Indelible memories of Morocco
After our fill of mosques, souks, kasbahs and medinas it is the most unexpected things that stand out in our memories from our sojourn in Morocco.
Not the extraordinary history and monuments.
Not the Islamic teachings, which, if everyone followed would ensure a peaceful world.
Not the food (which was trés ordinaire - better Moroccan food in OZ).
Not the smiling, happy faces of the people who were very friendly (except the one's who were trying to divest us of our dirhams).
Not the scenery (which at times reminded us of the Australian outback) - and not the fragrant, refreshing mint tea to which we became addicted.
It was the casual way the people and authorities approached life.
To us, it appeared that the only thing the (mainly corrupt) police were interested in enforcing was whether or not a motorcycle was insured. Many times we saw the police stopping motorcyclists, checking their papers and mostly confiscating the bikes - impounding them to a following truck with the riders left to walk home.
This might sound OK until you see what the police turn a blind eye to:-
Obeying the red traffic lights - optional - or so it appeared. Motorcyclists wearing a helmet - optional.
It didn't seem to matter- how many people were riding on the back of a bike - (one time we saw 5, including a baby tied to it's mothers back, and another time 3 plus a sheep)
OR
How many people could be crammed into both the front and back seat of a car - or trailer for that matter - not a seatbelt in sight! We were gob-smacked when we were travelling on a narrow, winding, mountain road and came upon a van chocker block with people, back door wide open and one man on the back running board.
Could we get away with this in Australia?
OR
The young kid on roller blades holding onto the back door of a van as it raced along the busy main street - at night
OR
The teenagers on roller blades weaving in and out of the traffic, in the dark, on the main road!
Horatio Hornblower must have been this way as all the drivers think that honking the horn makes the cars go faster!! Driving along the roads everyone honks the horn to acknowledge that "I see you" or " do you see me overtaking" or " wake up sleepy head!"
To walk along the footpath is to take one's life into one's hands. Most had paving ripped up and not replaced or gaping holes, or ten centimetre bolts sticking up, or paving blocks teetering over cavities or piles of rubble or rubbish lying around. It was safer to walk on the road and dodge the traffic!
The person who invented plastic should be taken to Morocco to see the mess he created. In cities, villages and the open countryside - miles and miles of plastic bags or discarded plastic sheeting - in the fields, up in trees, on the roadside, outside shops.
Probably the best part was seeing the happy, relaxed lifestyle of the people in the small villages who really had a subsistence lifestyle: happy to walk for kilometres,even with toddlers in tow, or use the donkey - sometimes piling the family onto the back of the cart- and the young kids helping out in the fields or kicking a ball around in the dust and heat of the day. Seemingly not a care in the world!
This simple lifestyle is extraordinary until you see the luxurious and excessive lifestyle of the king - Mohammed VI. Apparently he doesn't like staying in hotels, so all over Morocco he has huge palaces where he might stay for a day or two each year. At each , there is a full time staff of over five hundred, guards, cleaners, gardeners etc. At the Royal Palace in Rabat, his favourite, the staff numbers over five thousand!
On a final cheeky note - those "mailboxes" - try posting a letter in one of these!
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