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2012

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Travelogue: Morocco - Journey to the Sahara Part 1

Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2012

I'm kind of lazy to blog about our journey to the Sahara Desert, but it was certainly far from the comfort and glamour of our Riad. It's funny how travelling takes you out of your comfort zone. Every time I reach a new city I miss the comfort of the last one, and this repeats, city after city, missing what I feared initially.

We saw so many things on the way to the Sahara Desert. On contrary, the Medina is a 1.5 day drive there, along the winding, narrow roads over the Atlas Mountains, 7000 feet in the air, through the reddish, barren rural country sides, occasionally stopping at places such as the Tizi n'Tichka Pass, Dades Gorge, the Valley of a thousand Kasbahs, and the Skoura Oasis. I have so many photos, I don't know where to begin, but the journey was hard, long and cramped. Pictures!


Luggage being tied to the roof of our tour guide, Omar's, four-wheel drive. It is not pleasant watching your luggage fall off while you are chilling in the car -.-

Two hours drive up the Atlas Mountains, with plenty of stops along the way to take photos!





Lunch at hotel restaurant L'Oasis D'Or. Justin and I share a Tajine de Poulet, i.e. a chicken tajine. It's different from the one we had the night before at Pepe Nero because this one has a lighter sauce with what we suspect is saffron inside.

We then do a bit of post lunch trekking up this hill. It's a house up there!

 






Tons of scruffy kitties in Morocco :}

 

ALMOST AT THE TOP.

  

In the shade, the weather is wonderful. Like air conditioning. But the moment the sun touches you, it burns so hot. It's pretty confusing clothes wise what to wear, but I made do with a simple shirt, tribal knits, jeans and boots.

Drive drive drive more!



This is what is known as Morocco's Hollywood Town, above you can see the movie sets for many many movies such as The Mummy, Gladiator, Kindom of Heaven, etc. The filming of the movies provides a form of livelihood for the locals, be it the extra tourism, or even starring as extras for the movies!



The sun sets around 530pm. Driving on the roads is pretty dangerous because there are close to zero lights, but Omar is a steady driver, and we reach our hotel for the night, which is a rather cold and creepy place that I didn't dare take pictures of. Haha. But like I said, we have to move out of our comfort zones every now and then, and the small Moroccan hotel wasn't the worse to come yet!

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Travelogue: Morocco - Riad le clos des Arts

Posted on Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Hi! Still doing posts about Morocco. I have this need to post in chronological order, so it seems like I've been in Morocco for a really long time, but it was really just 5D4N in total. 

Here's a peek at our lovely hotel in which we stayed, Riad le clos de Arts! We stayed for 2 nights, in different suites for each night.

Nacre Suite:





Turquoise Suite:






Personally, my favourite room was the Nacre Suite, but Justin's was the Turquoise Suite! But both were great. If I had the time and money, I would try all 6 suites in the Riad just for the fun of it!

Besides the lovely interiors, one thing that made the experience truly memorable was the excellent service. They were extremely attentive to all our needs, for example, when we were leaving for the Sahara, we left our coats behind in the hotel for safekeeping, and when we returned back from the Sahara to our new room, our coats were already sitting in the closet, waiting for us! Some kind of attention to detail!

Also, we were so tired from travelling to the Sahara, so we arranged to have dinner in the Riad itself. When we arrived, we were greeted by a romantic set up in the middle of the courtyard, just for us!






This was, by far, the BEST meal we had in Morocco! It was really surprising because they aren't really a restaurant, but it was like personalized home cooked food, of a high quality restaurant level. And since we were the only diners, the service was excellent of course.

This was my favourite dish of the night. Much of the moroccan "salad" at restaurants we had eaten at offer fruits piled together, but this was so different. Clockwise from the top left, we have zucchini, followed by eggplant, hummus, an AMAZING CARROT, ALMOND, RAISIN AND CINAMMON BLEND, and fresh cucumber in the middle. Each one titillated my tongue and was filled with distinct, moroccan flavours. Wish I could have it again!

The cooks had originally prepared a beef tajine for me, but upon hearing that I don't eat the meat, they whipped up a special monk fish tajine on the spot. It was unique and delicious because tajine's aren't often made with fish.


Dessert was a light but sweet dish made of filo pastry, crème fraîche, apricot marmalade and a sprinking of icing sugar.

For 20 Euros (or 200dm) a person, it was truly worth the price for the level of food and service we received. Like the whole Riad, it was as if we were stepping into our very own oasis of comfort away from the chaos of the city. If you ever go to Morocco, I definitely recommend the Riad le clos des arts for a truly memorable stay!

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Travelogue: Morocco - Breakfast in the Riad

Posted on Tuesday, December 25, 2012


 



I loved our breakfasts on the rooftop of our Riad. The temperature in the morning is cool, but not freezing. The rooftop is open-air and charmingly decorated in Moroccan style (of course). Our breakfast is light but a delicious mix of fruits - kiwi, pomegranate, apple, banana, plum and what not, eaten with handmade yogurt by the hotel staff and has a hint of moroccan flavour which I can't place. The avocado shake is thick and intense, and as usual for any Moroccan meal, there is free flow bread. Something which i didn't take picture of - the rooftop has a small swimming pool for relaxing in! If the weather permitted, I would definitely have liked to jump in.

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Travelogue: Morocco - In the Medina

Posted on Monday, December 24, 2012

I can't begin to describe how fascinating and amazing Morocco really was. Every inch of it seeped with it's own original, exotic culture, and despite how messy and crowded it was, I think I fell in love with the feeling of the entire city. I love how the architecture of the buildings were in sync with the environment of the barren, reddish soil, and how the decor was so intricate yet hugely Moroccan.

Justin and I arrived in our lovely hotel, the Riad le Clos de Arts, , which is so far one of my best hotel stays EVER, in which I will review later, with pictures of course! Here is a post on the Medina, basically the main city centre of Morocco where our hotel was. We explored a night market at the largest, most popular square in the Medina, Place Jemaa el Fina. Ok I will let the pictures do the talking first!






Homogenous stores line the market. It's a wonder how they compete.






We buy almonds, apricots and dates! About 25 dirhams worth of each! 1 Euro = 10 dirhams, so it was pretty cheap.






The night market is a maze of colourful, cluttered shops with all kinds eclectic items that are essentially Moroccan. Intricately painted pottery, ethnic silverware, leather goods, traditional clothing, spices and food. There really was a lot to see and quite easy to get lost in.


 

We head to Pepe Nero, a Moroccan-Italian fusion restaurant near the night market. The thing about navigating in the Medina is how the streets are so dark and unlabelled. Amazingly, we found our way (because Justin is an excellent navigator :>)

Pepe Nero is ranked #2 for all restaurants in Marrakech. It's our first meal, and i've been longing for some good tajine for WEEKS so it was pretty exciting!





Gorgeous courtyards, typical of many houses in the Medina. We get Moroccan Mint Tea, a must of course. We also get a glass a Prosecco (Italian white wine), our only taste of alcohol in Morocco for our whole stay since it is a Muslim country!

Our amuse-bouche. Mash potato and bits of meat, but really good!

Tortellini della di pollo e pecorino alla salsa di parmigiano (130dh). All the menus are in French in Morocco since it was a French colony and many of the locals speak the language. Favourite dish of the night! Warm, cheesy, spinach based pasta with chicken filling. Delicious!

TAJINES! Finally! Tajine d'agneau Makfowl (160dm) is not actually fowl, but lamb! Good old stewed chunks of meat that fell easily off the bone, with apricots and moroccan spices. One of our favourite tajines for the whole trip!

Pastilla au Pigeon (130dm), was really rather unedible. It was a mix of chicken and pigeon meat, which we decided to be more game (excuse the pun) to try, but the meat was rather dry and bland. When asked by the manager if the food was good, we had to say we didn't like this dish, and he kindly didn't charge us for it at all at the end! Service score. 



We added the Risotta al funghi crema porcini (130dm) since we thought we were still hungry. It was good, but a little forgettable, partially because we started to feel rather full halfway through!


Overall, we had a nice and relaxed dinner in the middle of the chaos that is the Medina. Not bad for a first day! Anyway, I'm in London now with steady internet connection, so hopefully I will be able to blog more in the upcoming days. Til then!