Note: for those of you who might be loyal blog followers, some trusted friend who shall remain nameless forgot to post my last two blog entries so these'll be a little out of order...
Yesterday was a travel day, as I had to drive back to Marrakech from Ouarzazate, and had intermittently spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do with my four-wheeled freedom while I still had it. A part of me really wanted to see the Sahara, but it was 2-3 hours in the wrong direction, plus then I'd have to drive back over the same route, so I finally rejected that idea. That left two options: returning via the same mountain pass road I'd taken (called Tizi-n-Tichka), or trying the other path about 100 km to the west (called Tizi-n-Test). I'd much rather drive in a circle than see the same thing twice, so I decided on the other road. So basically I drove in a very large circle just to see something new.
Tizi-n-Test was a hell of a drive, but God was it pretty! It started out with red volcanic rock, a very barren landscape, which went on for a while, and all I saw was the occasional signpost and RV (Europeans apparently love their RVs just as much as Americans do!), and there weren't many towns at all. After a mountain pass about an hour into the trip, the landscape became much lusher, with rolling hills and grasses, and still fairly empty. Next was a beautiful landscape with lots of trees called argan which - I am not kidding here - the goats climbed up into the trees to eat the nuts!! I had heard about it but couldn't believe I was seeing goats in trees like they were monkeys or something. What's next, horses digging tunnels?? The area looked a lot like the grassy hills of northern California with the argan trees speckled everywhere.
Next, I turned off onto the pass road, and quickly climbed up to the pass which was 6,800 feet high (the mountains of the High Atlas were 11 and 13,000 feet, which is a hell of a thought considering THIS road, unbeknownst to me, was less than two lanes wide it was about 1 1/2 in most places, and to pass another car you had to edge onto the shoulder, which was often loaded up with rocks that had fallen from higher up. In many places there was no guardrail at all. I think if I had known what I was in for, I would have seriously reconsidered it!! But since on the ascent the foothills were practically nonexistent, the views were like nothing I'd ever seen. Tremendous!
Once I crossed the pass and began descending, the landscape instantly changed. Partly overcast and dry gave way to cloudy and cold, and there was snow everywhere, including quite a bit on the road! I know how to drive in snow, but I didn't think I'd signed up for it on a narrow road with no guardrail 6,000-odd feet in the air. But the snowy landscape didn't last long, thankfully, and I kept going. The foothills went on forever but finally I made it to the bottom (still 1 1/2 lanes almost the entire way). And on to Marrakech to return the car and check into the riad. Right as I got put of the foothills and onto the plain I saw a very large storm just off to the east, which as it turned out would follow me in! I made it to the road with about 5 minutes to spare before the sky absolutely opened up and it poured. And I mean POURED, for about an hour, mixed in with hail for a good 15 minutes. I'd never seen hail go on for so long! The funniest part was, the courtyard roof of the riad is tarped, and there is a catchment system which feeds the small fountain on the ground floor. Well, that system caught the hail and sent it down to the fountain, which looked like a beer cooler after the storm!
Marrakech is by far the most touristy place I've seen on the trip so far. I don't think I've seen more than a handful of Americans so far, but this seems to be quite a draw for Europeans, who are everywhere! In my riad alone there is a German family, two British couples and a very nice Irish couple named Leo and Benna that I seem to keep running into. They are hilarious, very deadpan, and Leo is incredibly hard to understand! I think I've had an easier time with some of the French people here, which is kind of funny, probably because they speakvsp much slower. Benna will tell anyone who'll listen about the crazy woman who cut her hand to give her a henna tattoo she didn't ask for or want, then when she refused to pay an exorbitant amount chased her around the square calling her a motherfucker!! It's even funnier coming from a 60 year old Irish lady.
If Fes is the San Francisco of Morocco, Marrakech is without a doubt the New York. It's an incredibly bustling city that makes Fes look provincial. Because it's flat, there are bicycles and mopeds everywhere, even on all the narrow lanes that anywhere else would be pedestrian only. This adds significantly to the chaos as you really need to be careful of making sudden moves sincethere might be a moped right behind you. I've almost gotten body slammed a couple times already because I tend to zigzag around passing people that walk slower than I do. So word to the wise, be a very careful pedestrian in Marrakech or you might end up in the hospital!! Like Fes, there is no rhyme or reason to the streets, and most only go a block or two, so it's very easy to get lost here. There aren't many street signs, so I've taken to finding landmarks, but even then I get lost at least once every time I leave the riad!
I had a revelation on the square today: cats are the pigeons of Morocco. There are tons of strays and they are all very mangy and disgusting looking, unlike in Greece and Turkey where at least some of them could pass as pets. What's more, there are no pigeons here. Yes, that's right..no pigeons!!! I didn't even realize it until I thought about all the cats. Of course, they EAT pigeons here, which probably keeps the population in check!
Today I did the typical touristy thing and went to the museum (a restored palace, truthfully the palace part far outshone the artifacts on display, which weren't all that impressive). I also went to the medersa, or religious school, which was right next door. Again, absolutely beautiful architecture, I have taken over 600 pictures on this trip and at least 150 were in the museum and medersa combined. I'm going to use up this memory card and then some, unless Portugal is really ugly!
I'd better go for now, it's dinnertime and I'm off to the main square for street food, which is cheap and delicious. Until next time!
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