October 28th we visited Marrakesh before meeting our tour group in Casablanca. That post can be found here:   Morocco here we come!

Nov 10 – 15 Back to Marrakesh

Hassan had promised we’d get to see goats climbing argan trees and he wasn’t lying. What a hoot! Of course we all jumped out of the bus, crossed the highway and madly took photos. The farmer was a great opportunist and of course we paid him for the privilege of photographing his goats. This smart entrepreneur likely made just as much money off the tourists as he did farming.

The next couple of days were spent rediscovering Marrakesh, first with a guided tour of the Bahai Palace, Saadian tombs and the medina. Some have said you can see it in a couple of hours. Well. After 4 days there were still streets we hadn’t seen and we still constantly got lost.
We left our group and went back to the Ben Saleh Riad in the medina which felt like coming home. It’s just so much nicer than a hotel. The next few days were spent getting lost….and lost again in the medina.

I lost a lot of dead skin. Then she coats you with mud and it’s back in the steam room. After that is a shower and you’re given a bath robe and you relax and drink green tea. That’s the traditional part. We opted for the message with argan oil after. Why not?
We felt so clean and incredibly relaxed after so went for along walk to find gelato. Isn’t that what everyone does after an incredible hammam experience?
I’d read posts that said you can see the Medina in a couple of hours. They’re lying. You could spend weeks here and still not really see it. Many of the souks harass you to buy their products but you can just say thank you, smile and pass by. Most are just friendly. In the end, we just went back to the souks who were nice to us. The products are mostly the same. It comes down to personality.

All good things must come to an end and this visit to Morocco was no exception.  After my bag went through x-ray, the  official patted it and asked if there were medicines in there.  A little concerned about Morocco’s tight laws on drugs, I said yes. He asked “like for headaches?” Again I agreed. “I have a headache” he said. “Could I have some?”  So I dug out the advil and, when he asked, explained how many to take and told him “Make sure you drink LOTS of water”. He thanked me and we were on our way.

The first flight was delayed due to the busyness caused by COP22 and the fact the king was in town. That fellow seems to cause a bit of pandemonium everywhere. After a sleepless night in Amsterdam, that flight was delayed also. Apparently some folks didn’t have visas in order so their bags had to be offloaded.  I’d hate to be them. Not fun at all!