Morocco was everything I expected and a lot more.  Snow!  Roman Ruins!  Mint Tea!  Fall off the bone beef!

I expected friendly people, because that’s what I’ve found throughout the world.  I expected sand, because, well, duh.  It was all great.  Rick’s Cafe had little realism, but it is still a fun memory.  All in all, it was time very well spent.  Our guide Ben was open, frank and very flexible.

I’ve attached a few videos.

Monday, February 19.  I leave tomorrow (7:20).  I go to Paris for two nights, but only as reconnaissance for a longer trip someday with Yoriko.  No pictures, no story.  I’ll do a Morocco Wrap story when I can.

Today we traveled from Marrakesh to Casablanca.  Very boring.  Most of my time in Casablanca has been in heavy traffic.  Lunch was my last chicken tagine and it was very good.  In the afternoon we got our first tour of a mosque, one of the largest in the world.  The tower is the tallest one for any faith in the world: 684 feet.  Very pretty.  The interior can hold 30,000 people.  The problem is 1) the high cost which wasn’t spent on more pressing issues (built in the 1990’s) and 2) no one goes routinely.  There are mosques everywhere.  Prayers are five times a day, ten minutes each.  It makes no sense to go to this mosque.  It’s busy during Fridays in Ramadan, but otherwise it’s mostly empty.

After dinner many of us visited Rick’s Cafe, opened by a retired U.S. Embassy employee to satisfy visitors with a nostalgic love of the movie Casablanca.  It’s not a very close replica (the piano is a grand), but it was fun.  They run the movie on a screen all the time.  Those of us who had the movie memorized were probably irritating those who had never(!) seen it.

Quick story, which is good.  I leave at 4AM tomorrow.

At a truck stop. Fancy stuff.

Car wash.

It’s huge.

It’s big on the inside too. No shoes allowed. There are balconies on both sides of the main hall for women.

Hard to see, but the ceilings under the balconies are very pretty.

Faucets for men to wash themselves (three times) before prayers. There are others for women.

Lamp, gin martini, movie. Got it all in one photo.

Sunday, February 18.  Rather than walk around the city or visit the gardens, five of us hired a guide to take us into the Atlas Mountains for a three hour hike.  We hiked up to the jump off point for climbing the tallest mountain in Morocco, Mt. Toubkal, 4,167 meters. Gorgeous scenery.  Our guide knew everyone in the area as well as many American movie quotes.  Like Mohammad of a few days ago, he self-taught himself English.  Just a great time.  Others did a bicycle ride that exceeded their expectations.  Still others toured the local garden and had their own great experiences.  Summing up, a great time by all.

I took a great photo!  See below.

In  the evening we gathered to express our impressions of the tour.  I was frankly surprised by the number of companions that felt they’d learned a lot about muslims,  I.e., (I guess) that they’re not all bad people.  I never thought they were.  My experience in Bahrain and my background in history taught me that.  Anyway, I loved the desert as well as all the people we met.  Dinner was excellent, though I’d have preferred beef tagine rather than chicken.

Tomorrow we go to Casablanca.

Approaching the mountains.

Rental equipment for people climbing the mountain.

Note village. Mosque is most prominent.

Sheep are ubiquitous.

My photo of the trip. the boy is on a ledge without a fence. Terrifying.

Boy was walking around this little area with drop-offs on two sides.

The view of our Riad, bottom to top.

Entrance to our farewell dinner restaurant. Very posh.

Saturday, February 17.  A relatively easy day.  The first.  Morning was a walking tour of a palace, necropolis, and the exterior of a mosque.  At lunch I split off and had lamb Tagine. I really liked the beef variety but wanted to expand my horizons.  Not as good.  Part of the concept of tagine is soaking up the juices with bread.  I’ve had enough bread to last several months.  An odd feature of Morocco is the scarcity of normal coke.  Coke Zero is everywhere, but not the standard version.

Had sugar cane and lemon juice.  They squeeze the juice out of the trunks.  Excellent.

The afternoon was another stroll through the medina/souk, another view from a rooftop terrance, then a comfortable siesta on the roof of the hotel, drinking wine and eating peanuts.  The first time I’ve really goofed off on the trip.

In the evening we did a carriage ride through the new sections of the city.  Weird riding through busy city streets.  Brave horses.  Dinner was almost normal. Excellent filet mignon.  $20.

Outside the hotel.

Inside the hotel.

Deliveries in the 21st century.

Note the tongue. Sad.

The palace. Every ceiling is different.

Reflections through the windows.

Koutoubia Mosque, built in the 12th century, sister to the unfinished one in Rabat. 253 feet tall. A ramp was used for donkeys to carry the “caller to prayers” up five times a day.

Sugar cane and lemon juice. Delicious.

The questionable benefits of sugar cane juice.

That picture of the square yesterday? What it looks like in the day.

Monkeys are far more popular than snakes. Duh.

Yes, he’s selling dentures.

A mobile blacksmith. They’re about to stand up and yell at my companions for taking their picture without permission. I wisely stood elsewhere. And snapped quickly.

What I’m drinking at the moment. It’s liquid. And alcohol. Makes it wine I guess.

Friday, February 16.  Mountain pass to Marrakesh.  Pretty scary for me (fear of falling).  The driver seemed to be late for a date with a bat out of Hell.  When you can’t see any part of the road from the bus window, you know we’re close to the cliff.  Nice scenery, though it was cloudy.  Lots of apparently vacant villages, abandoned by shepherds and farmers until the Spring.

Reached the valley floor safely and entered Marrakesh.  What a mob!!  Donkey pulled wagons, scooters, and bikes use the narrow alleys, seemingly making magical passes through masses of unconcerned crowds.  Every shop has a hawker.  Stare at an item for more than 2 seconds and someone is all over you offering a deal.  It got old very quickly for me.  Fez was more my style.

The central market was just what movies hint at.  Snakes, acrobats, monkeys, hanna tattooists, fruits, nuts, horse and carriage rides, etc.  Cafes with rooftop patios (“Consumption Obligatory”).  A huge area in the middle with small, claustrophobic eateries.  We had dinner at one.  Ben, being a native, got a special small plate of cow brains, cow tongue, and goat’s head. I tasted each.  And I was sober!  Tasted like chicken I guess.

My room is tiny.  Have squeeze between the sink and wall to reach the toilet.  It’s what I get for being a junior member of the OAT family.  The rooms improve as your number of trips increase.  That said, the hotel is a perfect example of a prevailing culture: the interior is very decorative, the external looks like a halfway house.

“God, Country, King”. Ubiquitous.

The high point of the mountain pass. In meters.

Camouflage homes.

At a rest stop.

Immediately outside our hotel door.

Spice shop. This is only a fraction of their collection.

I stayed far away. A charmer thought I was distant to avoid paying an expected tip for snapping picture. Truth is I am scared of snakes.

Cow brains, cow tongue, goat head. Yum. (Sarcasm)