Sunday, August 2, 2015

Africa-Europe 2015 Day 40. Idling the day away in Marrakech

My last full day in Morocco, and I am afraid I don’t have much to show for it. In the cool of the morning I walked with Nancy to the bus station (to buy her ticket) and the train station (to buy my ticket), and on the way back sat on a café near the hotel, sipping a café au lait first and a mint tea later, like all Moroccan men seem to do in the heat of the day. Since it is the end of Ramadan all other shops are closed, as families celebrate with new clothes for the kids and their first “normal” meal after a month of fasting.

Afterward I went to my air-conditioned room, wrote e-mails, and completed my reservations for the rest of the trip. At noon I crawled down to the hotel pool, swam a bit, finished the book I was reading, and drank empty the largest Bierstein you can imagine.

Finally, in the afternoon, I dragged myself of the hotel to take a ride with four of my peers in a horse-drawn cart. We went through the affluent neighborhoods of Marrakech, the Jewish quarter, the peripheral souks, and finally made a loop around the main plaza, which was just coming to life. It was a gentle, lazy thing to do, and it kept us out of the crowds, which is just the thing I need.

Intrepid Tours did the thing right, and found a small but very well appointed hotel for our last two nights in Morocco. Even the toughest traveler needs a little comfort now and then.

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