My Return To Casablanca

 

“Looking at the world
Through the sunset in your eyes
Trying to make the train
Through clear Moroccan skies”
– Crosby, Stills and Nash

As I was entering the outskirts of Casablanca on the way to the start of the Morocco: Kingdom of the West Cycling Tour, all I could think of was Humphrey Bogart at the end of the 1942 classic film Casablanca, saying “Play it again, Sam.” Another TDA adventure was about to begin. I had been to Casablanca once before for the start of the 2018 West Africa on Vélo Cycling Expedition so it was strange that “Play it again Sam” had suddenly emerged in my head. Except, of course, that Humphrey Bogart never uttered those words, but rather simply said “Play it, Sam.” If you haven’t seen the movie, I suggest you do.

And play we do. Well, perhaps play isn’t exactly what we came here to do but if you are one of our alumni, of which there are many on this tour, one could loosely say that on our tours we ‘play’ to the fullest of our capabilities. In any case, eleven days later, myself, the staff and participants of the expedition are enjoying our first rest day in a picturesque town in the Rif Mountains called Chefchaouen (pronounced shef-sha-wen).

Let me say that Chefchaouen is not just another picturesque town in the mountains. In fact, if you open the Rough Guide travel guide, right at the beginning under ‘25 things not to miss in Morocco’, Chefchaouen is number 1. And for a good reason. This little town has painted many of its houses and streets indigo blue giving the place a special feel and warmth. According to the Rough Guide it has the prettiest Medina in Morocco. Add to that the relaxed attitude of locals, wonderful cafes and restaurants, not to mention the amazing variety of seductive freshly baked sweets and deserts.

What else could you ask for, especially after five days of some serious cycling with head winds and plenty of elevation gains to make it here. By the way, Chefchaouen has an interesting history including an explanation as to why the town paints its houses blue, though nobody really knows the exact reason. One interpretation is that the Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492 made it here and in order to contrast their houses to the traditional Islamic green houses, they added indigo to their whitewashed houses. Another explanation mentions that to Jews, the colour blue is the colour of sky and divinity and reminds them of the presence of divinity. Yet another one claims that the colour blue repels mosquitos and thus makes it a practical reason to do so. Whatever the reason, many decades later there are no more Jews living in the city and there are other ways of repelling mosquitos but painting houses indigo blue stuck and the colourful scene now attracts thousands of visitors from around the world, providing a livelihood to many locals.

I started this blog with how a line popped up in my mind when we entered the outskirts of Casablanca, and now that we have turned from inland from the Mediterranean and are heading south to another popular city for visitors, another cultural line has popped up into my head. It goes like this, “Would you know we’re riding, On the Marrakesh Express, Would you know we’re riding, On the Marrakesh Express, They’re taking me to Marrakesh, All on board the train, all on board the train.” Well, we are not exactly on a train, but we are heading over the mountains to Marrakesh, one pedal stroke at the time.

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Morocco: Kingdom of the West

Join us on this mystical cycling odyssey through Morocco – The Kingdom of the West. It is a country of mountains and beaches, souks and mosques...