THE MARRAKESH EXPRESS, who sang that song???? We have just returned from Morocco, but definitely did not find the Marrakesh Express. What we found was the Slow Boat (trains and busses) To China! Traveling in Morocco is for the rugged, not the faint of heart. If you have ever considered going to Marrakesh, my recommendation is to go straight away to the exotic, enchanting city of Fes (by air) and skip Marrakesh.
Ahhhhh, Morocco, unlike any other country we have traveled before. The colors, the smells, the noise and the “con artists” all contribute to the uniqueness of the country. Our “con-experiences” started immediately at the border with the “minister of tourism” directing us away from the “unscrupulous” taxi drivers to his trustworthy buddy, who then succeeded in taking us for the biggest con ride ever! Looking back at it now I have to laugh, but at the time it was annoying and exhausting because we could sense it, but could not stop it.
We visited several cities and traversed most of the northern part of the country by either train or bus, but our absolute favorite city was Fes. All of our time in Fes was spent within the old section of the walled medina, the largest Islamic medieval city in the world. The whole experience was magical, like stepping back in time to a place where donkeys, hand carts and horses transport huge bundles of goods side by side with all of the people. The streets are narrow and winding, creating a maze, and are bordered with covered bazaars, fruit and vegetable stands, workshops of all kinds, restaurants, mosques and beautiful doorways leading to homes. I could have taken a million pictures of the doors of Fes!
Our visit to Fes was incredibly enhanced by the time, people and the riad where we stayed. A riad is an old home, some two centuries old, which has been restored into a gorgeous guesthouses in the traditional courtyard-house style. We stayed in a riad in both Marrakesh and Fes, both lovely and both pictured on the website. But, the incredible experience we had in Fes, Riad Laaroussa, was due in part to the wonderfully warm and inviting staff as well as the fact that we got two days of Moroccan cooking lessons! I was in heaven, as you can imagine. The lessons included spending several hours each days at the market selecting the food we planned to prepare for dinner. Samira, the riad cook, was so excited about my enthusiasm that she spent extra time introducing me to the produce, grains and spices characteristic of Morocco food. Our pictures tell the story.
We had several unusual experience while in Fes, one of the most humorous was the visit Stephanie and I made to a local hamman with Samira. “Lonely Planet” describes visiting a hamman (traditional bathhouse) as a “ritual at the center of Moroccan society (especially for women) and a practical solution for those who don’t have hot water at home”. The book points out the for travelers, “it is an authentic local experience akin to visiting a spa – cleansing and totally relaxing”. Who wouldn’t go for that???
Well… I’ll just say that it was unlike any spa experience I have ever had!! Instead of going to a hamman for tourists, we went to the local hamman for the truly authentic experience. I am still giggling as I think back to it. Stephanie and I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, and our silly awkward behavior made it apparent to all of the local women in the bathhouse. I will try to describe the experience.
We walked into what looked and smelled like a locker room, disrobed to our bikini bottoms and proceeded into another space, packed with women and children of all ages sitting on tiled floors in front of buckets and buckets of water, washing and rinsing and visiting. We smeared gritty green soap/skin conditioner all over ourselves and were then greeted by a woman who proceeded to exfoliate us with rough hand mitts which resembled brillo pads. After that we were doused with water and moved to another space, where the heat of the water and ceramic tiles created a steam room. There, we were flagged out on the hard tile floor and massaged with such vigor that we didn’t know if we would ever be the same again. That was followed by more buckets of water, this time cold! We could not contain our giggles, but the funniest part came as we prepared ourselves to leave the hammam. Not knowing what we were embarking on, we did not come prepared with 2 sets of panties, or knickers as Stephanie calls them, so in the end, we had to leave without anything on under our dresses. Well, the Islamic women, in their full garb, got a kick out of that and Stephanie remarked in fun by saying “well, you probably don’t have any knickers on under your dress either” at which time, the woman pulled up her dress to show us what looked like jogging shorts over her underwear! All of us were in hysterics at that point. So, we left with wonderfully cleaned, exfoliated, conditioned hair and skin and a giant grin on our faces!!
The most magical memory I have occurred later that night while sitting on the rooftop terrace at sunset. The Muslim practice is to pray 5 times a day, one of which is just as the sun goes down. Our riad’s rooftop terrace put us in a perfect position to hear the “calling to prayer” from the local mosques. In fact, we were able to hear most of the mosques calling because of our elevation and central location in the city. One mosque starts the calling, and is followed by another one, which is followed by another one and on and on and on. It sounded like a musical train of “God is great. Come and pray” whaled in Arabic. It was impressive, memorable and beautiful. The last picture of this series is a video capturing the sounds.
Well, so ends our detailed experience of Morocco. If you have ever wanted to go to Morocco I suggest that you fly directly into Fes and stay at Riad Laaroussa, thereby avoiding the exhaustion of the heat and hassles of traveling in the country.

.