Author Topic: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes  (Read 30550 times)

Offline SuperFlyer

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #20 on: September 27, 2017, 09:03:59 AM »
Thanks for the very nice and in depth TR.
I did only Marrakech and a bit less intense and without guide (if I were a girl, I'd for sure take one to brush off the men, which I now I had to brush off myself).
I climbed (from Imlil indeed) the Jibl Toubkal, the highest mountain of North Africa.
It is a lovely country but I would not have dared visiting it in the summer (I'm not good with heat).
If pictures are requested, I could post, but I don't like to unfocus your nice tr.

Offline ponash123

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #21 on: September 28, 2017, 02:17:47 PM »
Day Nine: Fes

We started off the day by having breakfast in the rooftop restaurant. All riads offer a complimentary generous breakfast of which we were able to parcel out a couple of things, and supplemented with our own food.
We then made our way our over to Poterie de Fes, a pottery cooperative. It’s a fascinating place where you can see how the craftsmen mold, glaze, and paint all things ceramic like big fountains, tables, and dishes.




The oven where the pottery is baked:


Some of the items being sold:


I got a stern lecture from the Muslim worker when I dared to call this a menorah and not a chanukiah:


The zellige (mosaic tilework) is all done by hand:


Beautiful table getting ready to be shipped out:



Fes is famous for its leather products and is home to ancient tanneries, which is almost a thousand years old. There is a tannery in Marrakech too but it’s not worth visiting if you will be in Fes.
There are numerous vessels filled with a vast range of dyes and liquids spread out like a tray of watercolors. 
The best views of the tanneries can be found from the surrounding terraces where the leather shops are located. The salesperson from a shop will give you a rundown on what products are used (all natural) and how the process works.
The hides are soaked for a few days in vessels full of cow urine, quicklime, water, and salt before being picked at and dried. Next, they are sent to a different set of vessels filled with diluted pigeon poop and water to be softened. It’s really fascinating to stand on the rooftops and watch the tanners standing in the vessels using nothing but their bare hands and feet to dye the leather. They then turn the hides into high quality leather products such as bags, coats, shoes, and babouches.
There is a pungent smell so everyone gets handed sprigs of fresh mint to help overcome the odor.
Keep this in mind when purchasing any leather items (from any city), as it will have a rather strong smell for a while.



Hides being hung out to dry:


Some of the leather products being sold:


We made our way to the mellah of Fes, making a stop right outside at the king’s palace. The king, Mohammed VI, has several palaces located throughout the country, with the main residence in the capital, Rabat. In Marrakech there are 2, one for him and one for his family.
There are 7 golden gates to represent the 7 days of the week.

After walking through the mellah, we went to the home of the Rambam. It’s been completely renovated and is now a restaurant, but you can see the alley outside and exterior of the home.



Jewish cemetery:



One of the things we had been really excited about visiting in Fes was the grave of Sulika. This is considered an extremely holy site by Jews and Muslims alike and everyone there knew immediately what we were referring to.
You can read her story here:



We walked through the souks and spent some time shopping. After that we went back to the riad where we had dinner and cooled off for the rest of the evening.

Views from around Fes:





Day 10: Fes -> CMN -> NYC

We woke early, packed up our things, and had a quick breakfast. We warmed up our remaining Pomegranate meals to be eaten later that day and headed out.
The evening before we remembered that we had completely forgotten to go to the Jewish synagogue in the mellah, so we asked our driver to make a quick stop on our way to Casablanca.
There a few synagogues in Fes, one of the oldest being the Ibn Danan. It’s interesting to see, and they have a Torah from the 17th century. The caretaker is an elderly Muslim fellow, whose face literally lit up when he found out we were Jewish.


We were running a bit late by the time we reached CMN airport. The security is the most intense I’ve ever seen, with there being a security line just to enter the airport.
We went straight to the gate and boarded. By the time we took off and were ready to eat it was about 4 PM. We hadn’t eaten a thing since our meager breakfast at 7:30 AM and we were famished. To our chagrin, when we pulled out the Pomegranate meals, we saw that the wrapping and seals on all the meals were opened. I’m not sure what happened since the same riad had warmed up our food the previous 2 days and listened to our explicit instructions, but either way, we were out of food.
The airplane food was barely edible - a bottle of grape juice and some crackers. We had a couple of snacks with us, but NY pizza never tasted so good as it did 8 hours later!

With our unbelievable and incredible trip coming to a close, we all conclusively agreed that we wouldn't have changed a thing about our itinerary. If we’d been able to stay a couple days longer, that would’ve been ideal as we unfortunately didn't get to the Sahara, Essaouira, and Chefchaouen, all of which are supposed to be beautiful.

Morocco was an unreal experience and we are thrilled to be coming home with memories, gifts, and photos that will last a lifetime (or at least until our next excursion!)
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Offline 12HRS

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #22 on: September 28, 2017, 03:43:57 PM »
Absolutely one of the most fascinating TR's here.

Offline ponash123

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #23 on: September 28, 2017, 04:09:29 PM »
Thanks for the very nice and in depth TR.
I did only Marrakech and a bit less intense and without guide (if I were a girl, I'd for sure take one to brush off the men, which I now I had to brush off myself).
I climbed (from Imlil indeed) the Jibl Toubkal, the highest mountain of North Africa.
It is a lovely country but I would not have dared visiting it in the summer (I'm not good with heat).
If pictures are requested, I could post, but I don't like to unfocus your nice tr.


Thank you!

The heat was extremely intense, there's no denying that. It was something we were definitely worried about, especially since 2 of us are really not good with heat either. However there were a couple of factors we took into consideration that made it bearable.

1 - It's dry heat which is so much more manageable
2 - I set up the itinerary with this in mind. We took it slow and allowed extra time for things. Most days, we planned to be indoors for the time when the sun was strongest.
3 - We embraced the heat and didn't get bothered that we were drenched in sweat at all times. It definitely takes the edge off if you're in the mindset.

Another thing we did was bring packets of Gatorade powder that can be poured into a water bottle. This helped if any of us were feeling dehydrated.

Jibl Toubkal looks incredible! Just the views we had from the valley were magnificent.

I'd love to see some of your pictures. Post them in the Morocco thread please! 

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #24 on: September 28, 2017, 04:18:58 PM »
Beautiful TR. Morocco was just moved higher on my bucket list.

+1000

Wonderful TR, definitely makes me want to go now.
Check out my site for epic kosher adventures: Kosher Horizons

Offline aygart

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #25 on: September 28, 2017, 05:37:19 PM »
Wow, sounds just like the bursiki in the gemara!
Feelings don't care about your facts

Offline moisheyb

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #26 on: September 28, 2017, 07:23:45 PM »
Wow super amazing looking trip!

Offline ponash123

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #27 on: September 29, 2017, 10:31:44 AM »
+1000

Wonderful TR, definitely makes me want to go now.

Thanks. It should definitely be on the list!

Offline SuperFlyer

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #28 on: September 30, 2017, 08:47:11 PM »
My compliments for this TR were from before the Fez part.
Still as impressive.
Interesting that th terrible story about the girl, if you read the English part (the French one is cut off), it's written in quite a anti Muslim way. I guess no one can read English overthere, and they used Google translate.
I'll look up this Morocco thread.

Offline SuperFlyer

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #29 on: September 30, 2017, 09:10:05 PM »
So I looked up the Morocco master thread.
Seems more like a dry text thread.
No time to write up a tr + my way of traveling isn't too useful for the folks here.

Offline Dan

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #30 on: March 05, 2019, 04:43:39 PM »
2 years late, but this is an amazing TR!
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Dan

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #31 on: March 05, 2019, 04:44:14 PM »
+1000

Wonderful TR, definitely makes me want to go now.
Can't wait to read about your recent trip in 2021!
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #32 on: March 05, 2019, 06:15:20 PM »
2 years late, but this is an amazing TR!
+1 Really well done!
"JS [is] a fetid cesspool of unvarnished linguistic manure, with lots of useless drivel and post-padding." -Moishebatchy

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #33 on: March 05, 2019, 06:15:30 PM »
Can't wait to read about your recent trip in 2021!
Lol
"JS [is] a fetid cesspool of unvarnished linguistic manure, with lots of useless drivel and post-padding." -Moishebatchy

Offline 12HRS

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #34 on: March 05, 2019, 11:28:11 PM »
Can't wait to read about your recent trip in 2021!

he needs to save your number so you can see his WhatsApp status updates  :P

Offline ponash123

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #35 on: March 06, 2019, 09:58:55 AM »
2 years late, but this is an amazing TR!
Thanks!

Offline PlatinumGuy

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #36 on: March 06, 2019, 02:36:42 PM »
2 years late, but this is an amazing TR!
+1
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

Offline a good yeshiva bachur

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #37 on: October 09, 2019, 02:23:36 PM »
For all those that are looking for an excuse to go to Morocco (maybe after this post)

The Hiloula of Rabbi David Ou Moshe will be on the 28th and 29th of October.

People come from all over the world for this. I know someone planning a trip (to there, plus many more קברים and cities) from the 23rd (אסרו חג) to the 31st of October. For more info or if your interested PM me.

Offline ltttc

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #38 on: January 10, 2020, 12:20:39 PM »
Thanks for sharing! Great TR!

Offline ponash123

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Re: A Summer Trip to Morocco: Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes
« Reply #39 on: January 12, 2020, 06:04:03 PM »
Thanks for sharing! Great TR!

Thank you!