit, but it was actually quite fascinating, not to mention beautiful.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAfter our visit to the granary we walked around the palace I think (we weren’t allowed to go in or take photos, so I am not sure what the walled and guarded area was that we walked past). We continues on to the medina where we ate camel burgers for lunch. For someone who is a chicken when it comes to food, I did eat one and it was surprisingly delicious!

After lunch we had a short wander of the local markets before it was time to continue on to Fes.

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Check out all my Meknes photos on Flickr.

Fes

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn Fes we once again hired a local guide to show us around, starting with a visit to the Royal Palace. Well, the front gates of it, which are absolutely stunning! The Royal Palace is found in the newer part of town, from the 14th century. The palace gates were restored in 1968 and are yet another display of intricate and colourful muslim design work. There were so many beautiful colours and patterns. I loved it. There are many palaces around Morocco where the King and his Queen may reside, as the Queen is originally from Fes they often visit this palace. I was also very interested to learn that the Queen of Morocco is a computer engineer!
(If you didn’t already know, I am an IT teacher with a focus on getting more women interested and involved in Computer Science – I am always excited about women in IT especially someone in an influential role such as a position of royalty, it’s a great example to provide girls!)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAfter visiting the palace gates and having some car trouble we headed up a hill for a view of the city and the medina. We made a short stop at a ceramics factory learning about the ceramics that are made and how the mosaics are created, before heading into the rabbit warren that is the medina. So many winding alleyways all filled with little stalls selling candies, bread, meats, olives, clothing, jewellery and more. It is a real feast for the senses!! (I might add that this isn’t always a good thing!)

Through the medina and out the back we headed to the leather tanneries, much to my disappointment they were undergoing renovation and we weren’t able to see the huge vats of dye’s used to colour the leather hides. We spent the remainder of our time in Fes relaxing and drinking Nos Nos. (The local brew of coffee is crazy strong, but they have a variation of it which is half coffee half milk, called Nos Nos.)

Check out all my Fes photos on Flickr.

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Rabat, Moulay Idriss & Volubilis, Morocco

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The North Morocco Adventure tour is actually pretty full on, particularly for the first few days. On our first full day we visited travelled from Casablanca to Rabat, spent a few hours in Rabat then travelled on to Moulay Idriss where we toured the city and spent the night. The following morning out first destination was Volubilis.

Rabat

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERARabat is the capital city of Morocco, despite it not being the most well-known for tourism. In our two hours in Rabat, we were given a map marking out a loop of the city to hit three major sites: The Medina, Kasbah and Mosque. While two hours was not actually enough time to make the loop and we had to rush back without really seeing the mosque. The sites were definitely interesting to see.

Check out all my Rabat photos on Flickr.

Moulay Idriss

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMoulay Idriss is a super cute hilltop town overlooking the ancient city of Volubilis. We had a local guide tour us around and tell us about the history of the town as well as some things about the Moroccan culture. The town had so many wonderful narrow, winding alley ways. I wouldn’t have had a hope of finding my own way around the place! After an hour or so walking we found ourselves on the hill opposite the majority of the city, to see the most amazing sunset. It was a such a stunning sight and fantastic way to end a busy day.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn regards to homes and doors there are two interesting things to mention. Firstly, it is important that from the outside of ones home you cannot determine the home owners wealth or social status. Secondly, the door to ones home is actually two nested doors. A smaller door within a larger door. Both doors have separate door knockers which make different sounds. The inner, smaller, door is for the family. The outer door is for guests. So if a woman is home alone and hears someone use the door knocker for the larger door, she will not answer. But she may peer through the vent above the door to check who it is. Obviously if someone knocks on the smaller door then she is welcome to invite her family in. I cannot verify if this is truth, but I have been told that the concepts of not displaying wealth and being able to see out but not in, also apply to the way the women dress, with their head and face coverings.

A culture quirk I heard about is in regards to the Hammam. A hammam is a public bath house. Women and men bathe separately. Typically the bath house is open for men from 8am to midday and from midday to 8pm for women. The quirk is that women typically pay 15-20% more to use the hammam than the men. As a woman in favour of gender equality I was surprised and keen to know why. The justification is that women spend longer in the hammam than men because their hair is longer and takes more time to wash, it is also the place where they go to chat and catch up on gossip. This is also the place where a woman’s potential future mother-in-law will check if a woman is suitable for her son.
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Check out all my Moulay Idriss photos on Flickr.

Volubilis

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAVolubilis is a 3rd century Roman city on a small hill opposite Moulay Idriss. The site is partly excavated and provides a good insight into the lives of people of the time. It also provides a fantastic showcase of mosaic tile work within the buildings. Considering the good condition they are in, I wonder if they are really the original ones restored; or if the Moroccans view restoration differently to me (I have been to some places in the past where recreating something in the same design as the original is considered to be restoration). Either way, the site is quite small but certainly charming to visit, particularly if you are already in the area.

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Check out all my Volubilis photos on Flickr.

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North Morocco Adventure

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Sunset over Moulay Idriss
Sunset over Moulay Idriss

Morocco (in North Africa) is a muslim country, one that has a bit of a reputation for a negative attitude towards women and some general harassment. The majority of people I have spoken to about Morocco thought it was beautiful, but cut their trip short because they were sick of being hassled.

Not one to be scared off visiting beautiful sights and in the hope that I can report more positive things about the people, I booked myself a place on another Intrepid Tour: North Morocco Adventure. So for 9 days, I will be exploring Northern Morocco with a great group of likeminded travellers and a knowledgeable guide.

Stay tuned for stories and pictures of the amazing country!!

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Barcelona, Spain

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABarcelona is a phenomenal city, one of my favourite cities in the world. So you might be expecting a big post all about how I explored every inch of Barcelona, but I will explain why that’s not what you will be getting.

After travelling non-stop for a chunk of time, I got to Barcelona quite tired. Having booked an airbnb apartment, I needed some time out and also time to recover from my flu. In addition to this, I went to Barcelona for a conference so I used my time to do a bit of pre-conference study, as well as attend a workshop and the conference. The third reason, which is not really a reason (it’s more a reason for the lack of guilt I felt in not exploring the city) is that I have visited twice already, because it’s a city I absolutely adore.

Barcelona Highlights

Reflecting back on previous visits, my list of highlights is (I warn you,

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I am a HUGE fan of the Gaudi architecture):

  • La Sagrada Familia (Gaudi)
  • Casa Batlló (Gaudi)
  • La Pedrera (Casa Mila) (Gaudi)
  • Park Güell (Gaudi)
  • Palau Güell (Gaudi)
  • Mercat La Boqueria (just off Las Ramblas, which by the way is also worth a wander down, but keep your hand on your bag!)
  • Passeig de Gracia (for a spot of shopping)
  • Also, as usual I highly recommend a free walking tour
  • A cooking class is also a fabulous idea!

This Barcelona Experience

I went to a web developers conference (Smashing Conference) which was held at the most phenomenal and prestigious location: Palau de la Música Catalana. It was designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and built between 1905 – 1908. The building has so much amazing sculpture and mosaic tile work both inside and outside the building. The stained glass windows, particularly the ceiling, are indescribably stunning. It was such a privilege to be able to spend two full days in such an amazing place – with the added bonus of learning stuff while I was there.

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAt the conclusion of the conference they organised a typographic photo walk of the city, which sounded fantastic to me – and at least one hundred other conference attendees. With the popularity of the activity, I was unable to hear or even see what the guide was talking about, so I wandered off after about 30 minutes.

Other than the conference I mostly hung out in my apartment, caught up on sleep, laundry and other bits and pieces. From time to time I went on a wander of the city, absorbing the atmosphere and taking the occasional photo of something pretty (I tell you – there’s pretty things everywhere you look in this city!)

So after a week in Barcelona I have fed my brain and my soul, and am energised for the next leg of the journey…Morocco!!!

Check out all my Barcelona photos on Flickr

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A new partnership

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WorldNomadsIconI’m pretty pleased to announce that I have recently become a partner with my favourite travel insurance company, World Nomads.

I am personally a big advocate for travel insurance, because while you think you will never have to use it, sometimes, just sometimes, you need to fall back on travel insurance. So my personal opinion is that it’s something worth paying the money for.

While I don’t think I have ever had to claim on my travel insurance previously, I have been on the road now for 6.5 months and have had to make three claims. Thankfully not huge ones, but getting some money back from my insurance has been a massive help. Knowing I had it to fall back on encouraged me to see a doctor when I really needed to, but didn’t really want to fork out the money for it.

So maybe have a bit of a read of my blog post on travel insurance. Think about the pros and cons of getting insurance vs. not getting insurance. Look at what the different companies have to offer, get quotes and then make whatever decision is right for you.

Happy Travels!!

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