Shades of Chefchaouen

 Click here to see our entire Chefchaouen Album

After visiting Meknes and Fez, we headed of to the much smaller town of Chefchaouen which is famous for it's blue buildings. Above you can see the famous blue door by the side of the road that lets you know  you're almost there. We stayed in a quaint little riad in the town where the inside was all painted in blue also. We spent the first day there just exploring the town, and taking lots of pictures of the pretty blue doors and buildings throughout the town. It was really fun to explore with tons of narrow hallway like roads and stairs and dead ends. The main part of the old town is pedestrian only, and we spent hours meandering around. There's a river running through the town, and they have a washing area by it all set up with concrete washboards under little canopies.

The town is in the Rif mountains and we climbed up part of the side of it to a small church which had an amazing view of the town and the sunset. We had a nice dinner with Red and Sabine and after dinner walked a bit around the newer part of town, and stopped at a cafe to drink tea and observe. There was a big soccer game on that everyone was huddled into the cafes to watch, so we had an easy time getting an outside seat, and enjoying the excitement of the game from afar. There was also a wedding in town, and there was a sort of parade of all the cars involved who drove past us and all around the town at least 3 or 4 times honking all the way. 

The following day we set out to see the Pont de Dieu or God's bridge. We drove about an hour to a tiny village I guess you could call it. There was a restaurant where we ate breakfast, a few houses, an auberge for hikers and that was about it. While we were eating breakfast Red asked around and found a local man who was willing to lead us on the hike to the Pont de Dieu. We had two options, the high way or the low way. We could only do one, and opted for the low way as he said it was more interesting, and you could only do it at some times of the year when the water wasn't too high. So we set off.

The hike was all along this beautiful crystal clear river which had all sorts of little waterfalls and pools in it. It was amazing. We had to hike right along the river edge, and cling to boulders to try to stay dry. This was in vain though as we had to cross the river at one point, and all our shoes got wet anyways. It was a really fun hike and the scenery was truly amazing. There were one or two other groups along the way, but we were mostly on our own. 

The hike probably took an hour and a half to get to the Pont de Dieu. We were pretty glad we took the low road, as we had a great view of the "Bridge" which is a pretty reddish rock bridge over the river. We saw lots of people at the top having taken the high road, but I don't think they'd have near the views we did. It was really impressive. Jerome wanted to check it out even closer, so he gave me his camera and wallet and passport, and dove right into the water to go see! 

Since he was already soaking wet, he decided to see if he could make it all the way back to the village in the river. And proceeded to swim and make his way down waterfalls and jump into pools all the way back, as happy as a clam! The rest of us retraced our steps, and enjoyed watching his antics! 

After the hike we had a late lunch at the same restaurant while Jerome worked on drying off in the sun. We spent our last evening in Morocco and with Sabine and Red back in Chefchaouen. We spent the early evening again wandering the city and taking more blue pictures. The next morning we packed up and headed to Tangiers, where Jerome and I bought tickets for the ferry to Tarifa, Spain and said goodbye to Sabine and Red who were heading back to Casablanca. It was a beautiful sunny day and the ferry ride was really pretty. We crossed the Straight of Gibraltar and waved goodbye to Morocco! 

Click here to see our entire Chefchaouen Album

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Meknes and Fez

Click here to see our entire Meknes and Fez album (51 pictures)

We left off last time arriving in Meknes to meet up with Sabine and Red. We stayed at the beautiful and lovely Riad Amazigh in the Medina. It has the most unassuming front door, and an exquisite interior! You can see here, including the giant door to our room and the balcony to the main sitting area.

We really enjoyed Meknes. We spent the first day exploring the medina which is an endless maze of small roads. It was much less touristy than Marakesh. The market areas were all meant for and busy with locals doing their errands and bustling to and fro.

We saw many neat things like barrels of gooey black soap and sugar cones. The black soap was very common and we tried it out at the riad. It has a very gooey texture. The sugar cones we'd seen in pieces in the desert broken into pieces for tea. But here we saw the full cones which Red had been telling us about.

The most unusual thing we saw though was at a butcher's shop just around the corner from our Riad. The butchers in Morocco like to keep their choice cuts of meat out on the counter for you to see, despite not having refrigerated counters. We saw this everywhere we had been, and were quite used to it. This particular butcher however wanted to stand out even more from his competition. He did this by having a camel head on display at the corner of his booth. It definitely helped us from getting lost in the maze of streets when we were trying to get back at night, we just looked for the camel head and made a left! It took us until the last night to get the courage to ask him if we could have a picture.

We really enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere and the feel of the city. In the afternoon we hired a local guide recommended to us by the Riad to take us to some places we might not have found. He took us to the garment district, to meet some weavers, and to a museum where we saw some interesting artifacts. He then took us to a series of shops where we got most of our souvenirs from Morocco. Having Red with us who was from Morocco and who spoke Arabic, made a lot of the transactions go more smoothly than when we had tried to bargain for things on our own. We bought a plate from a an artist who specialized in silver damascene which is special to Meknes. It involves scratching steel and then embedding fine strands of silver into it to make patterns.  Red also helped us get a great deal on our rug. You can see both of these in our Packing list post.

You can see the detail of the damascene in this close up view

The next day we headed off to Fes. We saw some really interesting things there. We visited the University of Al-Karaouine which was founded in 859 and is in the Guinness book of world records as the oldest running university in the world! It had the most intricate and beautiful stone and wood carved details in the courtyard we were in. 

Just outside of the school was the ancient water clock known as Dar al Magana. Which was built in the 1300s and had a complicated mechanism of using water and weights to keep track of the time. It was dismantled at some point, and there are efforts to restore it, but it is not an easy task.

We found a young man who offered to take us around the city and show us some sites. He was very good and told us some history, but had to go somewhere and so passed us on to his friend who wasn't nearly as good and just walked us around without saying much, and tried to take us to shops which we had told him we weren't interested in. Out final stop was tea at a little cafe with a view of the blue gate or the Bab Bou Jeloud which is another beautiful example of the craftsmanship and architecture of the area.

Click here to see our entire Meknes and Fez album (51 pictures)

Gorgeous Gorges

Click here to see our entire Gorgeous Gorges album (92 pictures)

After our desert adventure we split up with Sabine who went back to Marrakech to meet up with Red. Jerome and I went with the driver and drove all the way across the center of Morocco up to Meknes. It was a two day, 400km journey through the High Atlas mountains which is a very beautiful and often winding route.

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We started the day by going to a famous old casbah which had been heavily restored to its 14th century glory. It was set up a bit like a museum so they had many old artifacts that they told us all about. Some of the really interesting ones included wooden locks and keys, a traditional bread oven, and olive presses. It was very informative and neat to see. The casbah itself is pictured on the old 50dh bill, which I can't find online. We drove past a big golf course which felt very out of place in the dry and brown surroundings. We drove through a palmerie where the trees were giant and they made very interesting fences and things out of the palm leaves. We then drove through the Valley of the Roses. Unfortunately it wasn't the right time of year for all the roses to be in bloom, but when they are it is apparently breathtaking.

One of the great things about doing this journey was that we got to see two famous gorges in Morocco - The Dades Gorge and the Todgha Gorge. The Dades Gorge is a very famous mountain pass with high walls, and an extremely winding section of road leading to it. The picture at the top of this post is of that road. It can be seen in car commercials. We walked along the bottom of the gorge, and drove along the valley for quite a while. There is a river flowing along the middle of the valley so that is where all the crops are grown. It is very beautiful with the tall red rocks on each side of lush green crops. We  then stayed over near Tinghir at a really great casbah called Chez Pierre. It was really awesome especially for seeming to be in the middle of nowhere. And the food was great! They also had a swimming pool that was excessively cold!

The next day we set out really early since we had the longest stretch ahead of us, and the driver was feeling nervous about finishing the drive before dark. We started the day by going out to the Todgha Gorge which is another big and well known gorge. It was just as beautiful as the Dades Gorge. It is very well known by rock climbers and we saw a whole pack of them scaling one of the faces! The rest of the drive was a succession of beautiful vistas as we drove up and down and around in the mountains. At one point we came across a huge lake which was gorgeous and felt transplanted among all the rock. and in the middle of the mountains.

We made it to Meknes before dark and without any problems. We saw some interesting vehicles on the way too. Many farm trucks seem to have been modified to double deckers and are used to transport sheep and people back and forth!

Click here to see our entire Gorgeous Gorges album (92 pictures)

As a final note, here are a few Cadillac commercials that show you the interesting roads that we drove through. Don't worry we went very slowly and didn't do any of this crazy stuff. But the views you get of the roads from the helicopter give a great sense of how crazy the roads are.

Second Night in the Desert

Click here to see our entire Second night in the desert album (78 pictures)

Our last post left us in M'hamid after our first night in the desert and camel ride. We headed out in our 4x4 to Erg Chicaga which has some of the largest sand dunes in Morocco and is fairly close to the border with Algeria. This took place on October 6th and 7th.

View Jerome and Laura's Trip to Europe in a larger map

Our first stop on the drive was a water source where we waited for another group to head into the desert. It was a neat little oasis area, with palm trees, camels, a friendly donkey, and frogs in the stream that seemed to appear from nowhere. Along the way we saw many signs of the rains from the night before in the form of interesting cracked patterns in the sand and very large puddles.

With the other car joining us, we headed out into the sands. It was interesting as there were no signs or markings, and so the drivers must have known the routes from experience and memory. We had to take a few detours though due to large areas covered in water, and ended up getting lost. We stopped at a few nomad camps to ask for directions to our camp. We finally arrived only to find that the storm the night before had collapsed all the sleeping huts, and so we were directed to another camp further on. Our driver was getting fairly anxious at this point, as he didn't know the way to this new camp and the sun was setting. But we met up with the final car from our group who knew the way. We got there with no problems, except one of the trucks getting stuck in the mud and having to push it out. Not a common occurrence in the Sahara it seems!

Upon arrival at the camp we took a quick hike up through the tall dunes to catch the last of the sunset, and then had an interesting time finding our way back in the dark. There was singing around a big oil lamp while we waited for dinner to be ready. Jerome and I went to a nearby dune and watched the most spectacular lightning storm I've ever seen in the distance in the pure dark of the desert. We watched the storm get closer, and dinner was served inside, just as the rain and wind hit the camp. It was a very impressive sight with the driving rain and wind being illuminated periodically by big flashes of lightning and rolling thunder. We were all quite happy to be huddled together in the concrete building. 

After dinner, the storm moved away, and the clouds cleared to reveal an impressive array of stars. With no lights in the vicinity you could see so many more stars than we're used to in the cities. We brought out some carpets and blankets and set up a little area along the side of the building and layed stargazing. We saw several shooting stars including one extreme one, that left a trail across the whole sky for several seconds. We eventually fell asleep out under the stars and had a lovely sleep until one of the guides came over to let us know that if we got up we could see the sunrise over the dunes. And so we did! We walked along the dunes which were lit by the low red light, and took many pictures of the sun rising over the dunes, and the neat shadows they made. We hiked for at least an hour enjoying the peace and beauty. Along the way we came across some impressive mud puddles with super fine mud that was almost impossible to get off you. Jerome played in several of the puddles. We also found some neat silvery ants and some interesting plants and birds. 

When we got back to camp, we found that breakfast had been made and our share was left at the table sitting up on a dune. We ate up, and then had to pack up and head out. Some of the other guests were rather annoyed about the storms and that the trip wasn't quite the hot, sunny, dry experience they had envisioned. We on the other hand felt very lucky to have been there, as these were the first days of rain in the area in 6 years! Needless to say all the locals were very happy with the rain. The drive back to M'Hamid was interesting as there were huge areas of sand which were now covered in water and so we had to navigate carefully to avoid getting stuck. There were even reports of a big bridge nearby being flooded out. We made our way back to the Hotel Riad Ouarzazate where we had stayed before leaving for the desert. One the way we stopped at a local pottery shop which had interesting wares, and then had lovely warm showers to try and get all the sand off of us, did some laundry, had a nice dinner, video chatted home and joined our parents' enjoying their thanksgiving dinner, and then made our plans for the next few days which I'll post about soon!

Click here to see our entire Second night in the desert album (78 pictures)

First night in the desert

Click here to see our entire First night in the desert album (67 pictures)


Our first night in the Sahara was spent at a nomad camp located about 15 minutes out of M'Hamid.  It was much more luxurious than I was expecting, considering that it's in the middle of the desert - it was quite large and composed of colorful tents made out of Moroccan carpets.  There was a large tent for eating (and later on for music) as well as toilets and showers (although we did run out of water).  I guess it gets a lot busier during the other times of the year, but while we were there, there were only about 10 guests (but the camp could probably easily accommodate 50).

When we arrived, the sand was really blowing - the scarves we wore were really necessary to keep the sand out of our faces (although it didn't help our eyes too much). We managed to explore some of the dunes around the camp before  it started to rain - with lots of thunder and lightning!  I really loved exploring the dunes and I thought the sandstorm added to the experience.

We had dinner and, later on, our guides performed traditional Tuareg music (on the electric guitar and drums).  We were looking forward to seeing the stars from the desert - but because of the rain we didn't get to see anything.

The route we took on the camel

The next day we departed from the nomad camp and traveled back towards M'Hamid on camel.  Laura MyTracks'd the whole trip - you can see the map here.  If you zoom in at the start, you can even see our camp! It was pretty neat (and a bit scary) how camels rise from the sitting position - you definitely feel like you're going to fall off.  Laura also took a few video from her camel.  If you receive our blog by email, I'm not sure how the videos work - you may have to visit the website to view the videos.

Laura's perspective of the camel ride

Entering the oasis - one of our guides is singing!

In M'Hamid we were cooked a meal by one of the locals - chicken skewers, bread and a salad of tomatoes, cucumber, peppers and olives -- and of course tea!  Down in the south, there's no mint in the tea (mint isn't exactly abundant in the desert), but it I think it's even sweeter - it's sweetened with pieces of sugar that are broken off from a conical sugarloaf.

From the M'Hamid we took our 4x4 deeper into the Sahara to Erg Chigaga. Erg Chigaga has some of the largest sand dunes in Morocco.  We took some great pictures - but you'll have to wait for our next post!

Click here to see our entire First night in the desert album (67 pictures)

Road to M'Hamid

Click here to see our entire Road to M'Hamid album (58 pictures)

One of the things that I really wanted to do in Morocco was spend a night in the desert.  Lucky for us, one of Sabine's friend, Mohamed, owns M'Hamid travel, a travel agency that specializes in desert excursions.  She arranged a trip for us that included two nights in the desert and a camel ride!

We were lucky enough to bump into Mohamed while we were in Marrakech, and he offered to drive us to Ouarzazate (through the High Atlas mountain range).  The scenery during the drive was really nice and we were travelling late in the day so we go to see sunset over the mountain range.

In Ouarzazate we stayed at Mohamed's riad Hotel Riad Ouarzazate.  It was beautifully decorated, definitely one of the nicest places we stayed on our entire trip.  On arrival, they had soup and a chicken, lemon and olive tagine ready for us - it was very tasty (perhaps when we get back to food blogging we'll have to give it a try).

The next day, Mohamed arranged for one of his drivers (also named Mohamed) to take us to all the way down to the southeastern corner of Morocco (and the end of the highway), M'Hamid. On the way to M'Hamid we visited the ancient kasbah in Tamnougalt (it's unclear how old it is, it may date back to the 14th or 15th century). I found it pretty interesting to find out that the kasbah had a jewish quarter.  Morocco had 250,000 to 350,000 before the founding of Israel, but fewer than 7000 now remain!

We drove through the Drâa valley. The Drâa is Morocco's longest river and the valley is filled with palm trees and is very lush, in sharp contrast to the extremely arid areas just beyond the valley.  We did a bit of offroading along a dirt road and Laura and I hiked to an old watch tower in the valley. We thought it was pretty interesting  but unfortunately we don't know anything about it.

As we arrived in M'Hamid, the desert dust started blowing (so much so that it visibility was limited) and it started to rain!  Locals told us that this was the first time it had rained in 6 years!

The next post is going to include pictures from our first night in the desert, as well as pictures from our camel excursion!

Click here to see our entire Road to M'Hamid album (58 pictures)

We're Home! (and Marrakech)

We're Home!

We arrived home safe and sound two weeks ago. We both went straight back to work - it's a bit of an adjustment from our trip, but we're both happy to be back!

Now that we have a real computers and access to all of our pictures (all 13751 of them!), posting to the blog should be a lot easier.  We're going to continue on posting from where we left off and we'll probably post additional pictures for some of the previous blog posts.

One thing we're going to be doing differently from now on:  we'll include just one picture in each post along with a link to our album on Google+. Google+ makes looking through the pictures a lot nicer, and allows us to upload more pictures.  If you have trouble seeing the albums, please let us know.

Wool dyers souk in Marrakech

Click here to see our entire Marrakech album (52 pictures)

Marrakech

After an early morning departure from Bologna, we arrived in Casablanca and headed directly to Marrakech by train.  In Marrakech we met up with my cousin Sabine (featured in our Lausanne post). Sabine's fiancé, Redouan, is Moroccan and she's visited a few times before. Sabine did all of the planning for the Morocco section of our trip and they both helped us learn about local food and culture.  We were really happy to have them with us.

We spent most of our time in Marrakesh in Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square of the Medina (old city) and in the Souk (market).  The Souk is unlike anything I've ever seen before.  It's a huge (the largest traditional Berber market in Morocco), but there's no obvious order to how things are laid out.  It's full of twisting alleyways and dead ends. It didn't take very long to get lost (although after enough wandering around we were able to find our way out).  The merchants in the souk were selling all sorts of stuff:  herbs, spices, fruit and vegetables, leather bags and babouches (a moroccan style slipper), scarves, carpets, ironware and lanterns, clothes.  Along with the merchants, we also saw many leatherworkers making bags and pouffes, wood workers, and the wool dyers (which you'll see in the pictures).  We ended up buying a pretty cool looking wooden chess set.  It's made in a neat way so that twisting the top of the board reveals the pieces stored beneath it.

One of the lowlights of Morocco was that Laura and I got gypped at the leather tanneries.  We were exploring the souk and a one of the merchants suggested that we check out the berber leather tanneries.  He pointed out someone that "works" there and told us to follow him.  We were under the impression that the tanneries would be fairly close by, but they ended up being fairly far away.  This is the first tannery I'd ever seen, so it was pretty interesting (although smelly and pretty gross). They put the raw animal pelts in several foul smelling pits in order to remove the hair and other residue and to soften leather.  The first pit is filled with lime, the second with pigeon excrement (used for the ammonia), other pits are later used to clean and dye the leather. They gave us "berber gasmasks" (a bunch of mint) to help fend off the smell. As expected, at the end of the tour we were brought to a store.  Although they tried pretty hard, we made it out of the store without buying anything.  At this point a couple of the guys that took us around the tannery, as well as the guide that brought us there and asked to be paid. They asked that we pay them 200 dirhams (approximately $23 USD).  They said this money would be split by the tannery workers.  While this seemed like a lot by Moroccan standards, I figured this amount was ok, given how bad their work.  At this point they insisted that that we need to double the amount - they claimed that the 200 dirhams was for the berber workers and we need to add another 200 for the arab workers.  In the end, I ended up relenting and giving them 100 more.  At this point, the guide that brought us to the tanneries demanded that we pay him as well - we assumed that he was part tannery workers and therefore would have been paid from the 300, but he insisted that he wasn't and that he'd done more work than the tannery guys, so should be paid more.  In the end we paid him 200 as well - which is way more more than he should have gotten.  When we later looked up the tanneries in tripadvisor, it seems like a lot of other people had similar experiences.  Next time we'll have to be a lot more careful to make sure we don't get into these kind of situations.  Oh well, you leave and you learn...

Click here to see our entire Marrakech album (52 pictures)