TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Living in the Netherlands has introduced me to the concept of ‘driving properly’. After all, coming from a country like the Philippines where traffic rules only exist on paper makes adjusting to the very basic and proper way of driving in the Netherlands not easy! Bad habits are hard to break. Very hard to break. Driving woes Anyway, what I’m trying to say is this—I’ve fought high and low to get my Dutch Drivers’ License in the Netherlands. I shed tears, howled, had nightmares, fired 2 instructors, and lost a couple thousand of Euros just to get this elusive pink paper. It is insane. And now, in this Moroccan holiday, I was brought back to my pre-Netherlands driving properly days. The experience was quite an awakening as I didn’t realize—how naïve of me really—that lunatics on the road still exist. You can say I was pretty shaken. Welcome back to earth, haha, to the real world. The High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Did you know that Morocco has its own Ski Resort? In Oukaime...

While researching online for day trips from Marrakech, I came across Essaouira. And just a few weeks before the Morocco scheduled trip, KLM’s Flying Dutchman travel magazine which I receive by post regularly featured Marrakech and Essaouira as their cover story. The article was peppered with beautiful pictures and an exciting reportage. I was sold out. I have to be there. Essaouira is located in the west of Morocco along the Atlantic coast approximately 150 kilometres from Marrakech (3-4 hour’s drive). The city is ancient but it was only during the 18th century when the city was rebuilt and it is what it is now. The slaves of the king helped build this sea-side city, however, these are not your so-called slaves of Africa descent. These slaves are from European descent with educational degrees—architects and engineers imprisoned by the king. Perhaps this explains why Essaouira looked more European—Greek than Arabic or Moroccan? The medina (old city in Arabic) formerly known as ‘M...

Here in the picture you can see women conservatively dressed in niqabs. I did not take this shot to take pictures of the women. I took this shot to take a picture of the name of the main street (Avenue Prince Moulay Rachid) that leads to Djemma el Fna (spelled as Jemma el Fna as well). Black is very popular in Marrakech but we saw many women, especially the younger ones who are sporting bright colours. We have also seen many women wearing the high secured burkas and the semi-burkas called niqab. Unlike a burka (or burqa) wherein the woman is totally covered like a walking tent, the niqab have a slit opening for the eyes. One time while getting ready for our Ourika Valley excursion, Blondine decided that she will wear shorts. I told her it is not a good idea. Anyway, she insisted thinking it will be alright but by the time we emerged out of the alleyways into the main streets of the medina, we were followed by harsh stares... then catcalls... then more harsh stares. We squirreled back t...

There are not many people, even in the Netherlands, who knew that Beemster is a UNESCO World Heritage. Most would identify Beemster with the cheese manufacturer or brand as seen regularly advertised on Dutch TV. My search for cheese farms in the Netherlands led me to read about Beemster and its remarkable history. “De Beemster” is actually a river in the North Holland province, about half an hour drive from Amsterdam to the north, if without traffic which is impossible. In the course of time, this river became a huge inland sea. Because of its close proximity to the bigger sea (the Zuiderzee that does not anymore exist today) local government officials in the area had to make radical decisions to save their little towns. Polder-ization was introduced (not really sure if this term exists, lol, but Polder does). Driving to the direction of Graft De Rijp we saw this field of red and yellow flowers in the Beemster polder. Imagine, this used to be a sea. Another flower field...

Here is a photo blog of the local cuisine we sighted in Marrakesh: When you say Moroccan food it right away translates to Tajine. This one is a Chicken Tajine in prunes and onions with a sliced of boiled egg on top and the other one is a Vegetarian Tajine (mine). Tajine dishes (those that do not have couscous in it) are eaten with Moroccan bread, and traditionally by hand. The best tajine we had was the one prepared at our riad. It cost 100 Dirhams which is twice the price of the commercialized tajines on Djemma el Fna that go at 45 to 60 Dirham tajines. But it was worth every Dirham though. Tajines cooked the traditional way. We are having Moroccan mint tea here on a terrace on the top floor of a building. They love their tea with LOTS of sugar. A local street snack - deep fried fish and I think they are sardines. I was not adventurous enough to try them. Well, I had just eaten. Moroccan sweets: nougat and glazed nuts and honey. Moroccan sweets predominantly uses a lot of honey, dried...

So after our hearty traditional Moroccan lunch , we are back inside the mini van for the next plan on the agenda. The driver told us we will be going to the Setti Fatma (Sti Fadma) waterfalls which are actually the highlight of this trip. We are excited! The beauty of no expectations Initially, we all thought we will just have a look at the falls from the foothills, but no, the tour guide that was hired on the spot by the driver (which later costs us 25DH each) told us he is bringing all of us up to the waterfalls! Whaaaat? The rudimentary wooden foot bridge in Ourika River, Ourika Valley. This was just at the start of the trek. YES, WHAAAT? We looked at each other and laughed. I, obviously with my feminine flowing dress and ballet tiger flats, totally out dressed everyone in this event while the Australian girls were wearing flip flops – dangerous on the rocks as you easily slip, and Blondine, the English woman and the Spanish woman also did not have comfortable shoes on...