Continuing on with the Shamal Series, I'd like to present a few travel options that I think are worth a stop if you have the time. I write these entries to let people know about other places other than your well-known tourist-magnet cities like Fez, Marrakesh, or Essaouira, in the hopes that you may have the chance to have as good a time as I had visiting these sites.
1) Volubilis (To Moroccans, Walili)
Actually, this first site is perhaps one of the most popular tourist spots in all of Morocco and draws thousands of people from around the world every year (The next site is out of the beaten path; I promise). Volubilis is one of the largest ruins of Roman civilization in the Maghreb. It is set in the middle of a wide open expanse of farmland. According to my Rough Guide to Morocco, the Romans chopped down the trees in the region to make room for the cultivation of wheat and other grains and for olive trees that to this day border the hillside. The place is pretty big and you do get the sense that you are in the midst of what used to be a vibrant commercial center.
I think what is cool about the place is how different the architecture and the layout of the city is in comparison to the medieval-esque medinas of Morocco. The Romans expressed themselves artistically through imagery and exalted their nobles; as such, they created some very elaborate stone-pixel mosaics to enshrine for centuries to come those they admired. A sharp contrast to the Muslim cities where Islam prohibited the construction of statues and mosaics of faces, bodies, or any figure. In their place, their medieval cities are adorned with intricate geometric kaleidoscope like mosaics and calligraphy.
The mosaics of the various city nobles are also impressive. I've been told that watching the sunrise or sunset over the ancient city ruins is amazing. For sure, don't go when I went at the height of the day when the sun is bearing down on you. There are only a few trees around for shade so plan accordingly. There is a nice cafe near the entrance with some trees, and across the street you can find a few gift shops and hanuts selling all sorts of snacks and even some ice cream.
To get there, go to Meknes. If you're arriving via grand taxi from Rabat or Fes, you'll be dropped off across the street from the bus station (gare routière or maHtta d kiran). If you arrive at either of the Meknes train stations, take a petit taxi to the gare routière. Just below the gare routière (not the CTM one), you will find grand taxis that run to Mouley Idriss about 30k north of Meknes. Fare was 10DH in 2010 for your typical one butt-cheek sitting space. The grand taxi will drop you off at the city square where you'll find plenty of station wagon taxis with signs to Volubilis charging around 5DH for the 5K ride. For the return trip, you could tag along with other tour groups back to Meknes. You could also trek back to Mouley Idriss and from there you can find plenty of taxis heading to Meknes. A lot of taxis frequent the road picking up passengers on the way back to Meknes. We boarded one of those taxis and paid the same amount we would have paid had we left from Moulay Idriss. How do you know if they're in the business of picking up passengers? You can flag them down or just wait to hear a beep, which can mean two things: I have room for you or you're about to get run over. Just be alert.
2) Oulmes
This little town is the site of one of the finest finds in all of Morocco: the Source Llala Haya, provider of the best tasting effervescent mineral water in all of Morocco. There are a number of ways to get to Oulmes. I went by way of Khemisset. From the main Khemisset grand taxi station, small passenger vans called (transits or stuffits--no kidding and they do stuff them to the brim sometimes) head out to Oulmes. The ride there is a little bumpy and curvy as the transit winds through the mountain ledges and plows through the hillside. Once out of Khemisset, all you can see is wheat farms, cows and sheep grazing, and rolling hills and mountains dotted with shrubbery trees. It took about an hour or so to get there. We chilled out with some fellow PCVs for the night and then headed out early morning to the source. We took a small transit that cost 4DH to get to the site of the bottling facility.
From there it was a 3K downhill trek zig-zagging all the way on a paved trail to the source, and on the trail you get to see up close the shrubbery trees dotting the rocky mountainside. Upon reaching the source, you cross a river to what looks like a small shaded campsite facility. There are attendants there who welcome you and give you a 2-minute tour of the facility basically showing you where the water is coming from and the room where a couple of bathtub-size pits have been dug in to accommodate those who wish to experience the magical healing powers of the thermal waters of Oulmes. The water is streaming in and emptying out so it seemed pretty hygienic.
I didn't take a bath, but I did wash my head a bit, which was wonderfully refreshing after the brief hike. At the site, they got a few picnic tables overlooking the ravine. Later on, I was about to drink straight out of this water hose by the picnic tables, but the attendant told me that the water at the campsite was unfiltered and was kind enough to give us a couple of Sidi Ali water bottles free-of-charge. We then hiked up back to the bottling facility and from there we took the transit ride back to Oulmes.
The bottling company has a hotel offering thermal baths, and my PCV friends said that the restaurant there is also very good. For more information, see the link below:
http://www.oulmes.ma/indexfr.htm
3) Mehdia Beach
As a pisces, my connection and attraction to water are stronger than most. Luckily for me, the ocean is only about a three-hour train ride away. It's a luxury and one that I indulge in whenever possible. Every here and then I get the chance to go to Rabat for some official Peace Corps business and on such occasions I make sure a trip to the beach is on the agenda.
Mehdia Beach is the ideal spot if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the capital city and relax in the laid-back atmosphere of this beach resort/fishing town. The beach is fairly long, the water is calm, although the surf can pick up later in the afternoon and onto the evening. There are plenty of cafés, restaurants serving a range of seafood and fried fish, and hotels and maison d'hôtes for every kind of traveler, and it is not packed with tourist, but mostly locals. The only downside is that it can get a little trashy from time to time, not people-wise per se, but just lots of litter, so watch your step as you stroll through the beach.
Perhaps the reason why it is not so tourist-heavy is due to its somewhat remote location, but by no means should it discourage anyone from going there. It's actually very easy to get there even with public transportation. From Rabat, take the train to Kenitra Medina Station, the last stop on the urban rail lines that run every half hour from Casablanca. Upon exiting the station, make a right towards the stairs, climb up the stairs, make a right at the top walking down until you reach an Oil Libya gas station, from there make a left and walk straight past all the hanuts until you reach the end of the block, and then look to your right and some orange grand taxis should be there waiting for passengers. Normally, once you reach the Oil Libya gas station you should be able to see the taxis, but right now the square where they congregate is under construction. If anything, just ask the hanut owners for the mahtta d taksiyat d Mehdia and they'll point you in the right direction. Taxi fare was 5DH. Train ride from Rabat was 15DH, and all in all, it should take you no more than an hour from the Rabat Ville Station to the sands of Mehdia.
4) Mouley Bousselham
If you still feel like getting even farther away from the city, a trip to Mouley Bousselham can probably soothe the most erratic nerves. Because it´s a little bit further out, you see even less tourists and certainly more locals. To the west is the beach and to the south is a beautiful lagoon and marshland called the Merdja Zerga that is frequented by a whole array of migratory birds, egrets, and even some flamingos.
Last time I was there, the beach had some rough waves and strong undercurrents. It was closely guarded by lifeguards. I mainly saw some families playing near the edge of the water and a good number of fishermen laying out multiple fishing poles and then chilling back on a lawn chair. The lagoon empties onto the ocean so I imagine that it is safer to swim.
I stayed at Hotel Miramar on the oceanfront, one of the cheaper options in town, but I don't recommend it. The rooms are big. They have a bedroom and a salon with ponges ideal for a small family. They started at 250DH for the night, but we bargained down to 200DH. One could probably go a bit further. The hot water in the public bathrooms never worked morning or night and at night the terrace is used as a pool hall with chabbi music blaring until 1-2AM despite requests to have the music lowered.
It was funny to hear the locals in the other rooms saying that there were foreigners in the hotel. Mouley Bousselham is one of many sites Moroccans make a pilgrimage to in order to honor their various saints and tribal leaders of the past. The Marabout of Mouley Bousselham rests prominently next to the grand plaza on the oceanfront.
Food-wise, many restaurants are serving all sorts of grilled or fried seafood for reasonable rates. One piece of advice is to stay near the oceanfront and away from the lagoon side as you get closer to the night. Just moving out of the ocean breeze for a bit can land you a good number of mosquito bites. Overall though, a nice, clean, and quiet beach to calm the nerves.
To get there from Rabat, take a train to Kenitra Medina Station and upon exiting make a left and walk towards the grand taxis going to Mouley Bousselham. The fare was 40DH and about an hour long. They take the toll road to Tangiers for much of the way. You are dropped off about 1k from the oceanfront. As you get near it, you'll be presented with various maison d'hotes options from various faux guides that may actually be better than the hotel options.
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I think this about wraps up the Shamal Series. There are still a number of places in northern Morocco that are worthy of individual entries namely Chefchaouen. I actually went there, but just crashed the place for only one night. Inchallah, I'll have the opportunity to visit and hike a bit in the Rif Mountains.
I've yet to talk about my trips to the south of the country. I hope to highlight a few of them such as: the desert trek, the Todra Gorge, the palmeries, and some of the beaches near and around Agadir. It's been quite an experience to see so much contrast in the landscape from marshlands to a sea of desert dunes, coastal plains to towering mountains, and an oasis of palmeries in the middle of a desert wilderness. Moroccans are lucky to live in such a country. I hope everyone has the chance to see what I have seen and to marvel at the beauty that perhaps a deity or the cosmic forces of the universe has created.
BssHa (To your health) on your travels!
1) Volubilis (To Moroccans, Walili)
I think what is cool about the place is how different the architecture and the layout of the city is in comparison to the medieval-esque medinas of Morocco. The Romans expressed themselves artistically through imagery and exalted their nobles; as such, they created some very elaborate stone-pixel mosaics to enshrine for centuries to come those they admired. A sharp contrast to the Muslim cities where Islam prohibited the construction of statues and mosaics of faces, bodies, or any figure. In their place, their medieval cities are adorned with intricate geometric kaleidoscope like mosaics and calligraphy.
 |
| Mosaic of the Athlete |
To get there, go to Meknes. If you're arriving via grand taxi from Rabat or Fes, you'll be dropped off across the street from the bus station (gare routière or maHtta d kiran). If you arrive at either of the Meknes train stations, take a petit taxi to the gare routière. Just below the gare routière (not the CTM one), you will find grand taxis that run to Mouley Idriss about 30k north of Meknes. Fare was 10DH in 2010 for your typical one butt-cheek sitting space. The grand taxi will drop you off at the city square where you'll find plenty of station wagon taxis with signs to Volubilis charging around 5DH for the 5K ride. For the return trip, you could tag along with other tour groups back to Meknes. You could also trek back to Mouley Idriss and from there you can find plenty of taxis heading to Meknes. A lot of taxis frequent the road picking up passengers on the way back to Meknes. We boarded one of those taxis and paid the same amount we would have paid had we left from Moulay Idriss. How do you know if they're in the business of picking up passengers? You can flag them down or just wait to hear a beep, which can mean two things: I have room for you or you're about to get run over. Just be alert.
2) Oulmes
 |
| Johnny performing a do-it-yourself baptism at the source |
The bottling company has a hotel offering thermal baths, and my PCV friends said that the restaurant there is also very good. For more information, see the link below:
http://www.oulmes.ma/indexfr.htm
3) Mehdia Beach
4) Mouley Bousselham
It was funny to hear the locals in the other rooms saying that there were foreigners in the hotel. Mouley Bousselham is one of many sites Moroccans make a pilgrimage to in order to honor their various saints and tribal leaders of the past. The Marabout of Mouley Bousselham rests prominently next to the grand plaza on the oceanfront.
Food-wise, many restaurants are serving all sorts of grilled or fried seafood for reasonable rates. One piece of advice is to stay near the oceanfront and away from the lagoon side as you get closer to the night. Just moving out of the ocean breeze for a bit can land you a good number of mosquito bites. Overall though, a nice, clean, and quiet beach to calm the nerves.
To get there from Rabat, take a train to Kenitra Medina Station and upon exiting make a left and walk towards the grand taxis going to Mouley Bousselham. The fare was 40DH and about an hour long. They take the toll road to Tangiers for much of the way. You are dropped off about 1k from the oceanfront. As you get near it, you'll be presented with various maison d'hotes options from various faux guides that may actually be better than the hotel options.
-------
I think this about wraps up the Shamal Series. There are still a number of places in northern Morocco that are worthy of individual entries namely Chefchaouen. I actually went there, but just crashed the place for only one night. Inchallah, I'll have the opportunity to visit and hike a bit in the Rif Mountains.
I've yet to talk about my trips to the south of the country. I hope to highlight a few of them such as: the desert trek, the Todra Gorge, the palmeries, and some of the beaches near and around Agadir. It's been quite an experience to see so much contrast in the landscape from marshlands to a sea of desert dunes, coastal plains to towering mountains, and an oasis of palmeries in the middle of a desert wilderness. Moroccans are lucky to live in such a country. I hope everyone has the chance to see what I have seen and to marvel at the beauty that perhaps a deity or the cosmic forces of the universe has created.
BssHa (To your health) on your travels!
