The Medina.
The Dunes.
The Mint Tea.

Marrakech (the “Red City” — the rose-red sandstone and clay used throughout the medina buildings — the colour most visible from the air and at dawn when the city’s wall catches the low light — the city founded by the Almoravid dynasty in 1062 CE — the medina declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 — a city of approximately 900,000 people of whom the majority live in the medina and its peripheral quartiers) is the entry point for most Australian visitors to Morocco and the city that consistently generates the response “nothing could have prepared me for this” — not a negative response — a response to sensory density. The Djemaa el-Fna (the main square of the Marrakech medina — declared a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001 — the first such designation in the world for a cultural space rather than a specific site or tradition — the square is the delivery mechanism for a performance tradition (the storyteller (halqa), the acrobat, the water seller, the snake charmer (the guide’s briefing before the square: “you can photograph the performers but they will expect payment — MAD 20–50 per photograph — do not photograph without acknowledging this — it is their workplace”) — the square during the day is occupied primarily by the orange juice vendors and the henna artists — the square after sunset becomes the largest open-air restaurant in Africa — the smoke from the food stalls — the kerosene lanterns — the storytellers who draw circles of listeners who may or may not understand the Darija (Moroccan Arabic) and who stay anyway — the guide takes the group to the Djemaa el-Fna at two times: 11am (to see the day version) and 8pm (to see the night version — these are different places)). The Jardin Majorelle (the 1-hectare botanical garden designed by the French painter Jacques Majorelle from 1924 — the specific Majorelle Blue (the intense cobalt blue that Majorelle used on the garden structures and later patented as a colour — the guide notes the patent — a French painter patenting a colour in Morocco in the 1930s is a specific historical moment — the garden purchased by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1980 when it faced demolition — restored and opened to the public — the YSL memorial in the garden — the Islamic Arts Museum of Marrakech within the garden structures). The souks (the market districts of the Marrakech medina — organised by trade (the dyers’ souk, the leather souk, the carpet souk, the spice souk, the brass souk — the organisation reflects a medieval commercial city plan that has not fundamentally changed since the 12th century — the guide navigates — the group does not split up — the guide is willing to answer “are we lost?” in the affirmative without concern — the medina navigation is a skill of decades)).

• Djemaa el-Fna · UNESCO 2001 · first intangible heritage space in the world
• Souks · 12th-century plan · navigate with guide · do not split up
• Jardin Majorelle · Majorelle Blue · YSL · purchased 1980 from demolition
• Bahia Palace · 19th-century · 160 rooms · carved stucco + zellige
• Djemaa at 8pm · different city from the 11am version · the guide times both

Fez (Fes — the ancient capital of Morocco — founded in 789 CE by Idris I on the right bank of the Fez River, expanded on the left bank in 809 CE by Idris II — the combined medina (Fes el-Bali) declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 — the largest pedestrian urban area in the world — approximately 9,400 streets and alleys within the medina walls — the street that the guide uses is approximately 50cm wide at its narrowest point — the guide’s instruction for this section: “flatten against the wall when the donkey is coming — the donkey always has right of way — the donkey has always had right of way in this street”) is the city that most Morocco specialists consider the most significant single destination in the country — not the most beautiful (Marrakech), not the most dramatic (the Sahara), but the most complete — the place where the medieval Islamic urban form survived intact and continues to function as a living city rather than a heritage display. The Al-Qarawiyyin University and Mosque (founded in 859 CE by Fatima al-Fihri — a woman — the daughter of a wealthy Tunisian merchant family who emigrated to Fez — the Al-Qarawiyyin is recognised by UNESCO and Guinness World Records as the oldest continuously operating university in the world (the university that invented the concept of the academic degree — the “ijaza” — the certificate of learning — from which the Western degree tradition derives through Andalusian Islamic scholarship) — the university was a centre of Islamic scholarship, mathematics, astronomy, and grammar for over 1,000 years — the library (now the Al-Qarawiyyin Library — one of the oldest libraries in the world) was restored and reopened to researchers in 2016 — the mosque is not open to non-Muslims but the adjacent courtyard views are accessible and the guide explains the full Al-Qarawiyyin story from outside). The Chouara Tannery (the leather tannery in the northeastern quarter of the Fes el-Bali medina — the largest and oldest of three tanneries in Fez — operating continuously since the 11th century — the dyeing vats (the circular pits dug into the tannery floor — filled with saffron (for yellow — the guide notes that the saffron in the tanning vat is not culinary-grade saffron — the visitor should not be impressed by this — it is the dried stigmas of the Crocus sativus pressed into the tanning liquor as a mordant dye), poppy (for red), mint (for green), indigo (for blue), and henna (for orange) — the white vats at the perimeter are filled with a mixture of cow urine, pigeon dung, salt, water, and limestone — the organic solution that softens the hide before dyeing — the guide provides each visitor with a sprig of mint at the tannery terrace (the aromatic offset for the ammonia from the white vats — the guide holds the mint under their own nose for a moment before distributing it — the action is so practised it is automatic)). The Bou Inania Madrasa (the 14th-century Quranic school built by the Marinid sultan Bou Inan — the finest surviving example of Marinid architecture in Morocco — the zellige tilework on the lower third of every interior surface, the carved stucco (plaster) in the middle register, and the cedarwood carved screens and stalactite ceilings (muqarnas) at the top — the three-register architectural system of the Moroccan Islamic interior — the guide explains each register’s symbolic programme before entering (the earthly, the transitional, the divine) — this explanation takes 8 minutes — the group’s experience of the interior is different having had it)).

• Al-Qarawiyyin · founded 859 CE · oldest university in the world · Fatima al-Fihri founder
• Chouara Tannery · 11th century · pigeon dung + plant dyes · the mint sprig
• Bou Inania Madrasa · zellige + stucco + muqarnas · three-register programme
• 9,400 streets · largest pedestrian urban area · 50cm at its narrowest
• Donkey has right of way · always · in this street since 1000 years

The Merzouga dunes (Erg Chebbi — the ergs (the Arabic word for a field of sand dunes — a sand sea — as distinct from the hamada (the flat rocky desert) and the reg (the gravel plain) — the three landscape types of the Sahara that most visitors do not know have specific names until the guide explains them on the road through the Draa Valley) at Merzouga in the Tafilalet region of southeastern Morocco — the dunes rising to approximately 150m at their highest point — the orange-red colour of the Erg Chebbi sand (the colour produced by the iron oxide content of the Saharan sand — the orange is most intense at dawn and dusk when the low-angle light maximises the red spectrum — the guide’s instruction on the camel to the dune crest: “the dune crest is approximately 150m above the desert floor — the walk from the base of the dune to the crest takes approximately 25 minutes — the sand is very loose — for every two steps forward, you will slide back one — this is correct — continue”) are the Saharan component of the Moroccan itinerary that most visitors describe as the most unexpectedly affecting part of the country. The camel trek (the departure from the Merzouga village at approximately 3:30pm — the guide leads the camel line into the dunes — the camels are dromedaries (Camelus dromedarius — the single-humped Arabian camel — the guide distinguishes from the Bactrian camel (two humps — Central Asian — better at cold) — the dromedary preferred in the Sahara for its specific adaptation to extreme heat and water conservation). The overnight camp (the Berber camp at the base of the dunes — the goat hair tents (the traditional nomadic tent — the woven goat hair provides both shade in the day and warmth at night — the guide notes the weaving technique — the nomadic Berber tent can be assembled and disassembled by one person in approximately 20 minutes) — the dinner (the tagine prepared by the camp cook — the lamb shoulder with preserved lemon and olives — the mint tea poured from height at the camp fire — the guide’s specific instruction before the mint tea pour: “do not touch the glass immediately — the glass is very hot — hold it at the top — wait 30 seconds”)). The Draa Valley route (the road from Marrakech to Merzouga via the Tizi n’Tichka mountain pass (2,260m — the highest road pass in Morocco — the guide stops at the pass for the view — the Atlas range visible to the north and the pre-Saharan plateau to the south — the line between green and desert visible at a single glance) and Ouarzazate (the “Door of the Desert” — the film production city — Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Game of Thrones, The Mummy, and hundreds of other productions filmed at the Atlas Studios adjacent to Ouarzazate) and Aït Benhaddou (the UNESCO ksar — addressed in the dedicated section)).

• Erg Chebbi · 150m dunes · orange-red iron oxide · most intense at dawn and dusk
• Camel trek · 3:30pm departure · 25 min to dune crest · two forward one back
• Overnight Berber camp · goat hair tent · tagine at the fire · mint tea poured from height
• Draa Valley route · Tizi n’Tichka 2,260m · green to desert visible in one glance
• Merzouga village · the correct base · 3 hours by vehicle from Ouarzazate

Chefchaouen (the “Blue City” — the medina and residential quartiers of Chefchaouen (the name derived from the Berber “isha’uan” — meaning “look at the horns” — a reference to the twin peaks of the Rif Mountains visible above the city) in the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco — founded in 1471 CE by the Andalusian exile Ali ibn Rashid to serve as a base for Moroccan resistance to the Portuguese expansion along the Atlantic coast — the blue colour: the origin of the Chefchaouen blue is the subject of multiple competing theories (the guide presents all three — the Jewish community who fled the Spanish Reconquista in the 15th century and painted their buildings blue as a symbolic representation of heaven — the mosquitoes repelling properties of the indigo dye — the aesthetic choice of the mid-20th century in an attempt to attract tourism — the guide’s position: “the historical record supports the first and third theories approximately equally and the mosquito theory not at all — the guide chooses the first theory when asked to choose one, with the caveat that the city is beautiful regardless of which theory is correct”) is consistently one of the most photographed cities in Africa — every alley in the medina is painted in shades of blue from powder blue to indigo to near-violet — the blue applied annually (the guide walks past the painting in April — the plasterers and painters who maintain the blue — the guide photographed this maintenance process for the first time in 2017 and has photographed it on approximately 50% of subsequent April visits). The medina of Chefchaouen (smaller and more navigable than Fez or Marrakech — the guide allows the group to navigate independently for 2 hours in the afternoon (the guide provides a mobile number and a landmark — the guide station is the blue steps at the corner of Rue Sidi Mohammed el-Abed — the meeting point — the group returns — no one has been lost in 12 years of independent navigation periods — the guide notes this without pride — the medina is genuinely not that large). The Spanish Mosque (the 15-minute walk above the medina — the ruined mosque on the hillside above Chefchaouen — the view of the blue medina below — the guide times the arrival for the late afternoon (4:30pm in summer, 3:30pm in winter — the angle of the light on the blue city from the hillside above is the photograph that appears on every Chefchaouen website and is genuinely accurate to the experience)).

• Blue medina · painted annually · the guide photographs the painters in April
• Founded 1471 CE · Andalusian exile · Jewish community blue-painting tradition
• Spanish Mosque hillside · 4:30pm · the photograph · accurate to the experience
• Independent navigation · 2 hours · blue steps meeting point · no one lost in 12 years
• Rif Mountains · “look at the horns” · the twin peaks above the city

Aït Benhaddou (the ksar — the Arabic/Berber word for a fortified earthen village — the agadir (the communal granary) at the summit of the hill — the earthen towers — the UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987 — located on the Draa Valley route between Marrakech and Ouarzazate — on the left bank of the Ounila River — the crossing to the ksar either by the footbridge or by wading the shallow river (the guide wades — the group wades or crosses the bridge — the guide notes that wading was the only crossing option until the bridge was built in the 2000s and that the river has been crossed on foot at this point for approximately 800 years)) is the most intact surviving example of southern Moroccan earthen architecture (the pisé — the compressed earth construction technique — the earthen walls mixed with straw and clay and compressed in wooden formwork — the technique that built the kasbahs, the ksour (plural of ksar), and the medina walls throughout the pre-Saharan south of Morocco). The film location history: the ksar’s dramatic silhouette (the earthen towers rising from the desert river bank against the Atlas Mountains) has made it the most filmed location in Morocco — the productions include: “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), “Jesus of Nazareth” (1977), “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988), “Gladiator” (2000 — the city of Zucchabar — the guide identifies the specific towers visible in the film), “Alexander” (2004), “Babel” (2006), “Prince of Persia” (2010), and “Game of Thrones” (multiple seasons — Yunkai — the guide identifies the specific wall section). The guide’s position on the film history: “the films found Aït Benhaddou because it is genuinely extraordinary — the films are a testament to the site, not a reason for it”. The earthen architecture: the guide explains the construction technique (the pisé — the compressed earth mixed with straw and chopped reed — the wooden formwork — the annual mud re-coating that maintains the surface against rain erosion — the guide points to the specific sections where the maintenance coat has been freshly applied and where it has eroded — a building in constant dialogue with the weather — an architecture that is never finished and never static).

• UNESCO 1987 · intact earthen ksar · 800 years of river crossings
• Film locations · Gladiator, GoT, Lawrence of Arabia · guide identifies specific walls
• Pisé earthen construction · straw + clay + compressed · annual mud re-coat
• Guide wades the river · group chooses · the bridge is also there
• On the Marrakech–Merzouga route · correct stopping point · 30km from Ouarzazate

Essaouira (the “beautifully designed” in Arabic — the Atlantic port city 2.5 hours from Marrakech — UNESCO World Heritage since 2001 for its medina and 18th-century Portuguese-influenced ramparts — the city known historically as Mogador (the Portuguese name — the Phoenician and Carthaginian trading post — the Roman “Purpuraria” — the island of Iles Purpuraires 2km offshore where the Romans manufactured Tyrian purple dye from murex snails — the purple that was literally more valuable than gold in the Roman world — the guide recounts this fact while standing on the Essaouira ramparts looking at the islands)) is the counterpoint to Marrakech’s intensity — the city that Australian visitors consistently say they stayed in longer than planned. The Gnawa music (the musical tradition of the Gnawa people — the descendants of sub-Saharan African slaves brought to Morocco through the trans-Saharan slave trade — the music (the guembri — the three-string bass lute — the qraqebs — the iron castanets — the percussion) used in trance ceremonies (lila) to communicate with spirits and heal illness — now a recognized UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and a significant musical export (the Gnawa World Music Festival in Essaouira — the largest music festival in Morocco — typically held in June — drawing 400,000+ visitors)). The Atlantic wind (the city’s nickname is “The Wind City of Africa” — the persistent Atlantic trade wind (the alizée) that makes Essaouira the kite-surfing and windsurfing capital of Morocco and the Moroccan city with the most pleasant summer temperatures (22–26°C when Marrakech is at 40°C — the guide recommends Essaouira specifically in July–August for this reason)). The medina and fish port (the blue-and-white medina (the blue-painted fishing boats in the port visible from the ramparts — the colour-coding: blue = fishing boat — the specific blue used by the Essaouira fishermen distinct from the Chefchaouen blue and from the sea) — the port fish market (the morning market — the freshly landed sardines, bream, and sea bass sold directly from the boat — the guide negotiates with the fisherman — the group selects the fish — the fish is grilled by the portside grill operators within 15 minutes — this is the correct lunch in Essaouira)).

• UNESCO 2001 · Atlantic ramparts · Roman purple dye islands 2km offshore
• Gnawa music · guembri + qraqebs · UNESCO intangible heritage · June festival 400,000+
• Wind City · 22–26°C in July · the summer alternative to Marrakech at 40°C
• Port fish market · guide negotiates · fisherman → grill → plate in 15 minutes
• 2.5 hours from Marrakech · correct day trip or 2-night stay · do not rush it

The High Atlas Mountains (the range that runs diagonally across Morocco from the Atlantic coast in the northeast to the Sahara in the southeast — the highest range in North Africa — Jebel Toubkal (4,167m) at the apex — the range separating the Atlantic-facing northern slopes (the Mediterranean climate — oak, cedar, juniper — the traditional Berber (Amazigh) agricultural terraces cultivating wheat, barley, walnut, and saffron) from the semi-arid pre-Saharan plateau of the south) is accessible from Marrakech in 1.5 hours by road to the Imlil valley — the base village for the Toubkal trek. The Imlil valley (the village of Imlil (1,740m — the terraced fields and the walnut trees — the guide’s note on the Imlil walnut: “the Moroccan walnut (Juglans regia) from the High Atlas is the finest walnut in the world — a statement that the guide has made to 200+ groups and that has never been disputed by anyone who has eaten the walnut at the source”) and the Berber (Amazigh) villages (the “Imazighen” — “free people” in the Amazigh language — the indigenous people of North Africa who predate the Arab conquest of the 7th century CE — the Amazigh language (Tamazight) — a distinct Afro-Asiatic language unrelated to Arabic — now co-official with Arabic in Morocco since the 2011 constitution — the guide speaks conversational Tamazight as well as Darija (Moroccan Arabic), French, and English — the guide uses Tamazight in the village and this changes the reception)). The Toubkal trek (the 2-day ascent of Jebel Toubkal — North Africa’s highest peak at 4,167m — Day 1: Imlil to the Toubkal Refuge (3,207m — approximately 5 hours — the route past the village of Aroumd (1,850m), the shrine of Sidi Chamarouch (2,310m — the sacred site — the guide explains the Berber saint veneration tradition — the interface between Berber indigenous belief and Moroccan Sunni Islam), the rocky upper valley) — Day 2: summit attempt at dawn (the corrie — the steep scree gully — the south cwm — the summit at approximately 6–7 hours return from the refuge — no technical equipment required in summer (June–September) — crampons and an ice axe required in winter (November–April)). The view from the Toubkal summit: the Sahara visible to the south on a clear day (the guide has seen it on approximately 60% of clear-day summit days and regards it as the most disproportionately affecting geographical confirmation available in Morocco).

• Jebel Toubkal · 4,167m · North Africa’s highest peak · 1.5 hours from Marrakech
• Imlil valley · Berber (Amazigh) villages · guide speaks Tamazight · different reception
• Toubkal trek · 2 days · Refuge at 3,207m · no technical gear needed Jun–Sep
• Sahara visible from summit on clear days · guide’s 60% rate · the most disproportionate view
• Atlas walnut · “finest in the world” · never disputed by anyone who eats it at the source

The northern Morocco imperial circuit — Meknès and Volubilis completed in a single day between Fez and Rabat or Chefchaouen. Meknès (the imperial capital built by Sultan Moulay Ismail (1672–1727 — the Alaoui sultan who built Meknès as the “Moroccan Versailles” — the comparison not made modestly — Moulay Ismail and Louis XIV were contemporaries and Ismail was aware of the Versailles project — the guide notes that the two rulers corresponded and that Moulay Ismail specifically requested the hand of Louis’ daughter in marriage, was refused, and built the palace complex anyway — the guide considers this the correct response to the situation — the UNESCO medina since 1996 — the Bab Mansour gate (the monumental ceremonial gate at the medina entrance — the most photographed gate in Morocco — the green and white geometric tilework (zellige) at the scale of a triumphal arch — the guide photographs every group here — the gate is the guide’s wallpaper). Volubilis (the Roman city (Walili in Berber — the name preserved through the Arabic “Oualili”) — UNESCO World Heritage since 1997 — 40km from Meknès — the capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana — at its peak in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE — the best-preserved Roman mosaics in Morocco (the Labours of Hercules, the Orpheus mosaic, the marine creatures) — the wild storks nesting in the Capitoline temple columns — the guide on the storks: “they have been nesting here since before the Romans arrived and will be here after we leave”). Rabat (the capital of Morocco since 1912 — the Hassan Tower (the unfinished minaret of the Hassan Mosque — begun in 1195 CE by the Almohad sultan Yacoub el-Mansour — intended to be the largest mosque in the world — construction stopped at the sultan’s death in 1199 CE — the tower standing at 44m of a planned 86m — the 200 columns of the unfinished prayer hall visible on the platform surrounding the tower), the Mohammed V Mausoleum, and the medieval Chellah necropolis).

• Meknès · Moroccan Versailles · Moulay Ismail + Louis XIV contemporaries · Bab Mansour gate
• Volubilis · Roman city · UNESCO · finest mosaics in Morocco · storks in the columns
• Rabat · Hassan Tower · unfinished 1199 CE · 44m of 86m · sultan died mid-construction
• Full-day circuit · Fez–Meknès–Volubilis–Rabat or Chefchaouen · correct order
• Moulay Ismail’s response to being refused Louis XIV’s daughter · the guide considers it correct