This week I decided to use up some of my remaining vacation
days to visit a country that has intrigued me since I first ate Moroccan food
in Spain several years ago. The goal was to visit, seem some cool stuff, and
eat my way through the country. I can say I achieved these goals remarkably
well, and enjoyed a relaxing week away.
My first stop was the ancient city of Fes, known for its
crafts and for being a university city, where people would come to study Islam.
The medina (marketplace) is an incredibly convoluted collection of streets
within the walls: this area is said to have over 1,000 streets within a tiny
space, all curving and intertwining in the most unexpected and confusing ways.
Due to my tendency to get lost, I went on a guided tour through this maze my
first day, including stops at a craft shop where they hand make Berber rugs and
blankets, and the well-known tanneries where they have been treating leather
using the same methods as when the city was born. We also saw a man turning pieces of bone into
combs and families of craftsmen pounding metal into plates, bowls, and trays
out in the open air.
The tiny streets are exceedingly crowded and it’s not
unusual for a motorbike or a donkey to intercept your path as you are admiring the
food and crafts. Our guide stopped along the way to greet the seemingly
thousands of people he knew as we went, and even got some shopping done, buying
pigs feet for his wife to cook. He later learned he had made a mistake in
choosing the hind legs rather than the front ones: apparently the former have
better taste! We also saw buckets of meat mixed with animal fat, a historic way
of preserving the protein in the desert, where refrigeration is non-existent.
My second day in Fes brought a beautiful day to walk up to
the old city fort for a view of the town and surrounding mountain landscape.
This was followed by a traditional Moroccan meal of soup with bread, chicken
tagine, and some sweets popular throughout Morocco. The food is simple but
delicious, typically cooked in a vessel called a tagine, which looks like a pot
with a pyramid lid. A “tagine” dish can be anything prepared in this cooking
device: I had everything ranging from chicken with veggies to couscous to an
omelet that were all served to me as ‘tagine’. 
One of my best experiences was a visit to the local Hammam,
or bath. I went there on advisory of my hostel, with no particular
expectations-they told me to go in, pay the lady 100 dirhams (about $10) and
then follow instructions. The baths are the same as they were back when the
city was first built, and work similar to the Roman baths: there is a cold
antechamber before the hot steam room inside, complete with water for bathing.
They’ve made a few upgrades, including buckets for water and stools for
sitting, but in essence it’s the same as many years ago. My host had had me
purchase a small kit before going, which included soap, shampoo/conditioner,
and a washcloth glove made of lightly abrasive material. After sitting in the
waiting area alone and mildly confused for a while, I was beckoned to strip
down and go to the hot room. There, it was indicated to me (since we had no
common language) to later myself with soap. I did so, then waited for about 20
minutes for further instruction, observing the other ladies around me. The
baths are an exceptionally social experience, with women chatting and washing
around then entire perimeter of the room: a practice that would probably never
happen in the US, and especially not in these modern days. However, most
Moroccans go to the public baths at least once a week to clean up band
socialize. 
Once my steam time was complete, a middle aged woman came, put on the glove thingy, and started scrubbing me down. She literally peeled off the top layer of dead skin, giving me disapproving looks as it came off. Though this sounds slightly disgusting, it didn’t hurt at all and left me feeling clean and refreshed afterward, and maybe even a bit lighter! She also poured water on me as I washed my hair, which was akin to standing under a gentle, warm waterfall. Overall it was a completely unexpected by relaxing experience that I would highly recommend.
The next day I got off my overnight bus in Merzouga, a small
town on the outskirts of the Sahara desert that caters to tourists who want the
true camel experience. Our tour started at the house of a native to the area,
who served us breakfast and lunch and taught us about the desert. Apparently a
dune made of ‘solid’ sand (which does not blow away with the wind) has a hidden
water source underneath, which keeps the sand moist enough to remain packed
together. The place we traveled and camped fit this description, as you could
(with difficulty) walk up the dunes and enjoy the views from the top. This was
an excellent way to experience the sunrise and sunset for two days, when I was
camped among the rolling dunes. 
The desert is very cold and very quiet at night, perfect
conditions to sleep soundly and enjoy the stars. We were treated to camel
rides, followed by a tagine dinner and a traditional Berber drum circle. While
I’m certainly untrained in the ways of African drumming, it was amazing to see
how the various participants were able to listen and respond to each-other,
changing rhythms and beats every few minutes without pause. They also had a few
desert songs they entertained us guests with before turning in for the night.
My second day in the desert included another camel ride to
an abandoned Berber village. The people had left the previous generation
because there were no longer jobs for them in the desert. However, a few brave
souls remained to cater to tourists. When we were ready to leave, our guide
told us that we could either wait at the house or accompany him to go find the
camels: when we had gone to explore the city, he had left our camels untied to
graze, and they wandered off! Apparently this is the furthest they’ve ever
gone, but we ended up on quite the trek across the black desert to find the
animals behind some distant hills. There is speculation they were trying to
escape into Algeria! The “camel massage” on the way back was less than
pleasing, but we finally made it back to camp to hike the great dune for star
gazing and nighttime sandboarding. From the top of the dune we could see the
surrounding towns and a million brilliant starts, a beautiful way to pass time
in such a deserted place.
After our escapades in the desert, we took a bus through the
gorgeous and gut twisting Atlas Mountains to get to Marrakesh. There, I
explored an even bigger medina, complete with a central square that was as
crazy at night as New York’s Time Square. Unlike Fes, this complex had exotic
creatures like monkeys on leashes and snakes for picture posing. I had the
opportunity to visit a complex that used to be a dormitory for scholars, and
greatly admired the gorgeous architecture and decoration of the building. 
My final days were spent on a train ride back to Fes and
then some shopping in the Medina before my plane departed. I managed to secure
some nougat with peanuts, a local sweet treat that became a quick favorite. You
know you have the best vendor by the number of bees surrounding the nougat,
enjoying the sweetness. The nuts and dates were also extremely popular and
cheap, so I stocked up for my trip back. Overall, a relaxing and adventurous
way to spend a week I’d say.
