Pugsworth in Morocco
So we boarded the boat for Africa and waited for it to depart, and waited and waited and then were told that everyone had to get off because there was engine trouble and we would have to wait for the next ferry. So we waited a little longer, I did some temporary repairs on the bike we boarded the next boat and about half an hour latter we were in Africa. It's amazing to have such a short trip between the worlds richest and poorest continents, no wonder so many try to smuggle themselves across. As we wandered through the tourist town of Tangier to find a bus to Chefchaouen in the Rif mountains I had a real sense of being a complete foreigner. We changed money and didn't expect people to speak much english. (Surprisingly we found someone who spoke english in most places). I walked through the town in shorts and long sleeves and felt a bit sefl conscious about the local muslim dress code. It was also about 10 minutes before we saw a local woman on the street, which made Carla feel a little uneasy. Then we got on one of the local buses, which are probably not unlike most buses in developing nations, hot smelly and full of local people. At first I sat in my seat with a feeling of a cultural barrier, surrounding us and that this barrier provided a sense of security in an insecure environment. As the bus drove on though I began to take in deal with the situation. The other thing the bus was full of was culture, it's actually a great in-your-face culture experience, and like diving into cold water, you can adjust fairly quickly. About 45mins into the 3 hour trip I had a sudden feeling of being comfortable in the environment as though my energy had just clicked in zinc with the energy of the place. The gum trees definately helped and the mountain scenery was just stunning, another undulating trip I'm glad I took by bus and not by bike, though I did see someone else doing a cycle tour.
Our first stop was the city of Chefchaouen in the Rif mountains. We got off the bus and by the time I'd collected my bike off the top of the bus the others had an offer from a local man named to take us to a hotel. We'd be zqrned of the persistent guides in Morroco but Abdul said he wasn't a guide and we new nothing of the city so accepted. He spoke quite good english and was very friendly. After checking in at the hotel he asked if we'd like to know a good place to eat and to join him a his house for a smoke of the local hash-hish afterwards. Now I'm not really a smoker but I'd also heard about Morrocan hospitality so it seemed like a good offer as well. Then the talk turned to how much we would like to buy. abdul assured us that while the police might take an interest in 4kg, 1kg was assumed to be for personal use! At this point we tried to back out of the smoking invitation so were taken to a carpet factory instead. Again I'd read about this in tourists guides and was very wary but the others were interested so we went. Actually the hard sell wasn't as bad as I expected, their ability to to be the very friendly yet hard salesman is quite phenonmenal.
Morrocan and I believe Arabic social interaction is quite
Although there was no way out of there without buying at least something, the smallest thing I could find was a small piece of musk but the following day I discovered I paid way to much for, all part of the learning expeerience. After this we were a bit more hesititant about what we were gettng ourselves into, and we'd seen quite a bit for one day already. Abdul and his friend Hussein took some offence at us not joining them for a smoke but we had begun to see this was their business, they were not guides but drug dealers. They made friends in order to make a sale, so for them they had invested a few hours showing us around and not to make a sale was for them lost investment. We escaped into our hotel where they could not follow despite the kickback they probably received for taking us there. There we met some German lads who'd been a couple of times before and gave us a few pointers about how things worked in Morroco over some late night drinks.
Next morning we woke to discover Hussein waiting for us at the door of our hotel. Some of the others had tried telling him we didn't want anything and to leave us alone but it appeared some compensation was in order for last nights lost investment. The Germans advised that 20 Dirham (A$3) was appropriate so realising that this too was a bargaining situation I opened at 10. Hussein on the other hand opened at 100. Of course before figures were even mentioned, there was a lot of talk about what they'd lost and how it would be simpler if we just bought something and me explaining that we didn't realise what we'd been getting ourselves into. Gradually I moved towards 20. In between each new offer we covered the same ground and had stand offs, with both of us refusing to budge. Then Hussein became angry and began to threaten us saying they could make trouble for us. This was clearly possible but also appeared to be an intimidation technique. Ultimately Hussein refused to take the 20 I offerred him and I refused to go higher, having been told it should be plenty, so I withdrew into the hotel. By this time we felt underseige in the hotel. The hotel owners assured us the threats were just intimidation and not to worry. We couldn't be sure but we're not going to be frightened into staying inside all day, so went down to go for a walk, saying we'd made an offer and it had been rejected. Hussein followed us along the street harrassing us just with his pressence and asking to be compensated. Eventually Patrick offerred him 50Dh which he took along with my 20 and then left us with directions to the centre of the medina (we were already lost) and a warning that if we bought of anyone else they would know and it would be trouble. That was the last we saw of Hussein but we saw Abdul that night (fearing he'd come for his share). He was quite friendly and exchanged apologies for the trouble, good cop bad cop I guess.
Anyway way after leaving Hussien we heading for the main plaza for some breakfast. On the way Max saw some architecture he wanted to sketch, so we left him for a brief wander. This was a big mistake. After looping back a couple of times we realised we were completely lost in the maze of streets that made up the medina. They all looked the same, white stone walls painted blue to about waist height. (We heard several different plausible explanations for this feature which was unique to Chefchaouen including that it made you feel cooler because blue is a cool colour and that it kept the flies away cause they thought the streets were rivers.) After about an hour of wandering around, getting more and more worried about what Max might be thinking we finally found him. He'd been enjoying himself though showing a couple of the more curious local kids the techniques of drawing. We were all hungry though and so hurried for a late breakfast.
After breakfast we found ourselves with time on our hands for the first time in Morocco. We'd been in the country nearly 24 hours and this was our first chance to the take the initiative in exploring it. We found an internet cafe and wandered around the medina taking it in at a liesurely pace, then we wandered a bit further into the wider city and were keen to climb into the snow capped mountains above the city but weren't sure if this was at all possible. We climbed up to a look out point and enjoyed the view but weren't any wiser about going beyond or higher. We found we could continue into a caravan park and a forest on the lower hillside. At this point I had some sort of spiritual moment as I felt the surrounding pressence of the trees. I had a sudden awareness of drawing energy from just being in the forest amoungst the trees, it was very rejuvenating. As I thought about it I realised that it had been quite a long time since I had been in a proper forest. I'd spent a lot of time in cities and also natural environments but most of those had not many trees. It seems there is some form of (spiritual?) energy that I draw from trees and particularly forests and that I was particularly lacking in this at that time. The others didn't feel anything so I don't know but it was pretty real for me.
We stopped for a rest and for me to soak up the atmosphere and then had to decide whether to on or back. It didn't look like it went anywhere but Max and I convinced the others to keep going. As it turned out we found a path around the hillside and into a magnificant hidden valley just above the city. The path ran along side or on top of a large pipe which collected water from high in the mountains for the city. Below the pipe was a steep slope and if you fell you would fall/roll quite a way in some parts. We weren't sure whether we could follow this right around the valley which we were keen to explore and matters were complicated when Carla told us she suffered from vertigo and wasn't sure she could make it even if we could. Luckily at that point we met a local of about our age by the name of Mustafa. He spoke good English and told us that he came this way regularly and that it was easy enough to follow the pipe all the way up the valley, at least, it is for those who don't suffer vertigo. Karla wanted to come and didn't want to split the group and force the rest of us to go back, on the other hand she was clearly pushing her own boundaries. She decided to give it a go though and I have never seen anyone overcome their fears quite like it. Her fear was obvious, she was physically shaking and her reactions were nervous and frantic. Her fears were not completely unjustified, what we were doing had an element of danger and required some caution and a good sense of balance. Carla is aparently a regular rock climber and practitioner of the martial art Aikedo so was probably at least as capable if not more so than the rest of us so her extreme fear was out of proportion. She obviously was used to confronting it though as knew if she just took it slowly she could do it. We did as much as possible to accomodate her of course but she said being too close to us made it worse so we had to keep our distance and wait while she fought her own battle. We made it to the top to find a little waterfall and a small pond and headed down the other side which was flatter and no trouble for Carla. I was very impressed at the way she handled herself, I've never seen such a powerful demonstration of mind over matter.
As well as the beautiful valley the other surprise bonus of the afternoon was Mustafa. He too was just out for a walk as he often did (funny for some reason I'd always thought that going for a walk was just a western concept). He was going the same way as us and so he joined us and we chatted as we went. At first we were a bit worried that this was going to become yet another guided tour with a surprise fee at the end but these fears were unfounded and we had our first meeting with a Moroccan that didn't have a financial component. That this was possible for travellers was reassuring in itself and of course it was fascinating to get local knowledge from him and talk about life with an 'everyday Moroccan' who wasn't part of the tourist industry.
Hammam
shave
Fes
pastilla
hotel terrace breakfast
general impressions and contrast old and new
Marrakesh
busiest square
vibrant and lively but no old and new contrast
high atlas
As we also managed to discover without paying much money, it has some great scenery. We took a local bus to the atlas moutains and had a night in a local hotel while we decided what to do the following day. We turned doznt he hoteliers offer of a guide and a mule (donkey) to carry our stuff and set off on our own for a two day trek. We climbed up a pretty river valley and some rocky scree slopes. Walked through some large patches of snow on the top and got sunburnt sliding down the other side. we stayed with some locals in a small mountain village, slept on the floor, squatted over the hole in the ground toilet and watched live euopean football on their satilite TV! Morrocans love TV, a home owners no. 1 status symbol. The enxt day we completed the loop qnd got invited by a local woman for lunch, payment a couple of t-shirts, picked up our baggage and caught a taxi back to Marakesh. So yeah, we found our way without too much trouble.
Essouera
bus talk with muslim about religion
art town, indigenous
chill out and shave, ahmed
Casablanca
hasan II mosque
Fes
unofficial palaces, better but more expensive
free bike storage
ride to meknes
maknes tangier tarifa in one day
final reflection
Our first stop was the city of Chefchaouen in the Rif mountains. We got off the bus and by the time I'd collected my bike off the top of the bus the others had an offer from a local man named to take us to a hotel. We'd be zqrned of the persistent guides in Morroco but Abdul said he wasn't a guide and we new nothing of the city so accepted. He spoke quite good english and was very friendly. After checking in at the hotel he asked if we'd like to know a good place to eat and to join him a his house for a smoke of the local hash-hish afterwards. Now I'm not really a smoker but I'd also heard about Morrocan hospitality so it seemed like a good offer as well. Then the talk turned to how much we would like to buy. abdul assured us that while the police might take an interest in 4kg, 1kg was assumed to be for personal use! At this point we tried to back out of the smoking invitation so were taken to a carpet factory instead. Again I'd read about this in tourists guides and was very wary but the others were interested so we went. Actually the hard sell wasn't as bad as I expected, their ability to to be the very friendly yet hard salesman is quite phenonmenal.
Morrocan and I believe Arabic social interaction is quite
Although there was no way out of there without buying at least something, the smallest thing I could find was a small piece of musk but the following day I discovered I paid way to much for, all part of the learning expeerience. After this we were a bit more hesititant about what we were gettng ourselves into, and we'd seen quite a bit for one day already. Abdul and his friend Hussein took some offence at us not joining them for a smoke but we had begun to see this was their business, they were not guides but drug dealers. They made friends in order to make a sale, so for them they had invested a few hours showing us around and not to make a sale was for them lost investment. We escaped into our hotel where they could not follow despite the kickback they probably received for taking us there. There we met some German lads who'd been a couple of times before and gave us a few pointers about how things worked in Morroco over some late night drinks.
Next morning we woke to discover Hussein waiting for us at the door of our hotel. Some of the others had tried telling him we didn't want anything and to leave us alone but it appeared some compensation was in order for last nights lost investment. The Germans advised that 20 Dirham (A$3) was appropriate so realising that this too was a bargaining situation I opened at 10. Hussein on the other hand opened at 100. Of course before figures were even mentioned, there was a lot of talk about what they'd lost and how it would be simpler if we just bought something and me explaining that we didn't realise what we'd been getting ourselves into. Gradually I moved towards 20. In between each new offer we covered the same ground and had stand offs, with both of us refusing to budge. Then Hussein became angry and began to threaten us saying they could make trouble for us. This was clearly possible but also appeared to be an intimidation technique. Ultimately Hussein refused to take the 20 I offerred him and I refused to go higher, having been told it should be plenty, so I withdrew into the hotel. By this time we felt underseige in the hotel. The hotel owners assured us the threats were just intimidation and not to worry. We couldn't be sure but we're not going to be frightened into staying inside all day, so went down to go for a walk, saying we'd made an offer and it had been rejected. Hussein followed us along the street harrassing us just with his pressence and asking to be compensated. Eventually Patrick offerred him 50Dh which he took along with my 20 and then left us with directions to the centre of the medina (we were already lost) and a warning that if we bought of anyone else they would know and it would be trouble. That was the last we saw of Hussein but we saw Abdul that night (fearing he'd come for his share). He was quite friendly and exchanged apologies for the trouble, good cop bad cop I guess.
Anyway way after leaving Hussien we heading for the main plaza for some breakfast. On the way Max saw some architecture he wanted to sketch, so we left him for a brief wander. This was a big mistake. After looping back a couple of times we realised we were completely lost in the maze of streets that made up the medina. They all looked the same, white stone walls painted blue to about waist height. (We heard several different plausible explanations for this feature which was unique to Chefchaouen including that it made you feel cooler because blue is a cool colour and that it kept the flies away cause they thought the streets were rivers.) After about an hour of wandering around, getting more and more worried about what Max might be thinking we finally found him. He'd been enjoying himself though showing a couple of the more curious local kids the techniques of drawing. We were all hungry though and so hurried for a late breakfast.
After breakfast we found ourselves with time on our hands for the first time in Morocco. We'd been in the country nearly 24 hours and this was our first chance to the take the initiative in exploring it. We found an internet cafe and wandered around the medina taking it in at a liesurely pace, then we wandered a bit further into the wider city and were keen to climb into the snow capped mountains above the city but weren't sure if this was at all possible. We climbed up to a look out point and enjoyed the view but weren't any wiser about going beyond or higher. We found we could continue into a caravan park and a forest on the lower hillside. At this point I had some sort of spiritual moment as I felt the surrounding pressence of the trees. I had a sudden awareness of drawing energy from just being in the forest amoungst the trees, it was very rejuvenating. As I thought about it I realised that it had been quite a long time since I had been in a proper forest. I'd spent a lot of time in cities and also natural environments but most of those had not many trees. It seems there is some form of (spiritual?) energy that I draw from trees and particularly forests and that I was particularly lacking in this at that time. The others didn't feel anything so I don't know but it was pretty real for me.
We stopped for a rest and for me to soak up the atmosphere and then had to decide whether to on or back. It didn't look like it went anywhere but Max and I convinced the others to keep going. As it turned out we found a path around the hillside and into a magnificant hidden valley just above the city. The path ran along side or on top of a large pipe which collected water from high in the mountains for the city. Below the pipe was a steep slope and if you fell you would fall/roll quite a way in some parts. We weren't sure whether we could follow this right around the valley which we were keen to explore and matters were complicated when Carla told us she suffered from vertigo and wasn't sure she could make it even if we could. Luckily at that point we met a local of about our age by the name of Mustafa. He spoke good English and told us that he came this way regularly and that it was easy enough to follow the pipe all the way up the valley, at least, it is for those who don't suffer vertigo. Karla wanted to come and didn't want to split the group and force the rest of us to go back, on the other hand she was clearly pushing her own boundaries. She decided to give it a go though and I have never seen anyone overcome their fears quite like it. Her fear was obvious, she was physically shaking and her reactions were nervous and frantic. Her fears were not completely unjustified, what we were doing had an element of danger and required some caution and a good sense of balance. Carla is aparently a regular rock climber and practitioner of the martial art Aikedo so was probably at least as capable if not more so than the rest of us so her extreme fear was out of proportion. She obviously was used to confronting it though as knew if she just took it slowly she could do it. We did as much as possible to accomodate her of course but she said being too close to us made it worse so we had to keep our distance and wait while she fought her own battle. We made it to the top to find a little waterfall and a small pond and headed down the other side which was flatter and no trouble for Carla. I was very impressed at the way she handled herself, I've never seen such a powerful demonstration of mind over matter.
As well as the beautiful valley the other surprise bonus of the afternoon was Mustafa. He too was just out for a walk as he often did (funny for some reason I'd always thought that going for a walk was just a western concept). He was going the same way as us and so he joined us and we chatted as we went. At first we were a bit worried that this was going to become yet another guided tour with a surprise fee at the end but these fears were unfounded and we had our first meeting with a Moroccan that didn't have a financial component. That this was possible for travellers was reassuring in itself and of course it was fascinating to get local knowledge from him and talk about life with an 'everyday Moroccan' who wasn't part of the tourist industry.
Hammam
shave
Fes
pastilla
hotel terrace breakfast
general impressions and contrast old and new
Marrakesh
busiest square
vibrant and lively but no old and new contrast
high atlas
As we also managed to discover without paying much money, it has some great scenery. We took a local bus to the atlas moutains and had a night in a local hotel while we decided what to do the following day. We turned doznt he hoteliers offer of a guide and a mule (donkey) to carry our stuff and set off on our own for a two day trek. We climbed up a pretty river valley and some rocky scree slopes. Walked through some large patches of snow on the top and got sunburnt sliding down the other side. we stayed with some locals in a small mountain village, slept on the floor, squatted over the hole in the ground toilet and watched live euopean football on their satilite TV! Morrocans love TV, a home owners no. 1 status symbol. The enxt day we completed the loop qnd got invited by a local woman for lunch, payment a couple of t-shirts, picked up our baggage and caught a taxi back to Marakesh. So yeah, we found our way without too much trouble.
Essouera
bus talk with muslim about religion
art town, indigenous
chill out and shave, ahmed
Casablanca
hasan II mosque
Fes
unofficial palaces, better but more expensive
free bike storage
ride to meknes
maknes tangier tarifa in one day
final reflection
posted by James Tonson | 10:46 pm
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