Meandering in Morocco: Grande Mosquée Hassan II

Casablanca was my last stop. On October 3, I finally reached my final city in Morocco. The day after, I was scheduled to fly back to Europe. But before I did that, I went to the coast, to visit the largest mosque in Morocco, the Grande Mosquée Hassan II.

Meandering in Morocco: Kasbah des Oudaïas

This is the last kasbah I have visited. It is situated in Rabat, the Moroccan capital, and it faces the river overlooking the city of Sale. As Rabat isn't a touristy town, I was pretty much on my own when I was exploring this area.

Meandering in Morocco: Mausoleum of Mohammed V

After Tangier, I headed to Rabat. I took the train, and after a couple of hours, I was there at the Moroccan capital. I remember this city being very modern, and quite unlike the other cities and towns that we have visited. There were trams, there were tall buildings, there were signs of modern living. I liked that. And while I was here, I stayed in the medina, which was definitely not crowded like in Marrakech. And yes, I explored the city. One of the things I checked out was the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.

Meandering in Morocco: The American Legation Museum in Tangier

After Chefchaouen, I took a bus to Tangier to go north. It was a relatively short bus ride, just about 3 hours, and by sunset I arrived in the city. I found my hotel, and spent the next three nights there just chilling around. I originally planned on using Tangier as a base for doing daytrips around the region, but I guess after spending two weeks already going all over the country, I also wanted to just slow down and chill and relax. So instead of going all over the place, I just explored Tangier, walking all over, exploring its numerous cafes and just going slow, reading my book. One thing, however, which I visited, was the American Legation Museum in Tangier.

Meandering in Morocco: Chefchaouen

After spending a couple of days in Fes, we moved further north. We took a bus one early morning to arrive in Chefchaouen, a very pretty town in the middle of the Rif Mountains. This town happens to be the last town that my partner and I visited together in Morocco: after this, he would take a bus to go to Casablanca while I would head over to Tangier.

Meandering in Morocco: Médersa Bou Inania

Even though we spent two days in Fes, I didn't take too many photos. Like I said, the city was on holiday and therefore things were closed, but also because Fes is more a place to experience, as opposed to a place to take photos of. The dust, the chaos, the activity, these things are just hard to capture on film. At least that's how I see it. Regardless, there are a few things that we did see which I took photos of, such as the Médersa Bou Inania.

Meandering in Morocco: The Jewish Cemetery in Fes

Fes is a beguiling city, and a city in which I have a love-hate relationship with. We stayed there for two days, and I suppose we were getting quite exhausted already, so our patience wasn't that high. There are a few elements in Fes that aren't the nicest, and therefore these experiences colored our impression of the city.

Meandering in Morocco: Dar Jamaï Museum

While in Meknès, we visited the Dar Jamaï Museum, a palace overlooking the square, which was built by the Jamaï family. Our guidebook said that this was a top choice, and therefore we opted to visit it.

Meandering in Morocco: Volubilis

Our trip to Morocco was definitely varied and diverse. Not only did we see ancient medinas, the Sahara, but also we saw ancient Roman ruins. Yep, ancient Rome reached all the way here in North Africa, and when we were in Meknès, we took a day trip to Volubilis, an ancient Roman city on the fringes of the empire.

Meandering in Morocco: Mausolée de Moulay Ismaïl

We stayed for three nights in Meknès. After all, we needed to do some laundry. While we were there, we checked out the city, which is full of monuments. Meknès is an imperial city, it is one of the four cities in Morocco that became a capital. Here, I am posting about the Moulay Ismail Mausoleum, a very solemn and profound area in the middle of the city.

Meandering in Morocco: Musée de Meknès

After spending a few days in Ouarzazate, we headed north. It was time to move on. So, one morning, we woke up early, and walked from our apartment to the airport in Ouarzazate. It was perhaps the first time in which I walked from where I was staying to the airport. It was quite close, just twenty minutes walk, and given an early morning breeze, it was definitely doable. After boarding a flight to Casablanca, we then took the train to Meknès, where we spent the next three days.

Meandering in Morocco: Atlas Corporation Studios

Ouarzazate is all about the film industry. This is Morocco's "Ouallywood" so to speak, and since Morocco's weather and terrain is pretty good in mimicking the scenery of Middle Eastern countries, then plenty of films depicting such locales are filmed here. After all, Morocco's politics is considerably stable, and so film companies go here to film scenes that are set in Egypt, Tibet, and Jerusalem. So after checking out the kasbah, we also went to the Atlas Corporation Studios to check out the film sets that have been used in previous films that were shot here.

Meandering in Morocco: The Taourirt Kasbah

After spending three days in the desert, it was time to head back north. The sand dunes near M'Hamid were the southernmost point in Morocco that we visited, and after that we slowly made our way back up on the paved road. So after spending another night in Zagora, we woke up early to get the bus that would take us back to Ouarzazate.

Meandering in Morocco: The Sand Dunes of Erg Chigaga

Going to the desert was the highlight of this trip. Before visiting Morocco, I personally haven't explored deserts before, so this was definitely a first time. I was looking forward to it. We decided to do a 3-day/2-night excursion as a first taste of the desert. After all, it will be a solitary experience, and who knows, we might end up bored to death, wanting to go back to urban living.

Meandering in Morocco: From Zagora to the Sahara

It was time to leave Marrakech. After spending three nights in the city, we took a long bus ride to head south. This time, we took a bus from Marrakech to Ouarzazate, where we stopped for lunch, and then we took another long bus ride from Ouarzazate to Zagora, which is a small town that functions as a staging post to go to the desert. After all, we will be heading to the Sahara after that. Our plan was to stay in Zagora for one night, and depart to the Sahara the day after, as we were picked up by our tour agency.

Meandering in Morocco: Bahia Palace

Oh there were plenty of things to see in Marrakech. And yes, here's another one of those amazing buildings and palaces that we have visited when we were there. The Bahia Palace is a palace built in the 19th century, intended to be a marvelous display of Islamic architecture.

Meandering in Morocco: The Saadian Tombs

Oh man, there are so many things to see in Marrakech. We spent there three nights, and yes, it is an assault on the senses. After seeing gardens and other things, we went to the southern part of the city to check out the Saadian Tombs, which is a complex of graveyards dating back from the time of the Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, in the 16th century. Several members of the Saadi dynasty are buried here, and yes, the place is lavish.

Meandering in Morocco: Musée de Marrakech

After visiting the Ali Ben Youssef Medersa, we went around the corner to visit another Marrakech sight: the Musée de Marrakech. This museum is located south of the medersa, in the Dar Menebhi Palace. The palace was restored in the late 1990s, and now displays a good collection of modern and traditional Moroccan art. On top of that, the building itself is also a good example of Andalusian architecture.

Meandering in Morocco: Ali Ben Youssef Medersa

What can I say? Morocco is an assault to the senses. The smells, the sights, everything is in 3D and is definitely quite intense. So imagine my awe when I entered this Islamic college. The Ali Ben Youssef Medersa is the largest religious college in all of Morocco, and what is not revealed by the low-key entrance is that it is such a majestic and magnificent building. So escape from the crowds and enter this amazing building.

Meandering in Morocco: Jardin Majorelle

To be honest, I have this feeling that while I have spent a full three weeks in Morocco, I took fewer photos relative to the number of days I was there, compared with other places I visited. Mostly because Morocco was more a place to be experienced, as opposed to a place to be photographed. Of course, there were photogenic places we visited, but for the most part, the chaos that was inherent in the environment there just made taking photos a little bit of a challenge compared to the other places I visited. Anyway, here is the first set, which I took in the Majorelle Gardens.