Day 3 - 25 Dec 2007
Trip Start
Dec 23, 2007
1
3
16
Trip End
Jan 07, 2008
Meknes,
Morocco
Saturday, February 16, 2008
African Drummer
. Itīs good news for the local economy but such a shame that it will spoil the natural view from this wonderful place. We were followed by a thin but vociferous feral cat and I remembered I had some cheese in my back pack which he devoured with relish. There were cats everywhere, lying on tombstones, basking in the sunshine. There were even chickens mingling quite happily alongside the cats, neither bothered by the others presence.As we walked I became aware of a strange clacking sound which was getting louder and louder and echoing around the ancient site. Looking up into the high trees revealed the source. Every tree supported a huge stork nest, each filled with a pair of storks and love was clearly in the air! The clacking noise was the mating call and I watched fascinated at this bizarre scene as one by one, the couples took it in turn to mate, then settle back in the nest and the next couple would then begin. We watched this spectacle for a while and then carried on walking around the site, splitting up because it was the sort of place where you just wanted to reflect in silence. I wandered around the remains of the Roman Baths, into the sanctuary which consisted of two buildings from the 13th century: the Mosque of Abu Youssef and the Zawiyva of Abu al-Hassan and sat down on a ruined column to savour the whole scene. I felt privileged to be there. It was time to go and as we walked back through the huge walled gate, an African, dressed in colourful costume with a drum and a hat with a huge swinging tassel on the top was setting up a stall of goods
Cats at Chellah
. He began singing, dancing and beating his drum while twisting his head to set the tassel spinning round and round. As our coach pulled away, many coaches were arriving. Great timing Mohammed!We were heading for Meknes which was a bit of a drive so our Xmas lunch would be a makeshift picnic en route. We stopped at a supermarket to buy food and drink for this purpose and an hour or so later, pulled up alongside a field in the middle of nowhere and made our way down the sloping bank to eat our Christmas lunch. How my mother would have cringed! I ate bread, cheese, crisps, yoghurt and cakes. Not a turkey in sight. Well - not strictly true. Someone had managed to find a packet of that slimy turkey ham so we did have turkey for Xmas! Kim had downloaded some Christmas songs on her IPOD, so thanks to her travel speakers, we sang along as we laughed and ate in the sunshine. It was funny when the Band Aid song came on with the line "There wonīt be snow in Africa this Christmas Time." Too right! The most unusual Christmas Dinner Iīve ever had but so enjoyable.
Picnic over, we drove on to Meknes, one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco. Meknes sits on a plateau at the foot of the Middle Atlas mountain range. It was the Moroccan capital during the reign of the Sultan, Moulay Ismail. His dream was to build an Imperial City, with a Palace and garden to rival Versailles in France. This idea developed after his offer of marriage to a French princess was spurned
Chellah Sanctuary
. His son and grandson carried on with this dream, after the Sultanīs death. Over 50,000 black slaves worked on the construction, and most perished. However, an earthquake in 1755 destroyed part of the city and destroyed the dream. It was then on to view the Royal Granary and stables. The stables, although not well preserved are a must see. Built to keep 12,000 horses, the roof was lost in the earthquake in 18th century.We also visited the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, albeit the outer room, as tourists were not allowed to enter any further. It was only day 3 of the tour and I was beginning to realise that Mausoleums are a massive thing in Morocco. Not really my bag so I was delighted to have my attention diverted away from the guide and his droning about the tomb, by the biggest pair of eyebrows I have ever seen. This explains why I have no photos of the Mausoleum but this is more than compensated by the fantastic profile shot of the Russian touristīs eyebrows. Utterly splendid! Was desperately hoping to take a full frontal shot too, but the flash of my camera made my victim spin round to glare at me in the most terrifying way. Not wishing to attract another Litvenenko scenario, I promptly lowered my lens and scuttled back out into the courtyard.
We arrived at Hotel Akouas, a good standard 3 * hotel to shower and then it was off to a local restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, it was the first of many dry restaurants.What
Chritstmas Picnic
! No booze on Christmas evening? Luckily the hotel had a bar in their nightclub(?) so we headed back there as soon as we had eaten. Sat there drinking, in the smoke filled room, laughing and joking into the early hours. The club was full of men only, so we attracted some attention. There was a singer on stage, belting out Moroccan songs in a rasping voice. I sounded pretty much the same next morning, the result of breathing in the smoke. Anyway, the drinks were going down nicely and it suddenly dawned on me that the singer was also sporting a delightful pair of eyebrows. Not in the same league as my Russian friend, but a decent show nonetheless. There was certainly a theme here. I staggered up to my room and began attacking my eyebrows with a vengeance. The next morning I gazed in the mirror to be confronted with intermittent bald patches on each of them. Very attractive. Moral of the story - donīt pluck your eyebrows when you are under the influence. Happy Christmas!
