October 26-28, 2009 - Marrakech, Morocco.
These 3 days made up what will probably be one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life. I had a lot of firsts: traveling to Africa, riding a camel, going to a Muslim country, seeing a real life snake charmer, even doing a double decker bus tour. Shit, I didn’t even drink during the entire time we were there! That says a lot, by my standards.
Seriously though, I think I achieved a new state of calm in Marrakech. There was this one moment during our first night in Marrakech that was so simple, but I don’t think I will ever forget it. I was lying down, just reading The Wild Things in the nook of the rooftop terrace after a day of going through the souks, eating delicious tagines and couscous, being pampered head to toe in a hammam, and experiencing a night in Plaza Djemma el Fna, and I just had this moment where I was completely and utterly content with life. Even with the constant calls from the men in the markets of “Konnichiwa!” and “Japanese?” (which I attributed to the likelihood that Japan is their only/most common conception of Asia) That moment was just perfect.
I would elaborate further, but there’s just too much and it’s getting too late that I’m just going to list out my experience in Marrakech:
- Being stuck in passport control for an hour after our ONE EURO flight because we didn’t know the process and no one would explain it to us
- Finally getting to our “hostel” aka riad aka beautiful Moroccan courtyard home
- Not knowing what was going on for our first hour since we didn’t bring a guidebook, we didn’t have a map, and the only person in our riad was the cleaning lady who only spoke French (but turned out to be one of the sweetest women in the world)
- Moroccan mint tea!
- The friendly Canadians who showed us around
- Bargaining in the souks
- The best free breakfast ever
- Getting scrubbed down and basically bathed in the hammam
- Streetfighting, storytelling, henna artists, medicine men, and the outdoor food booths that fill the Plaza Djemma el Fna by night
- Literally having the waiters at every food booth do everything possible to get you to eat at theirs, finally going back to the #26, the first one we saw, and being greeted by applause and handshakes, eating delicious food, and taking pictures with our super friendly waiter
- The best fresh-squeezed orange juice of my entire life, and the smiling man in the stall who rewarded his loyal customers with extra OJ
- Taking in the sun and the sights on top of the double decker tour bus
- Driving through the Ourika Valley and being continually amazed by the simple beauty of nature
- CAMELS.
- Having the most delicious tagine in the home of a traditional Berber family
- Finally seeing a dog after coming across wayy more cats than I’d like
- Crossing the sketchiest bridges and hiking up a really rocky path up a mountain, and being rewarded with the beautiful waterfalls at the top
- Squeezing in a tanning session on our last morning there, sipping on some OJ, and truly loving life
