Surprise! I spent the weekend after MicroTAS in Morocco. My original plan was an ambitious one: I planned to spend one day in Marrakech, take a taxi 5hrs into the Atlas Mountains, run a half marathon, taxi 5hrs back straight to the airport, catch a flight to Malaga, a train to Madrid, and then fly Madrid to Chicago to Detroit.
After getting such little sleep this week, my plan was sounding less and less fun. To be completely honest, I did not want to go to Morocco at all on Thursday. I had been wishing that I would have just stayed in Spain a couple more days so that I could hang out with my new friends. I even looked into changing my flight, but that would have been too expensive.
Bon voyage? Maybe not.
Eyes welling with tears, I Ubered to the Granada bus station. From there, I took a 2.5 hr bus to the Malaga airport. I slept most of the trip, but the parts I was awake for were absolutely beautiful. There landscape is like no other. I would love to take my time and drive around Spain (or, perhaps, walk the Camino de Santiago) someday!
I arrived at the Malaga airport with plenty of time to check in, go through security & border patrol, and mentally prepare myself for Morocco.
If I’m being completely transparent, I was slightly nervous about traveling to Marrakech alone. The internet is very divided over whether solo female travel in Marrakech is a good idea, but it seemed to me that most of people’s problems involved harassment/scamming rather than violence. I also read about how simply respecting the culture — covering shoulders and knees — can make a person’s experience in Marrakech significantly better. The country doesn’t have any laws about covering up, but the population is largely Muslim so it’s respectful to do so.
I was mostly worried about arriving late at night and trying to make it to my hostel. The Moroccan dirham is a closed currency, which means you can’t get it outside the country. You must use an ATM or exchange cash once you arrive. Rather than relying on a taxi (which is cash only), I pre-booked a transfer straight from the airport to my hostel. All in all, I did everything that I could to prepare for my arrival in Morocco.
My RyanAir flight from Malaga was super smooth and arrived about 30 minutes early. I had requested a ride for 9pm, so I used that time to get cash —or rather, attempt to get cash— from the airport ATM. I put my debit card into the machine, and it immediately did a cold restart. When the machine came back to life, it refused to give me my card. My only method for getting cash was GONE. I started freaking out. What was I going to do without cash?! Unlike other places I’ve traveled, Morocco still heavily relies on cash.
I asked the information desk for help, and they called the number on the ATM for me. I tried to do so myself, but the call kept dropping, despite having an eSIM with unlimited data.
They told me that the only way to get my card back would be to go to the actual bank tomorrow morning and have them unlock the ATM. That would have been fine if I didn’t have such little time in Morocco. The last thing I wanted to do was waste time going back and forth to the airport!
I went outside and looked for my driver. At least I had a ride to the hostel!
Wrong. He was nowhere to be found.
I paced the outside area for over an hour and could not find him anywhere. I tried calling the hostel, but the call kept dropping. I sent them an email as well, but I had no hope that they would see it in time. Once again, I was freaking out. It took every ounce of willpower in my body to not burst out sobbing. I wanted to turn around and take the next flight home.
As I was nervously pacing, I noticed that a guy my age had also been looking for someone for over an hour. I decided to just strike up a conversation with him. Turns out, he’s from the Netherlands and is on exchange in Italy. He was on an Erasmus trip and was waiting for his ride, too. I told him about my night, and he listened. He asked if I wanted to use his phone to call the hostel, and I took him up on it. Thankfully, they answered and said they would send someone immediately. I received a text from the driver which made me so relieved. I could finally relax! The guy (sadly, I forget his name) and I talked a lot about travel. He had been all over the place! I am so grateful for that guy because talking to him really helped calm me down. By the time my driver arrived, I was no longer choking down my tears.
The driver was super nice and apologized profusely for being late. When we arrived in the Medina, he took my luggage out and gave it to a guy with a bicycle. He said “he will take you to the hostel from here, as I cannot drive these streets”. It was the most unique experience I have ever had! I was very grateful, as it would have been difficult for me to carry everything and navigate my way around the narrow streets.
For context: there are walls surrounding the old city of Marrakech. The area inside is called “the Medina”, and it consists of very narrow streets. It’s super easy to get lost, especially because Google Maps struggles a bit in there. Another term I’ll be using in this post is “the souks”. This phrase refers to the markets inside the Medina where locals sell products like bags, lamps, spices, etc.
At last, I arrived at the hostel. I talked with the staff a bit, and they were so sweet. They directed me to turn “left, left, right” to reach my room. Even with those instructions, I still got lost. That pretty much sums up Marrakech, for ya!
I checked into my room and was happy to see that I was on the top bunk (I love the top bunk), and the bed had a HUGE, fluffy blanket. I was finally going to get some sleep!
I went up to the rooftop of the hostel to call my mom. I told her everything and cried again. I was so tired. I really did not want to run another race in two days.
“Don’t go”, she said.
A wave of relief hit me when she said that. I instantly knew what I had to do: I had to cancel my mountain trip. Instead, I found a United flight from Marrakech to Detroit via Newark on Sunday. Kirk booked it for me right away, and I am so so so grateful. I could finally relax knowing that I wouldn’t have to deal with any more intense travel while being dead to the world!
Unfortunately, it was 11:30 pm by the time I figured my plan out. The hostel kitchen was only open until 10. I didn’t want to venture out alone at night into the city, so I had sprite for dinner.
That night, I went to sleep with no alarm set. There was no need to rush and see everything in Marrakech now that I had an extra day!
Breakfast at Cafe des Épices
The next morning, I started my day at about 10 am. I went to a restaurant called Cafe des Épices and sat on the rooftop. It was already so hot. The view of the city from the rooftop was lovely! I took it all in and finally had some good food. I ordered an omelette that had olives and tomatoes in it. Yum!
I also used the downtime to figure out how to get cash. Luckily, I had brought about $100 in USD. THANK GOD. I was able to exchange it at Hotel Ali in the Jamaa El-Fna square. On my way to Hotel Ali, I came across snake charmers and guys with monkeys. It was an interesting sight! Exchanging the cash was super simple, and I don’t think I waited more than 20 min in line. On the way back towards the souks, I heard the call to prayer from the mosque. It was one of those moments that I’ll never forget. I thought to myself, “wow, I am really in Morocco!”
A day in the souks
I meandered into the souks and observed everything around me. I greeted people by saying “salam alaykum” and said “la shokran” when they asked if I wanted to have a look in their shop. I kept waiting for the harassment that people talk about online and never got it.
As I was walking past a lamp shop, the guy asked if I wanted to take a photo. At first I said no, but he said that it would help him if I would even just post on Instagram and tag their shop @lantern_art_street. We introduced ourselves (his name is Ali), and when he asked where I’m from, I told him “Michigan, in the US”. I thought that he would try to sell me a lamp or ten, but instead he invited me inside for mint tea. Y’all know that I love to talk with strangers, so of course I said yes!
He got me a chair and we sat inside the shop while his friend made the tea. I told him about the conference, about my “warm welcome” to Morocco at the airport, and, despite it all, how happy I was to be in Morocco. He asked about Michigan and whether I like Trump, and I asked him about Morocco. He told me that they recently elected the first woman prime minister ever in the history of Morocco! He seemed pretty excited about it, as she is going to try to make living more affordable for lower-income people. He explained how the elections work, the types of prayers for each part of the day, and how certain people are prioritized over others in places like hospitals, for example.
At one point, we got on the topic of birthdays. Ali’s birthday had been just a few days prior. Even though timewise we were much closer to his birthday than mine, he made a huge deal about it being almost my birthday. He rushed off to go buy me a bracelet with my name engraved in Arabic 🥹
When the tea arrived, he taught me how to mix it and pour it properly. He insisted on taking a video of me pouring the tea, and I have to admit, it’s a pretty sick video.
He runs the lamp store’s Instagram account, so he is very good at photography (and always offering to take my photo). While we shared the pot of tea, he taught me some phrases in Darija, which is the Moroccan dialect of Arabic. For example, we say “bismillah” before eating, which means something like “thanks to God”.
We ended up going to lunch at a street food place nearby. We sat on the rooftop next to an Italian mother and daughter. Turns out, the daughter did an exchange program in Grand Rapids, so she knew all about Michigan! It is such a small world. They were headed to Essaouira next, and Ali had lots of recommendations for them.
The time passed so quickly, and all of a sudden it was nearly 6 pm! He asked if I wanted to go for dinner. I figured, why not?! We were having so much fun. He recommended a place called Rooftop Garden and said he would pick me up on his motorcycle after work.
He arrived at about 10 pm, and off we went. I was simultaneously terrified and having the best time of my life. I sat on the back of the motorcycle with my arms wrapped around him as he weaved between cars. He drove slowly since he knew I was scared, which I really appreciated. He assured me that he has 10+ years of experience driving a motorcycle, so I tried to relax a bit. I couldn’t help but tense up and cry out when it felt like I was going to hit my knees on the cars around us, though!
“Don’t be scared”, he said.
Dinner at Rooftop Garden
After about 15 minutes, we made it to the restaurant. It was absolutely stunning. I had no idea it was going to be such a fancy place!
We took an elevator up to the rooftop, where there was a pool, dancers, music, and an incredible view of the city. He gave me the seat with the best view, which I thought was so kind. He also took a million photos of me! I took some of him, too.
We were trying to decide what to eat when the chef walked up to our table and started talking to Ali. He introduced himself to me and took our orders. Ali later explained to me that the chef knew him from when he was a kid, and he hadn’t seen him in years. He had no idea that the guy even worked at this restaurant, and apparently he was leaving to be a chef somewhere else next week!!!!!! What are the odds?!
Our food came out, and I was surprised to find out that I had accidentally ordered meat. I still don’t know if it was beef or lamb, but I ate it regardless. It was super tender and flavorful! I can’t say it makes me want to go back to eating red meat, but it was nice to try a popular dish. Apparently, it is local to Marrakech. I also tried some of Ali’s pizza and it was the best pizza ever.
As we were eating, the dancers moved all around us. Then, all of a sudden, a fire breather appeared. It was so awesome! Like I said, I never would have imagined that I would be having this kind of dinner experience.
When we were done with dinner, dessert magically appeared at our table. The chef had given us free cheesecake, creme brûlée, and a crunchy dessert (no idea what it was) for free! I couldn’t believe it. They also had incredible mocktails, so we both had a matcha colada.
The food, the atmosphere, and the company was so wonderful! I never wanted to leave. Alas, it was almost 1 am, so we took some more photos and left.
On the way out, there was a kid selling roses. Ali bartered with the kid and gave me the rose. He laughed, explaining that the kid was already getting a hang of the haggling that is central to transactions in the souks.
Nighttime motorcycle tour of Marrakech
Rather than going straight back to my hostel, we explored the city on motorbike some more. It was even more fun than before because there was significantly less traffic. We drove all around and ended up at the mosque. It was so beautiful to see at night and up close!
We also saw a mural of a Berber man, and Ali told me the story of how the Berber man found a German guy’s bag, held onto it for years, and eventually gave it back. The German man was so happy to get his bag of treasures back that he painted a mural of the man to honor him.
The last half of our motorcycle tour was spent in the Medina. We had fun zooming around the narrow streets. He would ask me, “left or right?”, and I would get to choose which way to go next. The Medina looked like an entirely different place at night. It was almost completely empty, whereas during the daytime, it is so packed that you can hardly walk.
As we were driving around, some guy yelled out, “SHAKIRA!”. I had to laugh. Is my blonde hair that obvious?! 😆
We stopped for water at a small stand, and Ali bought a kitty some food. I really enjoyed being able to be out in the city at night! I wouldn’t have done that if I hadn’t met someone to go with, and I felt super safe being with a local.
We finally decided to call it a night at 2 am, mostly because I knew my mom was gonna be worried about me (she tracks my location). Ali’s mom was also calling him asking where he was! He dropped me off at my hostel, gave me a handshake and a fist bump, and said “see you tomorrow!”.
Did I see Ali again?! Find out in the next post!
Until next time,
Clara