Perceptions

We only had a few days to enjoy Fuengirola, before we headed off on our next adventure. Morocco is approximately 21kilometres across the Straits of Gibraltar to Spain making it an easy visit while we spend the next month on the Costa del Sol, Spain and check off another item on the bucket list.

 

 

 

 

 

My perceptions of Morocco have evolved and changed over time.  As a child, it was formed by the images that rolled by me in the theatre watching Bogart in “Casablanca”........

 

 

 

 

 and Bob and Bing in the” Road to Morocco”.

In the Sixties, it was formed by....... it was formed by.......... it was formed by....... Cue Crosby, Stills and Nash, "Riding the Marrakech Express”.  This meant clearing your mind (getting high) and finding a euphoric utopia or it actually meant traveling to Marrakech. Hippies did in droves; to explore their inner selves and sample the  potent hashish.  At least that is what I have heard. Morocco is still famous for hashish and is the world’s largest exporter.  

 

 

 

 Flash forward to the present.  My perceptions are now a montage of all my past perceptions and those gained from images seen on television over the last few decades.  But in all of those perceptions, there has been one common theme, the desert, specifically, the Sahara Desert.

 

So sit back and enjoy the ride.

Joining us on our trip and for our few days in Fuengirola was our friend Lora Lei, an even more adventurous traveler then we are.  She is the only friend who came to visit us in Harbin, even more adventuresome, she came in the dead of winter via Siberia. She was the perfect partner for our new adventure.

We were up early to catch a bus to the city of Algeciras. Algeciras is located on the coast just beside Gibraltar and is a major Spanish port and home to a number of ferries that could transport us to the Moroccan port of Tangier. 

Visiting mysterious Morocco is a very popular day trip for tourists visiting Spain. The ferry ride is just an hour and we will catch the afternoon train to Fez, the start of our guided Moroccan journey.

 

The train ride exposed us to our first false perception of Morocco.  Our expectation was for a dry, arid landscape but instead we found green everywhere.  Agriculture in Morocco employs over 40% of the workforce. Except for grains, sugar, coffee and tea, Morocco is self sustaining for all other agriculture products. 



 

We arrive to Fez in the late afternoon. With a little lost time, we found our hotel.  Looking for a restaurant became a bit of a challenge as there was a very important Moroccan soccer game on television and the restaurants were filled with men, getting revved up for the big game. No women in attendance.  Entering a restaurant inhabited by only men was a bit disconcerting so it took us a while to find a place that we felt comfortable in.   

Morocco is an Islamic country. The standards for women can vary greatly. In the big city, women are a bit freer to express themselves in dress while in the country  the jelaba (dress) and hijabs are worn by all women.  Its not required by law for women to wear the hijab but I expect personal choice with a good dose of peer and religious pressure trumps the law.  Men rule the roost and are allowed to have multiple wives. But common sense prevails for most men who limit themselves to only one.  Divorce is becoming more common as we discovered from our guide who was a divorcee.  At the beginning the trip, our guide deferred all decisions to me, but it did not take long for the girls to let him know who was actually running this show. Poor bastard was in for an experience.