From Rabat to Essaouira

We’ve enjoyed Rabat, but after nearly seven weeks, the time has come to move on. We’ve found it both interesting and very welcoming, in fact we’ve found all the places we’ve visited here in Morocco to be that way. Our car arrived at Salé airport at around 5:30pm, for an internal flight leaving at 7pm and after waiting in line with all of the other naughty people to pay for excess baggage, we sailed through immigration and boarded the flight, which actually left early! We arrived in Agadir just under an hour later and after collecting our luggage we found Miloud our driver. The drive was full of twists and turns and not really that comfortable. We arrived in Essaouira shortly before midnight and after carrying our luggage across the main square and through a passageway into the Medina (the Medina is pedestrianised) we put the key into our huge iron door and entered into ‘Dar Adjan’ and then promptly crashed out. We woke at around 6:20am, which is the Imam’s first call to prayer and lasts for 20 minutes or so and as the minuet is very close by and we don’t have a roof (more on that later), we were both wide awake by 6:30am. We are both getting used to the call to prayer, from our time in Rabat and Turkey and to be honest it’s quite enchanting. We were knackered and it was dark when we arrived, so we were too tired to look around, so it was time to have a wander. It really is an incredible old home, which has been lovingly restored. As you walk through large iron door, you enter into a foyer, with an attractive water feature, which is used to clean one’s hands after entering from the street and is typical in these wonderful old Riad’s. The steep, narrow stairs, wind around the side of the building internally and leads out onto each floor. The double terrace has incredible views out to sea on one side and views across the top of the Medina on the other and if look directly down, you can see right down through the middle to the ground floor (think of a cored Apple), that together with the very thick walls, helps to keep the building cool. As I mentioned, we’re staying right on the edge of the Medina which is very handy for restaurants and the meat, fish and veg markets. Essaouira has a relaxed ‘hippie’ vibe about it and is completely different to the other places we’ve visited in Morocco, no one hassles you as weave your way through the Medina and souks. We like it!