Louisa: As we are in a Muslim country, we took last Friday as our day of rest and hung out at our accommodations outside Fes. It was also a day of celebration as it was our one year anniversary. I’m very grateful for the wonderful year we have had together and this trip to Morocco is just the start of our many adventures together.
Eric: I didn’t realize we took Friday as a day of rest because we were in a Muslim country, I just thought we were tired after trudging through the Medina(s) on Thursday!! However I was well aware of it being our anniversary and it was really fabulous to take it easy and reflect on the past year. It’s been a long time since I’ve marked a year of any relationship so it’s very special to me that it’s with Louisa in this far away place. Suits us well I reckon!
Louisa: On Saturday, now well rested, we were ready to hit the road (relatively) early as we headed south over the Atlas mountains to the south of Morocco. It was amazing how the scenery changed — going around a bend we would go from bright green forests, to golden desolate plains, then onto red rocky scrub.
Eric: Early and on-time are new aspects of my identity — credit to Louisa there! Now, who reading this post remembers a certain road trip where I decided to bake muffins 5 minutes before being scheduled to leave? We left in very good time I have to say and beforehand we took the time to chart out an updated itinerary now having a reasonable understanding of how far we can travel in Morocco in an hour, etc. A big impact on this rough estimate is of course how picturesque the route is! And Saturday’s route certainly was stunning… My first true mountainous riding experience!
Louisa: Along the way we met a number of interesting creatures — including monkeys, camels, and of course many sheep and goats.
Louisa: At lunch time on Saturday, Eric spotted a sign for a “special place to stay” pointing down a rough side road. Being the driver, and exploring type, he took us down the road. We ended up at a wonderful small aquamarine lake backed by the dramatic hills. There was a small inn there where we had lunch sitting in a bedouin style tent.
Eric: This was a “real find” and that sign really did sum up the location quite well. Next time I come through Morocco with Louisa, friends, or on my own I will make sure to bring my camping gear to really make the most of this landscape. While the inn did have some tents setup, weeks or months of exposure this year had really given them a beating and I prefer my own gear.
Louisa: We were joined for our meal by a feline family including a kitten who was hanging out in the roof of the tent.
Eric: I am unfortunately a big sucker for animals. It wasn’t just a family of cats hanging out with us, there was also a raggedy little dog with a red collar running around looking for attention and food. He came rampaging through the tent looking for scraps after the cats had their turn at begging (and receiving, I couldn’t resist!) for scraps of our meal.
Louisa: We spent Saturday night in Midelt. As we arrived quite early, and their wifi (pronounced weefee here) didn’t seem to function (hence this delayed post!) we went out to explore the Apple Festival as the region is the apple capital of Morocco. From what we saw there wasn’t much apple related except for the giant fake apple beside the stage. This was a three day celebration and we seemed to arrive on the party night. There were thousands of people wandering around the main street. As the evening progressed they converged on the parking lot with the entertainment stage. We “enjoyed” the warm up act of three rappers before the main event, apparently a well known Arabic pop group performed.
Eric: Ack! Sweetie you’ve left out the best part about how we negotiated our price down to 50% of what they wanted from us! The Riad Villa Midelt wasn’t very busy that night and making ready to mount our trusty iron stead cinched the “very special, only for us, please don’t talk about it” final offer.
Eric: After the pleasantries of checking in were finished another couple arrived in their rental car. We kept quiet about our special deal and hoped they would fare well. Afterwards the main attendant of the Riad Villa Midelt took the couple (British to be sure) off to see some sights; inquiring where they went is how we learned about the festival. When trying to sort out how we might find out own way there a friendly local walked by with his nephew. I cajoled Louisa into asking if he was going to the festival and after a moment later our immediate problem was solved! Hassan and his nephew Ayub (sp?) were our guides to the event!
Here is a sample of the pop group: Arabic Pop Group
Louisa: Actually the funnest part of the evening for me was people’s reaction to Eric and me. We were pretty much the only non-locals there and the kids really got a kick out of saying hi to Eric.
Eric: Actually the funniest part of the evening was revealing to Louisa that regardless of where I go in the world all the kids (usually boys) refer to me as “The Big Show”… after a wrestler on American TV who I bear a resemblance to. It first happened in India, then Cameroon, then Costa Rica, and now Morocco.
Louisa: Sunday evening we arrived in Tinerhir (spelt various ways depending on your guide book). This is our base for a couple of days to explore the mountains and to do some interesting biking.
Eric: Tinerhir, Tinghir, we’re not pronouncing it correctly either way because nobody seemed to know if we were heading the right direction earlier in the day or not!