The Middle Atlas Mountains

Azrou is a Berber town in the Middle Atlas Mountains, about a 2-hour bus ride south of the city of Fez. It's a good place to lay up for a couple of days, exploring the town and the countryside and relaxing at the streetside cafes. After arriving on the bus from Fez, we checked into the Hotel de Panorama, an inexpensive older (and supposedly peaceful) hotel in the woods a short walk from town, but not long after settling into our room the roar of machinery started up for a nearby road repaving project. The following day things leveled out -- the paving work was done, so we could enjoy the mountain setting without all the commotion from the machinery. By chance we arrived in town on Monday, the day before market day. This is an important large weekly market for the region with numerous goods on offer including colorful Berber carpets, fruits and vegetables, new and used clothes, plastic flowers, live animals, watch repair, tools, etc. Azrou is about the end of the road for my travel partner. From here it is back to Casablanca to fly back to Abu Dhabi, so it is time for me to adjust to solo travel mode ...

Fez

If Casablanca is Morocco’s economic center and Marrakesh the country’s artistic soul, then Fez represents the very essence of the country, “regarded with a certain amount of awe, perhaps tinged with jealousy by the rest of the country.” It’s a widely held belief among Moroccans that anyone born in Fez is “more religious, cultured, artistic and refined.” Located near the Middle Atlas Mountains, east of Casablanca and north of Marrakesh, Fez is hotter than the former and cooler than the latter. The city’s old section is Morocco’s first World Heritage site. It’s the world’s largest living medieval city and the biggest car-free urban environment on the planet. During our wanderings in the ancient souq (market) we would inevitably get lost in the huge maze of narrow streets and alleyways, eventually ending up outside the city’s walls where we’d make our way back to our hotel. This place, the Hotel Menzeh Zalagh, is a faded old resort past its prime and full of character with its colorful tile work, old marble fountains, Moroccan artwork, and balconies with mountain views.

Marrakesh

Considered by many to be the crown jewel of Morocco, the city of Marrakesh is about a 3-hour train ride south of Casablanca. This time of year it's quite hot (above 100F during the afternoons) with strong winds. Though there were some tourists visiting Marrakesh, many of the numerous hotels in the city seemed fairly empty, likely due to the recent terrorist bombing at the top floor of the touristy Cafe Argana in the main square, Djemma el-Fna. This huge open area in the old part of the city is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Marrakesh. Here's what Lonely Planet Morocco has to say about the square: "Some of the best Djemma dinner theater acts haven't changed much in a millenium including astrologers, healers, and cross-dressing belly dancers. Storytellers recite ancient tales alongside dentist booths displaying jars of teeth. For bringing urban legends and Morocco's urban history to life nightly, Unesco declared the Djemma el-Fna a "Masterpiece of World Heritage" in 2001."

Casablanca

Although as the economic hub of Morocco Casablanca does not have a reputation as being much of a tourist town (when compared to other culturally-rich Moroccan cities like Marrakesh and Fes), it's definitely worth at least a few days visit. The corniche (boardwalk) comes alive around sunset with hordes of people out on evening strolls enjoying the cool Atlantic breeze, and the ancient market area is also definitely worth a visit as a feast for the senses with it's myriad sights, sounds, and scents of North Africa.

Casablanca via Dubai & Sharjah

From Abu Dhabi the cheapest flight we could find to Casablanca was on Air Arabia, about $350 1-way. The flight leaves from Sharjah, the emirate north of Dubai. It's a no-frills flight, meaning you have to pay for meals (about $7 for the vegetable briyani) and if you want to reserve a seat ahead of time it will also cost about $7. Yesterday I took the bus from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, and lugging my backpack in the 115 degree afternoon sun from the bus station to a Dubai hotel has motivated me to lighten my load before continuing on to Morocco. Tomorrow before the flight I'll reconsider what items are really necessary (e.g., clothes, sunglasses, toiletries, camera, iPod) and mail the rest back to Abu Dhabi ...

Prisoners of Conscience in the UAE

It has recently been reported that five activists are being held in custody in the United Arab Emirates for insulting Emirati rulers and "perpetrating acts that pose a threat to state security." These accusations might lead one to think that the five are violent criminals plotting unspeakable terrorist acts in an attempt to overthrow the government. As it turns out, however, their "crime" is simply having petitioned the UAE rulers for a more equitable distribution of the country's oil wealth and universal suffrage for the Emirati people. Amnesty International has described the five activists as "prisoners of conscience."

To read a recent article about the arrests log onto the following site:

http://en.news.maktoob.com/20090000708456/UAE_confirms_five_activists_held_in_custody/Article.htm

Snuffing out Democracy in the UAE

The United Arab Emirates is in many ways a great place to live and offers plenty of interesting things to do. For example this past weekend the WOMAD (World of Music & Dance) festival once again took place in Abu Dhabi. A number of great bands played during each of the 3 nites, including Baaba Maal (Mali), Paloma Faith (UK), Jimmy Cliff (Jamaica), Speed Caravan (France/Algeria), and Hindi Zahra (Morocco). At the same time, however, the UAE's not such a great place when it comes to its human rights record. Within the past few days three pro-democracy activists have been arrested here (including an economics professor from the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi branch) and the UAE government has shut down their Facebook forum (known as Hewar, meaning "Dialog" in English). Here's an on-line article about the arrests:

http://en.news.maktoob.com/20090000682096/UAE_police_hold_third_activist_colleague/Article.htm

And here's the Facebook site, which is now blocked here in the UAE:

www.facebook.com/pages/UAE-hewar/138966642807420