This is it: the last post recapping my trip to Morocco with Intrepid Adventures. Thanks for following along on my journey!
- Day 1: Travel and Casablanca
- Day 2: Casablanca and Rabat
- Day 3: Meknes and Volubilus
- Day 4: Chefchaouen
- Day 5: Fes
- Day 6: Midelt
- Day 7: To the Desert
- Day 8: I get to ride a camel!
- Day 9: Hiking and more oranges
- Day 10: Watch your step!
- Day 11: Drive to Marrakesh
The power continued to flicker while I was getting ready in the morning–I had to take part of my shower in the dark. Breakfast was “on the rooftop”, but I had some trouble finding it, as the riad I was staying at had a variety of different areas which were all connected on the ground floor, but not on the higher floors, so I went up and down a few sets of stairs before finding the correct ones to the rooftop. It was a lovely view from the top!
They brought out jams, cheese, eggs and Moroccan crepes for me to eat. Plus lentils (!) and fresh squeezed orange juice. The coffee was frankly terrible, but the rest of was lovely.
Eggs and a crepe.
Can you see the stork nest on top of that tower?
More pictures from the rooftop. You can see the mountains in the background as well.
I love this selfie with the sunlight.
Going back downstairs into the Riad.
After breakfast we all met up for a walking tour in the morning. We visited the Bahia palace, which had a lot of beautiful ceilings of painted wood. The guide was good but he annoyed by asking us too many questions rather than just telling us. (Why don’t you just tell me the name of the movie you want to see?)
This was painted wood. Absolutely exquisite, and gave me lots of ideas for my own home.
We trailed the guide through the Medina and the souks after that, which was a bit unnecessary in my opinion as we had already seen then. We had an interesting visit to an apothecary where we learned about spices and creams and oils and then of course were encouraged to buy some things. I did, as they were cool and had good prices 😉
We all got some fresh squeezed juice then, not just oranges, but a mix. And then we were free! To do our own thing. I did feel like I was tired of being in the group and tired of walking tours by this point, and I needed some me time. I headed out completely on my own, and it was great!
I had been worried about being bothered by the shopkeepers and other people, but I was fine. I bought a striped scarf from a nice shop (where I tried to negotiate but I’m sure I overpaid). Then I got a vegetable triangle pastry which was okay, and then saw these mixed meat sandwiches that Travis from our tour had mentioned and I had also seen in the Lonely Planet guide, so that was my lunch.
Eating the sandwich, on the street in Marrakesh. All by myself.
I decided what I really wanted to do that afternoon, then, was visit a hamman. I went to Hamman Mouassine, also from the Lonely Planet guidebook. It was described as a very traditional hamman, and that sounded like a great experience.
You get there by walking down a sketchy feeling alley lined with wood, which is used for the furnace to heat the…water and floors? Whatever magic is happening then. It’s all very old. I found a few other blog posts you can read to learn more about the place from a different perspective than my own. Anyway, I walked into the place and there were a lot of women sitting around. Nobody spoke English very well or hardly at all, but between some English, some French, and pointing, I signed up for a hamman and a 30 minute massage. (A hamman is a bath).
They gave me a basket and slip on rubber sandals and said to get undressed except my underwear and put everything in the basket and then into a locker. At least I thought they did, and then I started worrying that would have done it wrong as I needed to put my stuff in the locker while being mostly nude right by the entrance! (Women only) This seemed correct though. Things I regretted, not bringing a ponytail holder for my hair and bringing a change of underwear with me.
I stepped into the hamman area and there were a few women bathing or being bathed. I think you could just pay a small fee to use the facilities on your own and scrub yourself, but I had signed up to have somebody else do it. I didn’t know what to do, but then one of the women working there motioned for me to come in. She used my key holder to put my hair up and started pouring water on me. We were on the floor, on a mat, right next to another woman being bathed.
Anyway, so she bathed me, scrubbed me all over with a glove, and who knows what else (scrubs, soaps, etc.) At the end I rested face down on the floor (which was hot) and then she washed my hair, rinsed me off, and gave me a towel. All throughout the experience the women were talking loudly to each other and of course I had no idea what they were saying, but it mostly seemed conversational.
Next was the massage. It was nice but I was again in the room with another woman. At the end the woman doing the massage left and I was alone there with the other woman who was snoring. After a bit I thought, I’m done here, and so I just got up and went back to the lobby and changing area (at least with a towel at this point). I don’t know if this was normal but they looked like it was and asked me if I wanted tea, but by this point I just wanted to get back out into the Medina.
They gave me a plastic bag with my underwear (soaked) and the glove they used on me. So there I am, dressed, hair wet and not combed, covered in oil, but clean underneath it all. My skin felt amazing! It was an experience and I’m glad I did it, but definitely bring extra underwear, a comb if you need one for your hair, and a ponytail holder if you have long hair.
I headed back towards the Riad then, but took my time and shopped a bit, where I picked up two of the prints that I now have framed in my bedroom. Back at the hotel I freshened up and also ordered a ride for the next morning to the airport. I hadn’t booked one through Intrepid so I just asked the hotel instead.
I still had time before dinner (we were all meeting for a farewell dinner) so I went to the museum right near the Riad, le MAP Marrakech – Mode des Arts de la Parure, and looked at exhibits with costumes, jewelry and other fashionable things from the past around Africa and Asia. It was probably a little overpriced for the size, but it was a very well done museum.
Then it was time to meet the group for dinner at Ait Bougumez restaurant.
I’m glad we went as a group because the restaurant would have been hard to find: it was up several flights of stairs near this pile of boxes, presumably stuff the vendors order from China and then pretend is handmade? Kidding not kidding.
We all sat on the rooftop terrace which was just warm enough with heaters. I wanted one last Moroccan meal even though they had other options, so I got moroccan soup and lamb couscous, and enjoyed both.
During the dinner, our guide Aman led the group in an overview of the entire trip where we weighed in on our thoughts and memories of the trip. It was a fun trip down memory lane, and it felt like we had been traveling together for such a long time! And I suppose we had. Two weeks is a long time.
We said our goodbyes then, tipped Aman (suggested by the Intrepid stuff, 800 mad), and then I went to bed. The power issue seemed to have settled down and the power was staying on.
Day 13: I woke up just before my 5 am alarm, finished packing (whew the suitcase was a lot fuller, and barely closed. I also had to deal with the fez and try to NOT squish it, so I had a lot going on, haha.
I went downstairs and the hotel attendant walked with me to where the car picked me up. It was still dark so I was glad to have a guide! It was as uneventful drive to the airport–hardly any traffic–and check in, immigration, security etc was very easy. I bought coffee and a mini quiche and used up most of the rest of my dirhams. We had to go through another extra security check at the gate and get rid of any liquids again, but I had realized this ahead of time so I was prepared. Then on the plane!
The way home was pretty easy, except my connection in Atlanta was significantly delayed. There was a later flight, and as we were getting on the flight, they asked for volunteers to get bumped for pay. I didn’t volunteer because I was so tired and just wanted to get home, and then…we sat on the plane for over two hours waiting on a mechanical issue to get resolved, and ended up getting home around the same time as the other flight! Louie picked me up, and that was the end of my trip.
I would highly recommend this trip through Intrepid. I absolutely loved it: any complaints were minor, or out of their control. Traveling with a group of strangers may seem weird to you, but not to me, and we were friends after a few days anyway. It was so much fun to see an entirely different culture and also experience it with other people from different countries–I learned about Australia as well as Morocco since most of the people on the trip were from Australia. And our guide Aman was fantastic, he went out of his way to make sure everybody was safe and happy and integrated into the group. I felt taken care of it at every step of the turn.
Some in the group took a hot air balloon ride the morning of the day I left–and shared pictures. Here’s one I loved.
I can’t believe this trip actually took place in January and it’s May now, because it still feels like it just happened.
I had my pictures framed and now they are up on a wall in my bedroom so I can enjoy them. The top two are from a shop on the street in Marrakesh–I also got some postcards there. The bottom one is from Ait Benhadou, where we met the artist.
I hope you enjoyed reading! Feel free to comment or ask any questions–
