Djemma el-Fna is the central square in Marrakech where at night it becomes the worlds largest bbq

Morocco is a great adventure. I've done some traveling in North Africa before, so I wasn't too concerned with more hassle from traders and lots of "la-shukran", which in arabic means "No Thanks". No, in fact I was looking forward to a bit more exotic spices and overwhelming smells.

Starting in Marrakech our journey begins as our senses are blasted by sights, sounds and smells. Oh the smells, but we'll get to that later! As I soaked in the atmosphere of the place, I realised that this was going to be one trip I'll never forget.

The Lonely Planet guide quotes that UNESCO declared the main square in Marrakech, Djemma el-Fna, as, "a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity". A world heritage site.

Too true it is as well, perched up high on one of the roof terraces you can observe this spectacle of life take place. Stalls are setup ready for what could only be described as a giant barbeque for thousands of people. Barbary apes are bandied around, snake charmers are delighting tourists, drummers, singers and the famous fez hat swingers are all out in force. What is amazing about this place is that this dance of life at night happens not just once a year, but on every night of the year.

Moving on after a few days of Marrakech, visiting museums and other places of historical interest, we took a local bus to Azilal, where we would then get a Grand Taxi to the Cascades d'Ouzard.

This is one of Morocco's most dramatic waterfalls. One thing we learnt on our journey here is that buses are punctual at leaving but not at arriving.

A mini rainbow at the Cascades d'Ouzard

At the Cascades we pitched up at the Hotel Chellah, recommended to us but none other than Sham, our befriended bus guide who turned out to be family of the hotel owner. Funny that, the setup seemed almost perfect from the moment we met him.

As you might have guessed from his name, Sham was indeed a sham, but a fun and perhaps naive guy who should probably take things a little more seriously.

Anyhow's, the day after we took a nice long walk into the mountains. Altogether an 8 hour round trip, passing through mountainous gorges, river and mini waterfalls and many an idyllic sight. This walk took us through local villages all thriving off the waters from the falls. One can almost taste the simple life here as we watch the local kids playing in the pools and enjoying the natural playground that life has given them.

As random as the trip was, our decision was to go to Fes from here. The decision based on the fact that we had already come 1/3 of the way, so moving swiftly on we took a taxi to Azilal again and this time hopped on a bus to Fes. The supposed journey of 6hrs lasted 9hrs, and by the time we reached Fes, the sun was dipping low and our first walk through the Medina walls was somewhat overwhelming.

Fes was a medieval concoction of markets, sights, sounds and mostly smells! It was where we would find the iconic sights of the Fes tanneries, the place where leather is dyed and get's processed ready for manufacture into leather goods.

People were working knee high in chemicals in the Tanneries of Fes

If ever there was a more spectacular yet desolate sight it would be the tanneries. People working knee high in pigeon poo, urine and colour chemicals to dye and prepare the animal skins to turn them into leather. These are the sights that make you appreciate your opportunities in life. Always make the most of what you got, never take it for granted.

A few more museums and souqs later and Fes had taken its toll, our departure imminent we surged ahead and got onto a train headed back to Marrakech.

At this point when we reached a hotel in Marrakech, our mini-adventure soon turned into a maxi-adventure. My good friend GD lost her passport.

Oh my god, now what? Where do we sleep tonight, what do we need to do to get the passport back. What could have happened?

These are all the thoughts that might have lasted 2 seconds but will linger for much much longer.

Suffice to say the passport was lost and found in a museum in Fes, and through a convoluted yet successful chain of communication, a single solo text message was to be the savior of the day. It did however require us to visit 3 police stations take 4 taxi journeys and visit the local public telephones and a bit of puppy dog eyes action in order to get what we needed to stay the night somewhere. A piece of scrap paper with an official police stamp of sorts. I guess it was a temp visa. In the end, it was a lesson learned and not forgotten.

Since the passport could only be sent back earliest by a few days, we were thus stuck in Marrakech. So off to the Ourika Valley for a day trip then. After reaching the supposed spot for buses to the valley, we found that there were no services.

Stuck, we were approached by Mohammed, our new found friend and one-legged taxi driver. His sales tactics lead a little to be desired, coming off strong and forceful. We bargained hard, and then sat in contemplation for a bit, until he came back to us with a reasonable price and we agreed.

Our journey showed that in fact Mohammed was a really friendly fella, having coped with tough times in life, his general demeanour was fun and informative. The Ourika Valley itself was a welcome respite from the heat of Marrakech.

If ever there was a more surreal moment in life, our journey back would certainly count as one in the top ten! After 10 mins in the taxi, we clocked on that Mohammed was a little stoned! That was ok, he seemed cool. Things just got funnier, a mix tape came on and our ears was treated to a fanciful mix of late 80s and early 90s dance music, a little bit of happy hardcore, and a host of other classic but forgotten faves.

Essouira Port had many blue boats

The pinnacle really was zooming along the highway back to Marrakech, clothes drenched in sweat as it was 43 Celsius out, our stoned one legged taxi driver singing along quite admirably, to Zombie by the Cranberries. I think this is a story for the grand kids eh!

Back in the city we spent a couple more days enjoying and resting and once the passport was retrieved we headed to the seaside to escape the now 45 degrees heat and experience a bit of a muslim beach scene.

Essouira was the destination and 4 hours later we landed in this welcome seaside respite. Things here were a bit calmer, there was less hassle from traders and overall people just seemed to be happy to be out here enjoying the sea and sand.
Admittedly it was too windy to really sit and sun bathe. It's not like that here, too much sand in the wind.

After a relaxing 24 hours in Essouira we made our farewells and headed back to Marrakech for the last night. Once again experiencing the magic of Djemma el-Fna, the sounds and tastes of the fares on offer.

We leave in the morning with our memories full of fantastic sights and sounds. Our taste buds fully sated with Moroccan foods and our noses generally intact from the barrage of smells.

In the light of such magnificent experiences, the best part was neither the spectacular waterfalls, or the amazing cities and landscape, no, the best part was getting to know a new friend much better, and realising that in life, our greatest joys can be found in friendships with other people.

Check out the photos here.