Morocco - where do I start!?!?

Morocco is beautiful!! And sooooo different to anything I've ever experienced. I think it was the most fun and most uncomfortable vacation I've taken. We'll start with the cities:

1. CASABLANCA - is a huge, busy, dirty, crowded place. I arrived and took a short trip to the markets in the medina (old town). Immediately I was hassled and followed until I finally told the guy that I would like to walk alone. Ignoring them just doesn't work. They keep saying hello in as many languages as they know hoping you speak one of them!!


The best part of the city is the Hassan II Mosque. Built from 1987-1993, it's humongous, built partly over the Atlantic Ocean, and is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. The minaret (tower) is the highest in the world. Inside is just as spectacular as outside - the intricacy, detail, sheer grandness of the whole thing is amazing. There's an ablution room where you wash yourself and a Moroccan bath and Turkish bath (not in use, only for show).




The beach in Casablanca leaves a bit to be desired. The sand, while soft, is kind of ugly, and the entire beach is covered with boys playing soccer.


2. MARRAKECH - smaller but more touristy. The best part about Marrakech the city is the medina walls and the evening food stalls in the square. There are heaps of souqs, selling all sorts of cool crafts and jewelry and ceramics and clothes. But I guess the disappointing thing about the souqs is that they pretty much sell the same stuff. So it's weird, there's heaps of stands selling all the same things and I guess they rely on their charm, aka harrassment techniques, to lure tourists in!!




3. OURIKA - this is a little village in the Atlas Mountains where we hiked up to see a series of seven waterfalls. This was probably the most spectacular thing we saw. The mountains are beautiful - red and very rocky, but there were trees along the rivers and the sky was sooooo blue!! We had a guide take us up who also does treks to the second highest mountain in Africa called Toubkal, which was really close to where we were. In the winter, the mountains are covered in snow and the Berbers, the local inhabitants, are stuck up on the mountain!!




More to come about the details of Morocco, the people, and the events that took place!!