Morocco

I apologize for my recent absence from the blogging world, but it's been a crazy month. I traveled to Morocco for 10 days, then Micol came to Cairo, then we went to Ethiopia, then Mimo left and then my parents arrived. The 'rents are gone for a few days so I have time to update y'all on my adventures.

I want to start this one with a note to the world...if I ever speak of hiking a 14,000 foot mountain on a whim again, please try and stop me. I doubt it would work, but at least try instead of telling me that it sounds awesome, or get some good pictures, etc. It was awesome and I would maybe do something like it again, more on it later.

I began my trip to Morocco on a train from Casablanca to Marrakech. I heard that there isn't much to see in Casablanca so I didn't want to waste my time there. Marrakech was interesting, reminded me of a small Cairo. There was a huge market in the center of the Medina that was open all hours of the day. I often found myself wandering around the city looking at different Mosques and ruins and eventually winding up back in the market place. I ate most of my meals in the market at little stands, other stands sold amazing fresh squeezed OJ, there were monkeys and there trainers, African dancers, belly dancers and I even got to play with some snakes and watch a "dancing" cobra. The vendors in Marrakech were rather aggressive in trying to get me to buy things, but negotiating was pretty easy and I was proud of my skills. The exchange rate was very much in my favor, $1 US was 7.7 Dirhams. Things were priced reasonably, little more expensive than Cairo, but I could eat for $3 per day. Life would pick up at night once it cooled down a little, the market turned into a huge gathering place and street performers were found all over the piazza. I spent two days in Marrakech and was ready to leave, it was an interesting place, and the more I look back on it the more I really do love the place, but I was anxious to climb Mt. Toubkal.

I took a grand taxi from Marrakech to Imlil, the tiny Berber town at the bottom of the hiking trail. A grand taxi, does not mean some sort of limo or luxury ride. It means at least 6 people plus the driver in a mid 90s Mercedes. In Morocco there are petit taxis which are smaller Peugots and such that will carry single passengers around the cities, a grand taxi is meant for longer trips and usually has to have at least 4 passengers before it will leave, and by at least 4 I mean usually carries 6-10 people.

It was recommended that hikers spend a day in Imlil to acclimate to the high altitude. In Imlil it was walnut harvesting time. Men would climb the trees and get out on the thin branches and start beating the different branches with a really long stick. The stick was obviously made for walnut harvesting. Women would collect the walnuts from the ground and bag them. Kids would participate in both activities and when the harvesting was done for the day, they would collect rocks and throw them at any remaining walnuts. It was a really cool thing to see. Harvesting was not just happening in the town, but all up and down the valley I had to hike up. While looking for a place to eat, we (I was with a woman from England who I met in the grand taxi) stopped at a butcher shop to observe the locals' activities. The meat was fresh, the goat head was sitting on the ground in front of the shop. The butcher told we could take pictures and then asked me if I was Chinese. I know a number of you are cracking up right now (especially Zach and Jenna), but I don't think it was just because of my eyes, I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that the Brit was of Chinese decent. For dinner that night, we ended up eating in a little restaurant right next to a butcher shop, I ordered fresh kofta. The butcher brought over the meat and then it was cooked for me, very few things have tasted as good as fresh meat kofta.

So the hike, it began ok, I made decent time. It's supposed to take 5 hours, I made it in 6. The hike twisted up from the valley floor and followed the river bed until it reached an Arab Muslim holy site. There is a big white rock that covers a small portion of the river that is said to be a healing site for all ailments. Only Muslims are allowed to cross the bridge that leads to the rock covered holy site. From this tiny town the trail begins to really climb uphill until the refuge where everyone sleeps for the night. The refuge is at 3,000+ meters in elevation. The air was much thinner and it made hiking the last 2 hours pretty tough. I was exhausted by the time I made it, but pretty happy with what I had accomplished. All that was left until the summit was 1 night's sleep and then a 3-4 hour hike up another 1,000 meters in elevation.

Day 2 of the hike began at 6am, clouds move in much thicker in the early afternoon than in the morning. The climb up to the summit, SUCKED!!! The air was really thin and the climb was very vertical. I had to stop every 15 minutes or so and catch my breath. I eventually made it to the summit and wow it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! I was above the clouds, I could look south and see the mountains slowly fade into the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert. When people ask what is your greatest lifetime accomplishment, I never knew what my answer was, but now I have an idea. Hiking to the summit of the 36th most prominent peak in the world carrying my own bag (f00d, water, etc.) and without a guide may be it. My flight home from Baltimore to Buffalo flew at 15,000 feet; when I was on the summit I was within 1,000 feet of that plane. After hanging out on the summit for a little, it was really cold and windy, it had snowed on the summit two days before I climbed and there was still some snow left, I began my trek back to Imlil. By the time I got back to Imlil it was 6pm, I had been hiking for 12 hours that day. My legs were tired and my knees were killing me from the pressure put on them of the hike down the mountain. I did get some great pictures and was really happy with my accomplishment (great weight loss regiment by the way, I think I lost about 10 pounds in the 2 days).

The hike took place in Berber areas of Morocco. This made for interesting conversations and interactions along the trail. At certain points there were little shacks Berbers had opened to sell souvenirs and drinks. Every time I approached one, the men working would ask if I had anything to trade them. They were especially interested in clothes with American labels and US cell phones. Trading with them was tough, I tried a Nike shirt, but they were willing to give me far too little in return.

From Imlil I headed back to Marrakech so I could catch a train the next morning to Fes. I had to take a grand taxi part way to Marrakech and then switch to another one. This grand taxi was a Mercedes station wagon so when we left Imlil there were 4 of us in the back seat, two in the front, the driver and one in the trunk with all the luggage. I thought it was as full as it could be, but I was wrong. A man flagged down the taxi and got in the front seat, not on the passenger side, but on the driver's side. The driver was basically sitting on his lap flying around winding mountain roads. A couple of times I thought we might die and one time so did the Moroccan next to me, but I eventually made it back to Marrakech alive and in one piece.

Fes was an interesting city. The medina was a tight packed mess of alleys and narrower alleys. Cars could not fit so there were many push carts and mules in the road. The medina was mostly markets, the famous tanneries and some Mosques. The tanneries were pretty interesting to look down on from the roof of a neighboring building. The men were basically doing the I Love Lucy grape smashing dance with hides in washing solutions and dye solutions. The dyes were very vivid in different colors, especially the red. The medina of Fes is rather confusing, but not at all like what the guide books say. They all recommend bringing a compass and preparing yourself to pay a kid to lead you out of the maze, but in reality only an idiot would have to do that. The city is built on hills (didn't know this when I planned on going there after mountain climbing, let's just say my legs were not happy with me!), the medina is the center of everything at the bottom of all the hills, so...in order to get out of the maze, just walk uphill. Not to hard of a concept to grasp.

I stayed with a family while I was in Fes, a kid asked if I was looking for a hostel and I told him yes and the price I wanted to pay and he brought me to this house. It was great, they were learning English so one of the kids had to be the translator. I helped them with English and they helped me with Arabic and tried teaching me some French.

After Fes I headed to Rabat. In all of Morocco the French legacy was unbelievably obvious, but no where that I was was it more obvious than in Rabat. The capital looked like a European city and many people spoke French with each other rather than Arabic. The city itself was kind of boring, almost too clean and pristine for me. The market was ok, nothing different or special than in the rest of Morocco, but the one thing that Rabat had that I hadn't seen yet was beaches. I decided spending some time on the seashore and relaxing in the sun was a well deserved break before heading back to the insanity and dirtiness of Cairo.

Well it was time to head home to Cairo, I had an entire row to myself so I slept the best I ever have on an airplane. I was excited to get back to Cairo, not only was I heading home and to somewhere where I knew where to find food and a place to sleep, but Micol was on her way and was arriving within 24 hours of me!