Monday. Oct 25. All the staff at our Riad are young and super friendly. Hanna, who seems in charge, said they are trying to make this an unforgettable experience. Great so far!
I’m lounging on a sofa in this sitting area as I write.
Breakfast: traditional Moroccan pancakes, sweetbread, homemade yogurt, cheese omelet. Coffee.
Dinner: Back to tagine or tajine. What, exactly is a tajine? The word refers to both a cooking vessel and a stew-like dish that is slow-cooked in the tajine. The base of the “stew” is usually a meat like chicken, beef or lamb, but can also be prepared without meat. Surrounded by vegetables and/or fruits. Tonight I had beef, Grubb had lamb. Cooked with an okra-like vegetable and a sweet potato type thing.
In between breakfast and dinner…Hassan, one of the staff, walked us out to the nearest gate, lest the elders get lost. Our driver for the day was waiting. Zamir (well, something like that) spoke little English but fluent French as many Moroccans do. Between our little French and his little English, we figured things out. The day would begin with a drive to Volubilis, where we could wander Roman ruins (those Romans get around), then on to Moulay Idriss (named after the man who ran the Romans out and started the Idriss empire), and last stop, Meknes.
I’ll leave the Roman ruins to Grubb.
Moulay Idriss is spread across two hills at the base of Mount Zerhoun.
It is a sacred city for the Moroccans. The home of the tomb of Idriss I. The driver let us off at one end of a large square and waved in the direction of the mausoleum. Well, yes, the entrance was up the square and straight ahead. But non-Muslims are not allowed. Hovering around the entrance were several young men. One attached himself to Grubb. He probably took one look at me and figured I’d snap at him. I’m so intimidating.
“Here, mausoleum for non Muslims this way”. I knew immediately that we’d be asked for an exorbitant fee when it was all over but Grubb was oblivious to my look of chagrin. He and the young man took off leaving me grumpy but with no choice but to follow.
Up and up and up, twisting around.and around. Past Berber houses, the occasional shop. Sure, right, yeah…picturesque. We came to a nice viewpoint overlooking the mausoleum and mosque. Grubb and his guide chattering away. Well, someone was having a good time. I’ll give the guy that. He had his facts down. Probably done this a million times.
The guide handed me a flower he had plucked from a nearby hedge. “For you, my lady”. Okay, okay, chill and go with it. And then I was left to hold this flower in my hand all the way back down. I mean, what do you do? Drop it on the path?
We go back down. A faster way. We meet a few other tourists coming up this way.
Back at the Muslim-only entrance to the mausoleum, our guide conspires with Grubb. “Here, this way. I show you for picture into mosque”. Oy!
The time for the money comes. The guide wants 300 dirham. 30 Euro. Not on your life. Grubb dickers. He caves at 200. 20 Euro. An expensive half hour. Oh okay. Probably not in the bigger scheme of things. I suppose we could have just walked away leaving him nothing. That didn’t feel right either. So, done!
Off to find our driver. This is one theme of the day. He drops us at an a place, shoos us in the right direction, waves in the direction where he will be parked. When we are done at that location, we wander along the direction he’s pointed until we find him. Happily, we always do find him. Eventually.
And on to Meknes where our driver is famished (it’s now 2:30) as we keep saying we don’t want lunch. We compromise. He leads us to a place where we can get the wonderful Moroccan tea and he heads down the street to a place where he can have a quick bite.
Grubb will tell the rest of the Meknes tale.
Funny. Back in 1988 when I was there, there was almost nobody else there and I was allowed inside the mausoleum, no questions asked.
There was a big sign. Non Muslims not allowed.
I wonder if they just got tired of tourists disrespectfully snapping photos?
Don’t say we didn’t warn you! We were also “hijacked” by a fake guide in Sale a few weeks ago. We were looking for the old slave market which apparently no longer exists. As we re-entered the medina, an older man in a track suit and very few teeth called us over to see the mausoleum of Sidi Abdellah Benhassoun, the town’s patron saint who died in 1604. He then beckoned us to follow him so that he could show us some moorish arches. He did take us into a riad that was in the very early stages of renovation (think: “The Caliph’s House”), then further into the medina. When we told him we were headed to Bab Mrissa (the exit arch from the medina) he said, “200 dirham”. We tried to negotiate by telling him we only had 100 dh, but he was watching our hands and saw the 200 dh bill in my wallet. Just like your expensive picture, it was an expensive $20 tour of a dilapidated riad!
Yes, you did warn us! They just attach themselves before you know what’s what.
From your reports, it seems that the persistent hassle of “tour guides,” rug sellers, touts, and all sorts of “helpful” pests, which one finds throughout the Arab/Muslim world, has gotten worse. Don’t remember it being so bad in Morocco. I’m sure it will be worse in Marrakech. And the problem isn’t new. If you read accounts of Brits traveling in Egypt in the 1800s, they would often hire one tout just to keep the others away — a sort of protection racket.
In an earlier reply I forgot to ask: do the merchants take credit cards?
Our rug guy and the pottery guy did take credit cards. I suspect the smaller vendors do not.