Morocco - Rabat

25-27th April 2015

Essaouira to Rabat 5:07hr.

I was undecided on where to go after Essaouira, it was a bit tricky deciding between Casablanca, El Jadida or Rabat. Finally deciding on Rabat I think it was a good decision, although I guess I'll never know what I missed out on.
Rabat proved valuable for the balance it brought to our adventures in Morocco.  The capital since 1956, Rabat isn't really a huge tourist destination. In this laid back city it was refreshing to walk through its authentic medina mostly ignored and enjoy it's quieter pace of life even if it was only two nights.

A wonderfully easy arrival, the car park was easily located and was close to our riad within the medina. The French owners greeted us when we arrived but in a slightly detached way, there was no mint tea and little explanation provided. Ollie was a little disappointed he had grown accustomed to the welcoming mint tea. Nevertheless the riad was lovely, our room contained two bedrooms, a small setting area and a shower room. Riad Sakina had a lovely rooftop where we were to later eat our takeaway meals. Breakfast was once again served in the tranquil internal courtyard.

Riad Sakina

Skyping Grandma and Granddad.

Breakfast

I did a quick search on 'TripAdvisor' for a restaurant and we headed off. It looked easy enough but in reality we had difficultly locating 'Dinarjat'. We had almost given up looking when I noticed a man dressed traditionally step from a doorway towards us. Carrying a lantern he approached signalling if we needed some assistance. He and his lantern were happy to lead us through the maze of the medina to the closed wooden door of Dinarjat. We would have easily passed it by. He knocked and we were greated and after a few coins to our guide we were welcomed into the superbly restored 17th century Andalucian-style house. Fortunately even with no reservation we were able to get a table. What followed was a delicious meal of Moroccan cooked salads, couscous with chicken and vegetables, marinated chicken tagine, lamb and apricot tagine. Two musicians sat close by and played peaceful music on the hand-held drum and on the oud (Arabic string instrument). We all visited the toilet to see where Lachlan had acquired his rose petals from, a memorable completely round red room with a domed ceiling.

Dinarjat.

The next day we headed for the 'Kasbah des Oudayas', the original fortified town of Rabat founded in the 12th century.
We decided on a browse through the medina souks first. With the offer of a few dirhams the boys got to play with the food for sale.

How could anyone eat me?

How could anyone eat me too?

Surprisingly Chris made a purchase. A wedding ring to replace that which he had lost not long ago in the grasses of Kaipara. I think the stall owner was a little surprised with the simplicity of his purchase, a completely undecorated silver band, quite hard to find such simplicity amongst all the bling.
Lachlan purchased some sneakers which he eagerly tested out.

Lachlan testing out his new shoes, outside the medina's walls.

Wide pavements, traffic lights and palm trees outside the medina.

With no prior knowledge of the Kasbah we initially enter through the wrong gate. After backtracking we continue walking up the steps to the main ornamental gate, Bab Oudaïas where we passed through its interior, displaying art, into the original city of Rabat. This is where Rabat's history began back in the 12th century when the Almohad dynasty built this strategically located fortified town overlooking the Bou Regreg river.
We blundered through a few streets trying to locate the viewpoint mentioned on my Fodor's kindle guide. After multiple retracing of steps we were approached by a man who had offered advice several times before but which we had politely ignored. After he had led us for a while I looked at Chris and we gave each other the 'OK with it' nod. We were in agreement that we needed some help. Once again we were not disappointed with the decision, our lovely guide gave us such a unique insight. He was great at directing information to the boys too. We slowly meandered through, passing the white and blue houses, many crumbling down, then down a few dead ends and around multiple wiggly alleys.

Our guide imparted much information about the houses. He spoke of the blind house with no windows for the women to look out of when the men were away and the houses of the wealthy with their servant doors and grander main doors. He discussed the symbolism of doors and handles, the clues they gave to whom originally lived inside.


A handle with a 'penis' symbol indicated that circumcisions took place there, but only for those who couldn't afford to go to the hospital and receive an anaesthetic  instead they only received the distraction of looking to the sky while the deed was done. A handle with a penis and a cross indicated that a catholic doctor lived within. Forks on doors warded off demons and indicated origin, as did hands with henna tattoos, rings, fingers open or closed.

And then there was the symbolism of the footpaths. A white painted entrance footpath to indicate that a celebration had occurred, maybe marriage or a birth. Paths were outlined with white, blue or both paint, white indicated a Muslim neighbourhood, blue an Andalusian one and white and blue indicated both resided there.

And then there was the symbolism of the footpaths. A white painted entrance footpath to indicate that a celebration had occurred, maybe marriage or a birth. Paths were outlined with white, blue or both paint, white indicated a Muslim neighbourhood, blue an Andalusian one and white and blue indicated both resided there.

Superstitions were discussed, the boys paid attention. Now we understood why we witnessed many well kept stray cats but only a few miserable looking dogs. No dogs are allowed to cross inside a house as they prevented angels entering. 
We were told that people still believed that demons were in the toilets so hot water was never emptied into the toilet for fear of upsetting them. Our guide certainly knew how to engage the boy's interest, I was slightly worried that it might start some odd behaviours at home.

We reached a spectacular viewpoint with views over Rabat, nearby Salé , the Bourregreg River and the Atlantic coast.
Now the tales of pirates engaged the boys. The name of nearby Salé was derived from the Sallee Rovers, pirates who terrorized the shores. The defensives of Rabat were essential to guard against the pirates that plighted the coast.We looked out over the cemetery and are told how people are buried on their side with their head facing mecca and how women's coffins are placed on an angle into the earth. It amazed me how ignorant I am of this information.

View from the Kasbah across the Bou Regreg river to Salé.

On our return we visited the communal bread oven, something I had seen but not been inside before.

For approximately 1.5 dirhams(25c) for a small loaf and 3 dirhams(50c) for a large one, the homes of the medina without the luxury of an oven, use this neighbourhood oven for their baking.

Children often have the job of delivering and collecting the baking.
I was invited to take photos but an official suspected that I caught him in the photo so told me off. I hadn't and I apologized and all was 'OK'.

Once comprising the whole city, nearly 1000 years later the Kasbah is still home to 2000 people. As well as the bread oven it contains it's own mosque, fountain and hammam.

Later that afternoon I revisited the souks to enjoy the peace of being able to freely 'look' at things without too many hassles A few purchases in hand I returned through what had earlier been a pleasant souk street to what was now a raucous jammed frenzy as early evening approached. People had set up temporary stalls in the middle of the souk lane anywhere they could fit and all were yelling their prices in competition with each other. People seemed to respond well to this and were buying with a certain manicness.

Dinner that evening was quite a contrast to the previous nights gastronomic feast. Two pizzas, four paninis and chips all for 12NZD. Once I had managed to get into the riad, I had an annoying habit of locking myself out, it was all happily devoured on the rooftop of the riad.

On leaving Rabat we visited Chellah. It was an independent city before Rabat existed, dating from the 7th or 8th century BC, when it was probably Phoenician. It was developed as a Merenid necropolis in the 13th century.

The boys climbed over the remnants of the stone foundations and column bases that were once part of the Roman City , Sala Colonia. 

Inside the Merenid sanctuary we viewed the remains of the mosque. Storks nested high on the structures and in the gardens, quite a unique sight. Beyond the mosque we wandered through the serene walled garden. Recharged we headed off for our next stop Asilah.

Rather Dr Seuss Like.

Aiming for the hole.