So as a continuation of my last post, we have days 2 to 4. Lots more great things happened and I can’t wait to share them!
To reiterate: Highlights
Day 2: bus ride from hell and/or Disneyland, seeing actual game of thrones land, riding a CAMEL, sleeping under the stars in the Sahara dessert
Day 3: back to the camel again, back to the bus again, coolest hostel ever, bartering our brains out in the marketplace and ending the night smoking hookah under the stars
Day 4: train the way we should have done it, a little more shopping, Great Mosque, back to the MV!
The details:
That 7:00 am alarm came far too soon and we stumbled around on the rooftop in the still-dark night trying to find the clothes we had laid out the night before. Our breakfast was delicious. Our coffee had ginger and cinnamon in it and is probably one of the most delicious cups of coffee I have ever had. We also had rolls and this amazing fried flatbread fresh from the stove.
We met up with the rest of the group, which turned out to be entirely Semester at Sea students, about 80 of them. We piled into vans to begin what we thought would be a short drive to the desert. Nope. Not at all. We could not have been more wrong. We had unknowingly signed up for an all day drive to Zagora, which we affectionately dubbed the fake desert or baby Sahara because of its proximity to the real Sahara Desert. It is right on the edge, but not as far out as literally in the middle of the dunes.
Not only was the drive exorbitantly long, but it also was on the most winding, narrow, crazy, guardrail-less, and lawless roads I have ever seen. Our drivers did not hesitate to go halfway off the narrow concrete to pass slower cars, trucks, and bikers. We zoomed through the Moroccan countryside on the most illogically zigzagged roads you could ever imagine fearing for our lives all the while. I tried to capture it in a picture:
We stopped about every hour and a half for breaks and to buy more water. I probably went through 9 Liter bottles in a day – we were in the desert remember?
We stopped at an authentic Berber Village that has been used in tons of movies and TV shows, most notably Game of Thrones! Take a look
Then we had a lunch of more rice and couscous (food so nice they named it twice)
and continued on our merry way. We made another quick pit stop for water before really heading into the desert. Here’s a shot of my two best friends and I in front of some mountains.
After almost an entire day of travel, we arrived to our final destination, some pit stop a bit off of the road. Camels sat everywhere on the sandy ground, looking tired and grumpy. Moroccan Nomads dressed in turbans and loose dress-like outfits milled around tending to both the animals and some nervous students from our group who already had begun to mount their rides. My friends and I began to get anxious and joked that we were happy with the trip and decided we’d rather go back to the Riad instead.
The camels seemed incredibly unhappy and just as weary as us. After getting our bags from the back of the van, our group stood around awkwardly until one of the nomads beckoned me forward to the front most camel. I’ll admit I was quite freaked out, but I realized there were no other options at this point. I had already committed. So, without much grace or ceremony, I swung my leg over the camel, tried to get situated, and let the Nomad pull the rather large animal up to standing.
The rest of our group got on as well and we set off into the Sahara as the sun began to set over the desert. Yes, that does sound picturesque, but it was also horribly scary because we really had no idea who any of these people leading us into the desert were and we did not know how far to the camp.
Riding a camel is probably one of the least comfortable things I have done in my life, but I fortunately got the one with a much larger carpet-like saddle, so I hunkered in for the long haul. Eventually we all got used to the fact that we were on camels and began talking with the Nomads in garbled English/Spanish/French while taking way too many pictures.
After an hour and a half of bumping up and down on our camels, we finally saw a circle of tents and heard the unmistakable chatter of a group of Semester at Sea students. The campsite consisted of 8 large canvas tents circled around a bonfire with a larger dining-hall like tent. We also had a latrine tent further away with real toilets! I wouldn’t go as far as calling it glamping, but it could have been worse. Here is a pic of my friend in front of the campsite.
I can safely assume that all of us were quite excited to dismount our steeds and get some good food in our bellies. As the sun set, we enjoyed a lovely Moroccan dinner of vegetables, chicken, couscous, and rice. We finished the meal with tea and went outside to watch a small performance by the nomads. Around 6 of the them played several songs on their Moroccan drums. A couple of us got up and danced for a bit, but we tired quickly as it had been a long day.
My friends and I decided to sleep under the stars on the side of a dune, so we grabbed our thick blankets and picked our spot. The moon was full that night, so we didn’t even need flashlights. Our chatter died down quickly and we all fell into a deep sleep on the velvety, soft desert sand.
D3:
We woke up literally at the crack of dawn to the sun rising and quite cold sand.
We changed and packed our belongings, then met everyone back at camp for a quick breakfast of rolls and coffee. We all mounted our camels and began to head back to our vans. Most of us were a little bit sore from our ride the previous day, so it was not without a bit of grumbling, especially from the boys.
We made it back to the vans and prepared ourselves to head back the way we had came. It was another long day of driving, with a pit stop for lunch, but we made it to Marrakech in one piece.
When we arrived, around 4 pm, my roommate and I separated from our van to meet up with another group of people with whom we had planned on staying our last night in Marrakech. Although we did not exactly know where the hostel was, we already knew the secret to navigating the maze-like alleyways of Marrakech and after asking 3 different helpful strangers, we finally made it to Riad Dia. Take a look at the entrance to see why it was so difficult to find.
This Riad was even better than the one we stayed at previously. I absolutely LOVED IT. Yet again, we opted to sleep on the roof and we found all of our friends up top. We all took much-needed showers after two days of the desert and set off for another evening in the Marrakech Night Market.
The market was just as amazing and magical as the first night, but it was even more exciting to see a few of my friends experience it for their first time. We all had a blast bargaining, haggling, and giving the vendors trouble, while shopping for our various family and friends – yes Mom, I did get your Christmas present. No, I will not divulge it here!
After some more street food, we headed back to the Riad, to smoke some Hookah, enjoy more Moroccan mint tea, and then tuck in for the night.
D4:
We woke up early to make it to the station well before our train because we refused to ride second-class again –as we still had PTSD from the back-to-back, standing room only, 100 billion degree train ride to Marrakech. We bucked up to the $2 more first class fare and had literally the most opposite experience ever. The train car was roomy, air-conditioned, and it had assigned seats! We all passed out for the 3ish hours back to Casablanca.
After arriving in Casablanca, we headed to the market to finish off our supply of Moroccan dirham. A friend and I mustered energy from somewhere unknown and also stopped by the Hassan II Mosque to get our last bit of tourist out before boarding the MV and heading to Italy.
The mosque was absolutely gorgeous. Honestly, I want tile like it in my future house and everywhere I ever live.
It was also overwhelmingly large. Here’s a shot from afar.
After we tooled around the Mosque in utter shock at its beauty, the sun began to take its toll and we decided to make our way back to our floating home for some much needed shut-eye and good food. As we negotiated for a taxi ride, a driver decided to take my scarf and wrap my head in a turban, so that was cool.
We finally got a deal and headed back to home sweet MV.
I absolutely loved Morocco because it was such a different experience than any other port. This port was challenging and scary, but also very fulfilling and rewarding. We really got to test our motto of: it all works out. And it still does. The people were so friendly and hospitable. I mean how many people in New York or Los Angeles would stop what they are doing to walk you where you are going when you’re lost? The only thing I did not like would be the Moroccan stomach virus I got shortly after boarding the ship. But, if we are focusing on the positive, at least I lost 5 lbs?
Anyway the next stop was Italy and meeting some old friends 🙂 I love this trip more and more everyday and I never want it to end.
xo
paige gets around [the world] 