Morocco: A 3 Hour Tour
- Cara
- Dec 16, 2017
- 10 min read
According to urban dictionary, a 3 hour tour is "when something takes much, much longer than you thought it would, a reference to Gilligan's Island." That accurately describes our days touring through Morocco with Gate 1 Travel. Continuing where I left off in my previous blog, Rabat You Talkin Bout Willis, we arrived in Fes (not Fez, that’s a hat), on Saturday evening for a 2 night stay at Barcelo Fes Medina. A short walk brought us to Isla Blanca Lounge where we shared rose sangria, a delicious meal (I had the smoked salmon tagliatelle), scrumptious dessert, and a lot of cigarette smoke. The band was just getting started and the hookah firing up as we were leaving, but our early and tiring touring schedule left us out of the nightlife scene. The following night we took a taxi to the gorgeous Restaurant Lounge MB where I enjoyed local wine from Meknes and a fish over black rice risotto (with the French menus I’m never completely sure what I’m eating), and if we could eat their chocolate sphere every night we would have.
The following day, we participated in the optional full-day Fes tour offered by Gate 1 Travel which cost an additional $49 if booked in advance which includes entry fees and lunch. We boarded the bus at 8:30 am after included breakfast into our new assigned seats. A short drive to our first stop overlooking the medina passed the American Fondouk, a non-profit providing free veterinary care to the working donkeys, mules, and horses of Fes since 1927. My particular animal and medical interests would have brought me inside which seems to be possible though not included on our tour. From our vantage point at a mosque outside of the medina, we could see the oldest existing and continually operating school (or madrasa in Arabic) in the world, University of al-Karaouine founded in 859 AD. We learned that public education through university including room and board is provided free yet attendance is low while illiteracy rates remain high as children are needed to work in most families. Both the aforementioned veterinary practice and the school were founded by women, hashtag girlboss.
Next we traveled into the busy medina which is home to 80,000 people with 9400 unnamed streets and alleys divided into 220 neighborhoods each containing the following 5 elements: primary school, mosque, bakery, public fountain, and a hammam or spa. We saw the donkeys collecting trash from the doorsteps (okay a person collected it and placed it into a basket on the donkey) alongside the typical wooden Moroccan doors containing separate knockers for family versus visitor (so the women know if they need to cover up) and Fatima or Hamsa hand symbolism for protection. The exterior of the buildings was otherwise unremarkable with exterior space being enclosed and covered with ironwork designs as the women are not meant to be seen uncovered as they would be in their home. The alleyways can be very tight, and the high 3 foot thick adobe walls made to keep the area cool in the usually hot weather led to a shaded and cold day despite warmer temps outside. Once inside, a typical Moroccan home or building would be very ornate with detailed mosaic tile, marble floors, arched openings, carved cedar décor, and a central fountain or washing area. We stopped for a while in the Al-Attarine Madrasa, an intricately designed school and surrounding dormitories built in 1325. We passed the Moulay Idriss II mausoleum and waited among the crowd for a glimpse inside as non-Muslims are not allowed to enter. We also visited the Nejjarine Museum of Wood Arts and Crafts, a beautiful former market place and center of commerce complete with large measuring scales. Admittedly, I was too tired and cold at this point to enjoy it and unfortunately missed the rooftop views. We also stopped for a large included Moroccan lunch at Restaurant La Medina which seemed to be set up for tour groups though provided us with our own cute private room upstairs.
The market is a vibrant and busy area of Fes medina and is divided into separate areas depending on what is being sold such as fish, meat, fruit, olives, sweets, silver, blacksmith or clothing. We did not stop at any of the souk stalls, but rather were brought to recommended indoor shops for carpet and leathers. The carpet shop was a lovely example of the traditional interior of a former home as we were treated to tea and a restroom stop along with information about the carpet designs and how they are used on both sides depending on the season. The carpets were rolled out in a show-like fashion, and they were as beautiful as they were expensive costing around $1000 USD depending on the size, design, and your bargaining skills. Ultimately there was not much interest and the time was spent dodging persistent salesmen and getting off our feet for a while. At the tannery later in the afternoon, we learned about the leather dying process and were able to see the numerous large vats being used below from the multilevel shop. Despite the smell for which we were given mint to cover, it was very interesting to see the white vats of limestone and ammonia rich pigeon droppings where the skins are placed for 2 weeks to remove the hair followed by the colorful vats containing natural plant components used to dye the leather. Again, I sat patiently while a few shopped but wasn’t particularly interested in the items.
Our afternoon continued on the bus (once we found all of our group members), heading to our next destination, the Jewish quarter. We visited a beautiful Jewish cemetery, but I was not able to spend as much time there as I would have liked as the group was getting restless by this point and wished to move on. Then we walked through the former Jewish quarter where you can see balconies, notably different from the enclosed Muslim areas, but otherwise it was a busy and crowded marketplace of which we had experienced plenty that day. Lastly, we were back on the bus to the exterior of the Royal Palace where you wait for your chance among the tourists taking the same photo in the doorways. I was grumpy by this point but managed to smile for mine. The day finally ended with another photo op of the city where my guide excelled at taking jump photos for us. Ultimately this tour was very long and full of tourist traps but considerably more comfortable and informational than going without a guide. Had Gate 1 asked in the follow-up survey, I would have suggested they shorten this to a half day which I feel could have been done, warn travelers of the cooler temperatures inside the medina, cut out the woodcraft museum, and be upfront about the shopping detours. Of course this tour is optional and there certainly are other ways to spend a day in Fes including hiring your own local guide for a tour more catered to your interests and desired time spent at each stop.
Our entire next day was spent driving from Fes to Marrakech, a 6 hour drive with stops for the restroom and lunch. We had a brief orientation tour from the bus upon arrival including warnings about the pickpockets and taxi scams before checking into Hotel Kenzi Farah for a 2 night stay. The honking cars of Fes were replaced with the clickety clack of hooves as horse-drawn carriages are a popular way to get around the Red City. Gate 1 offers an optional carriage ride through the city and dinner with music and belly dancers for $65 which we did not do. Instead we had our guide make a reservation for us at the local hammam spa where awkwardness and hilarity ensued for 90 minutes. Along our walk we went from the luxury shopping and hotel district to the chaos of a bustling city where the busy sidewalks force you into the streets filled with speeding motorbikes. For dinner we chose casual dining on the balcony at Arganna where my seafood pasta was just ok but my friends loved the Moroccan chicken pastilla or meat pie. After waiting too long to get ice cream at their shop below, we walked through the nighttime scene at Djemma el Fna Square dodging vendors and snake charmers on our way home.
The next morning we took the optional half day Marrakech tour offered by Gate 1 for $29. Included breakfast at Kenzi Farah was the best of our trip, and of course we were up and out early for the tour. We started by visiting the gardens and fountain outside of the Koutoubia Mosque, the largest in Marrakech, where we learned how the mosques are supported by a portion of the rent from the surrounding souks. Our next stop was to the Bahia Palace and gardens built in the late 1800s by the prime minister of the sultan and included courtyards, meeting rooms, and harem apartments for his concubines. The most impressive design features at the palace were the intricate ceilings. After walking through the high walled medina, we continued back in time to the 16th century Saadian Tombs where we learned about Muslim burial practices such as being buried on their side facing Mecca and taking up less space. We then hit the popular tourist trap of oil and spice shopping in a space more classroom than shop for a lecture and demonstration by a well-spoken gentleman wearing a lab coat, so he must be a scientist right. We learned about the expensive prickly pear oil and of course Moroccan argan oil along with many other lotions and potions with which we all filled our baskets. Argan oil is available in the souks and among the street vendors but reportedly is not as pure as what this place has. Never sure who to trust, I ultimately did my shopping here as they did take credit cards and my local currency was running low. They were even so kind as to quickly deliver cloths I needed for the natural decongestant I purchased right to my hotel when I forgot to get them at the time. Our tour ended back in the busy main square where some people could enjoy free time while others continued with the optional afternoon tour which included a couscous cooking demonstration, lunch, Marrakech Museum, and Majorelle Botanical Gardens for $69. We did not take the tour and spent a little time in the souk market and finally got some ice cream at Arganna. My friends went to lunch for more pastilla followed by a camel ride while I went back to the hotel to rest by the pool. We did end up moving rooms later that day due to the warmth and lack of temperature control (the A/C is off in the winter months), but the hotel was very accommodating. We started our night with drinks at the Sofitel’s So Lounge, a beautiful indoor/outdoor club which was empty on an early Tuesday evening. Marrakech is known as a popular weekend retreat for partygoers and luxury seekers from Casablanca though we never really got to experience the nightlife. We continued to dinner at the beautiful and expensive La Mamounia Hotel’s Restaurant L’Italien where I greatly enjoyed their Tuna Carbonara risotto, all walkable from our hotel.
Our final full day had us driving into Casablanca in the morning over a couple of hours. The city was covered in a cloudy haze as we approached due to the wind picking up and blowing the dusty sand around. The streets were jammed with traffic but our driver got our huge bus through somehow and we stopped first at the Notre Dame de Lourdes Cathedral along with all the other buses. Next we went down to the seaside known as the Corniche just as the first rain in 6 months started to fall. We had lunch at Tropicana where the bus dropped us which turned out to be one of the worst meals of the trip from the poor service more interested in pulling tourists off buses and into their section than serving those already seated to waiting long after my companions were served to receive my pizza which had a hair cooked into it. I was surprised by the option to visit the interior of the Hassan II Mosque for an additional fee of around $12 USD which per our paperwork was listed as closed to afternoon tours due to winter prayer times. With the beach being unpleasant due to the wind and cooler weather, I joined the group going to the mosque despite being toured out and running low on cash. Hassan II Mosque is the largest in Morocco and 13th largest in the world. The beauty of the grand mosque along the sea can be appreciated without a ticket from the outside. This is the only mosque available for non-Muslims to visit in Morocco and tour times are limited to accommodate daily prayers. Once inside, shoes are removed and long clothing must be worn though head covering is not required. The tour included the large main prayer room with balconies for the women and retractable roof followed by the separate ornate washrooms downstairs. The mosque holds 25,000 worshipers inside and another 75,000 people outside. We had our final dinner at Rick’s Café from the movie Casablanca, though the movie was not filmed here and the restaurant never existed. We were able to see from reviews that they are very picky at the door as to who they let in based on attire and reservations are recommended. We were pleasantly surprised at the food and prices which were better than expected at such a tourist trap. Our trip concluded with a 4:15 am departure for the hour long drive to the airport for a 7:20 am flight after a night of no sleep listening to the busy street noise and coughing up desert dust.
Overall, this was an excellent albeit fast paced trip. It was a lot of early mornings and long days of sightseeing with inconveniences inherent with tour group travel. 33 people getting their hotel keys takes a while. So does gathering luggage, breakfast buffet lines, and going to the bathroom. I waited in places I wasn’t interested in seeing or shopping in while I was rushed through or didn’t have time to see places I was. When I would get annoyed, I just had to remind myself of the extremely low cost considering all that was included. Though tour groups are not my thing nor would I frequently travel this way, they definitely have perks such as saving on planning time, meeting new people, safety in numbers, and the guidance of trusted locals in an unfamiliar land. Gate 1 did an excellent job in putting this trip together as did our tour manager Sninat and our many local guides, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone just with the normal caveats of group travel. I mean, where else can you find all this for such a reasonable price:
-UNESCO World Heritage Sites seen: 4 (+/-) Rabat is listed as one site but includes the ruins at Chellah, Hassan Tower, and the Kasbah Ouydaya with Medina Gardens; Volubilis in Meknes (listed as 2 separate sites); Fes Medina; and Marrakech Medina
-Amazing meals: 4.5 (Isla Blanca and Restaurant MB in Fes, Restaurant L’Italien in La Mamounia Hotel Marrakech, Restaurant La Grillardiere Meknes, and just the couscous at Hotel Belere in Rabat)
-Delicious Moroccan Mint Tea: I lost count past my fingers and toes
-Awkward Hamman Experiences: 1 which was more than enough
-And finally friendships and memories to last a lifetime
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