Snakes, Monkeys, Markets and OJ

Trip Start Feb 07, 2009
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Trip End Mar 19, 2009


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Flag of Morocco  ,
Saturday, March 14, 2009

Slept till 8, then went downstairs for breakfast with some of the others. We decided to head out by ourselves to explore so we left about 8:30-9. Walked first through the Cyber Park which was a lovely park with lots of trees (lots of olives) and internet kiosks which are free but you stand at them to use them and we couldn't get the keyboard programs to change to English so it was almost impossible for us to use. Went to the Internet centre and paid to use the internet there for a while.
 
Then we went across the road to a craft co-op and browsed around the little shops for a while. There were a lot of things there that we liked but we decided to just head to the markets (used those shops as a guideline for prices).
 
We stopped for another fresh orange juice, then headed into the maze of lanes, alleyways and streets that make up the market area. We loved wandering around, looking in all the little shops, chatting to the locals (Mike did, I just stood and tried to understand!) We saw some amazing sights - goats heads, iguanas, falcons, turtles. And all the time we were walking around, we always had to be careful because of the bikes and scooters (and occasionally mules and even a couple of cars) that would go whizzing past. Followed a woman selling carpets to the shops and were going to buy one (1000dhs) but a shopkeeper kept butting in and wouldn't let her talk to us.
 
We found the square again (not an easy task), had another OJ, took pics with the monkey guys and the snake charmer, then went to an upstairs cafe for lunch. We sat for ages, the meal was possibly the best I'd had in Morocco (pizza for Mike, Caesar salad for me) and it was nice to just sit and watch all the activity going on in the square below.
 
After that we felt energised again and decided to wander through the markets again instead of just going back to the hotel. We found a few different areas this time, including the women's market, animals both dead and alive, as well as going back again through some of the same streets. Bought some more things - including lanterns and jewellery.
 
Finally emerged and walked back to the hotel, arriving there at 4:30. Time for a shower, then a rest while we watched TV. Met the others in the lobby and walked all the way back to the mosque area, where we had our last group dinner together. Said our goodbyes to AJ who was catching an overnight train to Tangiers, then Mike and I went with Aussie Mike for an OJ and a quick walk through the markets before heading back to the hotel.
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