Tombs, Towers, and Tunes

One of the first places I went to visit in Rabat was a little garden near Nuria and Tarik’s home.  It was absolutely beautiful.

The next day, I headed out to see some more sights in town.  One of the more famous things to see in Rabat is the tomb of Mohammed V, the grandfather of the current king.  This tomb is built next to the Hassan Tower from the 12th century, I believe.  It was going to be the largest mosque of it’s time, but for some reason was not completed.  Then an earthquake ruined the rest of it, but left the tower standing.  The sites are pretty cool to see together.  So I walked over there from the house and did the tourist thing for a while.

After that, Nuria and I had planned to meet up and go to Chellah.  This is the site of an ancient Roman and then Arabic city during medieval times on the outskirts of Rabat.  Used in the past as a Roman villa, forum and necropolis, an Arabic mosque and school, and for other things throughout the years, it is now inhabited by nesting white storks.  There are upwards of 100 nests there.  The ruins are absolutely beautiful and quite peaceful.  

When Nuria and I arrived, we realized that we’d arrived at Chellah just about in time for one of the Mawazine concerts.  The international stage was set up there for the festival.  That day, a group was playing from Mongolia called Egshiglen (yeah, doesn’t sound Mongolian to me, either).  They hadn’t started yet, so we went to look at the ruins first.

Nuria has her degree in archaology/anthropology of some sort (I can’t seem to ever get the details right, but she helps reveal and renovate stuff from the past!) and so knew all sorts of great information about the site. Even after the music started at the top of the hill, once we passed into the ruins, we couldn’t really hear anything from there.  So after I’d looked around, asked her a bunch of questions, and marvelled for a while, we headed back up to the concert area.

Egshiglen was mid-concert, and I have to say I have never heard such sounds in my life.  I think it was some sort of throat singing..?  Here‘s a super-short little clip.  We were fascinated.  We arrived just in time to listen to a few songs before the end of the show.  (Although it was great, I’m not sure I’d have wanted to listen to more than that, so it really worked out perfectly).

Then, we walked back into town and stopped for some delicious avocado milkshakes.  I hadn’t had one this good since I was in Dubai several years ago!  The ones I’ve been making at home just didn’t quite match up.   That was the night we met Tarik for dinner and then went to the Zebda concert by the Kasbah.

By then, I’d been enjoying my time in Rabat so much, and really, enjoying my time with Nuria and Tarik as well, that I decided to stay an extra day in Rabat, since they were able to accommodate me.

So the next day, I went around some more in the town and spent time in the medina.  This is the market part of the town.  It’s a labyrinthine area of streets and alleys lined with stalls and shops galore, selling everything you could possibly imagine.

I also went around to the other side of the Kasbah from where I’d been staying to see the ocean.  The views there were pretty great.  There was a cemetery and a mosque, as well as surfers and beach-goers.

That night, Tarik and I went to the concert, since Nuria wasn’t feeling up to snuff.  The performer was an American with Nigerian roots named Iyeoka.  She was absolutely wonderful, her voice an interesting mix between Tracy Chapman and Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill.  I liked her music and she was very engaging.  It was also nice to be at a concert where I understood not only the lyrics, but what the artist said between songs!  (I don’t speak French, so I hadn’t been able to understand Zebda the night before.)  The lighting at her show was also super-cool.

I really liked the concert culture I found in Morocco.  The concerts went well into the night, but people were there with their entire families.  Parents had their little kids with them, and they would be dancing and playing in the crowd.  I saw some adorable little tots meeting one another and dancing together while the parents looked indulgently on.  As the night wore on, I’d see elderly couples wending their way through the crowds as well.  Not the type of people you’d see at a festival in the US.  It was a great mix.  Also, people didn’t crowd or shove, but left space for dancing and movement.  Lovely.

Today, I’m taking a train to Fes.  This is another large city in Morocco.  I’ve arranged to stay in a riad owned by a man who Tarik knows.   Fes is known for its leather tanneries and bustling medina.  After a few days there, I’m heading further north to a place in the Rif Mountains that I saw pictures of at Anas’ house.  Hopefully, I’ll have time to make it down to visit the desert at another couchsurfing guy’s home I’ve been talking to before heading to Essaouira for the Gnawa music festival.  In the meantime, I’m glad I stayed here in Rabat.  I really feel like I made some great new friends here –  I hope Nuria, Tarik, and I can see one another again.  What a great AirBnB experience!