See World Heritage Sites in Morocco in 2014

See World Heritage Sites in Morocco in 2014

(Travel Story Series @ Hon Too Fang 2021)

This is a travel account to a 99% Muslim region in north-west Africa.

In October/November 2014, 14 of us, many senior citizens, went to Morocco for 18 days. This is an informative travel story. Not in my usual light hearted style as I have run out of jokes. 

Why Morocco? In 18 days we visited 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Isn’t that a good enough reason to visit Morocco for the bragging right of seeing so many heritage sites? 

Usual caveat: info is accurate only if my source is accurate, and jokes are just jokes. Figures quoted are relevant at the time of writing in 2014. All photo are mine unless stated otherwise. 

Part A: General Info

Geography

In north-west Africa, area 446,000 sq km, 1.35 times bigger than Malaysia. Dry coastal populated strip, semi-arid mid-highlands and Sahara Desert to the west. Shown typical terrain along the mid-highlands with occasional oasis and villages. We were mostly in this mid-highland region.

History – the Kingdom of Morocco

First record of history dated to 6th century BC, first Islamic kingdom 7th century. Since 1666 Morocco was ruled by the Alaouite Dynasty, Arab descendants of Fatimah, daughter of Prophet Mohammed. In the 19th and 20th centuries, parts of Morocco were colonized by Portugal, Spain and the French. Gained full independence in 1956. Now a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, like Malaysia, but the King still holds vast executive and legislative power.

King Mohamed VI – God Bless the King

King Mohamed VI, 51 years old (in 2014), is a reformed-minded king, holds a PhD in Law from a French university, said to be well liked by the people. That is why no Arab Spring uprising here. He implemented new Family Law to protect the rights of women. As Head of Islam, he allowed women to have the liberty whether to cover their heads or not. So some younger women don’t wear head gears at all. He has only one wife and encourages monogamy. You see, in the 1st photo, he looks both east and west, to gain wisdom from the best of both worlds. Shown also the Coat of Arms of Morocco, as a giant decorative light.

The People – Berbers and Arabs

33 million people, 55% Berbers, 44% Arabs, with some mixed marriages. Berbers are natives in north Africa and Arabs the “pendatang”. Many Berbers still live the nomadic way.

Shown Ahmad the traditional nomadic Berber and his temporary cave home in the High Atlas, and Aziz the modern “nomadic” Berber who drives (and owns) the Mercedes Sprinter used for the whole duration of our trip. He sleeps in the van. 

Then the others, 1st three local tour guides, Quidad the fair Arab, Hakim the half-Berber-half Arab, and Ismail the darker half-Berber-half-Mali.

And the last one in full Berber headgear and pose: 0% Berber, 100% Malaysian! He is VM.

Official languages – Arab and Berber (Tamazight)

The official languages are Arab and a form of written Berber called Tamazight. Tamazight is popular in Morocco and Algeria. This form was officially adopted as a national language only in 2011, and was keenly promoted by King Mohammad VI, who is an Arab. You see: an Arab promotes the rival Berber language. Our UMNO MPs propose to close down the Chinese and Indian schools. Who are the extremists?

Shown a typical official signboard with the languages of Arab, Tamazight and French (language of the tourists). This Tamazight has funny looking alphabets!

Religion – 99% Muslim

Sunnis 67%, non-denominated Muslims 30%. Surprisingly liberal. Has Sharia Law but not really enforced, probably due to the liberal policy of the King. Shown the religious praying outside a shop at a highway stop, a typical mosque in the rural area, and the iconic Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh completed in the late 1100s. All their mosques have a single square minaret. Didn’t see any domed mosque at all. Photo credit of 1st photo: VM.

Economy - Agriculture

50% in the service sector, followed by industries and agriculture. Some 10 million tourists a year, mainly French and Spanish. 43% of work force in agriculture: producing dates, olives, nuts, fruits. Shown a bunch of young dates, varieties of olives at the market, dried figs and a leaf of the fig tree, said to be the 1st version of man’s underwear: Adam’s, chosen by Eve of course.

But the main export is seafood. “See” the food?

Moroccan Houses – the Riads

The riads are traditional Moroccan houses characterized by an air well and an inner garden. Many urban raids are now used as hotels, the garden space converted into an air-well covered over with a transparent material. The walls facing the atrium are often tiled with mosaic. 

Development – Still Backward

Certainly behind Malaysia, particularly the rural areas. Donkey carts are still common. But Morocco was ranked 1st among African countries in quality-of-life index by the Economist Intelligence Unit of the Economist Group in 2009. Smiling faces all round.

The Moroccans do not like to be photographed, especially the women. Even the children won’t allow us taking photos of them. The classroom shot below was allowed by the teacher. Despite that, a boy still shielded his face with a piece of cardboard and all the others looked away from the camera. Literacy rate is only 74%, but their buffaloes are educated enough that they could read road-crossing signs.

Moroccan Cuisine: the Tajine

This is the signature dish: meats and vege cooked in a clay-pot with a special conical cover. Could be any meat. For carbo add potatoes or semolina, a kind of wheat.  See the “bubbling” omelette cooked as a tajine, tasted fantastic really.

Of course 2 meals of tajine in a week is heaven, 7 consecutive tajine meals is hell. But no problem, we brought along tomyam Maggie mee as spare!

The Weather – Still Hot and Dry

Late October and early November are supposed to be very pleasant in weather. But this year it is unseasonably hot, especially the first few days. Two “artistic” photos to showcase the strong shadows.  

For Every Tourist - Shopping

The cost of living here is lower than Malaysia, many things to shop: carpets, leather goods, ceramic, nuts, even big juicy pomegranates and special tooth-picks! Not joking. Tooth-picks. Malaysian tourist bolih. TN and wife won the YonGo’s Big Shopper award: the Tourism Board of Morocco will mail them a cert signed by HRH their King. Suzy came in a close 2nd, her cert is signed by YAB their PM.

And every lady bought argon oil, touted as The Moroccan Oil. It is extracted from the kernels of the argon tree, of the olive family, but endemic to Morocco. The oil has become an ingredient in high-end personal cosmetic product like in skin care, as well as in high-end heart-healthy gourmet recipes. Strange isn’t it, cosmetic and gourmet? Apply argon oil to keep your skin smooth, then drink argon oil to keep your throat and intestine smooth also? We can't understand women. 

It is very expensive, a 100 cc bottle is said to sell for RM 150 in Malaysia, more expensive than your Johnnie Walker Blue Label for sure. Sold at about half the price in Morocco. Why worry about the high price when it can get rid of your wrinkles, your blackheads, blacken your hair, whiten your teeth, pull up your gravity-caused-sagging “apa-nama-tu”, etc, etc, etc, etc. Now you know why all the ladies below are smiling so heartily, their bags enough supply of the oil for the next 5 years. And the best thing is that it is paid by the husbands or the boyfriends. The tour guide Quidad smiled the widest became of the sale and commission earned. 

Trivia – the Familiar and the Unfamiliar

In the smaller cities and towns, taxis are inevitably the reliable old Mercedes Benz, like in Malaysia 30 years ago, the familiar. The unfamiliar is a row of shoeshine stalls in Rabat. 

Part B: the sights

Now we have a photo-show of the places visited, in the order of our visit. First learn a few special words: “medina” means an old city, usually walled, “kasbah” means a recital, the fortified residence of the local ruler or the rich, “souk” is an Arab market place with a labyrinth of narrow lanes, “bab” is a gate for a walled city, and "riad" is a Moroccan mansion. 

B 1 – Casablanca

Largest city in Morocco, with 4 million people. We were fascinated about this place because of the 1942 classic movie of the same name starring heart-throbs Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. But what a disappointment, we found nothing romantic in Casablanca, certainly not in the area where we were staying. Shown the Rick’s Café modelled after the famous bar in the original movie, and a downtown scene.

Below is the Hassan II Mosque, completed in 1993. Big enough for 25,000 worshipers, 3rd largest in the World. The minaret, at 215 m, is the tallest in the world.

B 2 – Rabat

Rabat is the capital of Morocco with 1.2 million people. A new city founded only in the 12th century. Visited only Kasbah Udayas and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. Rabat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an outstanding example of a shared heritage of a modern capital and an historic city.

Kasbah Udayas is an old kasbah built in the 1150s. Shown the old rampart and the side gate of the huge monumental gate, full of carving of geometric patterns and Koranic verses.

The Mausoleum of Mohammed V houses the tombs of King Mohammed V and King Hassan II, grandfather and father of the present king respectively. Located on a big plaza, part of an uncompleted mosque. The interior is well decorated with carved motifs, carpets and chandeliers. There is a Koran reader in the tomb, located at the far end in the 3rd photo, reciting Koran verses throughout the 24 hours in a day. Shown an exquisite bronze door handle, and a bronze decoration outside the steps leading to the building. 

And, believe it or not, the architect was a Vietnamese named Cong Vo Toan who practised his trade mostly in England and France. 

B 3 – Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen is a small but main city in the Rif Mountains, to the north west of the country, about 250 km from the capital Rabat. It was founded in 1471 and the old fortress is still standing.

We stayed a night at the Madrid Hotel, with an old fashioned bed. Shown a night scene of the striking Grande Mosque which has an unusual octagonal minaret

In the early morning we took a short hike to a look-out point for a panoramic view of the old medina.

The most famous sight of this small city is the blue-washed buildings. Blue in many hues. Why the buildings were painted blue and when the practice was started are questions with no answers. We have CL in darker blue and our guide PC in purple to add more colours to the light blue buildings.

In the narrow alleys donkeys (and men working like donkeys) are the only means of transporting goods.

B 4 – Volubilis

A prosperous Roman town between the 1st century BC and 285 AD when the local tribe took over. It was abandoned after the 11th century. A major earthquake levelled most of the buildings in the mid-18th century, and the stones looted for the construction of the nearby city of Meknes. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for being an exceptionally well preserved Roman colonial town.

Shown some ruins: the 3rd photo shows the Basilica, followed by a jacuzzi, the Arch of Caracalla with a Corinthian capital on the foreground, and finally the signpost of a house of pleasure. What the signpost looks like is up to you to imagine, displaying private part in public?

B 5 – Meknes

Meknes is a city with about 1 million people, 195 km south of Chefchaouen. It was the capital of Morocco from 1672 to 1727 during the reign of Moulay Ismail who constructed many buildings, mostly in the Spanish-Moorish styles, and for that the medina was granted the UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1996.

Shown the impressive Bab Mansour, completed in 1732 and named after the architect. It has mosaics of excellent quality. The marble columns were taken from the Roman ruins of Volubilis. The gate is now used as an art gallery.

B 6 – Fes

Fes, 65 km east of Meknes and founded in 879, is the 3rd largest city in Morocco. Population about 1.1 million. The old medina, Fes el Bali, was granted a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, an outstanding example of a medieval town created during the first centuries of Islamic rule.

It is one of the world's largest car-free urban areas. Shown scenes of the narrow alleys of the souk.

A famous sight in Fes is the tanneries where raw leather is processed, in several stages. Tough work in the sun with pungent smell of ammonia.

A famous building visited is the Madrasa Bou Inania, a religious school first built in the 1350s, an excellent example of Marinid architecture, shown details of intricate carved timber structures

Other famous structures include the Bab Bou Jeloud and the House of Clock, built in the 14th century, houses a hydraulic clock.

B 7 – Tinghir

Tinghir is an oasis town in the High Atlas, about 1,430 m above sea level. The main tourist attraction is the Todra Gorge, 15 km away. We had a 5-hour hike on the gorge and the neighbourhood to reach a certain village, mostly over monotonous rocky mountains.

Yes, 5 hours, timing by Rolex.

Curse the maniac who founded this hiking trail and damn those who continued to perpetuate it and fool us to follow.

B 8 – M’Hamid

From Tinghir we went south to the M’Hamid, some 310 km and 5 hours away. Scenery along the journey is typically barren ground dotted with oasis.

M’Hamid is a small oasis town, 25 km from the Algerian border. It is at the edge of the Sahara Desert and a gateway to it. Shown our “hut-like” chalets, rows of low hedges to contain the moving sand, the lobby of the resort and the dining hut.

We also visited the old town, partly abandoned, just to show how the rural houses built with un-fired clay-blocks look like.

B 9 – Erg Chegaga

This is one of the two desert ”spots” popular in this part of the Sahara Desert, about one and a half hours from M’Hamid on speeding 4-wheel drives. Shown the tents we stayed. This particular resort, called Bivouac Erg Chegaga, has 10 tents with a double bed each. The central courtyard is for "socialising". We lied down on the carpets and talked and listened to evergreen songs from our mobile phones. And to watch stars too.

One popular activity here is the camel ride. Not that comfortable because there is no stirrup to anchor your legs. An hour on the rocking camel is equal to 2 hours of Thai massage!

Our KP the super fit hasher could ride it with his legs up! And M gives the ride a thumbs up!

The highlights of the stay here are supposed to be counting stars at night and taking award-winning National Geographic-quality photos of sand dunes in the early morning. Un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-fortunately the sky was thickly clouded that evening and the next morning. Some of us chose to lie on the carpets in the courtyard outside the tents the whole night but saw no stars. I saw no stars too until I tried to enter my tent at 2 am and my head hit the low lintel of the door frame. Then I saw stars. The spinning stars lasted a few minutes. Shown the high-ceiling dinning tent and the only light-source for the night (photo credit: VM)

The next morning the sun refused to come out from the clouds to create shadows and 3D effect of the sand dunes. May be “he” knew we Asians had no culture to tip him even if he obliged. Only flying sand, sticky flies, smelly camels. Yes, many flies, on everybody's back.

The low-quality sand-dune photo here is the best I could manage. No shadow and no 3D effect. Envy my friend MP’s beautiful sand dune photos posted on Facebook. But then he spent 2 weeks in the Sahara.

B 10 – Quarzazate

Our next stop was Ouarzazate, nicknamed “The Door of the Desert”, about 140 km to the north. Shown some views of the journey.

Ouarzazate is a town, population 70,000, in the middle of a bare plateau south of the High Atlas. Residents are mostly the Berbers. The Ouarzazate area is a noted film-making location, with 2 big studios. Famous movie filmed here include Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000), etc. It is a ceramic centre, producing cheap and crude ceramic ware used mostly by the locals.

We had lunch here and visited Kasbah Taourite, a village relatively well kept because it “moonlights” as a Hollywood back-drop to film movies. Shown the town and some typical Berber door designs in the kasbah.

We also visited the small Cinema Museum, converted from part of an old film studio. On display are some of the structures and props used for filming at the old studio, including a golden throne meant for an ancient king but now temporarily occupied by a queen of the modern Hon Dynasty.

B 11 – Ait Benhaddou

30 km north-west of Ouarzazate is Ait Benhaddou, a fortified city containing some 50 houses. The old city was founded in the 12th century but the present buildings are unlikely to be older than the 17th century. Most of the houses are not occupied. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, an example of a kasbah in pre-Sahara habitat. Many movies were filmed on location here, like Jesus of Nazareth (1977), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Prince of Persia (2010), etc.

B 12 – Marrakesh

175 km north-west of Ait Benhaddou is our next stop: Marrakesh. It is the 4th largest city in Morocco, population about 1 million. The current elected major is a woman. Our Kak Wan was denied to be appointed Selangor MB. Which country is more progressive?

The most famous sight is the Jemaa el-Fnaa, the giant square at the centre of the medina. The name roughly means "the assembly of trespassers". Over a hundred food stalls, including some 30 juice stalls. With musicians, entertainers, petty traders, tourists, beggars, courting couples, pickpockets, and of course many “lepak-ers”. 

We had grilled seafood dinners on 2 evenings and I had food poisoning the next 2 days, culprit likely the ice in the juices. Had to see a doctor and she turned out to be an Arab woman in her late 30s. Checked and touched and rubbed my whole abdomen, and did an ultra sound scan to check the level of "gas". No religious issue. I was not haram to touch. Fee: about US$ 50. Including ultra sound, but medicine not included. (Note in 2021: Conversion rate about 3.2 then)

Passed through a local market with vege, spices, sweets, etc.

Visited the Bahia Palace, a palace and garden built in the 19th century with the essence of Islam and Moroccan style. Well crafted decorations. The Arabic words in the last photo say “Health is Wealth”. This phase is repeated everywhere. So when was the last time you seriously exercised?

6 years ago? You don't cherish your Wealth eh?

Then the historic Saadian tombs, for some 50 members of the Saadi Dynasty in the late 1500s. Well decorated inside a high-wall garden.

B 13 – Essaouria

Essaouria is a small old seaport facing the North Atlantic Ocean, 190 km west of Marrakesh. The present city was built in the 18th century, the name "Es-Saouira" means "the beautifully designed". The medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an example of a late 18th-century fortified town, as transferred to northern Africa by European colonists.

At the seafront market we bought 3 palm-sized spider crabs (Michael Jordan’s palm, not yours) for RM 8 and 40+ small sardines for RM 12, and the 5 of us had a feast. The labour cost in cooking plus tea plus salads and fries and bread was 3 times the cost of raw seafood. Service industry.

Since it is a “beautifully designed” city, I would present more photos separately, in Part C.

B 14 – El Jadida

El Jadida is another port city, colonized by the Portuguese in 1502 to 1769. Shown photos of the underground Portuguese cistern built in 1514. 34 m by 34 m in size. This place has also been used to film a few movies.

Then we have the huge star-shaped fortress, with walls 10 m thick, 8 m high and a

2 m walkway at the top. Quite impressive. And one of a few old cannons.

This Portuguese fortified city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an outstanding example of the interchange of influences between European and Moroccan cultures. What exactly it means I don’t know. But who cares?

We need to rush for last minute shopping as this is the last city of our tour! 

Part C: Photo Show of Essaouria

Avenue Oqba Ibn Nafiaa – the main avenue near the port.

Bastions and Gates – the main gate is Bab El Menzeh

The port - fishing boats as well as small cargo ships.

The souk – both day and night scenes, for locals and tourists.

Riad Dar El Qdima – our “old-style” hotel converted from a riad. Colourfully decorated.

Geometry, Shapes and Colours – trivia at a restaurant.

Part D: Concluding Remarks

The tour: a taste of Arabic-Berber culture and life in a semi-arid environment. The locals are mostly friendly, traders in small town won’t cheat you, goods meant for tourists: up to you to bargain and bargain hard, there are beggars but they are not aggressive or persistent. And most importantly, as VM puts it: we feel very safe going anywhere.

The tour is operated by YonGo: www.yongo.biz

And lastly a group photo. Photo credit: not sure, likely our guide PC

Found this wall painting near Meknes. Wish Morocco is like a rising sun, with a great future. 

Bye Bye.