Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - Zagora

After Marrakesh, we joined a local tour group to visit the Sahara desert and surrounding areas.

Zagora is our first stop. It is a town in the valley of the Draa River in Souss-Massa-Draâ, southeastern Morocco. This is pretty much where the road ends and where the desert starts.

It is not far from this town that the famous sign " Timbouctou: 52 days" can be found. If the border were open, and you traveled by camel, this may be true as it was a caravan route in the past.

To be honest, the size of the sand dunes was pretty disappointing. However, many of the Berber people (indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley) lives in this type of landscape, so it's worth seeing.

Just a note, make sure you have very warm clothes when you camp out in the desert. It was freezing cold in the tent despite me having put on my warmest clothes, two pairs of socks and a blanket over my sleeping bag!

Baby sand dunes

Moon rise! The sky was so clear and the stars were so bright before the moon rise!

The moon is very bright in the desert.

An artistic shot. The moon was originally off-centre, but as you can see, that has been rectified! :-P

A Berber person wandering in the desert

Photo with our host and the Berber tent.

Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - Musée de Marrakesh

The Musée de Marrakesh (Marrakesh Museum) was originally built in the late 19th century for Mehdi Mnebbi, a former Moroccan defense minister and ambassador to Britain. After independence the palace became Marrakesh's first school for girls and only became a museum in 1997.

According to my guidebooks, the main sight is the central courtyard, which completes with fountains in the covered courtyard and colourful zellij on the walls.

There is a cafe in the outer front yard (to the left in the picture). It is very popular with tourists.

The beautifully craved wooden door at the entrance

The central courtyard

Wrought iron work

Along one side of the walls of the courtyard, there are sofa and chairs. It is nice to sit down and relax to the sound of the gentle background music against the fountain.

Along the other side of the wall are some beautifully tiled tubs.

Painted ceiling with stuccoes decorations

The huge brass chandelier looks like an UFO hovering above the courtyard!

The museum has exhibitions on such things as Moroccan calligraphy, jewellery, ceramics and music, which are shown in the main rooms and courtyard.

Art exhibitions are shown in the palace's former kitchens and bath houses.

Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - Almoravid Koubba

The Almoravid Koubba is the only remaining example of Almoravid architecture in Morocco.

According to sacred-destinations.com:

"The Almoravids (1062-1145) were reformers and monastic-type warriors from the nomadic Berber tribe (in what is now Mauritania). After conquering their homeland, they expanded to Morocco in 1062 and eventually extended their empire all the way to Algiers."

Under this dynasty, the empire was extended over present-day Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Gibraltar, Tlemcen (in Algeria) and a great part of what is now Senegal and Mali in the south, and Spain and Portugal to the north in Europe.

The original building was constructed in 1117, and it was restructured in the sixteenth and nineteenth century. The building was only excavated in 1950s.

The Almoravid Koubba is located near the Ben Youssef Mosque, which part of the Ben Youseef Medersa and off-limit to tourists. You can see the mosque in the background.

The building is very small but, it is significant not only because it's very old, but because its style is at the root of all Moroccan architecture.

There is a rectangular basin in the middle of the building.

And the dome is directly on top of the basin.

The interior is decorated with floral patterns of pine cones, palms and acanthus leaves as well as calligraphy. Materials used are marble and cedar-wood.

The epigraphic decoration, which covers the frames and borders, is noteworthy for the fact that the foundation inscription is the oldest inscription in cursive Maghrebi script in North Africa.

There is a pile of rocks next to the building. A group of people were looking at the rocks so we thought it must be an important monument. But there were actually looking at this group of cat trying to get the attention of a single female cat!

Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - Ali ben Youssef Medersa

Ali ben Youssef Medersa is an extraordinarily well-preserved 16th-century Koranic school and it was the largest of such institution in North Africa.

The large main courtyard is framed by two columned arcades is decorated with wood cravings, zellij, stuccoes:






The prayer hall is elaborately decorated with rare palm motifs as well as the more customary Islamic calligraphy:





As many as 900 students from Muslim countries all over the world once studied here. They were housed in the sleeping quarters arranged around the courtyard

Looking up to the quarters on the upper floors. The senior students get to live in the brighter rooms on the second floor.

Rooms that look out to the main courtyard

Smaller rooms that look out to the small courtyard

Hello!

A typical setup for the student's studies

The famous keyhole arches outside the Medersa

Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - The mode of transport in Marrakesh

We have organised a taxi to pick us up from the airport to our riad. I have already prepped my parents about Morocco but I doubt they expected such a old car!

Anyway, these Mercedes Benz sedans are called grand taxis because they are the better taxis. It is the only type of taxis allowed to cover routes between cities and towns.

For a quick trip within the city, you can take the cheap beige-coloured petite taxis, which are metered. They can only fit 3 people though so it didn't really work for the 4 of us.

Close-up

Taxi-stand just outside the medina wall, most likely to be seeking inter-city passengers

Most of the sights are actually quite close together so personally, I think walking is one of the best methods to get around the city. The buses are also pretty good and if you are going to common touristy places, the firendly local people will usually direct you to the correct bus. Just avoid the private taxi hustlers, as they will always tell you that it's better and safer to travel in a taxi than on a bus. They can be quite pushy.

Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - La Bahia Palace

The Bahia Palace is a palace and a set of gardens located in Marrakech, Morocco. The Bahia Palace originally was built by a so called ‘grand vizier’ (a kind of a prime minister) in 1866/67 and later – in the 1890’s - extended by his son Bou Ahmed, self a ‘grand vizier’ and also regent to the sultan.

It was built in the late 19th century, taking near 15 years to complete. The name means 'brilliance'. There were nearly 150 rooms, and it housed the vizir, his 4 wives and 24 concubines plus servants and guards.

The entrance is not that impressive. However, things changed quickly as we approach the palace building.

Decorated cedar wood

Beautiful stucco decorations

Decorated wooden roof

Inner courtyard

Mosaic floor

Amazing zellij

Beautiful doorway

Carved and painted woodwork

Details of the painted wood

The rooms are really quite lavish!