Ever since I went to Morocco as a teenager, I knew I was in love with the country. I recently got the opportunity to return and spend a great deal more time in Morocco. Hopefully this itinerary will help spread the word about the country and encourage more people to explore Morocco. This itinerary will be divided into 3 articles, each spanning several days, either grouped by a theme or physical proximity. Salam alaikum!

Day 0, Travel Day

I flew into Marrakech on Royal Air Maroc squished between two gentlemen. The first could have been a offensive lineman for the NFL, and we shared my seat. The other was older and smaller, but seemed offended anytime we touched. Which was difficult to avoid considering my buddy on the other side. I desperately had to pee, and I hadn’t managed any sleep on either of my flights. I had two layovers, one in New York and another in Casablanca. Despite all of that, it was not a terrible flight. Once you are on the east coast of the U.S., crossing the Atlantic only takes about seven hours. And my excitement couldn’t be dampened. We arrived, trudging off the plane around 1:00pm local time.

My mother and I had decided to use a group tour company on our second trip to Morocco. My parents are big fans of Gate 1 Travel, and my husband is neutral, so we chose the “13 Day Kasbahs and Deserts of Morocco” Tour. I liked this for two reasons. One, this had us in the southern part of the country which I hadn’t seen before. Two, we covered a good bit of ground; seeing several cities and both the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara. If I spend too much of a trip in one place I feel like I have seen just one city rather than the country.

When we got through customs in Marrakech and grabbed our bags, a man with a Gate 1 sign led us to a large coach bus. I couldn’t have been happier. I did not exchange money or grab a SIM that day, though there were kiosks at the airport. My phone had some international data, and the hotel and meal that night were covered.

We were ferried to our hotel, the Movenpick Hotel Mansour Eddahbi Marrakesh. It was incredibly swanky. Located in the newer part of the city, it had a chocolate hour every evening, several shops, a pool I never found, and several restaurants onsite. It was also a 20-30 minute walk to the Medina, and a great area to walk around a explore.

After exploring the hotel and attending a welcome dinner onsite, (where I tried a local beer) we all passed out early, ready for the next day’s adventures to start.

Day 1, Marrakech

After waking up unreasonably early due to jet lag and availing ourselves of the generous free breakfast, it was time to see the city. Marrakech is a large city in Morocco, one of the imperial four (Rabat, Fez, Marrakech and Meknes). It possesses a clear duality of a more modern city, and the historic town (the medina) contained within the ancient city walls.

Our day started with a half day guided tour to help acquaint us with the city. The local guide met us just inside the walls of the medina. This part of Marrakech was lovely; the roads were bordered by large walking paths lined with orange trees. I quickly found out that Moroccan oranges are bitter; they are used to make jams and preserves and are not good for eating or juicing! 

Walk around Koutoubia Mosque

Our first stop, past a blue-tiled fountain, was the Koutoubia Mosque (Koo-two-bee-ah). We could not go inside as it is an active religious site, but the mosque itself dates back to 1195 and is the largest mosque in Marrakech. It is actually the second iteration; the original was built in 1147 but didn’t exist for long. The ruins of the original mosque, which was burned to the ground and rebuilt by a conquering Berber tribe are visible just adjacent to the current building. Interestingly, the rationale used to burn down the old mosque and rebuild it was that the old mosque was not properly aligned towards Mecca. If you were to look at the buildings from a birds-eye view, you would see that the directional difference is a matter of less than 20 degrees. 

The guide explained the name of the mosque means “bookseller”, as a lively souk of bookmakers and sellers was close by. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Marrakech was a cultural hub, and housed a number of writers, philosophers, and artists. 

Peek Inside the Saadian Tombs

Walking through the residential section of the medina, and winding our way into the Royal Kasbah District, we arrived at the Saadian Tombs. From our initial stop, we had progressed less than two miles, but over 400 years. The tombs finished construction in 1603. This was a popular attraction, with tour groups lined up at the ticket booth outside, and workers cleaning, maintaining and restoring the grounds and buildings.

in 1603. This was a popular attraction, with tour groups lined up at the ticket booth outside, and workers cleaning, maintaining and restoring the grounds and buildings.

The tombs were split up into four sections. The men, kings and viziers, rested in one room, the children in another, and the women in a third. The exterior courtyard was where the soldiers and servants of the various royal figures were buried. Most of the grave markers remain missing, as the whole complex was buried by the subsequent dynasty. Interestingly the grave markers were very different from what we would imagine in the west. Made from marble, they project only a few inches up from the ground and are very long, usually running the length of the grave. Arabic script wraps all sides of the marker, giving information on the entombed and also featuring verses from the Quran.

We didn’t spend long in the tombs, as crowds and tour groups were close on our heels. Our next stop was the Bahia Palace.

Explore Bahia Palace

Imagine a manor surrounded by orange trees and palms, rich with tilework. Sunlight streams through the windows and drips through the plant-dense courtyards. This magnificent palace is more recent, as it was built in the 1860s, and received expansions up until 1900. It functioned as a residence, a place of leisure, and a place of worship. 

The interior was richly decorated and followed the traditional Moroccan style that I saw in mosques, the Saadian Tombs, and elsewhere. The ceiling was made from carved and painted cedarwood. The wood comes from the Atlas Mountains, and is great for resisting both rot and bugs. Painted plaster adorned the tops of the walls, featuring repetitive geometric motifs. Tilework called zellige, a handcut glazed ceramic tilework that is unique to Morocco, lined the walls and floors. There is no particular color or pattern that defines zellige – it features a mix of bright colors and handmade tiles. The phrase “perfectly imperfect” comes to mind. 

The palace was enormous, featuring living spaces for the wives, concubines, and the Vizier, several courtyards, and countless hallways. The scale of the complex overwhelmed, even with large parts of the palace closed off for renovations and upkeep. The palace contained no furniture, but our guide pointed out architectural details and each room’s use.

Something I saw at the palace for the first time was signs with the Berber language on it. Latin or Arabic script, heavily favored by the government and traders, nearly stamped out the Berber alphabet. In 2007, the Moroccan government revived and standardized the traditional Berber alphabet, called Tifinagh. It is a wild language to see written, made with very bold, simple, geometric strokes. Morocco was, in general, very good about having signs and information posted in several languages. Most commonly, I saw Arabic, French, Berber, and English. 

After the palace, I made a quick bathroom stop, where I discovered that Morocco follows the European tradition of charging for toilets (I pee way too much for this). Uncomfortably, this usually features a quiet bathroom attendant who very subtly but effectively, clinks two coins together to request payment. 

Shop La Place

Relieved, and a little poorer, the tour continued onto the main square of the medina called La Place, pronounced ‘la plus’. The square consisted of a wide, paved triangular space filled with vendors and people who our guide described as “the worst people on earth”. Followed by “the second worst people on earth.” He was talking about the snake charmers and monkey handlers. He warned us that they were very aggressive about asking for money – one photo for 10 Dirham would turn into 20, then more as more pictures were taken, tips would be aggressively requested, etc.

What Ibrahim didn’t mention is the even more tragic side of these entertainers. I saw the monkeys yanked about by chains secured around their throats. To make matters worse, those monkeys are Barbary macaques, the only African primate that lives north of the Sahara. The massive demand for capturing these monkeys to peddle photos to tourists is contributing to the extinction of these animals in the wild. 

Keeping all of that in mind, we gave the animal handlers a wide berth. In truth, that was very difficult to do, as I am a huge animal lover. I would have given my left foot and all of our money to have that monkey climb on my shoulder. Additionally, I am deeply curious on how the snake charming works. (They were actual cobras! And they were rising out of the little baskets and watching the flute player ceaselessly.) So I am incredibly proud to have resisted the temptations and kept the greater good of the animals in mind. The good news is La Place in Marrakech is the only place in Morocco I saw these swindlers. 

We wandered the souk for a while, looking at all manner of beautiful wood carvings, lanterns, cloth, spices and souvenirs. Growing hungry, my husband and I found a restaurant that overlooked a small plaza. While we waited for our order of water and a couple pastillas, I sketched several aspects of the square below. A donkey parked next to delivery trucks, a clothing shop with rows of shirts two stories tall, and a minaret jutting up against the sky; qunitessential market scenes. The pastillas consist of a pie crust stuffed with chicken or vegetables, then dusted with cinnamon, saffron and honey. They were excellent. As we ate, we heard the call to prayer ring out across the city. This mystified us as it was about 1:30pm at the time, but after some quick research we realized it was solar noon. 

Learn at the Museum of Marrakech

Left to our own devices, we decided to see two more things in Marrakech before calling it a day. The Museum of Marrakech was a small art and cultural museum. It featured different displays on tea, jewelry, clothing, pottery, weapons, art, and poetry. One of my favorite displays was an old potter’s wheel, which features a kickplate used to turn the wheel above. Another sign talked about the mystery of these red dots found on old pottery across Morocco. It is theorized that the red spots covered imperfections in the glaze. Or the red spots rendered the pieces “imperfect”, in order to ward off bad luck. I also gravitated towards these curved daggers called Koummya. 

As wonderful as the museum was, it is worth noting that almost all of the signage is in French. Unless you are dedicated to using google translate on every plaque, it may not be worth your time. If you speak a romance language, you would be surprised how much you can piece together just by scanning for loan words, cognates and a smattering of words you may have picked up from TV or movies. 

Wander the Secret Garden

I was starting to flag at this point but wanted to see the Secret Garden. I really wanted to pay a visit to Yves Saint Laurent Museum and Jardin Majorelle, but they are hugely popular attractions and are located in the new city rather than the medina. However, I did not book ahead of time, and various sources emphasized the need for pre-booking . So instead of seeing the famous blue house of fashion and the surrounding greenery, I opted for a lesser known, but not really secret public garden. 

The Secret Garden lay very close to the Museum of Marrakech. Two connected gardens sprawl in place of a central courtyard. It features an “exotic” garden and a traditional Islamic garden. The experience blew me away. You can probably walk the whole thing and read the plaques in an hour, but we ended up staying until they closed, three hours after we got there.

Unlike the museum, all the signage here had English translations. Because of this I could read about the incredibly complex system of water features: clay pipes, pools, channels and irrigation. Viewing windows in strategic locations showed how the walls were constructed, and how the tapered clay pipes routed water. Aside from that, they did a great job detailing the recent restoration project. In addition, there were bathrooms, a cafe, a tower for viewing the grounds and surrounding city, and a nonfunctional hammam. We watched the sunset sitting on the edge of a pool while I sketched the central pavilion. An excellent end to the day.

Day 2, Marrakech

After waking up spontaneously at 4:00 am due to jetlag, I decided to stay awake, as the first activity for the day was a sunrise hot air balloon ride, and my planned wakeup time was 5:00 am anyways. Morocco actually gets quite cool in the winter, especially in the dead of night, which I noticed when making my way from the hotel to the van we took through the desert to the launching point.

Adventure Balloon Marrakesh was the provider for this experience. And we were headed wayyy outside of town. After about an hour-long ride, we approached one of the many balloon camps outside Marrakech. They had quite the setup, along with about 150 people milling about. We relaxed in a red, cushioned tent to relax with a cup of mint tea or coffee. As we relaxed I could see workers darting through the darkness, checking people in, carting drinks, and organizing groups. 

Ride in a Hot Air Balloon

Not long after, our pilot made his entrance. He was a short, red-haired, Egyptian man named Sherif. And he had a wonderful sense of humor. After showing us the landing position and convincing us to not get out of the balloon once inside, an explosion of fire interrupted Sherif. Everyone (understandably) stopped listening to a word he said and rushed to the front of the tent. Good naturedly, Sherif stepped aside to let us watch the show. Less than 50 feet away, the crew had all of the balloon baskets lined up in a row, and were testing the burners . With that many flames on full blast, the heat was a palpable wave that hit the tent. They proceeded to fire short coordinated bursts, in a manner that I am sure was great for testing functionality but also made for quite the show.

 After regaining our attention Sherif finished his briefing. By this time the sky was lightning, and we were led to our balloon, a great yellow behemoth. Watching the balloons inflate, and the coordination of the teams pulling ropes, tipping baskets, and firing the burners was super entertaining to watch. Definetly a highly coordinated, physical activity to get the balloons inflated. Once upright, we were directed into the sectioned basket, with 2 or 3 people in each section. In total the balloon held about 25 people. Take-off was gentle and sudden with Sherif asking, “How many people, this is your first time flying?” As we all raised our hands and the basket steadily rose he cheerfully announced “Me too!” 

In actuality, he had over 100 hours of air time logged as a balloon pilot in three different countries. As we rose, we could see other balloons launch below us, or those in the air climb higher. With the intermittent blasts of the torch, and the lack of discernible wind, it was quite comfortable on board. As the sun rose I could make out more and more of the colors of the land and the hundreds of balloons filling the air around us.

The Atlas Mountains were capped with snow that quickly became too brilliant to look at as the sun rose behind them. Our direction was completely at the mercy of the wind, though we climbed as high as we could before Sherif got a call over the walkie talkie to bring it back down. I was astounded at how far sound traveled up there. Sailing over a village, I could hear the roosters crowing on the ground, and up in the clouds, I could hear the quiet roar of the other balloon burners.

If someone was to face a fear of flying, a hot air balloon would be the way to do it. It feels incredibly stable, and the flying is gentle. By the time you descend to land, you kind of lose your sense of scale a bit. As we drifted above telephone poles, alI I could think was, I could make that jump down. Approaching the ground, we spent a while skimming just above the grass, taking advantage of the ground effect. Sherif was showing off a bit after teasing us all morning, because the call to assume the landing position came nerve-rackingly late. And the landing was gentle as can be. The most amusing part of landing was watching the flatbed trucks race after us, crew and local children sprinting to catch the balloon ropes as we landed. 

After the ride, we trucked back to base camp and the staff treated us to an outdoor buffet breakfast. Because of the time of year it was quite chilly on the ground, so this was perhaps less fantastic then it is at other times of year. The hot chocolate was a highlight though!

Moroccan Cooking Class

After an afternoon nap, we were slated for a cooking class at a local riad. I was blown away with this cooking class. We made chicken tagine and two salads. (Tagine is tasty but also a very common dish: by the end of the trip I had tagine about 8,000 times with goat, beef, chicken, and vegetable). 

The Riad hotel where the cooking class took place was gorgeous. After we checked in they led us into the courtyard then up some stairs into a glass enclosure that was buried amongst flower vines and the tops of the courtyard trees. The space was stunning. It had about 15 cook stations, each with its own burners, undercounter mounted trashcan, knives and cutting board, undermount sink, bottled water, paper towels, containers of spices, and plates of ingredients. Not to mention plenty of counter space! But the crowning feature was the monitor placed at the back of the counter, exactly at eye level, that displayed a view of the lead chef’s cook station. I have taken cooking classes all over; this was revolutionary. No crowding around while the chef demonstrates, no fighting for space.

The sous chef narrated in clear English the entire time while also giving tips about knife skills and facts about the spices. The cooking was mostly chopping, adding spice and mixing but I have never been more happy to do so. 

After we cooked (there were six of us in the class) we were served our dishes as well as two other dishes that the chef made for us, a vegetable tagine and a dessert, a crema pasticciera. We ate our fill, and were provided with the recipes for everything we made. Then made our way back to our hotel in a horse-drawn carriage. It couldn’t have been a more pleasant evening unless a free doctorate and a winning lottery ticket had wanted to drift in on the wind and smack me in the face. 

After getting back to the hotel I slept great, knowing that tomorrow morning would be an early start.

Day 3, Atlas Mountains

Marvel at the Atlas Mountains

Bright and early I was awake and on my way out of Marrakech. The drive took us out of the city in a southeastern direction and the Atlas Mountains loomed larger and larger. I really enjoy mountains, so when the bus started climbing up the foothills, I was excited. Looking out the window I got to enjoy that special optical illusion of the clouds and fog hiding the tops of the mountains. Then, the wind would blow, or the sun would break through and I could see more mountains above the clouds. The amount of snow on the peaks of the Atlas Mountains was actually quite the surprise to me. Our guide, Ibrahim, explained that this is good news for the farmers as it promises a wet and fertile spring. The higher we went, the snowier it got, though thankfully the roads were clear.

Stopping at the Tichka Pass meant stopping right among the highest peaks and getting an opportunity to look around. Villages dotted the road every ten miles or so, and the pass was no exception. I couldn’t imagine living in a place that meant carrying everything you needed to eat, live, or build uphill. These metal bins that looked a lot like tables with covered lids served as shop stalls- the lids could be closed over the table of wares and locked, to protect them from snow, wet, and wind. 

Driving down the mountains was a similar experience to heading up them, just now with views of the flat land on the other side. In the distance you could even see the figures of another, smaller mountain range, called the Anti-Atlas Mountains. 

Hike up Aït Benhaddou

That afternoon we arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Aït Benhaddou. The village has two parts – the old ksar, and the more modern new village. The two are connected by a footbridge. The ksar was the original village and because of its unique appearance has been used as a filming location for dozens of movies. It’s one of those things you almost have to see to believe; the village and the hill are merged into one. 

The buildings (mostly houses) are built of rammed earth, clay and other natural materials. The streets are stone lined, with stone steps, and if you wander off down a side alley, you may be taken down into the rock where it is apparent some of the homes have been carved out. When I was on the way down, a gentleman had his front door open. I glanced inside as I walked past. He was sitting on a cloth couch, petting a cat. Dressed in traditional robes, his living room had electric lights, a rug on the floor. A window even. But incredibly the walls and ceiling looked like rugged rock. It made for an incredibly striking picture – a window into the past and a blend of modernity.

Leaving aside the cave dwelling, the village also featured a beautifully intact kasbah from the 17th century. As you switchback your way to the top of the hill, you get a good view of the surrounding region. The river runs at the foot of the hill and divides the new town from the old. Farmland and the modern buildings unfold on all sides, with the shadow of both the Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains in the background. Artisans and shopkeepers lined the path, and I was particularly taken with a man painting with what looked like watercolors.

Our guide spoke with him for a moment, then explained to us that the man created his own pigments from natural elements. Indigo for blue, saffron for yellow, and curiously a heavily sugared green tea. The artist finished his brushstrokes and then leaned forward and in fairly clear English said, “The secret password is fire!” He then held the page over a small butane burner. I almost walked away, thinking that he was drying the page to lay down another round of pigments. Instead the page, which was mostly yellow and blue, magically adopted these dark brown and black tones that turned his watercolor wash into a finished image with the shadows immediately making the city depicted three dimensionally. 

As we walked away, our guide explained the sugar in the green tea wash caramelizes with the heat and turns brown. So the artist is laying down what looks to him and to us very much like clear water, but what will in fact become his shadows. 

One final surprise lay in store for me at Aït Benhaddou. A (presumably) Berber man was playing a stringed instrument. Upon doing some research I believe it was a Ribab, a one stringed fiddle common in the Atlas Mountain region. 

After a quick lunch we were underway again, headed further southeast and passing by numerous towns and villages. Ibrahim explained that the ‘Ait’ that was common in many of the town names means “the people of” and the second part of a town’s name was usually taken from the main family. So Aït Benhaddou where we just left was “the people of Mr. Benhaddou”. The night came and we arrived in Boulmane Dades, a layered city, built up the rise of a hill with a  river below. Our hotel was Hotel Xaluca Dades. It was a sprawling complex of tennis courts, rooms, garages, pavilions and restaurants. Point for Gate 1, they put us up in excellent accommodations.

This is where I am going to pause for now- the next part of my time in Morocco was spent in the central region and along the eastern edge, including a visit to the Sahara. See my next article on exploring the natural wonders and deserts of Morocco!