Another decent sleep, though late to start. Quite warm, and very late dinner contributed to some tossing and turning initially.
Breakfast on the terrace was fairly basic but the coffee was drinkable. We dispersed afterwards and a group of 6 of us headed towards the souk to explore.
entry to the souk
At 10:30 when we got there, it was just opening and fairly quiet, but by noon it was starting to get busy. We split up and wandered around – multiple alleyways and directions to go, lots of fun! and wares of every kind on sale.
I had fun in the spice stores but managed to restrain myself to getting only two types – karmoula, a mixture of 27 spices we’d come across in our food, and a mixture for vegetable tagine that I’ve enjoyed. Prices were very variable and negotiation was needed.
The souk filled up with tourists, and trying to find my way back to our meeting point I went by a store with coffee beans in the window – for 10 dirham (about $1.25) I got an excellent cup of “ness ness” (the equivalent of a cappuccino). The beans were ground on the spot.
I accidentally got into a section that sold chickens for meat – the conditions were execrable. Vamoosed out of there quickly and recommended to some of the other tour members to go visit – hope it puts them off for life. A quick trip back to the hotel with the rug and other purchases next and another go at the 4 flights of stairs. Ironic that after 9700 m of elevation gain cycling we are all complaining about the stairs LOL.
A few of us met up with Redouanne and Yousef, to try and get some decent prices for carpets and silver. Helene and I both bought a rug – mine small, hers larger despite saying she didn’t have room for it in her luggage! Then it was a trip to silver alley – off the main souk a bit, two corridors of silver shops side by side. What a choice! There was some serious purchasing from some of the Victoria group – one member was counting out Canadian, USD and dirhams to pay as they only took cash!
Lunch after this; I went to the cafe recommended by Kamm, the Spice Roads rep, and got a vegetarian empanada (meh) and ness ness (double the price of my last one and awful). Another point off for Spice Roads! We had a conversation this morning about the impression of the trip and none of us would ever use Spice Roads again – for easily remediable things like poor communication (why are we stopping here? What is the program for tomorrow? Could you tell us something about the place we’re in and its’ history or importance?). Sad, as the personnel on this trip are really nice people – the hotels/riads have been pretty basic, albeit we have been in smaller places but there were too frequent snafus like not enough rooms for everyone, disorganization at checkin, etc. We are all hoping we’ll get a trip evaluation questionnaire.
A couple of the Victoria ladies went back to silver alley to get more earrings for gifts and I headed towards the fish port. I knew vaguely where it was and just followed my nose… busy with people baiting hooks with sardines for the next day’s fishing (BTW those were apparently sardine balls last night in the fish “tagine”).
The harbour was full as all the boats had returned from today’s catch.
Every type of fish imaginable was available, including some fairly exotic looking stuff.
a small assortment of more usual looking fish
Near the harbour tents are set up for grilling and many people come for lunch and dinner – cannot get much fresher!
It was getting warm at this point and I was starting to flag – headed over to the tower on the medina wall which was recommended as a good viewpoint. After a few more stairs I got to a media room which had a presentation about the history of the port in alternating Arabic and French. It was cool, and the chairs were REALLY comfortable so I sat through 2 rounds of the presentation being little the wiser at the end but definitely better rested! The view from the tower was indeed good.
the harbour – the far side of the bay is popular for windsurfers as this is known to be a windy city – the city stretches all the way to the far side of the bay.
I was interested to watch the photoshoot going on in the lower left corner, on the rocks – modelling some clothes
Having resuscitated a little I trotted back to my bank’s ATM to get reinforcements – yesterday I only got enough out for the remaining tips and we are all trying to figure out what we will need and not take out too much as you cannot exchange dirhams outside of the country. Across the road was a lovely beach – huge stretch of sandy beach, and lots of people enjoying it and the hot sun. There were plenty of umbrellas and reclining chairs, I’m sure rented out. I wonder how polluted the water is.
It was quite a stark contrast to the beach on the other side of the medina, north of the souk, which I went to in the morning; also a nice sandy beach but littered with garbage.
Back through the city walls to pick up some last minute items and then to have a siesta after another round of the 4 flights of steps (my third today). They get steeper and steeper! What makes them worse is that they are very uneven, some large and some small. Tea was very welcome; the immersion heater, which in the 220 V system heats in a flash, literally under a minute, has been a godsend on this trip.
Did a practice pack to make sure everything fits in – it does, no problem – then a last wash as I calculated I’ll need 3 more days of clothes. Happy hour at 6 on the terrace upstairs was lovely – there is a heavy sea mist now and it’s cooled nicely. Some enterprising members of the group found a liquor store on their travels and picked up supplies. Dinner was at a restaurant within walking distance, where we were serenaded by a duo with a guitar and violin singing Spanish songs – talented duo. The dinner itself wasn’t fabulous – there was an eggplant starter which was fabulous, a seafood pastilla and then a chicken pastilla, main course of grilled prawns was overdone, sadly, and came lukewarm; dessert of Moroccan pastries was pretty meh.
This is the last dinner with our guides – they both live in Marrakesh and will be travelling in the vans tomorrow but I am sure will be very thankful to be back with their families afterwards. They have never done a two week tour before and I suspect won’t again as it’s too long to be away. They have been unfailingly helpful, cheerful, and supportive with big smiles every day – and are amazing riders.
group photo at last lunch, with all the staff
our star – best lunches ever, produced by our cook Hassan
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