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Essouira is a picturesque white and blue painted coastal town with impressive city walls and a medina which is more easily navigable than any of the previous towns we've visited. Our hotel was on the beachfront, a short walk from the fishing port and medina. We said goodbye to Ali, our quietly skilful driver who, miraculously it seems, drove us all this way without a motoring incident. It was then time for an evening stroll to check out the historic sights, including the old slave markets, the coastal fortifications, and the Jewish quarter.
By dinner time, yet another Aussie had dropped to the condition known as "touriste". The rest of us took advantage of the availability of alcohol in this place and made our way through a few bottles of Moroccan wine over dinner. Being a coastal town, seafood is the specialty and features heavily on the menus. I tried the fried calamari which I enjoyed, while Dale laboriously made his way through a whole Sea Bream, grumbling at the effort of dissecting fish from bones.
Feeling merrier than I have in a while, I collapsed into bed luxuriating in the knowledge that the following day was our first 'free' day where we could set our own agenda. First order of business was a sleep in - getting up in time just to catch the end of the breakfast sitting. Next up was a wander through the medina, taking in the variety and colours of the products on offer and admiring the art displayed at many of the shops - paintings of iconic Moroccan scenes and quirky sculptures made from recycled products. I found a shoe store selling handmade slip on leather shoes in a range of colours and styles. A half hearted attempt at bargaining knocked $1.50 off the asking price and a pair of deep blue coloured shoes were mine for a grand total of $21NZ.
After losing a couple of hours to our aimless meander we returned to the more touristy waterfront area in search of lunch. We found a staircase leading to a rooftop terrace cafe with views over the seafront walkway. Craving something that wasn't tagine, I ordered goats cheese on toasted baguette - amazing! Intrigued by the sound of calamari with pineapple, Dale ended up with a plate of chewy squid covered in a cream sauce with cooked chunks of pineapple scattered through it - less than amazing. Dessert of crepes with orange syrup made up for Dale's disappointing main.
In the afternoon we had a walk along the beach - harassed the whole way by beggars, men renting out deck chairs and sun umbrellas, and more cannabis dealers offering 'happy cake'. In the end we resorted to lying by the hotel pool.
I booked myself into the hotel Hamman for a more relaxing cultural experience. The woman at the Hamman spoke no English. I spoke no French. After a lot of smiling and hand gestures I worked out that she wanted me to undress to my bikini bottoms and go through to the steam room. I lay on a deck chair in the heat until the woman returned in her swimsuit to pour warm water over me and rub oil into my skin. She left me for another five minutes before coming back to rinse off the oil and use a loofah to rub my body so firmly that a layer of black looking dead skin was removed. Another rinse followed and then she rubbed gritty black soap all over me and left again. When she returned another bucket of water was doused on me to wash off the black soap and after some more gesturing I understood that she wanted me to sit up so she could wash my hair. She used a rose scented shampoo to lather my hair with before pouring yet more water over me to rinse it off. I was given a towel to dry off with and led to the massage room, where I was massaged from top to toe and left feeling like my skin was glowing with good health.
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