A Day in the Countryside
Although I enjoy biking around town and I go to the beach almost every day, when the Airbnb owner, Hassan, invited me on a hike in the country, I jumped at the chance. He asked if I was "healthy." I guess in French that is how they ask if you are in good shape. My sarcastic answer was, "Yeah, why? Are we climbing a mountain?" And he said it would just be a small one. We had to leave early to catch the 7:45 bus, but since this is Morocco, it came at 8:15. Then we got dropped off on the side of the highway and had to wait for a taxi that was going out into the country. Hassan forgot to ask the driver the price before we started and we were totally ripped off. It actually made me feel better that it isn't just tourists who get scammed.
We started walking and there was no path, just a riverbed. He was looking for a certain tree and eventually we came across it. I call it the "Wishing Tree" because women go there who want to get married or pregnant and tie an article of clothing to the tree as an offering. I'm fairly certain that this is not in the Koran.
After I checked it out, we kept hiking and eventually made it to this village built on top of a huge rock formation. We walked around it and then up through the gate into deserted lanes. We discovered that the imam had called everyone to go get vaccinated, so everything was closed. We left and started walking again. By this time, we had been walking for about 2 1/2 - 3 hours nonstop. I was ready to sit for a bit. Luckily, Hassan had brought fruit and nuts and we had a picnic. Then we continued on.
Village on a Hill
We walked and walked. We were now on a road and the walking wasn't a problem, but there was no shade and it was getting hot. I could feel myself starting to lose my thinking ability and I realized that heat stroke was a definite possibility. I heard a car and (hoping against hope) said, "Oh, maybe that's a taxi." The driver pulled over and it WAS a taxi, but Hassan told him that we wanted to go to the mill and it wasn't too much farther, so we would just keep walking. Luckily the driver told him that it was closed, but said that when we passed it, if it looked open, then he would stop. We got in the car. After another 1/2 mile or so, we passed the closed road to the mill. I was sooo glad that we had gotten the taxi, even though I wondered how the car was still running. When we stopped in a town to change taxis, I asked if I could take a picture.
In that taxi, there had only been the two of us and the driver and his friend in the front. Our next grand taxi had been modified to add an extra seat in the back of a normal car. 3 people sat there, 4 sat in the middle seat (including me) and 2 sat in the front passenger seat. I had my mask on and the windows were open, but there was definitely no social distancing there. The driver drove like a maniac to the large town nearby where we caught a bus back to Essaouira. 9 hours after leaving, I was back home and ready to drink a gallon of water and shower before starting my class.
A few days later, I made a vegetarian tagine in a traditional pot. It may taste different than the ones sold on the street here, but it was yummy.
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| My first Airbnb, Essaouira |
