As I recommended in a previous blog, the midterm break is a perfect time to travel. The talk for a trip somewhere outside of Italy was in the works and at the time there was a large craze around Bocconi exchange students to head to Marrakesh, so that was the settled upon destination.
Marrakesh is situated in relatively central Morocco at the very edge of the Atlas mountains, it is surrounded by dunes and deserts where lots of activities waited. After an early, flight three hour flight from Malpensa airport, myself and a group of friends were in the heat of Morocco. The heat was consistently north of twenty-five degrees yet the locals told us how this was only just starting to get hot.
We went in April when the weather had only recently got to a hot temperature, we were told only weeks before it was only just around the fifteen degrees mark. This is also a much quieter time for tourists as we knew how busy the customs could get at the Marrakesh airport but we only had to wait for around 20 minutes. We had booked an Airbnb twenty minutes walk away from the famous Medina in the centre of the city, we had arranged to be picked up by a taxi arranged by the owner of the Airbnb.
The first thing to note in this city is that cash is the most used form of payment, the exchange rate roughly worked out that one euro equalled ten dirham, it may have been a smart idea to exchange money at a local post office before we went but we the extra charge at the airport ATM was not extortionate, one of the group of five also ended up buying a SIM card so that we could contact our driver to let them know we were here.
The type of accommodation we were saddled up at is very different from your normal hotel room. When you enter the house, there is the kitchen immediately as you come in and an open planned sitting area where the seats are built next to the three walls completing the square house. The stairs went up three floors where on each was a bedroom, the stairs climbed up the walls in a clockwise fashion which lead to the roof where there was rooftop terrace, which admittedly only left a view of the barren wasteland which wild animals of all sorts called their humble home. Luckily, we also had access to a pool that the owner had nearby which we certainly took advantage of.
We started our adventure with getting our bearings and trying to locate the Medina, which is technically the part of the city that lies within the city walls which we were only a two-minute walk away. However, the very centre was still a 20-minute walk away, and that’s where all the local businesses, attractions, and restaurants were. Although the wonder of modern technology is incredibly accurate, Google Maps was no use to us in these streets, the streets were often so compact with winding turns that all looked the same. The very start of our adventure was on open streets were cars could squeeze through, the closer we got to the Medina the more compact the streets got, we headed the direction that Google had suggested.
One of the friends in our group knew people that had lived in this area and gave us advice for visiting. They told us to be aware of scammers when walking around as some might try to take advantage of tourists. They suggested avoiding quiet and run-down streets. Unfortunately, we did have a small incident while walking around in an area. Thanks to our cautiousness and the advice we received through our friend, the situation was resolved.
Now is the time to tell you that this was the only bad experience we had, every other experience was a joy to delve into a different culture and converse with the locals. As we were approaching the Medina, the streets narrowed and the shops multiplied, the sun disappeared momentarily as the shops selling carpets and shirts blocked out the sun, the streets started to fill up with more trinkets to lure tourists with the likes of jewellery, shirts, spices, and all sorts.
At last, we were in the Medina – the square was large and filled with mostly touristy restaurants. It’s worth noting that we were there during Ramadan, so the only people eating at restaurants were tourists. The locals say they are not offended by others who do not partake in Ramadan, but only that we respect them partaking. I have full praise for the locals who were fasting in the heat and still working.
After our early morning, we were hungry and ready to break our own fast, and the cuisine in this culture is second to none to do so. The cuisine they offered had the likes of tagines, couscous, shawarma, rice, and one of my new personal favourites Moroccan tea. I started this taste journey by having a beef tagine, this beef is filled with all sorts of spices that gave so much flavour to the food within the tagine pot: this dish is now one of my favourite ways to have beef prepared. We went back to the flat and had a food coma.
The next day we slept in and made a plan to head to the Jardin Secret, which is a beautiful botanic garden with flowers and shrubbery from all over the world, surrounded by jade tiles on the floor which really added to the calming atmosphere. There was even tank of fist to look at. The irrigation system is really impressive for such a dry country, where there were open flows of water going around to distribute water to all the plants.
Upstairs was a dramatic view of the gardens and a shaded place to order food and drinks where we could relax and take in the ambience. After the gardens, we came back and rested as later we had our first activity planned, we were getting driven out to the desert, where we would ride camels and then have more Moroccan food with entertainment. We sat back at the house full and content until we were driven roughly for fifty minutes out into the desert.
The drive gave us our first glimpse of the Atlas mountains – a future adventure – and the rolling dunes that were simply stunning. The desert at night I had thought was meant to be as cold if not colder than the weather back in Scotland at night, a pleasant surprise as the heat was a calming level and we were comfortable in trousers and t-shirts. With the sun about to set, we got one of the last camel rides of the day were we got a small ride for around 15 minutes as the sun set over the dunes. Although you may think 15 minutes is not giving us our bang for our buck, I can uncomfortably say that camels are not the smoothest ride around, but nonetheless an interesting experience and 15 minutes felt like the right amount of time as we hazily dismounted.
Just as the moon appeared so did our hunger, as we were served a three course meal a local group of musicians came around each table and serenated us with traditional Moroccan music and throat singing. To start our meal, we had couscous, the flavours were once again those of herbs and spices that makes it hard to describe. After the couscous, we had another tagine, but this time chicken instead of beef, and to finish, we had a plain cake with cream. Then the real entertainment, all the tourists headed to a viewing platform where a fire-breather performed a spectacular show in the dark. Then it was time to draw our second day in a new culture to an end, I can say we all certainly slept well.
The third day of our adventure was a restful one as we did not venture to far and made use of the pool. The reason for this is that our next day was the real adventure. And so we woke up the next day and began our journey of venturing up the Atlas mountains. We were picked up quite early and were driven around Morocco to pick up the rest of our party ascending the mountains, once our minivan was full we were on the road and headed to our first stop where we would be riding camels.
This camel experience was more interesting as the tour guides dressed us up in traditional Moroccan attire with long robes and clothes for to cover our heads, then we were taken on a quick 20-minute journey around some fields and when we returned there was Moroccan tea awaiting us. The tour guide told us that when they pour the tea they have to pour from a height so that a foam created on top, and the reason is that when the first Nomads were making the tea they were often surrounded by the desert, and the foam would act as a barrier catching any sand that tried to make it way into the delicious liquid.
After this, we were on the road again were we began our ascent on road to a village in the mountains, where our next stop was an argan oil production centre. We were sat down and fed with Moroccan bread and all sorts of oils to complement the bread, of course including argan oil. We were then given a tour and shown the many benefits of the special oil. After this we were once again in the minibus and the tour guide told us that there we were next going to a famous market that is only held only every so often a month. Supposedly in the past, every family in the surrounding area would have to send at least one person from their family to hear of local news and gossip as well as securing goods for their family and sometimes for their whole village.
When we were close, we could see many donkeys on the side of the road and we were told that because it is so busy that people often have to leave their donkeys outside the village. We arrived at the market and it was indeed very busy, we walked around for around 30 minutes and then tried to leave which took another 20 minutes because of how busy the market was. Finally, we were on our last part of the journey where we dropped off after another trip in the minibus and we started our hike up the mountains. As our trip was filled with groups of all ages, the hike was not too intense, but it was certainly worth the wait.
The hike ended with a scenic waterfall within the mountains were I bought the freshest orange juice I have ever had. The walk was perhaps even more impressive as we had the surrounding mountains and views of deserts and plains that went for miles. We made our way back to the minibus and had the long drive back to the Airbnb where we concluded our adventure for that day.
On our last day we browsed the markets and I bought a bracelet for my mum and a belt for my dad, were I have to admit my haggling skills were probably below par. Later, we met up with some friends who were travelling around Morocco. We had tagines and tea at a restaurant and drew a close on our Moroccan trip as we had a very early flight to catch the next day.
Looking back, I am very happy that I went and experienced a new culture and shared times with new friends. I probably would not go back to Marrakesh as there are limited things to do, but I would encourage people to go there or to go to similar places such as Casablanca. I found the trip to be budget-friendly in terms of food and accommodation so if people find themselves looking for new experience for a cheap price, Morocco would be one of my recommendations.
~ James (Go Abroad Ambassador 2023/24)
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