Essaouira

Sunday I went with Shan, Lahcen and two German tourists to Essaouira, a small beach town about 170 km north of Agadir. I've never been farther up the coast than Taghazout, so it was a chance for me to explore a bit more of Morocco. Not too far north of Taghazout there are some pretty amazing looking caves, so I fully intend for my next adventure to involve a bit of spelunking.

The only incident of note on our trip was our stop in Tamri, where I had to pee. Thanks, Mom, for blessing me with a bladder the size of a peanut. So we stopped, and Lahcen found a WC (water closet) for me to go. I had to pay 1 dirham for the privelege of squatting over the stinkiest, nastiest hole in the ground this side of the Mississippi. It was stomach turning, but I was just thankful I got to pee.

After three hours of twisty-twisty-Niecey-sickey roads, we finally arrived in Essaouira, a picturesque town known for purple dye, windsurfing, and for inspiring artists and tourists alike. The houses inside the medina are whitewashed with cerulean blue doors. Orson Wells filmed the majority of Othello under the skala fortress. Jimi Hendrix lived near Essaouira for a while and found inspiration there for his song, "Castles Made of Sand." A young girl next to us at lunch sketched and then painted the scene near the restaurant -- a beautiful minaret and ornate wood carvings on the entrance to one of the shops near us. Why can't I be cool like that? I want to backpack all over the world and sketch and paint my memories!

After lunch we walked through the souk, along the ramparts and up to the skala fortress for a few photos before heading back to our little Fiat Punto for a reverse repeat of the twisty-twisty part of the trip. At least this time I was sitting in the front seat. On the way home we stopped a few times so the German girls could take photos of themselves in various settings and with various props. I got tickled. Here I was thinking, "I want to take a photo of that old man/woman/little kid riding on a donkey. That'd be cool." and the German girls were like, "No, we have to find a donkey with no one on it, so we can take photos of ourselves with the donkey." To me, Moroccans are the coolest thing about Morocco. So much character. At any rate, the girls got their donkey photos, and they smiled and modeled their tans. Ah well, to each his own.

All in all it was a pretty fun trip. Just wish I'd had more time to explore. I've posted photos here in my Photobucket.