Too Cool For School

Damn that New York Times, always stealing my thunder. Sunday's paper had a big, multipage story complete with photo spread on the Kasbah du Toubkal. If only I had a professional photographer to follow me around and take wonderful photos.

This does raise the main problem with writing about cool places you've been: too many other people start showing up and everything gets all crowded and expensive. There's a reason my little discussion of the villa we rented in in Perdifumo did not have a link - I want to go back.

Atlas Mountains: Kasbah du Toubkal

Part Three of the Adventures in Morocco series is our adventures in the Atlas Mountains. After Fes, we took the quite spiffy train to Marrakech, and caught our hour long taxi ride to Imlil, our jumping off point. I highly recommend the train - on the European level of cleanliness, space, available snacks, and timeliness.

We based ourselves at the truly spectacular Kasbah du Toubkal, a short hike up the hill from Imlil. This place is pretty great - it was converted from the ruins of a nobleman's Kasbah by a joint British-Berber partnership and is all warm and fuzzy on the environmental, empowering the locals scale. Plus it's swank. Only downside is that you have to pay in advance and it's nonrefundable, which wreaked some havoc on our rescheduled travel plans. But still worth it in the end.

So, we arrive in Imlil, a little backpacker town chock full of people trying to sell you things, and met up with our donkey guy for the walk up the hill. Cars can't get to the Kasbah, so they put your bags on a donkey (and you, if you want) and you hike your way up. Not too bad of a hike, but I will admit to being both entertained and mildly embarrassed by our black rolling bags on the donkey.

So you arrive at the gate to the Kasbah and enter this central courtyard, filled with flowers. The rooms are arranged in several buildings around the compound, and there are various terraces for meals and lounging, plus a hammam (traditional bath) and a dining room. Our first few nights we had a room in the tower (Taferka) that looked up into the mountains on one side and down into the courtyard on the other. Our last night, post-hike, we had a room with a terrace overlooking the river valley (Amadin). Both were great. The Kasbah also has communal rooms for groups or lower budget hikers, which gives the place a nice, friendly vibe. Plus they give you your own djellabahs (traditional Moroccan hooded robes, think Obi Wan Kanobi in Star Wars) to wear when it's cold. Pretty entertaining.

So the centerpiece of our stay at the Kasbah was a hike of Jbel Toubkal (or Mount Toubkal), the highest mountain in North Africa, coming in around 14,000 feet. So the plan was to spend the first day lounging and then we set off the next day for our two day hike, and then left the following day. The lounging was superb. We took advantage of the various terraces, read some, wrote some, took a walk to the village, and pretty much gazed at the mountains.

The food was good, but still heavy on the chicken tagine and couscous. Each meal is set, so there's little choice, but the settings are great. Breakfast and lunch are on the terraces and dinner is in the very atmospheric dining room, filled with candles and low tables and cushions. Because the Berbers do not drink, the Kasbah is BYO, but they have no problem with you having your own wine with dinner. They were very kind and even produced a birthday cake filled with candles upon request.

So, after the lounging, it was time for hiking. Admittedly, this is rather high end hiking. We had our guide, Mustaffa, who was knowledgeable and entertaining, but not overly solicitous, along with two donkeys and corresponding men to carry all our stuff. These guys also cooked our meals, pitched our tent, the whole thing. Pretty nice.

So off we went into the hills. We hiked by the picturesque neighboring village of Aroumd, across the river valley devastated by a flash flood some years earlier, and up the mountains to the shrine and little town of Sidi Chamrouch. This place was a shrine to the equivalent of a saint in the local Berber religion. Apparently most Berbers, although Muslim, also follow some of the traditional religious customs. We couldn't actually cross the little bridge to the shrine, but we could gaze on it from a snack shop above. Mostly, it looked like a huge, white rock. Together with the cluster of shops for hikers down below, and the group of rather high kids camping and playing their drums downstream, it was a pretty backpacker scene. So after a rest, off we went up the mountain valley.

Another hour of hiking later, we happened onto the lunch location, which was rather spectacular. Our various donkeys, along with those of another couple off on the same hike, had been unloaded to create a little restaurant on the mountain. We had a rug and a table and chairs and mats for lounging and full meal. Pretty great. So we ate and rested and gazed at the clouds.

One more stretch of hiking and we made it to the base camp for the summit, formerly known as Neltner Hut. This is a hostel for people to stay in, and is surrounded by a slew of tents, some permanently set up like little hotels, and some for individual groups. So as our tents were pitched for us (pretty tough on us), we checked out the hut and watched the fog roll in. It was pretty cold by dusk, and by the time dinner rolled around, I had literally every piece of clothing in the campsite on.

Once again, we had a swank dinner set up in our "dining tent" and then we tackled what would become the ongoing issue of the hike: my boots. Apparently my boots were old and at some point in the hike, the soles started to come off. Literally off the boot. So Mustaffa decided that there was no way I was going up the mountain like that, and after we couldn't devise a way to fix the boots, Mohammed, the donkey guy, lent me his shoes for the summit hike the next morning. Lots of drama.

So 4:00 the next morning we were roused from our tent and headed up the mountain in the dark. For unclear reasons, Mustaffa decided we should charge up the mountain to pass a big group ahead of us. After it became very clear that this approach was utterly inconsistent with my body's ability to process oxygen at that time, we slowed it down a bit. From there it was a long four hour trudge through a lot of rocks up the mountain. The summit was freezing but spectacular and Mustaffa even brought us a mini champagne bottle to celebrate. After a rest and a snack, we headed down.

The trip down Toubkal was quick - maybe two hours - but rather challenging as the whole top of the mountain is basically a big scree field, i.e. field of loose rocks. So you basically have no secure footing and the best approach is to half run, half ski down down the thing. So you get down pretty quickly, but you spend a fair amount of time on your ass. And have a lot of bruises the next day. But down we went, with me periodically reminding Mike that summitting mountains is not a relaxing vacation choice when you both run out of time to do any kind of training beforehand.

After making it back to base camp, we had a little lunch, I gratefully gave Mohammed his shoes back, and we were on our way. The rest of the hike back to the Kasbah was an easy gradual downhill, but went extremely slow due to my utterly useless boots. We made several stops along the way to try various repairs. First we tried to tie the soles on with my shoelaces. Then we tried to do the same with some twine we found on the side of the trail. Then we stopped at a little shack, where they made nails out of wire, and tried to nail the soles back on. Then we stopped in Sidi Chamrouch and devised a wire frame that kept the soles on. Pretty impressive efforts, and sure made me feel like the dumb American with her old boots. Which went promptly in the garbage once I got all the wires off. Our last night was rather tragic, as Mike spent the whole night ill, but we enjoyed our cleanliness and headed to Marrakech the next morning.

Some general admonitions about the Toubkal area:

If you're choosing between Kasbah du Toubkal and Kasbah Agafay (the Richard Branson property), definitely choose Toubkal. The setting is exponentially more spectacular and way better value. Plus, all you're missing out on is a tennis court (who wants to play tennis in the Atlas mountains anyway?) and the price.

If you're going to hike on your own out of Imlil, it's very doable as the trails are well-laid and there are little snack shops and stuff along the way. I would not, however, hike Jbel Toubkal on your own - there's barely a path and you can make some seriously dangerous route miscalculations on the rocks.

I'm not sure I would necessarily choose the Toubkal summit over other hikes from the Kasbah. There are a bunch of options for day and multi-day hikes, including some with overnights at the Kasbah's mountain lodge further into the hills. I suspect that heading over the ranges may be just as spectacular, and less strenuous, than the path to the summit.

Definitely allow lounging time. The property itself is spectacular and I wish we'd spent a few more days there.

Adventures in Morocco: Fes (or Fez, it's rather unclear)

In the ongoing Adventures in Morocco series, I shall now discuss Fes. Known to some as Fez. Not too long ago, although it seems like ages, we spent four days in Fes, wandering the medieval streets and generally feeling somewhat alien. Some thoughts on the experience:

Orientation. There are essentially three sections to Fes. The oldest part of town is the medina, known as Fes el Bali and also with a section known as Fes el Andalous. Next oldest is Fes el Djedid, located southwest of Fes el Bali. Then, there's the Ville Nouvelle, the newest part of town, built by the French. For our purposes, Fes el Bali is the focus. We made brief forays into the other parts of town, but found Fes el Djedid underwhelming and a new city is a new city.

Where to stay. It used to be that, back in the day (like when my parents were there circa 1971), westerners could only stay in the new city. Not so anymore. The trend of converting private riad homes into small hotels has definitely hit Fes, and I would recommend taking advantage. We stayed at Riad Louna, and I would highly recommend it. Affordable and lovely, with a cool courtyard for daytime siestas and a breezy rooftop for evenings. It's just a bit inside the medina from Bab Boujeloud (one of the old gates to Fes el Bali), so it is easy to access by taxi when you arrive, but you're also right near the medina.

The big, fancy hotel in town is the Palais Jamai. All the books say it's swank, but it definitely has that big colonial hotel feel (it is a Sofitel, after all) and it's perched on the very edge of the medina, so I would only recommend it if you're not looking for any authenticity. If you're looking to splurge, riad style, La Maison Bleue and its sister property, Riad Maison Bleue, is the swankiest option. We had dinner there, discussed below, but I can't say it is fantastic enough to justify the proportional price increase. To give a sense, Riad Louna: $85/night, Maison Bleue: $200/night.

What to do. Fes is definitely a walking-and-looking type destination. The obvious place to engage in such activity is Fes-el-Bali. Given our brief tastes of Fes-el-Djedid (the newer quarter) and Fes Nouvelle (the even newer quarter), I'd stick with the medina. There are not so many big sights, as the major monuments are religious ones and non-muslims may not visit mosques in Morocco. So, sightseeing involves much observation of street life, some peeking behind doors, some shopping, and some sitting and sipping tea. Now, all the books say you need a guide for the medinas in Morocco. This is true and not true. The reality is that wandering by yourself and going with a guide are two different experiences. I would recommend both. To illustrate:

Day Without Guide. Our first day we decided we would tackle the medina by ourselves, with the trusty Rough Guide in hand. We accomplished this fairly well. We set out from the Riad Louna and headed towards the major landmark, the Kairaouine Mosque. This is fairly easily accomplished as Rue Talaa is pretty much a straight shot. Along the way, we admired the Bou Inania Medersa and generally observed the bustling alleys. We then took a little detour through Place Seffarine and eventually gave in to a fellow offering to take us to see the tanneries. So we climbed our way up to one of the shops with views over the tanneries, took some photos, declined to purchase leather goods, and made our way back down.

Then we did some aimless (not quite lost) wanderings for a few hours and snaked our way through the souks (collections of alleys selling or making certain kinds of goods: Dyers' Souk, Brass Souk, Leather Souk, etc.) and finally made our way back to the riad. Now, all of this was quite doable and Fes el Bali is contained by city walls, so you can only get so lost. There are these tourist maps and marked "routes" through Fes el Bali, but so far as we could tell they were utterly useless. I'd go with the internal compass.

Day With Guide. The next day we got a guide (We did this by asking at the riad, which I'd recommend as that way you get someone licensed by the tourist authority. That doesn't mean you aren't still going to get taken to carpet shops, but at least you've got a set price and someone to complain to). Our man Mustaffa, after being told that we'd hit some key sights the day before, suggested we taxi our way to the Andalusian Quarter and then make our way back through the medina, east to west. So off we went.

The Andalusian Quarter (Fes el Andalous) was a treat, as it was a bit off the tourist trail and had a real whiff of authenticity to it. We walked from Bab Ftouh (Bab = gate in the city walls) through some market streets to the Medersa Es Sahrij. Medersas are buildings that house koranic students who come to study at the local mosques. Fes's traditional role is as a center of islamic study, so the place is crawling with medersas, and these places are still used. In contrast to the Medersa Bou Inania, from the day before, which was all cleaned up for visitors, the Es Sahrij was in scenic disrepair and still had students living there. You could peek through the windows at the little cell-like rooms where the students lived (apparently most of them are from West Africa), and they were outfitted with the traditional accoutrement, like posters of favorite soccer players. The traditional layout is student rooms surrounding a central courtyard with a pool and fountain, and a prayer room at the one end of the first floor. Makes for nice pictures of reflections of tilework in the pool.

From there we made our way through the quarter, did a fly-by of the Andalusian Mosque (really not so interesting when all you can do is look at the front gate), crossed the river and headed into Fes el Bali. At this point we entered into what is the eternal struggle of the traveller in Morocco: the shops. Now, pretty much any guide is going to suggest going to some shops to you. Maybe a carpet shop, maybe an antiques shop, maybe a spice shop, but definitely some kind of shop. Some people are very put off by this as they feel they are getting ripped off. Some people are very uncomfortable as they feel they have to buy something in each shop. My approach is that, in many instances, these shops are part of the tourist experience - you see a slice of life, you get a chance to talk to people, and maybe you find something cool to buy. I figure, go in a few shops, have a chat with the storekeeper, look around and if you don't like anything, leave. If you do see something you like, then all the better. Another upside is they give you lots of mint tea while you're shopping, which is always nice.

In addition to a carpet shop in an old palace with a really cool roof overlooking the city, we checked out a spice shop with the requisite Bill Clinton photos on the wall, and an antiques shop with gorgeous doors and window frames from old palaces, if you need such a thing for your home. Mustaffa mixed up the shops with trips behind doors that I never would have opened on my own, where we saw squatters living in old palaces and fondouks (former hotels for caravans of traders) now serving as small factories for artisans, and different kinds of local people coming and going. As Mustaffa explained it, each little area of the medina needs three things: a baker, a mosque, and a hammam (communal bathhouse). The theory seemed to hold true, although I think I'd add mules to the list.

Other random adventures. A few other tidbits from our handful of days in Fes.

Skip the Boujeloud Gardens. They're seriously tragic, and light on garden. Although at dusk, there was definite people watching to be done (and I was eternally amused by the new Christina Aguilera song blasting from someone's radio).

Street food. It may or may not have made me violently ill for several days, but there's some decent street food to be had. We had tasty kefta sandwiches (sort of spicy meatballs in pita) and the peelable fruit looked pretty decent.

"Palace" dinner. This is one of the junkets in Morocco: a dinner in a fancy riad or palace hotel, complete with multi course meal, low tables with cushions, and entertainment. We went to Maison Bleue, noted above. So the place is nice, it's a lovely tiled Moroccan riad. The service is attentive. The atmosphere would have been romantic (pillows, candles) if there wasn't a group of three middle-aged American couples at the next table. The food was good, but good Moroccan food is just okay. So there it is. The most entertaining part: how they (mis)spelled your name on your table.

Money. The ATM situation in Fes el Bali is extremely limited and all but one (which wasn't working when we were there) are closed on the weekends. So definitely stock up on cash near the train station in the new city or on weekdays. Most places are cash only, including riads, so it's pretty vital.

Pictures. Because many of the streets are covered alleys, taking pictures can be a challenge. Definitely bring a decent camera so you can adjust for the fluctuating light. My souk pictures didn't come out so well, but I think with some more premeditation, there are some pretty great shots to be had.

Adventures in Morocco: General Admonitions

So instead of doing one epic journal of a recent trip to Morocco, I'm going to do this in phases. First, general thoughts as to the trip.

Arrival. We took the ferry from Algeciras, in Spain, to Tangier. I'm a big boat fan, so I would definitely recommend the arrival-by-ferry approach. It's a quick one hour trip, you get to cruise by Gibraltar, and the boat is a big catamaran with snackbar, etc. That said, there is pretty much nothing to recommend Algeciras, where we spent the night before taking the boat.

On a somewhat unrelated point, I flew via Gibraltar (from Luton on Monarch Air). I'm now a fan of Luton airport and a growing fan of the low budget UK carriers. Luton had a lovely Marks & Spencer food store and a coffee shop - really all you need when waiting for a plane. Monarch Air had the requisite kitsch factor ("flying is so fun!") and they took buying drinks and snacks to a whole other level: they would chill a bottle of champagne for you during the flight, and you could then take it with you to enjoy upon arrival.

As for arrival in Gibraltar, it's one of those great, small one room airports, complete with observation deck where your family can wave to you as you disembark. No Placencia, Belize, the smallest airport I can recall, but still pretty funny. Crossing the border into Spain involves exiting the airport, walking one block down the street through the more or less unstaffed border crossing and then hailing a cab. Total time plane to Spain: 7 minutes.

Transportation. Our plans for Road Trip Morocco were thwarted by my gainful employment, so we instead took a planes, trains and automobiles approach. Our major legs were taxi from Tangier to Fes (5 hours, hot, not so recommended); train from Fes to Marrakech (cheap, air conditioned, snack trolley, decent seats, brilliant, definitely pay the extra $5 or whatever for first class); car from Marrakech to Imlil in the Atlas Mountains (really the only choice, very scenic, only about an hour). Lesson: if your schedule can handle it, take the train. That said, I think roadtripping would have been completely doable.

Lodging. Definitely stay in a riad. These are words to live by. Back in the day, westerners could only stay in the "new cities", outside the medinas, the traditional old cities. Now, enterprising Moroccans and a healthy dose of foreigners have purchased traditional courtyard homes (known as riads) and converted them into small hotels. These riads are tucked into the alleyways of the medina and are incredibly charming. Some are a little themey - heavy on lanterns and such and some are chic and sparse. If you're lucky, there will be a roof terrace and a little pool in the courtyard. They'll serve you breakfast in the morning and, on request, cook you dinner.

Food. Okay, so here's the thing: Moroccan food is not so interesting. There's really no restaurant culture, so basically what you're looking at is home cooking made for tourists. While this sounds good in theory, in practice it means a fair amount of baked chicken over the course of two weeks. Sure, they call it tagine. Sure, it's with couscous. Sure, every 4th night it might be lamb. But in the end, it's just a lot of baked chicken. That aside, a highlight of Moroccan cuisine is that they make decent bread (both of the french-influenced variety and ksra - the round, chewy native variety). Most folks will tell you to eat in your riad, as that's how you'll get "real" Moroccan home cooking. Fair, and I wouldn't disagree, but you'll be happy if you mix it up a little.

A personal favorite dish was pastilla (or b'stilla) - ground meat (traditionally pigeon) encased in a pastry dusted with sugar and cinnamon. Nice salty and sweet combination, although too heavy to eat every day. Le Foundouk, in Marrakech, did a brilliant one.

We also did a little venturing into street food, but honestly Morocco has nothing on Thailand and its kin. We enjoyed a little kefta sandwich in Fes (good spices), but that was the highlight. Okay, not entirely true, there fresh squeezed orange juice stands everywhere (including twenty or so in Djemma el Fna in Marrakech). Mike was a fan.

In Marrakech, which is crawling with hipster Parisians these days, there are food choices beyond the traditional, but they are heavily form over substance. Still, after three nights of chicken tagine, "thai-moroccan" cuisine, house music, and lots of draped fabric is a welcome change. See Bo-Zin, outside of Marrakech. A less successful venture was Le Comptoir, which sure felt like Morocco Land at Disney World. The bar is a better bet. Best food of the trip was Le Foundouk, also in Marrakech. Still hipster, but actually decent food and light on gimmicks.

Beverages. Right, so one of the standard shticks is when people offer you "moroccan whiskey." this points out a drawback to travelling in a muslim country: moroccan whiskey is mint tea. Not so much with the alcohol in Morocco. There are a few local wines - I would say the most palatable is the President Rose. But really you should bring your own. Only restaurants that serve westerners will have any alcohol, but most riads are happy to let you bring your own for dinner or to drink on the terrace, etc. The good news is you can now bring duty free liquids on the plane, so I'd suggest buying during your layover on your way in.

Attire. Although there were definitely western women, and teenage moroccans, in revealing clothing, I would say it's just less stressful to cover up. I did long sleeve cotton shirts or tshirts and a cardigan or wrap and linen pants or long linen skirts. Mid calf was fine. Sandals are great, although the streets of the medinas are super yucky (lots of mules, need I say more), so closed shoes have their advantages. At the hipster spots in Marrakech, you saw a little more trendy dressing, but overall a pretty conservative scene. The good news is there are oodles of cotton caftans and skirts for sale everywhere, so you can just buy while there if you've miscalculated. Or if you want to bring home beach coverups.

Morocco: a teaser

More descriptions coming soon, but in the meantime, some scenes from a recent sojourn to Morocco.