don't be such a souk...

Not a lot to say about Marrakech - didn't turn out to be quite as nice as I'd hoped.

The parasites who feed off the tourists are particularly unpleasant and are barely able to disguise their blatant lies and dishonesty.

Not being a fan of markets full stop - I'm now wondering why I went as Marrakech is basically just a huge market place full of exactly the same things you find in every other Moroccan market.

I was more than happy to say goodbye and return to Fez!






marrakech museum.


medina market.






madrassa.


nightly food stalls - best tasting food i've yet had in morocco.


belgian bert - random from my hotel to hang out with.


marrakech main square.

slumming it by the sea

Having a couple of days relaxing by the sea in a small town on the south central coast of Morocco called Essaouira.

Not much to report so here are some snapshots!


essaouira


essaouira door


another


met up with Robert, a mate from Sydney


another door!


harbour


seashore


super!


bigbird

don't say it - it's a misquote.

Briefly in Casablanca - mainly to break up a long journey from Fez to a beach town called Essaouira on the south-west coast.

It was a hot 4 hour train ride from Fez (which has one of the nicest railway stations I've seen in a long time!)


fez station

Arriving in Casablanca I immediately set off after checking into my hotel to walk to the Hassan II mosque on the sea front. It is the second largest mosque in the world - the largest being in Saudi Arabia I believe.

There are remnants of French influence in the crumbling architecture as well as in the numerous patisseries and boulangeries.

Walking back to my hotel I was also able to meander through the Medina.

Below are a selection of photos and details from the mosque.

tales from the kasbah pt.1

After Gondar in Ethiopia I briefly returned to Addis to fly to Morocco.

Sniffing out good deals as I am wont to do, I discovered a cheap flight (by around $500ish) that went via Dubai and London. It also entailed a 24 hour stopover in London which was perfect as I needed to replace some worn out trekking gear. It also gave me a chance to catch up with my Aunt and Uncle who live there and who I hadn't seen in many years.

But hardly had my feet touched the ground than I was off again touching down in Fez in Morocco.

I am only here a couple of days as I will return to Fez in a week or so after seeing some of the south. I am staying in the Medina - the very oldest part of Fez, and have already ventured into its maze of alleyways.

Last night whilst looking for a restaurant I was dragged by a one armed Moroccan man through the labyrinthian laneways, up steep alleys and around a myriad of twists and turns to a secluded restaurant where he insisted I buy him tea! Morocco apparently is full of this behaviour. So I ordered him a tea and threw 10 dirham (about a dollar) on the table and left him to it.

Heading to Casablanca after breakfast.


fez souk


souk again


light


fez decoration


clock


door


fez window

guess where?

clue: that's Nelson up there...

gondar gander

Gondar, I was informed, had two things to see. One was the castle complex or Royal Enclosure (containing a mixture of castle like buildings, palaces and churches) - and a statue of Emperor Tewodros.

I found a cheap hotel about 100m from the Royal Enclosure entrance, and after checking in wandered down to check out the 'castles'   I had to wait half an hour whilst a ferocious thunder and hail storm rained down on the ruins, then, as often happened in the north, the sun came out for a few hours which was more than enough time to wander around the walled site and look at the various buildings.  

Whilst there it was amusing to stop and watch an Ethiopian pop video being filmed in front of one of the larger buildings.  








no. 1 in the making


my gondar local

The statue was in the middle of town so was hard to miss!