Moab musings of Morocco

Just returned from Morocco ... that sizzling centre of cultural wonders that warms the heart. Just as well, because the trip over there was borderline harassment of the heart! Our Turkish Airlines plane decided to develop technical problems 37,000 feet above the Mediterranean sea and did an abrupt u-turn back to Istanbul .... "just one hour before we transfer you to another plane that is ready and waiting" .... I should have known better than to trust the TA official who horded us onto hot buses and

dumped us at the the terminal without so much as a "check for announcements" parting gesture! 5 hours later waiting at some administratively forgotten plot at the airport with no a/c and staff who didn't have a clue ... tempers were beginning to flare amongst the 250 passengers who were tired of being security checked time and time again. Someone must have got the message as a tray load of cold water and cola began to arrive. Eventually we were asked to board, but we seemed to be taxing along the runway for a long time .... I managed to watch the setting of the sun as we finally became airborne, arriving in Casablanca five and a half hours later .... and waited and waited for the luggage ... guess what .... no luggage!

Fossilised sharks teeth - Morocco is the place to go for fossils!

So frazzled and fatigued, we slumped into the car, for the two and half hour trip to Marrakech ....needless to say we slept all the way having been awake since 4 that morning; just cannot do these 'all nighters any longer'! The only consolation to all of this was that we were meeting up with our daughter who had been working in Marrakech for the previous three weeks on the production of a children's television series. She, on the other hand was having a marvelous time of things, secure in the knowledge that she had escaped the excruciatingly hot Doha summer, and was enjoying the sights and sounds of the Orient that are so special in Marrakech.

As for hubby, well, it would not be appropriate to put into words his thoughts on the trip ... so I shall just leave it up to your imagination along with a few photos!

The one lingering impression of Morocco was that this was a country that respected its cultural heritage; the old stood proudly side by side with the new; change was an evolving affair that respected Moroccan traditions, and development 'appeared' to be tightly controlled, specifically in the old quarters and souks of Marrakech and Casablanca or 'Deir al Baida' as it is now called. A stroll around the old residential and handicraft centre of El Habous in Deir al Baida was a delightful walk into Morocco's heritage. A place where young and old alike mingled, men and women and the youth integrated, whether muslim, christian, jewish or atheist ... a world at peace, immersed in the business of life and handicrafts, from leather goods to ceramics, brass and copper works to carpets and caftans; the call to prayer and the business of books. A feast for the eyes. Maybe if one were to scratch the surface, a different picture may well emerge, but for the time being I was content to watch my 'moroccan' experience unfold before me with a sense that they were doing something right. That 'something' seemed to be confirmed in the following picture of the airport at Marrakech ... a simple, sophisticated deed that needs no explanation .... why is it that we cannot achieve that 'simple something here'?

And one final thought for the day, why has RJ cancelled its route to Morocco .... ? J



Smoking room outside the Marrakech Airport - simple, effective and respected!

PS ... sorry about the disarray of photos on this post ... blogger just would not behave itself!

PPS .... and why do we have such a small space to 'post' into ... must get blogger to enlarge it!