Today we woke in our Saharan tent home and I went out for a private walk around the sand dunes. Then we watched the sunrise over the dunes. A nice older Moroccan man helped me take a bunch of pictures and then, sadly and predictably, asked me for money. Breakfast was your standard fare, then we hopped on buses and drove away from the desert. After a few tourist-y stops, we arrived in the Draa Gorge for our longest hike of the trip, a 6-mile and 4-hour hike up and around the Gorge, which reminded me of Red Rocks or of Utah. About 2/3 of the way up the gorge we encountered our first Nomad family, living in and around the trail in literal caves, and farming goats, the youngest of which were still in a small enclave built of rock, and the older ones littered around the hillside, with an elder watching them. This subsistence lifestyle still exists up here. It was cool but I also I felt very odd and conspicuous essentially parading past these humans as if they were a zoo exhibit. The hiking was great and I feel like I finally got a chance to really stretch my legs a bit. I honestly would have preferred even more hiking, both today and on this trip in general. I think the problem is that we’re spending a lot of time in buses so there just isn’t much time for it.
This - the Draa Gorge - was one of the first times that I also felt like I was sharing my tourism with what I would describe as “local tourists”; actual Moroccans who were from the city or at least somewhere else in Morocco and were just here to see the nature and have a day trip. I don’t get the sense that Moroccans have much of a travel culture and that includes even inside their own country; I asked Abdoul about it and he confirmed that Moroccans just don’t think about travel the same way we do in the west. I wonder how much of that is cultural and how much is just plain socioeconomics.
There are a lot of tourists at this hotel with us and it’s a bit jarring to be honest. It’s odd because it feels very remote, and it was a bit of a struggle to get to, hiking over a river and such, but then you turn the corner and…bam. A bunch of Germans and Australians all lounging by a pool and loudly arguing over luggage. Everyone - or almost everyone - here is part of some tour group of some kind.
Without Further Ado: Top 10 Awesome Things About Morocco:
1) The 5 daily calls to prayer are weird and wonderful to an American ear, like some kind of natural clock. I never heard all 5 in a day, but that’s probably because we were often out in nature. But when we did hear them they would ring out unmistakably.
2) There’s a real lack of commercialism. There’s just not as much advertising, no billboards to speak of,
And very few brands. It’s been a whole week and I haven’t had a single Diet Coke - they’re available if you really look hard, but nobody pushes that kind of thing on you. Don’t get me wrong, Moroccans do like to hustle and make a buck, but there’s less of the Western-style advertising and brand loyalty and manufactured need to buy products. That might be partly socioeconomic, but I’ve been in places that were even more poor where there still felt like a lot of brands.
3) No booze. Of course maybe for some this would be a minus, but for me it’s been nice to take a break and remind myself I don’t need it. As with the Diet Coke, it’s available if you really look hard, but you almost have to be in a big city or somewhere catering to French tastes, and it’s never available in restaurants.
4) The weather has been sublime - in general. It started out too cold, which I definitely wasn’t expecting, but at this point it’s just perfect, chef’s kiss.
5) The Saharan sand dunes are amazing. The color and texture of the sand are just what you’d imagine. I’ve seen sand like this before - most notably up near Florence, Oregon. But still: very cool.
6) The bike riding is really great, the roads are clean and well-paved and I felt very safe. I could easily see biking through this country.
7) I felt very safe the whole time.
8) The people are unfailingly kind and helpful. Yes, of course, that’s because I’m a rich tourist, but still: they are.
9) Everything is really cheap. Especially food.
10) Life here feels very real and raw and close to the surface. I think there’s just a lot less artifice, a lot less dependence on modern ways of defining the self and just in general more stability. Not so much TV, or people glued to their phones. Those things are here, but…less so.
Top 6 Not As Awesome Things About Morocco:
1) They don’t seem to believe in separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom. In a hotel setting, the shower just simply “exists” in the same space as the toilet, the sink, etc. And yes, that means water just kind of sprays all over everything. I don’t quite get it. Also Moroccan bars of soap don’t lather up. They are actually quite odd. Maybe I just don’t know how to use them but they just kind of crumble when you get them wet.
3) While it isn’t as bad as some other places, panhandling and its related ilk became a problem at times. People asking if they can take your picture and then asking for money. Offering to sell you cheap bracelets. Etc., etc.
4) The architecture is…a bit dull. That’s a personal preference, of course, and sometimes it can be interesting, but they are oddly obsessed with a particular color of pinkish red (most probably because it’s the way the dirt makes bricks, but in this day and age it’s become an artistic choice) and a lot of the structures and buildings look…functional. Now, to be clear, the *interiors* are often quite nice, but the exteriors can be a bit dull to my eyes.
5) A bit too much desert for my tastes. But then I knew that going in.
6) The food is…good, but…uh, how should I put this - it’s a bit boring. I’m not clear on whether that’s a product of this specific tour or that’s just how Moroccan cuisine is but uh…I’m not going home and looking for a Moroccan restaurant. And the tagine is a really cool way to make food but every tagine meal has been potatoes, chicken, peas, tomatoes and olives roasted together, which is tasty but…we’ve eaten it a lot.
Tomorrow we head back to Marrakesh. I can’t believe the trip is almost over. It feels like I just got my bearings.
