Essaouira and Hiking (1)

The texts will be shorter, I promise. Those who want to see a lot must spend a lot of time on buses. I have booked a (private) bus to the small coastal town of Essaouira. One overnight stay, then I return in the afternoon. Three hours each way. The town is not very large, but has a beautiful medina with city walls and a small castle. The weather is nice, around 25 degrees, but very windy. The Atlantic is too cold for me; I only go in up to my knees, not more. But I still spend the afternoon at the beach. The tides are strong. In the evening, I check out the market, which has a lot of junk. There are many more beggars here than in Marrakech. I notice that I am getting sick.

The night in the hostel was great, and the breakfast was very good with nice conversations. The hostel was recommended to me by Kristina, whom I met last year in Vietnam. I go for a beach hike, check out the harbor and the activity there. And I buy a few fish. Probably sardines, but I didn't understand the woman. With that, I go to one of those restaurants where you bring your own food, which is then grilled on-site. I found it nice, but it was way too cumbersome to eat. Not again for the time being. I spend my time on the beach until the bus arrives. Here you can learn to surf, go quad biking, and ride camels and horses. I learn that the Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, and Berbers have ruled the city. On the bus ride, you can already see that the rural areas are still underdeveloped.

It is Tuesday, and a week has already passed. Today, I have booked a tour. The first stop is at a castle in the Agafay Desert to take photos. Although 'desert' is an exaggeration. There are already a few olive bushes and trees, and it is only dry for half a year. After that, we went camel riding, just a 15-minute small round. Yes, it was okay. They gave us half-traditional clothing and wrapped a turban. We had some food at a women's collective. They produce argan oil, which you can find at every corner here. Upon arriving in Imlil, the hike finally begins, about 2 hours. In the area, apples, cherries, apricots, and walnuts are grown. It feels quite a bit like home. The path leads through some Berber villages; they all look similar and are built on hillsides. I really like the Imlil Valley. The highlight was a few waterfalls. At the end, there is supposedly traditional Berber food, well. I was in a restaurant, and I have had better tagine. Back in Marrakech, I switched hostels again, outside the medina. The cramped space and the motorcycles are a bit annoying.

Regarding alcohol: In all the hostels, there has been a ban on alcohol so far. In the supermarket, there is beer, otherwise, I don’t see any alcohol in restaurants and no advertising for it. That’s also not wrong. On the other hand, you can get hashish quite easily.