Rockin' In Rabat
Trip Start
Oct 07, 2008
1
8
28
Trip End
Dec 10, 2008
Rabat,
Morocco
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Moroccan's seem to all speak Arabic and French, having formerly been a major French protectorate. The areas that were formerly under the control of the Spanish speak Arabic and Spanish of course. This, while making some things difficult, is a refreshing change in our travels, forcing us to stretch ourselves and our language skills to be able to communicate with people we meet, many conversations being a combination of Arabic and French.
Rabat's Bank
We finally made it to Rabat and found a nearby economy hotel that our guidebook recommended, which was very close to the train station. Feeling very travel gross, tired and hungary we ventured into the busy night time streets only long enough to fill our bellies with some cheap fare and headed for sleep.
Today was probably one of our most rewarding travel days yet, despite an inauspicious start. After a very refreshing shower and some map checking we decided to head out for the Medina (market district) first. We headed off the direction our map said but ended up following a large wall for some time. When we finally found a gate we tried to head in only to be stopped by security guards and motioned back onto our former path with some words we didn't understand. We wandered on for some time and tried again at another gate, finding out this time that our map had led us astray and that behind the wall was the palace grounds. It didn't look very palace-like inside but we took their word for it. We also found out that we could visit the palace but had to go to a third gate, so off we went.
From what we've seen of Rabat, and our brief view of Tangier, Morocco is a much more modern mix of east and west than we would have thought. Most men wear collared shirts, or suits and ties, but there are some in the traditional ghelba and some young people in western street clothes. Women vary as well, ranging from berber women with tattooed faces, to hijabs, one or two niqabs, to modestly but fashionably dressed young woman as you would see on any university campus in Europe or North America, and even a few low cut tops. This has made it a fascinating mix of culture but difficult to know where the lines of etiquette stand.
Gabrielle and the Royal Palace
With limited French we found ourselves inside a police station just inside the walls where they took our passports and motioned us on. After some wandering around the not very palace like grounds we found a mosque and behind it was something that looked more palace like. A nearby security guard (after more muddled French) informed us that we could take some pictures of the outside and of the very decorated gate but could not go inside. Our first pictures in Morocco! Yay! We haven't been sure on etiquette with taking pictures here so we've held back.
Royal Palace Gates
Deciding to try and find the Medina again we headed back to retrieve our passports. The officer who originally took our passports was no longer there, and the new officer kept telling us in French that if we wanted to see the palace we had to leave our passports, while we tried to tell him that they HAD our passports and that we wanted to 'Sortie' (exit). Very soon we had a crowd of officers all pitching their two cents in and everyone playing charades as to what should be said / was trying to be said until one officer grabbed our passports from the office and handed them to us. Everyone laughed, said thanks and we were back on the street still having no clue as to where the Medina was.
Moroccan Mint Tea
We stopped at a cafe for some traditional Moroccan mint tea (served with about six tablespoons of sugar whether you like it or not) before trying another street. This time we ended up in front of a university when we though we should be at the Medina, so we worked up the courage and asked a group of students that were sitting on a bench.
Brief FYI
Recently Morocco has started English classes for university students, so young people and hustlers are generally the only ones who speak some English.
New Friends
With a mix of French, Arabic and English they tried to tell us where the Medina was before deciding to show us despite our polite protests. These three students, two young women (Soukhaila and Hiba) and a young man (Abdessamad), ended up taking us on a tour of large parts of the city, telling us about their culture, explaining history, showing us their favourite places in the city. The girls pointed out authentic local crafts and jewelry and told Gabrielle what she should be paying for such things while Dan and Abdessamad talked about local history and sites to see. They took us through town to an old Moorish castle and down to the beach front before finally wandering back into town where they met up with some friends and took us to a restaurant where we could order a local cous cous dish.
Cous Cous in Rabat
We tried to offer to buy them lunch but they consistently refused, and they sat next door at a student cafe where they laughed at us before coming over to help us muddle through exactly what we were supposed to do with the various parts of our meal (the broth goes ON the cous cous, you drink the yogurt like milk thing). They soon headed back to the university with their friends after some goodbyes, Abdessamad giving us his phone number and email address and telling us we were welcome in his home if we came back to Rabat.
We headed back to our hotel (this required some more friendly direction giving from a local) where we're trying to get this all down while our heads stop spinning. After a siesta (getting to be a pattern here) we headed out for the last site we wanted to see in the city. As we walked along the streets we came across the entrance to the medina and were surprised at the massive amount of people that now worked their way through its narrow streets. The whole city seemed to have come alive at dusk and people poured out along the sidewalks on every side as we ducked and dodged our way to the site of the Hassan Tower.
Hassan II Tower
The Hassan tower is one of three similar towers, the others being in Seville (now attached to the cathedral) and Marrakech, however the Hassan tower is missing its top for unknown reasons. The same site also contains the mausoleum of the Moroccan royal family, a magnificently ornamented structure that seems to strike an eternal grace that, in my opinion, few mausoleums share. We wandered the grounds, through the park below the tower before working our way amongst the garden of pillars that fills the square between the mausoleum and the tower. After visiting the mausoleum, we stood below the Hassan tower as it's loudspeakers began to announce the evening call to prayer over the city. Every call to prayer we have heard is always different, and the sounds from the Hassan tower seemed incredibly sad, as if it mourned the fall of the sun and the completion of the day.
Royal Mausoleum
We admit that we came to Morocco prepared for a more closed society and streets filled with more hustlers harassing you at every corner with everyone out for your money. We have passed by a couple of hustlers, some places attempt to double or triple their pricing because you are a foreigner, but for the most part the people here are incredibly friendly and we were blown away at the generosity of these university students. They not only took the time to point us in the right direction but guided us around their city. They were open, and honest, generous and kind, and at this point we can't say enough good things about our time here.
The information we've gathered does tell us that Rabat is where people are least dependent on tourist dollars and therefore likely to be more open, so we hope that our next few stops still reveal such wonderful people in a rich culture.
All our best from Morocco
Dan and Gabes
