Travels4Yourself

No matter what city of Morocco you are in, you can not predict for sure what awaits around the corner: an abandoned wasteland or a luxurious riad, a herbarist shop or artisan workshop, a royal palace or a palm grove.

Even an experienced traveler will tremble when he sees Marrakesh wake up at dawn and the first rays of the sun illuminate the horizon of the Atlas Mountains. As all shades of pink creep with every minute of sunrise and gradually turn from pale to bright - terracotta. When he first gets to the old bazaar of Fez and feels a vigorous mixture of aromas of spicy spices and fresh bread, and then gets lost in six thousand labyrinth alleys of the medina - the old part of the city, built in the ninth century in Arab times. Out of habit, the crowd of the city will knock down, and from the booth of dark-skinned Moroccans he will lay his ears, but he will get used to it. You can’t get used to it.

Why go?

1. Look at the fountains framed with colorful mosaics - an echo of the Portuguese Azulejos - which had been working all over the city some ten years ago, but because of the rapid population growth (many began to move from villages to the city), Fes began to suffer from acute lack of water.


2. Learn not to miss the desired turn - the one behind which is hidden a luxurious riad, stretching over several floors. Translated from Arabic, “garden” is a traditional Moroccan house or palace with a courtyard, from where natural light penetrates into all rooms of the house. Moroccans thus “hid” privacy from prying eyes.

3. See how city minarets turn into anthills. Five times a day, the herald muezzin calls on all the inhabitants of the city to pray: whether you are in at least Fez, even in Marrakesh, even in Casablanca or any other city in Morocco - prayer yells at the loudspeakers that are placed around the perimeter of the medina. An unprepared traveler will flinch from surprise, and more than once. As for the pilgrimage, then everything is prosaic. At the same time, everyone is ringing a phone with a reminder, in case they haven’t heard the call: so that there is enough time to wash, change clothes, and put everything in order.


4. Surprise incomprehensible. In order to photograph a person, you need to ask him for permission. Sometimes you can also buy coffee or give some amount of money. When asked whether this habit is associated with superstition, opinions diverged. Someone says, locals believe that the evil eye awaits them, and someone just does not want to "wander" through the expanses of social networks. Like, this is my personal space, please, do not violate it.

5. Find out what truly gastronomic delight is. Friday family couscous is a holy tradition for every family. Not only is this an occasion for everyone to get together and discuss what happened to someone over the week, but also to cook dinner together. And couscous is not just cereals cooked in one way or another. This is a full hearty dish - with vegetables, meat, seafood - for every taste. But not one couscous: Morocco is famous for tajine - made from meat or chicken, and fish in honey sauce with dried apricots, and numerous salad sets for every taste (from baked peppers to spicy pumpkin) and, of course, desserts.


6. Try to stay on your feet at the conditional intersections of Marrakech, since there are no traffic lights and pedestrian crossings in the center, and go ahead, despite the fact that cars and mopeds are rushing from all sides. And to accept that the Russian arrogant “where you go” is just an ordinary show off, in which there is no sense. To stop the endless stream, you need to raise your hand and quickly and quickly cross the road. There is still an option to wear a suit. Yes, yes, in this case, the Moroccan at the wheel will worry: they say, are you a cop? Better to give in.

7. Look in the herbarist's shop and try healing tea: perhaps green with spices, and possibly with the addition of other secret ingredients. In any case, only the owner of the shop will know the recipe and, of course, wink conspiratorially. Like, how are you?


8. And, finally, to find out a fact that may not be useful in life, but the piggy bank of memories will be replenished. After all, the oldest university in the world is not Oxford and not the Sorbonne, but Al-Karaouin, located in Fes al-Bali.