As I stood overlooking the Sahara one morning, marveling on the rhythmic, undulating dunes of the desert, I noticed that my dream had come true.
For miles round, the dunes rolled like pink-tinged waves within the sea. I had ridden a camel to the spot the place I might stare upon one million stars that night time, smiling on the truth I used to be lastly someplace I had dreamed about underneath the identical stars hundreds of miles away.
For 2 weeks, I traveled across the nation on Intrepid Journey’s Best of Morocco tour and gorged myself on couscous, drank my physique weight in mint tea, hiked, and absorbed the sights and sounds of Morocco.
Of all these moments, these have been my favourite experiences from the journey:
Camel trekking within the Sahara
Whereas I want you can nonetheless experience the previous camel caravans from Morocco to Egypt, I settled for one evening underneath the celebrities. Seems using a camel for an hour is fairly uncomfortable, however seeing the gorgeous coloration of the desert up shut and private, tenting with Bedouins, and gazing at one million stars with no gentle air pollution made all of it worthwhile. There’s an eerie silence within the desert when the wind dies down and you are feeling an important sense of peace, simply sitting and being in nature.
Enjoyable truth: It rained whereas I used to be within the desert. There was a loopy, loopy lightning storm — one of the crucial intense I've ever seen. The roar of the thunder appeared like 1,000,000 bombs going off, and the lightning turned night time into day. It hadn’t rained all yr however that night time the sky opened up for a quick second to let loose all her anger. Surreal.
Mountaineering the Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains cowl most of Morocco, and we spent a number of time within the low, center, and excessive elements of the vary (it’s onerous to not). My favourite half was once we traversed the Excessive Atlas vary, climbing for an hour to succeed in a small farmhouse, the place we stayed the night time with a neighborhood household (who cooked us the tastiest tagine dinner and Berber omelet of the journey).
Arriving early and leaving late the following day, we had loads of time to hike and discover the encircling space. I like a superb hike, so I loved the chance to essentially get out into nature, stroll by riverbeds, and see Mt. Toubkal (North Africa’s highest peak) within the distance. Subsequent to the camel trek, this was my favourite expertise.
Consuming at Café Clock
Advisable to me by many individuals and with places in Marrakesh and Fez, this Western-influenced café is known for its gigantic and scrumptious camel burger (which tastes rather a lot like spicy shawarma). The meals is great: the burger, inexperienced smoothies, and soften-in-your-mouth buttery hen couscous have been so satisfying I ate right here twice. And, within the loopy and chaotic medinas of every metropolis, the cafés present an oasis of calm, the place you'll be able to recharge, use Wi-Fi, and funky down with air-con. Additionally they supply cooking lessons and host common occasions in every location!
Getting misplaced within the medinas
The medinas are the historic hearts of each city in Morocco: half residential space, half procuring middle, half meals market. Right here you’ll discover twisting and turning streets the place retailers, eating places, markets, and houses all line the streets in buildings seemingly too shut collectively and too outdated to remain up for much longer. As somebody who likes to get misplaced, the medinas had been heaven. I spent hours wandering by way of them, making proper turns, doubling again, strolling via plazas and streets that sort of regarded acquainted, and discovering my method, solely to get purposely misplaced over again. They had been a maze I cherished attempting to unravel whereas additionally consuming tea, consuming scrumptious and aromatic meals, and seeing the sights.
Phrase of warning: Fez is a bit sketchy and unsafe, so don't go too far off the crushed path. Follow streets with a number of individuals. I had some shut calls involving pickpockets and potential robbers.
Exploring Volubilis
A serious buying and selling middle and the southernmost settlement throughout Roman occasions, Volubilis is among the greatest preserved (and least frequented) such ruins on this planet. I discovered it empty of vacationers, not constructed up, and open in a approach that really lets you get up close and see the constructions with out being behind ten toes of obstacles and jostled by crowds. A lot of the metropolis continues to be unexcavated so the location has a really uncooked really feel to it. I’ve been to lots of Roman ruins in my travels, however I really like this one the very best.
Seeing Aït Benhaddou
Although I didn’t get to spend a lot time right here, exploring this place filled with kasbahs (fortified homes) was fairly wonderful. It's the Hollywood of Morocco and has been featured in Game of Thrones, Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, and plenty of extra movies. It was probably the most picturesque ksar I noticed, which might be why it’s in each film! It performs into what individuals suppose an outdated ksar -fortified village – ought to appear like. I loved roaming the streets and climbing to the highest for the view.
Having fun with the seashore and seafood of Essaouira
My favourite metropolis in Morocco, Essaouira is situated just a few hours from Marrakesh on the Atlantic coast and is a well-liked seashore vacation spot for vacationers, particularly Brits. I cherished the relaxed ambiance of the town, the dearth of pushy touts, the ocean air, and all of the contemporary fish.
You should definitely go to the great fish market on the town, the place all of the small fisherman promote their day’s catch. Afterward, take a look at the small fish stalls close by in the principle sq. the place you may take pleasure in contemporary seafood grilled actually low-cost. My pals and I “splurged” on a meal right here: for $seventy five USD whole, the 4 of us shared a lobster, eight tiger prawns, two fish weighing over a kilo, and half a kilo of squid. All that got here with drinks, bread, salad, and tea. (We ate there each day, and meals afterward have been about $15 USD.) Strive stalls #5 and #eleven for the very best fish!
Visiting Marrakech
Marrakech was everything I thought it would be: a contemporary mixture of Moroccan and worldwide tradition with probably the most variety of scrumptious worldwide meals (take a look at PepeNero for Italian and Latitude for a Med-Moroccan combine) and exquisite structure within the medina. Although Marrakech lacked the grit and fringe of the remainder of the nation, it was probably the most eclectic metropolis on the journey.
The chaotic tempo uncovered a metropolis and folks at all times on the go. The well-known Jemaa el-Fnaa sq. is actually the mess everybody describes: tens of 1000's of individuals at evening consuming, buying, getting henna tattoos, listening to bands and storytellers, and watching magicians (and snake charmers through the day). It’s one of the vital hectic however fascinating folks-watching locations within the nation. It nonetheless blows my thoughts how large and full it was! (Distinction that to the underwhelming Saadian Tombs, which is an attraction I might skip — they're easy, the grounds are small, and total, it was simply bland.)
Consuming a lot of couscous and tagine
By the tip of my two weeks there, I used to be a bit “couscoused out.” That stated, I dove head first into consuming as a lot of it as attainable — I liked savoring the flavors, seeing the regional selection, and getting to essentially admire how lengthy every dish took to arrange. Tagine (cooked with meat, dates, nuts, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and saffron in a clay pot) was by far my favourite Moroccan dish. Additionally value making an attempt is the Berber omelet, which is egg, tomato, onion, and herbs, additionally cooked in a clay pot.
Consuming mint tea
I’ve by no means drunk extra tea than after I was in Morocco. In a rustic the place “having a beer” isn't a factor, locals substitute pots of mint tea. There’s even an artwork to pouring it: the upper the teapot, the higher. I couldn’t get sufficient of this minty, sugary deal with and sitting within the tea outlets watching soccer with the locals. I will need to have drunk a pot or two a day. Man, that stuff is addicting!
Listening to the decision to prayer
Whereas I’ve been to predominantly Muslim international locations earlier than, in Southeast Asia, I’ve by no means skilled an Arab Muslim nation or heard the decision to prayer. There was one thing stunning concerning the melodic nature of the decision, and it was an amazing alarm clock at 5 a.m. Seeing individuals flock to the mosque of their white prayer garments was a novel cultural expertise I couldn’t assist however observe.
Morocco is an extremely vacation spot. At instances, it was attempting, hectic, chaotic, and overloaded my senses, however for all of the stresses of journey, it was a rustic the place I felt out of my factor and like I used to be really someplace new and completely different. I liked that feeling and every part else about Morocco.
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