Traveling Morocco during Ramadan

Follow your dreams, do something crazy. Pursue your passion; run, surf, fly.
Get lost in paradise. Enjoy live. 

Merely four days after graduating university I packed a backpack and hopped on a plane to Amsterdam, Netherlands with no concrete plan or expectations. I had anticipated I would blog regularly, however any internet and computer time I´ve had has typically been spent researching the most inexpensive transportation and accomidations for my next destination, along with creating lists of key sites to visit and elements of the culture that would be intersting to immerse myself into. 

It has been seven weeks since my departure from Canada and I have just returned from exploring Morocco. I spent a total of two weeks exloring Marrakech, Casablanca, and a three day camel trek through the desert. 

Marrakech 
My flight from Seville, Spain to Marrakech was a sheer 54€ on Ryanair. Although its possible the airline hired pilots who may not have been as qualified as others in order to keep costs low, and therefore causes customers to fear for their lives during takeoff and landing, we arrived safely in blazing hot Marrakech. 

I had reseached average costs to be paid for things like taxis, meals, souvenirs etc. however, the 40DRH (about $5CAD) we should have paid for a taxi into town was quickly turned into 150DRH ($19CAD) when drivers saw that we were naive tourists. Heather and I had met two Australian boys (Joel and Brendon) on the flight who also happened to be staying the the same riad as us which was fantastic as we spent a good deal of time with them and ended up booking our camel excursion together. 

Joel (Jesus) and I 

The souks (markets) in Marrakech were colourful, lively, exciting, but also intimidating. The shops are run only by men; even women in the streets are hard to come by. The aggressive sellers have you hooked the second you ask ¨how much?¨ as they will demand you state the price you want to pay and progressivly persuade you to increase this innitial price. I was lucky and made a great  Morrocan friend (Hischam) in the souks who helped me to bargin, as he knew most of the prices that the retailers bought the items for, and therefore an approximate value. I bought two colourful lanters for just 20DRH each (approx. $2.50CAD) and a handmade leather bag from the tanneries for 500DRH ($60CAD)!

Leather Bag

$0.20 Ice Cream!

Inside the Souks

Graves of Former Moroccan Kings

Desert
After careful negotiation we aggreed to take a 3-day camel excursion for 750DRH (about $92CAD) through the desert to Erg Chebbi. The trip began at 7am where we were picked up from our riad and began our long drive through the mountians. Only three hours into the tour the heat and winding road had gotten to me and I was sick at our first stop. Unfortunatly, the trip did not get much better from here. Our second night on the excusrion was spent sleeping in canvas tents near the Algerian boarder which were only accessable by 2 hours on camel. Normally, this would be a delight for me as I love adventure and new places. I had already developed a severe allergic reation to something, however, which I was told by fellow travellers could also be a not so uncommon case of insects under my skin. The reaction has become so painful and irritating at this point I was unable to sleep and counted down the hours till sunrise when we would camel trek back to a vehicle.

Allergic Reaction

Overall, the camel trek was an amazing experience and I would love to do it again, however next time with careful preparation and lots of medication! Here are some pictures of the breathtaking views.

I ended up receiving treatment at an international hospital back in Marrakech and recovered quickly over the next couple days.

Casablanca

Most tourists do not choose to travel to Casablanca as it is really just the business capital of Morocco. My former roommate from NYC, Ilham, is from Morocco and kindly put us in touch with her cousins living in Casablanca. For this reason we decided to visit the city and take advantage of knowing locals who were able to show us around. Hajar and Hamza were grand, and welcomed us into their home and introduced us to their friends.

Hamza, Me, and Heather

Breaking the Fast

This year, Ramadan fell during the month of July (during our trip), which provided a unique environment for visiting the Islamic country of Morocco. During this time period Muslims refrain from eating food, consuming any liquids (even water!), smoking or drinking alcohol while the sun is up. For this reason many of the restaurants and almost all bars and clubs were closed during the month, making it a little difficult to find food during the day. When the sun sets, the fast is broken and the call to prayer can be heard almost everywhere in the city. Although I may have missed out on many tasty restaurants, being in Morocco during Ramadan was such a unique experience, I´m thrilled I was able to make it.