I woke up on my birthday and didn't give it much thought. We were leaving Essaouira that morning so early breakfast at 8am so we would be ready to leave by 8:45. I headed up to the rooftop. Everyone was already there. Unusual, there are usually some stragglers. Then they all starting singing Happy Birthday and brought out some birthday muffins, complete with candles! And a present! This group is so awesome! They had been asking me what I bought in the medina the night before. I guess they were trying to figure out if there was ANYTHING I hadn't bought yet! A carved wooden box with mother of pearl inlay on the top. Gorgeous (no picture, sorry). I had looked at the wooden boxes but didn't buy one. Now I have somewhere to put all of the jewelry I bought!
And then we were off. I really like Essaouira. But we were going to the legendary Marrakesh! So exciting.
Our hotel was in the new part of town, a ways away from the medina. It was fairly soulless to be honest. But it was ok. My room was quiet although those facing the street had to put up with quite a bit of Saturday night drag racing.
Once we dumped our bags, we went to the medina. Mohammed released us to find our own lunches. We did not do that well left to our own devices. First of all, we stuck together so we were working with a table of 10. And then we followed some sidewalk salesman to his restaurant. Long story short, it took forever and it was sub-mediocre. I had a camel burger which you would think would be interesting. It was just a burger.
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| this was the ceiling though so that was fun |
Then we got back to Mohammed, and went on a tour of .... something. Some sort of burial area for some sort of important person and his wives etc. Honestly, I was so tired and I could barely hear our guide and I just didn't really care. But there are pictures.
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| The passageway in. This reminds me that the burial chambers were sealed and kept secret for centuries for reasons that I don't remember. Something to do with changing dynasties. |
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| Burials. |
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| The more layers stacked on the grave, the more important the interred. |
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| Trevor and Verity |
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| Our guide. Can you guess why I took a picture of 'him' |
After our tour, we were abandoned in the middle of the massive square in the medina. It was completely overwhelming! There were so many people, and snake charmers and henna ladies, and carts and music and noise. Ack! Most of us beetled right back to the hotel. But first we had to navigate to the street and get a taxi.
You may remember back on day one, I mentioned that Tom had had his phone stolen right out of his hand in Casablanca. He had insurance but he didn't have time to report it stolen because we were leaving. He and Trevor (his dad) decided to report it in Marrakesh. And just say it happened there to make life easier for everyone. They just needed the police report, no one expected anyone to investigate or anything.
They had headed to the police when we all left the medina. We met for dinner a couple of hours later. They weren't there. Verity (Tom's mom) said they were still dealing with the police.
We ordered. I had mussels appy and a pizza. The mussels were so plentiful, I didn't eat much of the pizza. We saved it for the boys. Actually, Tom has been eating my leftovers for two weeks so it was just a normal habit to give him my dinner.
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| Mussel appy |
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| What was left of my pizza (we added what was left of Rachel's pizza too) |
Dinner was over and we were contemplating dessert when Tom and Trevor finally arrived. Tom told the story of going to the police station and why it took four hours. I wish I could do the story justice but it was just so long and complicated and hilarious. And there were little narrative detours that made it even more hilarious.
Basically, they went to the police station and essentially told the truth but moved the story to the medina in Marrakesh. The police drove them to the square and told them to point out exactly where it happened. As it turns out, the spot they picked was right on the line between two police precincts. The cops yelled at them that they needed to be EXACT - where were they standing! Were they sure it wasn't a meter over there? They said, sure, why not. Well, why not is because that meter put them into the other precinct.
So, they were put in the back of a paddy wagon and driven to the other police station. Where they were asked, where EXACTLY did the phone get taken. Then they were driven back to the same spot in the square and got yelled at some more and eventually, cops from both precincts were there yelling at Tom and each other. Tom said at one point, they all just walked away and he and Trevor were just left standing there. Another time, the cops turned away from him, grabbed a guy on a motorbike, hauled him off the moving motorbike and slapped him around a bit. Then went back to talking to Tom about how he is wrong about where his phone was stolen.
I'm not sure how that was resolved but they ended up back at the first station where Trevor was left in the hall and Tom was put in a room full of the juvenile criminals. He was literally shoulder to shoulder with kids in handcuffs. The cops were ignoring him by this time. The kids were all looking at him, saying stuff in Arabic and laughing. In the middle of all of this, a cat wandered through and the cops and criminals all took a break from ignoring him or paying too much attention to him, respectively, to pet the cat.
The cops were still on about where it had happened and were yelling at him and calling him a liar. I don't know how he didn't break! They tried to abandon the whole endeavor and just leave but I guess once the cops had started on the paperwork, there was not going back. He finally got his police report (after they redid all of it since they listed him as American on the first bunch). And then as a parting comment, the cops said they would check the cameras to see what happened. Tom is pretty sure that A. there were no cameras, and B. if there are, no one is checking squat.
Tom says he would have rather just pay for a new phone than have to do that again, but I know he is going to make hay with this story for years to come. It is just too good.
Anyway, they ate the left over pizza and had a drink and told their tale. I hope Tom wasn't looking for sympathy. We had it I'm sure but we were way too busy laughing to show any. I laughed so hard I cried.
It was my birthday that day and it was Tom's birthday the next day so we got a cake!
I had an early morning the next day but I was convinced to go to the Sky Bar up the street from our hotel for a drink as my birthday ended and Tom's began.
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| The Sky Bar taken from street level earlier in the dasy |
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| Sky Bar rooftop. |
I only lasted for one beer and then Mohammed walked me back to our hotel. Like I said, I had an early morning the next day. Which I am still counting as my birthday because it wasn't midnight in Victoria yet.
I had booked a hot air balloon ride for sunrise! Chris had given me some Christmas money and this was how I decided to spend it. She would have loved the idea.
But before the balloon, I had to get there. I had a 6:15 am pickup at the hotel. Mohammed was in the lobby to make sure I was safely off with the driver. All good. We went to the next hotel. Actually, an exit to the medina. The hotel was in in the medina. No people. We drove around trying to make sure it was the right gate. After a while, a couple appeared. They spoke English. They got in. The driver said we were missing four people but we left anyway.
Then we stopped in what I can only describe as an all in one homeless shelter/garbage dump. And the driver tells me that I am going with a different guy. I assumed that I was being human trafficked but, good Canadian that I am, I just did as I was told and got into the other car with the new man.
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| It's blurry but this was where I was traded for some beads and spices. Or moved to a car with more room, whichever. |
As it turns out, I was not kidnapped and sold for organs. I was dropped off at the Balloon place. There were tents set up and I just went and stood in one of them.
I had no idea what was going on. No one was speaking in English. All of the tourists were French. I found the American couple from the first car but the staff sent them one way and me another. I heard two women speaking English so I was about to pounce on them but they got moved to a new tent.
I asked someone if there were any English speakers. After pointing out a French family as English who were very much not speaking English, she told me the balloons were not organized by language. So I just went back to my tent. A man, the pilot I later learned, gave a very rousing and gesture filled safety speech, in French. It went on for quite some time. And then he just waved his hand for everyone to follow him. Umm, English safety instructions? Anyone?
A young couple could tell I had no idea what was going on. They were from Cork Ireland and gave me a 8 second recap of the pilot's speech. They were very sweet. They let me hang out with them and we shared a pod in the balloon basket.
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| Paul and Jess of Cork, Ireland |
But first we watched them fill the balloons with hot gas.
You know in movies where there is a little basket hanging under a balloon with a little wicker door that opens and a small number of people use that little door and then float away. WRONG!
The basket is more like a rectangle with four 'pods' that hold three people each on each side of the pilot who is in the middle. Eight pods in total.
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| This was after we landed but it shows the basket |
Getting into the basket was a challenge. Remember, no little wicker door. Just those foot holes you can see in the picture above. Uh uh. I needed the little ladder and even then it was an awkward situation. Paul and Jess were both giants, upwards of 6 feet each, so they hauled me in.
And then we took off and all was forgiven. It was beautiful. And amazing. And awe inspiring. The sun was just coming up. The company I was with had five balloons but there were dozens more rising into the sky at the same time.
Here are 72 million photos. And nary a cat picture.
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| This is my favourite picture I think |
Then we landed in a rocky field. This is when i understood all of the wild gesturing that was part of the safety speech. Hang on and crouch cause it is going to be a bumpy landing!
As soon as we were safely back on terra firma, they started to deflate the balloon. Jess got out first, she pulled, Paul pushed and they got me up and over the edge of the basket. And two staff members gently lowered me to the ground.
And that was the end of my birthday in all time zones!
It's 11:30 and I'm in my Paris hotel with an early flight so I'm off to sleep. I'll finish up Marrakesh tomorrow (hopefully!). Bonne nuit.
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