17 Oct - The Divina docked at Casablanca which is a large modern city now. This is the only country where we had to take our passports with us when exiting the ship. We had pre-booked to do a day long tour to Marrakech as that would give us a taste of the old world way of living, and we would be able to see the old buildings etc. You may know that a couple of weeks previously there had been an earthquake in the mountains just beyond Marrakech, lots of villages were devastated and many lives were lost, Marrakesh itself was affected only lightly in comparison.
We boarded our bus and got on our 3 hour journey inland. The road was good quality and once we got out of Casablanca it wasn't crowded. We sat at the front of the bus and although the driving wasn't as crazy as it is in Italy it seemed like vehicles (including our bus) just drifted in and out of their lanes, from one to the other or just sitting slightly or totally over the middle line between the lanes. Our bus driver complained constantly about the other drivers and we were sure the drivers behind were doing the same about him. I wasn't feeling that good, it sort of felt like hay fever, and took a couple of panadol and slept a lot.
Our tour guide Sayed sat in the other front seat across from us so we were able to have small conversations with him when he wasn't talking on the intercom, which he did constantly. He googled interesting facts about the country and his world and relayed them to us in a steady stream. Our first stop was at a garage/eatery where I got a wrap and Kent a coffee and we both went to the loo. My loo was a squat one with water to wash yourself which I like or even prefer, Kent's luckily was a western style one which was good because he can't squat. I wonder how locals who can't squat get on now that I think about it.
Marrakesh is considered a green city, they are busy planting palms on the enty to the city and there are many plants growing everywhere. Of course it's a long way from our thought of being green, it's underlying theme is still brown and dry but for those used to living without many plants growing around them we could understand it's claim to greenness. We were driven straight to the Soukh or bazaar and Sayed on a walk through all of it's alleyways of makers and sellers. We had a local helper at the back of the group to make sure no-one got lost. It was interesting but we had no time to admire or buy anything because of the pace. We were taken to a restaurant and served some wonderful food, first an entree dishes to eat with bread then 2 large bowls of hot vege and meat, next an orange with green peel and lastly a wonderful biscuit. A bottle of red wine and some water was on the table and at the end of the feast a man brought a tray with small glass tea cups on it and proceeded to make a display of pouring us some tea. We were entertained on a central round stage by 3 different dancing women. The first danced with a candelabra on her head full of lit candles, the second was a belly dancer and the third used lights to do a performance with a beautiful flowing dress like a butterfly.
We visited an old Koran school, now not required as the Koran is taught in their normal schooling. It is a beautiful building with lace like designs on the walls. We were still in the Soukh and continued our walk which was quite difficult because despite there being a sign of two saying that motorscooters were not to be ridden through the narrow lanes we were constantly battling scooters traveling in both directions along with carts and of course locals walking about. There was some scaffolding up which we thought may be from the effects of the earthquake, it held walls or covered the lanes above us.
Back at the main Jamaael-Fna square we were left to our own devices for about half an hour. There were men with monkeys on leads making them perform and jump to command and if any tourists took or tried to take a picture they would rush over and demand a fee. The monkeys didn't look happy and some a bit scared. There were also snake charmers, Kent said they sew the snakes lips shut but I didn't get close enough to see. Neither of us like this kind of inhumane treatment of animals, we prefer that they are left in their natural habitat so we didn't go near or take pics. We walked about the myriad of stalls most selling the same things, what we did admire was the leatherwork that was on display, we had passed many of the small rooms where they were tanning and preparing the leather.
Unfortunately we didn't get to see the 'beautifully decorated Saadian Tombs' or the 'magnificent late 19th century Bahia Palace and gardens' that were promised in the description of our tour. Our return journey was without issue apart from Kent feeling the same way that I had felt on our morning journey. We arrived back at the ship around 9.30pm and they kept the buffet open for us which was thoughtful.
