Morocco

I've just put together a Morocco 2013 planner complete with photos and discoveries I made about Morocco when I was there last year. I would say Morocco was one of the most interesting places I visited on my trip last October.

I visited four areas of Morocco on the map below.  I flew into Casablanca (but we didn't linger there), took the train up to Rabat and explored there for a couple of days.  Then our amazing guides and great friends Jeffrey & Liang drove us to Meknes and Volubilis, and from there we trained to Fes before flying to Spain.

Following are just a fraction of photos you will see in the 2013 planner...

Firstly - the Chellah...

The Tour Hassan...

The Kasbah....

The Olives in the Market at Meknes...

The ancient ruins at Volubulis, near Meknes...

The Bronze doors of the Palace at Fes, which shine like gold...

And the men working at the tanneries...

If you are interested in having a better look at the Morocco 2013 Planner complete with photos and informative text, then, head to Blurb where you can preview the complete book, by clicking on the text below..

Morocco 2013 Planner

Adding Textures to your Images

I've been having fun the last few weeks playing around with some of my images, adding textures to them in photoshop.  I've known about this technique for quite a while, but noticed that it's becoming more popular on photography sites such as Redbubble so decided to dabble. 

First thing I did was google for free textures.  I won't do this very often, I would much rather go around and photograph my own textures, however, with my foot still in my moon boot and too much time on my hands, it was easier this way for now.  I chose Anna Lenabem textures - I downloaded about 10 from her site in Flickr.  

I then took a photo I love, that I took in Morocco, however I had plans to do an HDR on it as it lacked a bit of what I call 'oomph'.  Instead I opened up the image in photoshop.  Then I opened up a Texture image, making sure it was exactly the same size in pixels as my original image.  In my case it is 5184 px by 3456 px, but you can check this by going to the Menu, then clicking Image Size from the drop down menu on your original image.

Make sure your image and texture are floating in the window, not tabulated up on the menu bar.  This makes for much easier moving around.

Then select the Texture and using the move tool (top arrow), move the textured image onto the original image.  Line it all up properly so you can't see the original image at all.  

Then in Layers, where it has 'normal', select the drop down menu and choose either Soft Light or Overlay.  You can use the Opacity slider until you get what you like.  Flatten the image and save.  That's the basic instructions, but of course you can do much more if you want to.  Experiment and have fun

The following images are of my experimentation of the Kasbah in Morocco.  Firstly - the Original image.  The bird is really there - I didn't notice it until I had it up on the computer - it was flying straight for me!

Overlaying and blended with  Texture from Anna Lenabem

The same again overlayed and blended with another texture from Anna Lenabem 

Another texture from Anna Lenabem

And my favourite texture from Anna Lenabem, which I have used twice so far in this one...

In all textures I've used, I have had to use the Hue/Saturation tool to bring down the yellow tones as they were a bit much.  Still I'm very very pleased with the result so far and am having loads of fun.  The favourite texture I also used on my New York City image.   This image was taken in 2006 on my first visit to NYC.  I was in a friends sports car and it was taken from out of her windscreen - a grab shot.  But there's no way I could get it by standing in the middle of the road!!  The first image is the original put through the HDR process to bring out the detail and colour.

The following image is the same one but with the perspective straightened and my favourite texture overlaid.  I really like the result.

I understand using textures is not for everyone.  There are many 'purists' out there who just want to see an image that is straight from the camera, but I like to think that using textures is being more creative.  Not all textures work either so experimentation is definitely the key to success.

I look forward to seeing yours - please link me if you do upload them anywhere.  Oh and leave me a comment to tell me which one you like and why.

Lastly, if you do use someone elses texture to make sure you credit them for their part of the job!

Morocco - Fez - Day 5

Our guide picked us up from our Riad in person at 8.00am - we didn't even get the breakfast from our Riad as we were out too early!  We popped our head in the door of the Mosque that was next to our Riad.  Apparently this is where the people come if they are ailing or sick to ask to get better...

Walked aroumd the Medina - this shop was selling bridles for horses and donkeys...

This is a cart full of cactus flower.  We got to try one, they are sweet - a little melon like....

In the Medina - the alleyways here are narrower than the ones in Rabat and Meknes...

This is a painted wall, something to do with the elections....

An ancient building, founded by a weatlhy woman, in the medina.

We then visited the Co-op where they sell all the carpets.  When they found out we were from New Zealand, they showed us Dave Dobbyn's file...

Here is Anne with our Guide.  He consequently offered me 1 million camels for Anne.  I seriously considered it, seeing each camel is worth about 2000 euros :)  I just didn't have anywhere to put the camels so had to decline!!!

These are the three silk carpets we loved....

Three girls actually weaving the carpets!  Notice they have plastic wrapped around their wrists - due to blisters and callouses.  They apparently work no more than 3-4 hours per day as it's hard on their hands, back and eyes.  They were lovely - I was able to communicate with them a little, and they did up a little woolen friendship bracelet, which I'm still wearing 10 days later....

We were then taken to the Tannery.  We were given some mint to smell as we arrived to help take away the terrible pong.  The whole tannery is in view here - the white pits are where the leather is soaked in pigeon poop and limestone (the reason for the smell), and the darker ones are where the skins are dyed.  This week is Brown and Red, and last week it was yellow....

Yellow skins drying in the sun from last week...

Inside there were lots of shops - selling bags, leather jackets, and more bags.  There was a bit of choice too which made it hard.  I bought a leather handbag for Mum, and Anne managed to get a great bargain on a very high quality leather jacket, getting it for 100 euros down from 420 euros.  I should shop with Anne more often!

After the Tannery we were taken to our guides Grandma's for lunch in her berber home.  Beautiful chicken Tajine and fresh Pomengranate afterwards.  Gorgeous home - with beautiful furnishings and tiled walls, very typically moroccan.  Anne and Grandma who is about 73.

We were then taken to this amazing Hammam where we were covered in olive oil soap, then scrubbed until we were red, sauna'd, cold spa, then a hot shower.  The baths were amazingly beautiful with marble finishes, which made it slippery on the tables!  Incredibly clean too.  We met some Moroccan women also at the Hammam and they told us they come once a month or so.  The lady we met was 47, but looked 30.  She asked Anne if she was the same age!   Anne looks pretty good for 47 don't you think - she's holding up well!  

Morocco - Meknes to Fez - Day 4

After a so-so nights sleep - I didn't find the bed all that comfortable, nor was it very big!  It was hard and it dug into all my bruises I have collected on my travels.  We popped upstairs for our breakfast which was included - hot mint tea and french pastries.  Chocolat du Pain.  Yum.  Jeffrey then came and got us and we set off for a wander in the Medina, with Liang showing us some amazing artists.  

This man is hammering in silver thread into various creations.  Very focussed and dedicated, and the items he makes are beautiful....

Here they are making the shape.....

And this is what it looks like once the silver thread is hammered into it.  Beautiful artwork.  See the plates on the wall - I bought one of them.  I wish I now had bought two as they would look good as a pair.  I guess I will have to return!!!

Wandering around in the medina - carpets for sale...

As we were leaving Meknes, Anne and I came across this chewing gum in a vendors cart.  We asked to buy it, but it was his own so we couldn't.  We took a photo as proof though.   Anyone want to chew on this!!!

Jeffrey and Liang dropped us off at the train station and I was sad to leave them.  So much fun and what an amazing country they are living in.

Anne and I then caught the train to Fez.  We happpened to start talking to somone on the train who mentioned that his nephew guides visitors around Fez, doesn't do it for money as they come from a wealthy family, but do it because they love their city.  They said 200 dirham for the two of us would be fine for 2 days (about 20 euros).  So we decided to take them up on it.

We stayed in a Riad in the heart of the Medina and it takes about 25 minutes to get there.  Someone from the Riad met us at the train station, then walked us to our Riad.  We were given a map, checked in, dropped our luggage, put a load of washing on and hung it out, and then we were off again with our new tour guide.  First he took us up out of the Medina high on the hill to see the old city of Fez...

Approx 450,000 people still live in this walled city, pretty much as they have done so for many generations.  The medina is narrow and some parts are steep.  No cars - only donkeys, horses and the odd motorbike.  You can see where are are staying in the above photo - look to the green dome and tower (the first one you come to from the bottom of the photo)  If you enlarge that part of it, you can see our riad - from the washing on the line just above it!!  So yes - we were in the heart of the medina.

On top of the hill was an old Roman ruin - but I am not sure of the history of it.  The sky was pretty blue though!

Our guide then took us to his mothers for tea and cookies, for an experience in a real Berber family home.  They lived in the New City in a lovely apartment.  We were served Mint Tea and beautiful food and got to watch a bit of a Bollywood movie on Television.  It was then arranged that Anne would go out and see the nightlife, but I would probably stay in as I was getting tired.  The driver then drove us back towards the Medina where we were staying first stopping at the palace so we could take photos...

Then took us up to the South Side of the city for a different view, again from a building I know nothing about - I'll have to do a bit more research...

We walked back to our Riad stopping at a restaurant for a bite to eat where we had a Vegetabe dish and  a Pastille - which was a bun filled with spiced chicken.  It was gorgeous.  We had to climb four flights of berber stairs to get to the rooftop where we ate, and once again, we could see our Riad from the rooftop.  I've decided to live in Fez, you need to be extremely fit, not only for all the steep alleyways, but also for the staircases you have to climb!

Once we were in the Riad, we were too tired to do anything else, so we stayed in and had an early night!

Morocco - Rabat to Meknes - Day 3

Jeffrey and Liang with their gorgeous cat outside their home in Rabat, Morocco.  I'm not sure what Liang is doing to the cat, but he doesn't seem to mind!  We are just about to head off out of Rabat to Meknes.

 On arrival at Meknes we visited the Tomb of Moulay Ismail.  Moulay Ismail or Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif was the second ruler of the Alaouite dynasty.  He claimed to be a descendant of Muhammad and therefore earns the title 'Moulay'.  He ruled from 1672 to 1727 and was only 26 when he came to the throne of a country weakened by internal tribal wars and royal successions.  He established Meknes as his capital and it became known as the 'Versailles of Morocco'.  During his reign the capital moved to Fes.

Non Muslims have no access to the tomb itself but it can be seen through a Moorish doorway.  The anteroom is decorated with examples of Moroccan design - zellij tiling, enamel painted wood, elaborately carved plaster, graceful arches and marble columns....

We then visited the Granaries, also built by Ismail Moulay.  The granary was built on a reservoir that were designed to be able to store grain to feed the 12,000 horses he owned.  No mean feat, but it was big enough to not only feed them, but feed them for 20 years, which gives you an idea of just how big the storage tunnels are.  To store this amount of grain, the temperatures needed to be even, so the walls were very thick, and a suspended forest was grown on the roof.  Water from the reservoir below was forced through ducts in the floor to maintain a low temperature and to keep the grain from rotting.   

These are the stables where the Sultan kept his 12,000 horses.  The Sultan had great respect for horses, even more than he did for his human counterparts.  His horses were apparently waited on hand and foot with a groom and slave for each horse to ensure that all their needs were met.  The stables were kept in immaculate condition.

Today the stables are in ruin, and due to an earthquake during the 18th Century, the roof of the stables no longer provides protection.  There is a canal that ran fresh water through the stables constantly, so the horses never lacked clean water.

After the visit to the stables and the granary - we checked into our Riad.  This is where we were welcomed with hot mint tea and some yummy cookies.  This is Anne in the lounge...

 We were upgraded to the royal suite because of a lack of power in the room we had booked.  We had a very nice room on the first floor up the berber elevator! (lots of spiral steps)

 Looking down into the reception area from the hallway just outside our door....

 Jeffrey and Liang then went and booked into a more upmarket Riad just round the corner from us.  It was incredibly beautiful.  Anne and I went to visit...

 Their palatial lounge...

 We then went out walking to the Meknes Market...

 Lots of sweet cookies...

 A Chameleon for sale...

 Spices...

 Olives and olives and olives...

 The meat market - that's a stomach hanging there on the right...

 The vendor stacking up his olives to a nice display...

 We then went to the Musee Dar Jamai.   Before housing the Meknès collections, the Dar Jamai had a number of different uses. Built in 1882 to be the residence of the illustrious Jamai family, which included two of Moulay el-Hassan's ministers (1873-1894), it was used as a military hospital after 1912, only becoming the Museum of Moroccan Art in 1920. 


There was a sign 'No Photos', but the security guard went Shhhh!  He then lifted the barriers, encouraged Anne and I to lie down and took some photos.  We of course had to tip him.  We felt very special until Jeffrey explained he did it to his mother as well (as well as all the tourists that go through there!!!)

Moroccan shoes at a market stall in the Medina.

 Scenes of the Medina....

We had a bit of a rest in the afternoon, then we headed out to Volubilis, the site of an ancient roman city.  Got there at perfect time for the most wonderful light for photography...

On the way back to Meknes, we stopped at a little village called Moulay Idriss and wandered around the market.  I was allowed to go this far to take photos of the men being called to prayer at the local mosque.

We headed back to Meknes where we had a beautiful Moroccan dinner at Jeffrey and Liangs Riad.  Really enjoying such good company, and having both fun and interesting times in Morocco.