Text and photos by Sahib Mustaqim Bleher
A Mathaba exclusive travel report
Morocco has very recently been granted "advanced status" by the European Union and is aiming for a customs union in 2012. Yet this fast developing country remains proud of its Islamic tradition which it not only preserves but also continues. Since the days of the original Berber inhabitants some four millennia ago, the country has seen many different people passing through and staying - Phoenicians, Romans and, finally the Arabs, not to forget numerous Sephardic Jews
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| The old inhabitants of these well preserved Roman ruins at Volubilis near Meknes are long since gone, but new ones have arrived - the abundant storks in Morocco love the pillars as nesting places |
who together with the Muslims fled there from Andalousia during the Spanish inquisition. Today’s Moroccans are thus a people of mixed races and open to foreigners.
With the arrival of Islam in the 7th century, Morocco became Islam’s important Western outpost (al-Maghrib) for centuries, excelling in both the sciences and the arts, a fact testified by well-known Muslim scholars who came from - or spent considerable time in - Morocco, for example, the renown traveller Ibn Battuta from Tangiers or the important Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun who studied in Fes. Fes is also the seat of the oldest university of the world, the al-Karaouine university and mosque, predating al-Azhar by more than a century.
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| In Marrakech traditional Moroccan culture is often on display in restaurants and other tourist locations; for real culture one should travel further |
The institution was founded by two wealthy sisters, Fatima and Mariam, who had come as refugees from Tunisia, and the historic buildings have recently been extensively restored.
Morocco’s heritage remains alive today in the rich and delicate mosaics, wood carvings and plaster work ornamenting new mosques built in the kingdom. This aspect of Morocco remains hidden to non-Muslim tourists who are not usually allowed inside the mosques, although in the grand Hassan II mosque in Casablanca they are permitted to glimpse through the entrance doors. Unfortunately, for most Europeans Morocco only means Marrakech, the erstwhile desert oasis and garrison town now turned into a tourist exhibition staged by predominantly foreign investors, mainly French and British.
The Muslim tourist, and anyone else interested in authentic culture
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| Main square at Essaouira, a pictoresque seaside town in the South of Morocco |
, should, if not avoid Marrakech altogether, venture further afield. Morocco is a vast country with quite a varied landscape and climate and worth exploring. Unfortunately, there are no longer any direct flights to other Moroccan airports from the UK, but with a transit stopover in Barcelona or Madrid it is possible to fly into Tangiers or Fes. Alternatively, travel within the country is possible by car, mini-coach or train.
At Marrakech and Fes airports, sadly not in Tangiers, one can take the bus to town at a fraction of the price of a taxi. If planning to do so, buy a bottle of water or something else useful at the airport before setting out - Moroccan Dirhams cannot be bought abroad and any bus conductor’s patience can be tested to the limit if faced with a stream of passengers wanting change after having just withdrawn wads of hundred Dirham notes from a cash machine.
Most Moroccans travel by shared taxi, usually an old battered Mercedes
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| Each quarter of the old Medina of Fes has its own gate or entrance |
filled with six people in addition to the driver. Coach travel is by far more comfortable and safer, and travel by rail is excellent and extremely cheap. If Marrakech is your point of arrival, consider an outing to the seaside town of Essaouira with its Portuguese style Medina coplete with canons on the ramparts of the sea-facing wall. Essaouira has long been a favourite hide-out of popstars and is also the annual location of the Gnaoua music festival based on the music of African slaves. Don’t miss out on the freshly caught seafood barbecued at outdoor restaurants next to the beach!
Hiring a car will allow for excursions further afield, but expect it to be delivered with an empty fuel tank. Hiring a car is preferrable to bringing your own in most cases as entering and exiting across the Moroccan border without paying various bribes disguised as fees, fines or customs duties is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Moroccan motorways provide comfortable and uncongested travel and excellent rest stops. Other roads, especially on minor routes, can be poorly paved and should only be travelled during the day. At night they can be treacherous when the mass of unlit pedestrians, horse- and donkey-drawn carts, pushbikes, and motorcycles all mingle with cars and lorries into a single undistinguishable mass of traffic.
One of the downsides of car travel are the regular radar speed controls
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| Fishing boats of all sizes bring in a fresh catch every day in the harbour of Essaouira |
and other vehicle checks established, it seems, to complement the meagre salaries of the police officers operating them. Some travellers have suggested to simply drive on after initially stopping, since the police are neither equipped for a pursuit nor have radio equipment to call support, but a better method is to hold polite conversation and sit it out until they realise that it would be more profitable to let the ignorant foreign driver go and concentrate on the locals who happily part with a bit of cash in order to avoid further harassment.
A route worth taking is to head East from Marrakech to Quarzazate, a desert town full of sandstone Kasbahs, from where an excursion into Zagora, gateway to the Saharah desert, can be made either on traditional camelback or in a 4x4 followed by a night spent in a bedouin tent under the bright desert stars. Then continue to Errachidea
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| A visitor to the mountain resort of Ifran might be forgiven for wondering whether he is in England's "green and pleasant land" |
at the foot of the Jurassic mountains and travel across the high Atlas, passing snow-tipped mountains near Midelt, famed for its gemstones, geodes and fossils. Descending on the other side continue to Meknes, the historic imperial city designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. From there - possibly diverting via the extensive old Roman ruins of Volubulis - move on to Fes, the twelve centuries old medieval town. If you come in June, don’t miss the annual Festival of Spiritual Music with free afternoon concerts near the Batha Museum and ticketed outdoor concerts on the splendid stage of Bab Makina palace. Opening one such event the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, said that "without the modern the sacred would wither, and without the sacred modernity would be soul-less". This young king appears to identify more with his own country and to be more committed to his own people than his late father, Hassan II. His numerous reforms since he took over the reign just under ten years ago are an attempt to find a meaningful equilibrium between the past and the present.
Unless you desperately want to stay at a "Riad", a traditional house with inner courtyard, it is usually more economic to stay in a hotel in Fes "Djedid", the new town, and take a "petit taxi" to visit the old Fes. The narrow alley ways of the old Medina are off limit to cars, goods being transported only by mule or donkey and the occasional small motorbike. Most tourists want to see the tanneries; if you do, choose the early morning as the smell is atrocious and gets worse as the day and the heat progress. The new Fes has its own attraction, and the palm tree promenade at its centre, originally modelled by the French on the Champs Elysee of Paris, is now illuminated with a canopy of lights at night and a favourite leisure spot for locals and visitors alike.
Not far from Fes are the hot vulcanic springs of Molay Yakoub where a modern spa centre offers massages
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| Traditional market stalls spread across endless streets and alleys of the old town of Fes, here a spice merchant |
in addition to a swim. From Fes the journey could continue East to the caves of Taza or North through the Rif, a beautiful landscape of hills and pastures. From there the ports of Ceuta and Melilla (two Spanish enclaves inside Morocco) or Tangiers are not too far, so one could travel by ferry to the Spanish Algeciras or even direct to Malaga, from where budget flights back to the UK are available.
The official languages of Morocco are Arabic and French. If you want to rely on a phrase book, it might be better to choose a French one, since the local Arabic is about as close to classical Arabic as the Scottish of the Highlands is to Oxford English. Generally people are welcoming and non-prejudiced. Moroccans appear to have a natural aptitude for languages, and English is also widely spoken by individuals who have been in contatct with tourists.
Naturally, the asking price of any souvenirs or other articles
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| Most visitors to Morocco only tour the well-known cities; for those with sufficient time, visiting the country reveals a completely different face of Morocco - here a village near Sidi Qasim |
you want to buy will go up a little if you rely on English alone. Even then, prices are extremely cheap throughout the country provided you avoid establishments set up exclusively for tourists. Thus you will find foreign charging as much in dollars, pound sterling or Euros as you would expect to pay in New York, London or Paris, whilst the Arab-run hotels will offer the equivalent level of service for a tiny fraction of the price and, as an added benefit for the Muslim visitor, not serve alcohol. The whole of Morocco is no doubt too large to explore in a single holiday, but if you venture beyond Marrakech on your first visit, you will likely want to come back soon.
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