Day 27: Spice Drink

Day 27

People talk about being a morning bird or a night owl. I am both and neither; I am an awake person. I love the way the sky lightens with the rising sun in the morning. I love the quiet and calmness of the dark in the evenings. The Marrakesh souks have different stages of the day as well.

The mornings are quiet as the merchants prepare to open their stands. The orange juice vendors are already open and ready to sell you a glass for fresh juice for 4 dirhams. In the hot afternoons the markets are busy. You can rest in the shade created by the stalls and buildings, but be prepared to engage in bargaining if you look at anything with interest. In the evenings entertainers are present in the square in front of the souks;  snake charmers, musicians,  gamblers, roosters. Be prepared to pay if you take pictures of individuals. I loved the liveliness of the evening market. Since evenings are cooler, the vendors sell a hot drink made of 8 spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise, clove, ginger, cardamom, galangal, and mace. As a spice lover, it was my favorite drink of the trip. I hope to recreate it at home.

Day 7: Marrakesh, the streets are lined with orange trees

What is your favorite drink on vacations?

Day 26: Thumbs Down

Day 26

Quad biking is not an activity I thought about doing before this trip. It was offered by my group tour. I did it because I was scared at the thought of it. It turned out to be easy, especially since our bike guide took care of turning on and off the bike. My only task was to keep my thumbs down on the gear so the bike moves. At one point, the bike ahead of me got stuck on a small hill. They had stopped to allow room for the guide to advance in front of them. I had no issues with the hill as I allowed them enough of a head start that I did not need to stop at the bottom of the hill.

Quad biking showed me another side of Morocco. The first part of the ride involved seeing movie sets. I have not watched the movie Kingdom of Heaven, but I rode by the castle featured in it.  The ride felt as though I was in the middle of nowhere. The second half of the ride allowed us to see the every day life of Moroccans as we rode through a village. It was my favorite part. We saw people working in the fields, school children exercising outside, and donkeys carrying loads. Living in San Francisco, I rarely wave back to random tourists who wave to me. On this ride I waved to everyone and they all waved back. Now I understand know why tourists wave. It is a connection.

Morocco day 6: Ouarzazate

Have you tried quad biking or other motorized bicycling?

Day 25: An Extra Layer

Day 25

Packing light is my goal whenever I travel. When I showed a friend my suitcase, she said she did not know anyone who would travel internationally with a single carry-on. I managed to do so even though I packed more than needed. International flights include one free piece of checked baggage, but I was taking a budget flight between Spain and Morocco. Budget airlines have smaller and stricter size restrictions than US airlines. Also my preferred type of accommodations rarely have elevators or bell hops. I need to be able to lift and move everything myself. Lastly, the group tour goes to a different location every day. Less possessions means less items to remember and repack.

Although Spain and Morocco would be hot, I had packed a windproof jacket, fleece jacket, and wool undergarments based on my tour company's recommendations. They said warm layers were necessary for the desert. Thus I was irked to learn from the tour guide on day one that extra layers were unnecessary. The Sahara stays warm enough in May that we would only need the blankets provided by the tour. I groused about carrying the extra items until day 5. On day 5 I was sick with a fever and chills. I became grateful for the fleece jacket as I sat shivering on the tour bus. Once we arrived at the hotel for the day, I slept for the next 12 hours and recovered. The jacket was necessary only for a day, but I was glad to have packed it. Pack as light as possible, but an extra layer is worth the extra work.

Morocco Day 5: Sahara sunrise, before I was sick

 How have you dealt with becoming sick on a vacation?

Day 24: Breathe

Day 24

On day 4, we rode camels into the Sahara. Camels are easily trained so they are docile and peaceful to ride.  The desert is quiet, surreal, and gorgeous. My spontaneous spring trip was well-timed as summer is unbearably hot, and winter is cold enough at night to require a sleeping bag. After we settled into camp, our tour guide revealed that on rare occasions the wind has been strong enough to cancel the camel ride. I was grateful that our ride was uneventful as I love being in the desert.

In my daily life, I like to stay busy. When my body is not physically active and engaged, my mind is busy with worrying about the future. I constantly strive to be present in the moment, and the desert allowed me to do so without effort. Sahara sand is fine, red, and gorgeous. I spent an hour playing with it. Take a fistful of sand, open hand, allow it to drift away on the wind. Repeat. It was meditative and inspired this poster.   

Morocco day 4: Sahara

What do you do to be present in your daily life?

Day 23: Lean Back

Day 23

Physical education was my least favorite school subject. Basketball, softball, volleyball, football; the balls hit my head more often than I hit them. I was always jealous that when my sister took PE, they offered archery and rock-climbing. My PE class spent a quarter on bowling and pickleball. Bowling is fun but it is not as bad-ass as rock-climbing.

After years of envying my sister's rock-climbing skills, I finally rock-climbed on this trip. It was less difficult than I expected. Like running, rock-climbing can be thought as a series of small steps. The common mistake among beginners is to cling too closely to the rock. Space is needed to allow room for your limbs to bend and climb. Scrapping your knees and elbows is more likely if you're too close to the rock. Getting down required leaning back to abseil. Even though I clung to the rock, I made it to the top of the rope and back down. Next time I will lean back for ease of movement and a better perspective.

Morocco day 3: Todra Gorge

What was your least favorite subject in school? Has your feelings towards that topic changed?

Day 22: Swimming

Day 22

For years I stayed in the shallow end during pool parties because I did not know how to swim. This limited my socializing and made pool parties rather boring. I recalled those years when I learned the tour included swimming pool breaks every day. The swims were an unexpected bonus because they were not on the itinerary.  Every swim exhilarated me: I can do something now that I had been unable to do for years.  Many of the pools had spectacular views too. It is amazing to come up for a breath and see a gorge.

Morocco: The view while swimming in a pool

If I had not learned how to swim last winter, I would have missed out on an amazing experience every day of this trip.  If something interests you, learn how to do it.

What skill are you interested in that you have not learned? What do you hope to do with that skill after you learn it?

Day 21: Follow

Day 21

My plane landed in Morocco a few hours before the group tour began. I wanted to explore Marrakesh but I was reluctant to leave the hotel as I did not know where to go.  Rather than giving into my fearful side, I left the hotel and started walking. One of the biggest tourist attractions in Marrakesh are the souks or the markets where you can buy anything. A seasoned traveler travels in the opposite direction of the tourist horde. Being on my first solo trip, I followed the tourists. Luckily, I picked the correct direction and ended up at the markets.

Morocco, Day 1

After walking around for a bit, I looked for lunch. The food places near the markets are pricey and cater towards tourists. For example, many places served shawarma which is a Levantine food and is not Moroccan.  I wandered away from the markets and walked around until a random person gestured me into his place. He could probably tell I was about to expire from heat stroke. Living in San Francisco, I am unaccustomed to heat. Also, I was covered from wrists to ankles in observance of local customs. I learned later that I didn't need to cover up as much as I did because Marrakesh is very touristy. It is more important to cover up in rural Morocco. At a minimum women need to cover up from shoulders to knees.

In American slang, the place was a hole-in-the-wall. Small, dingy, and patronized by locals, it was the exact type of place I was looking for. My first meal in Morocco was a bowl of lentils with bread. It was filling and cost a tenth of what was being charged in the markets. When you have no plans, follow the crowd until you figure out what you want to do on your own.

Morocco, day 1 lunch

What was your favorite hole-in-the-wall discovery?