I picked a company called Exodus which has its premium holiday to Morocco. And I picked October as the time to go thinking it wouldn’t be too hot. It was pretty hot later on my holiday.
Apparently, I was supposed to be staying in a five-star hotel! Certainly didn’t feel like that. Room was okay know, breakfast! Somewhat a joke if you ask me!
Casablanca
The first site on the itinerary was a trip to the Hassan II Mosque, now that’s a huge mosque! Commissioned by the King of Morocco, created by how many craftsmen I don’t know, but lots of different people worked on the project and an amazing job they did. The tiling, amazing open space, flooring and the Murano chandeliers. Trying to imagine the 200,000 worshipers in that space alone would be, well something else. After seeing the main hall, we entered one area were what could be said was an entrance with two doors both with what could only be described as portcullis doors. Here the wind flew through and you could see the fog on the wind. When we had arrived it wasn’t that foggy, by the time we left. Well, the fog had rolled right in and it was truly mystical in many regards. We didn’t get to experience much else of Casablanca it was just the mosque.
Moulay Idriss & Volubilis
Back on the bus and onward, our next stop was Moulay Idriss. I wasn’t sure what I experienced about the place, walking around and, well it just felt like any other town. Except I didn’t understand why people were dumping their rubbish in buildings and down the drains. That’s not cleaning up! That’s just pollution! And there was a bit of a dodgy smell about the place. There was obviously importance about the place due to the fact that Moulay Idriss was buried there, but you can’t see or feel that when they say only Muslims are allowed into certain areas. It didn’t quite work for me.
Onward to Volubilis, which is a hugely impressive Roman site. Given a tour and a talk, we followed as a group. Pottery, building debris scatter all over the place. Of the areas which have been unearthed, amazing mosaics, lots of them, the building layouts and the city scape all there to see, and maybe more under the soil. There is so much archaeology just sitting there on the top. The land around the site is fertile and that’s probably why this ancient Roman city was built here. I also felt the tour guide for this area got some pieces of information wrong, he was talking about one place was a private villa, right next to one of the towns entry gates. However, the five frontal pillars of the building say otherwise! But who am I to know!
Back on the bus and we carried onto Fez. We checked into a riad and being unlucky again I got the room where there was brown paint all over the floor, uncleaned looking like droplets of blood. The white cement not cleaned up either, the floor looked terrible and unclean in this room and I had to stay in there for two nights. I never slept at all in this room; there was one pathetic little window which allowed all the sound from downstairs, were people ate talked and passed through. Constant irritation on my part.
Fez
The next day we did a tour of Fez, an amazing warren of very tightly constructed buildings leaving very little room to move around in some areas. As we walked through, we came to one shop which had a decapitated camel head on the stand advertising camel meat. Ugh, this made me feel so dam ill! I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture of it. Others did know. We were then given some snacks, I had a few olives to eat. But honestly, after seeing the camel head and feeling somewhat dirty around there. I couldn’t bring myself to eat really.
We carried on through the crowds until we came to a leather shop. All the way up to a viewing area and the smell as we walked through, then on this balcony overlooking we saw all the mud pits full of all the different dyes, with people working away in them. I remember this place from TV. Remembering James Bond running through them.
Back inside the main shop I honestly had no interest in buying here, I had a look around a little bit. But nothing really interested me at all. Afterwards we carried on and we had a look inside some mosques hidden away. As always, we are not allowed in, as we are not Muslims!
Lunch time came and we all sat together in a restaurant, everyone’s meals looked huge for lunch and when my mixed grill and rice came. I was really happy, looked a lot less food and easy to manage which it was.
Walking through more tightly thin streets we made our way to another place this time dealing in metal works, it felt odd somehow, there was one guy working away, but in all honesty. This felt more like a gimmick to me. I couldn’t explain it. The gentleman said in his big shop that it had been in his family for decades and they had worked all the objects in there. But again, it didn’t feel right. Felt like some kind of fabricated lie to me. I couldn’t explain it, just that strange feeling.
After the tour of old Fez, we stopped at a viewing point to take some pictures then we went and had a look at a pottery crafting place. This felt real this time. Some of the group seemed at odds with it, but I didn’t. Interesting seeing the amazing craftsmanship here. I could have brought something, but didn’t.
I feel my problem is that I have been filling up my own with stuff from my mum’s house who is downsizing and well. I seem to be accumulating more junk here! I really need to sell more on eBay!
So, after the tour here I sat down on the table with the two guides watching them trying to stack empty water bottles on top of each other like some game. I then said, you really need to be light with your fingers for that. They looked at me, and told me to try, what they had been struggling with I did on my first go!
Not much else happened this day other than picking up some food for dinner from a super market and being disappointed. I was confused about the evening, and being where my bedroom was. I again didn’t get any sleep.
Bus ride to hell and the great escape!
Off we went in the morning, a long ride on the crappy bus, doing my lower back in. Stopping off for lunch and I had a turkey taco! Or was it, what ever happened after that I just went downhill later.
I remember getting to the next place where we are staying. Diarrhoea started and didn’t stop. Burning pain, mixed with a dodgy tummy. Ugh my Tummy. I was struggling and the slight heat at 32C wasn’t helping. Least the room I was in had air-con. The next day I was out of it, pain in my back as well as my front, knocked out. I felt so bad, it wasn’t right. My tummy had given out; it didn’t like what went into it. I was poisoned. Death felt like it wanted to call me. I spent all day in this place in the middle of the desert. Imodium didn’t seem to work! That and a combination of rehydration salts. And I was getting to the point where I had too much and I had, had enough. I wanted to go home. Later that day I moved onto the next camp with the group, riding through the desert in a 4×4 and the next morning. I had organised my escape from Morocco. I was hardly eating, too scared to eat. I did have little bits, not a lot really. Just a little bit of bread. I didn’t want to give any food to my body as I felt it would well, you know!
Nine hours in a taxi through the desert into the Atlas Mountains, stopping off on the way for a little bit of chicken and rice. I also had to stop off to use the cash machines. I couldn’t work it out at first. Then it turned out I could only take out 2,000 MAD or less at a time out of the machines. And I had a little bit, not much at all, still charged as if I had a three course meal from their menu. 140 Moroccan dirham (about £11) Another stop to have a wee in a filthy toilet on the way!
As we are driving, I didn’t understand why Moroccans litter their deserts with so much rubbish! All that plastic out there floating around really did sadden me.
Continuing on I noticed this diamond sparkle, as we drove along the road, it was bright. Then the taxi driver told me it was a special solar power plant. I worked out it’s called Noor Ouarzazate Solar Power Station. Even know I was feeling ill, it was still an impressive sight. Like a lighthouse in the desert.
Finally I got into Marrakech, placed in a 3-star hotel which was bearable and I actually had a few hours’ sleep that night. The most sleep I had in a whole week of being in Morocco. Over £200 paid for a taxi across the Moroccan desert and mountains, £17 a night in a crappy hotel! And a £190 flight back home.
I made it home, however Sunday night into Monday morning I got worse, ended up in Barnet hospital. Drip in my arm, pills in me and 13 hours later discharged with some strong tablets to help my back and others to sort out my guts!
Honestly, I didn’t understand how I went downhill so quickly, my problems carried on for a few more days. I was just glad to be at home in my own bed. Still got back pain as I am writing this. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer now. But just over a whole week with diarrhoea was nothing short but pain and with my epic escape from Morocco has to be classed as stuff of legend.
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