Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Morocco Part Three
1:35 PM | 
Posted by
Lady Gray |
I apologize I've been such a terrible blogger! I promised a month ago I would conclude our honeymoon saga. Life can be quite unpredictable! In the last four weeks I've been to Orlando and Gainesville FL, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Jersey. Those trips were for work and two separate weddings! I'll get a chance to catch up on much needed sleep after this weekend (more on that later...)
I'm sure most of you are bored of this topic by now and I promise I have more interesting (and timely) things to share with you!
After our adventure trekking up the Atlas Mountains to Ait Ben Haddou, Mr. Gray and I opted to explore Old Marrakech for our remaining days. The Medina, or Old City, has no shortage to ruins to explore. First on the list was the Saadian Tombs.
Discovered only in 1917, the tombs are said to date back to the 16th century.
There isn't more I can add about the tombs, since we didn't take a formal tour. It was worth it just to walk around and see the beautiful tile work and the erie lighting in the rooms.
After that we headed to the El Bahia Palace. Of the two palaces to check out, this one was the most complete with intact (but empty) rooms. Sample of some of the tile work below.
Last but not least was the El Badia Palace ruins. This was the most exciting to check out. You can really see how majestic the palace once was. You are able to climb up to the second floor terrace to take in a truly spectacular view of the city.
On our final full day in the city I booked a gommage at Hammam Dar el-Bacha and left Mr. Gray to practice his language skills in a nearby cafe. A hammam, or Turkish bath, is a communal bath house that typically accommodates men for half of the day, and then women for the other half and draws its water source from a nearby mosque. Entrance to the hammam (especially if it does not cater to westerners) generally costs a few dollars. I wanted as authentic an experience as possible, so I booked services at Dar el-Bacha, using Mr. Gray as my translator and price negotiator.
Once I left him at the door, however, I was on my own. A woman who looked like she could have been eighty motioned to where I could put my belongings and instructed me (by miming) which clothing needed to be left behind. I grabbed my towel and followed her down a dark passageway. Once I got used to the lack of lighting (true hammams typically only have sun lights) I could see how old and beautiful the inside was.
She led me through a series of rooms that looked very similar to a bathhouse with stalls but no curtains. The last room she led me into she hung my towel and instructed me where to sit. There were probably five or six other women in there as well. Some were receiving treatments and some were simply bathing.
After being scrubbed of at least four layers of skin and doused with hot and cool buckets of water more times than I can count, she led me into the center room that looked almost like a small sanctuary with a dome in the center and benches arranging in a circle around it. The sunlight in the center of the dome was old and let in this hazy light. I was under strict instructions from my attendant (in first French then broken English) that no photos were allowed. Honestly even if she hadn't said that I don't think I would have wanted to. There was this beautiful mystery about the place that can not be described, only discovered.
Our honeymoon was truly memorable and a promise of adventures to come!!
I'm sure most of you are bored of this topic by now and I promise I have more interesting (and timely) things to share with you!
After our adventure trekking up the Atlas Mountains to Ait Ben Haddou, Mr. Gray and I opted to explore Old Marrakech for our remaining days. The Medina, or Old City, has no shortage to ruins to explore. First on the list was the Saadian Tombs.
Discovered only in 1917, the tombs are said to date back to the 16th century.
There isn't more I can add about the tombs, since we didn't take a formal tour. It was worth it just to walk around and see the beautiful tile work and the erie lighting in the rooms.
After that we headed to the El Bahia Palace. Of the two palaces to check out, this one was the most complete with intact (but empty) rooms. Sample of some of the tile work below.
Last but not least was the El Badia Palace ruins. This was the most exciting to check out. You can really see how majestic the palace once was. You are able to climb up to the second floor terrace to take in a truly spectacular view of the city.
 |
| View from the Terrace of the City |
 |
| View from the Terrace of the Palace grounds |
On our final full day in the city I booked a gommage at Hammam Dar el-Bacha and left Mr. Gray to practice his language skills in a nearby cafe. A hammam, or Turkish bath, is a communal bath house that typically accommodates men for half of the day, and then women for the other half and draws its water source from a nearby mosque. Entrance to the hammam (especially if it does not cater to westerners) generally costs a few dollars. I wanted as authentic an experience as possible, so I booked services at Dar el-Bacha, using Mr. Gray as my translator and price negotiator.
Once I left him at the door, however, I was on my own. A woman who looked like she could have been eighty motioned to where I could put my belongings and instructed me (by miming) which clothing needed to be left behind. I grabbed my towel and followed her down a dark passageway. Once I got used to the lack of lighting (true hammams typically only have sun lights) I could see how old and beautiful the inside was.
She led me through a series of rooms that looked very similar to a bathhouse with stalls but no curtains. The last room she led me into she hung my towel and instructed me where to sit. There were probably five or six other women in there as well. Some were receiving treatments and some were simply bathing.
After being scrubbed of at least four layers of skin and doused with hot and cool buckets of water more times than I can count, she led me into the center room that looked almost like a small sanctuary with a dome in the center and benches arranging in a circle around it. The sunlight in the center of the dome was old and let in this hazy light. I was under strict instructions from my attendant (in first French then broken English) that no photos were allowed. Honestly even if she hadn't said that I don't think I would have wanted to. There was this beautiful mystery about the place that can not be described, only discovered.
Our honeymoon was truly memorable and a promise of adventures to come!!
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