Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - Meknes

If it wasn't for Volubulis, we probably wouldn't stop by at Meknes. But actually, Meknes has been an important city during the reign of Moulay Ismail (1672 – 1727), when it was made capital of Morocco.

The main site at Meknes is the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. According to the guidebook, a visit "offers you the chance to see another facet of the grand myth of Moulay Ismail: the salutary, healing powers attributed to the revered Sultan. Many Moroccans visit the sanctuary in order to receive their share of this "baraka": health, well-being and luck."

The entrance to the mausoleum

One of the courts in the mausoleum

Another courtyard

The tomb. The area is closed to visitors

Bab Mansour El Alj Gate

Agdal Basin, likely to be a water reserve in case of siege

Dar el Ma, used as a granary and warehouse at some point during Ismail's reign

Photo from the other side

The souqs of Meknes are small in comparison to those of Fez.

Guess what this is?

Rock salt in its natural form.

Threads come in every colour!

Woodwork and craving.

An artisan beating threads of silver onto a metal plate.

A sample of the end product. It is a lot of labour!

Some photos of the Medina:

Morocco trip, Dec 2007 - Volubulis

The ancient Roman city of Volubulis is located near the city of Meknes. It is the site of the most intact Roman ruins in Morocco.

This is one of the biggest Roman ruins that we have been to. It was basically an entire city! The site gives a good sense of how the city actually functioned.

The gateway

The government buildings

The government buildings

Triumphal Arch

Mosaic

More mosaic

We found this in one of the rooms. Apparently if you touch this, it will bring you fertility and babies

We were lucky to find a nice taxi driver on the day we arrived in Meknes. He didn't overcharge us from the station to the hotel, so we asked him to take us to Volubulis the following day.

He didn't speak any English, but we managed with my broken French and our trusty phrase book. After the trip to Volubulis, I asked him to recommend a restaurant for traditional Morocco food. He then offered to drive us to a place that does tajines the traditional way. The place was 20km away and he said it was going to be a free ride. After 40 minutes, we finally arrived. My parents were a bit worried, but in the end, the driver was just an nice, honest guy who is proud of Moroccon traditions.

The tajines were cooked outdoors. Lamb is the local produce, so the choices were lamb and lamb and lamb, cooked in different ways.

It doesn't look that great in this photo, but it was one of the tastiest meal that we had in Morocco. It was so delicious that both of parents actually ate twice as much as what they usually eat!

A photo with the driver. I think we still owe him some photos!

Agra, Taj Mahal, India (Part 8)

Agra was the capital city during the Mughal reign in the 16th and 17th centuries. The city, strategically located on the banks of the Yamuna and along the Grand Trunk Road, flourished under the patronage of the emperor Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan (who built the Taj Mahal), attracting artisans from Persia and Central Asia, and also from other parts of India, who built luxurious forts, palaces, gardens and mausoleums.

Going to Agra, India (Part 7)

Taj Mahal is our only objective in Agra this time. We only had a weekend and we don't want to stay over night so we were told that we can catch a early bird to New Delhi and 200km drive to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and back is doing able in a day. The only thing we didn't understand is why 200km on a highway will need to take 4-5hours each way.

Thanks to our colleagues in India, all the flights, car rental and driver were taking care off. It was an early morning so I didn't stay up much during the journey, Mr JB was sitting at the back of the car stayed up most of the journey. I'm not sure whether it was a good experience because he got to see a lot of things you don't get to see in LA.

The only 2 things the British has left behind for India are English and rail road.

I'm not sure why they bother to have this sign...

Another useless signage...

One of the things you get to see at every corner in India are temples

Illegal dwellers on the side of the highway to Agra

Home delivery...that remind of me of Malaysia

This is the highway to Agra from New Delhi. I was asleep much of the way, so I didn't get any pictures with cows or Elephants on the road.

The journey coming back was twice the excitement for Mr JB. I was again very tired and slept all the way to New Delhi, except for once or twice opening up my eyes to check out where we were ( eventhough I have no clue where we were to start off with) We left Agra much later than we have anticipated and if according to the time its needed to get to Agra, we are definitely going to miss the plane back to Mumbai. So the driver was really nice, he did Michael Schumacher's driving style. He zig-zagged all his way on the 2 lanes highway, doing a left turn on a 4 lanes street when we on the outer right lane and doing a left turn when you have cars coming the opposite directions! People said if you could drive in Italy, you could drive anywhere in the world. But I said if you could drive the way this driver did, you can beat Schumacher's on any tracks.

Mumbai, India (Part 6)

The most impressive example of Victorian Gothic architecture of 19th century in India, Victoria Terminus Railway, also now renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is a richly ornamented extravaganza of domes, spires and arches. It was completed in 1888 and named to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Now the busy headquarters of the central Railway, over 1,000 trains and 2 millions passengers, including crowds of suburban commuters, pass thorough the station daily. To be honest, nothing much has changed in the last 60 years!

Mumbai, India (Part 5)

Haji Ali Mosque dated back to 15th century can be approached by a long cause way which can be submerged under water during high tide, is a tomb of a rich merchant, Haji Ali Shah Bukhari. He gave up his wealth after a pilgrimage to Mecca. The white mosque was built in the 1940s and seems to float on its small island in the Arabia sea.

The causeway lined with beggars, which leads to a huge marble courtyard.

Entrance to Haji Ali Mosque

The main building where Haji Ali's tomb is situated