After a month in Portugal, we were really excited to go to Morocco after discovering the majesty of Islamic architecture in the South of Spain!
We spent just a few days in Marrakech.
We had heard that Marrakech can be overwhelming and some travellers hate it there, but we honestly had a great time. It didn’t feel any more overwhelming or chaotic than busy cities or wet markets in Asia, and we like to think we’ve gotten pretty practiced at ignoring persistent salespeople.
We navigated the medina (old walled city) in the daytime to familiarise ourselves with our location and the main roads, and after that it was easy! We stayed in a beautiful riad in the perfect spot – easy to find and close to a main medina road, but tucked away in an alley.
We did two tours of Marrakech in one day: a walking tour to see the “hidden gems” of Marrakech, as well as a food tour!
The first of many, many, many refreshing mint teas in Morocco.
Our first walking tour explored the historic Jewish neighborhood, which has obviously seen a vast departure of its historically Jewish residents since the founding of Israel. Here is WW unintentionally matching the synagogue!
We also saw a communal bread oven – an institution that totally makes sense in a hot country where you obviously don’t want an oven in your house!
Beauty and detail, everywhere you look!
We enjoyed lots of ms’men, a layered flaky flatbread not unlike scallion pancake or paratha. This version was a “pizza” ms’men, which was delicious!
The tour guide on our food tour was a lovely woman who clearly had personal relationships with all her tour spots. This one restaurant in particular surprised her with a birthday cake and present while we were there (and also served some of the best food we had while in Morocco!).
Then we set off towards the desert for a few days!
We had originally wanted to do a guided tour to the desert, but were feeling deterred by the 7-hour drives that those tours feature. So we decided to drive ourselves to some of the spots we would have seen on a desert tour, but not all the way out to the desert!
We drove to Ait Ben Haddou to see the beautifully preserved old town and watched a sunset bathe the city in gold. Then we drove on to Dades Gorge to see (and drive!) the famous switchback pass, and the incredible Monkey Finger rock formations.
Then, we turned back and drove back west towards Essaouira, stopping by in Ourika on a farm sanctuary to break up our drive.
On our way to Ait Ben Haddou, we stopped by Telouet Kasbah, which has tragically been desolate since an earthquake last year. We saw some photos of the inside and it looks as detailed and beautiful as the Alhambra – we hope it gets restored someday!
Ait Ben Haddou was absolutely gorgeous, and staying in it overnight was a wonderful way to see it. During the daytime though, it absolutely just becomes a salmon run of tourists and souvenir shops. Oh well.
The hotel we stayed in in Ait Ben Haddou was purely candle-lit, which was ~such a vibe~.
The Monkey Fingers were stunning! During our travels we have constantly lamented the fact that neither of us are geologists because we keep seeing cool rocks and want to know what made those rocks so cool!
We drove up this famous switchback road in Dades Gorge, and then had lunch overlooking the pass!
A beautiful sunset in Ouarzazate.
Then we chilled for a few days in windy Essaouira.
Essaouira (eh-sah-weh-rah) is a chill seaside town on the Western coast – it has a smaller medina, a super chill vibe, and was the perfect place for us to chill for a few days after our road trip.
We also checked out Had Draa Sunday market, a weekly gathering for people all over the region to come together and trade in everything you can think of: livestock, fruit, haircuts, tailoring, fishing nets, electronics, smithing… It was an incredibly unique experience that we loved!
The haircutting row of tents was one of the highlights of our trip to Had Draa market.
Pretty much anything you could imagine for sale in this market was for sale.
WW bought this cool upcycled jacket in Essaouira.
Enjoying some pomegranate juice and the sea breeze.
A friend!
A beautiful, windy sunset!
And next, we headed to Manila. The cheapest way to do so was…
First, fly from Marrakech to Paris, and stay a night in an airport hotel (many cheap flights fly this route because of the many French tourists who go to Morocco).
Then the next day, fly to Xiamen (!!!) and spend a 12-hour layover in a free hotel provided by Xiamen Airlines. It was extremely surreal being in China using all our Chinese apps and internet again. Though we both have Chinese multi-entry visas, it was crazy to us that China, a notoriously bureaucratic and difficult to visit place, offers a 144-hour transit visa to people to enter China and just, hang out!
After some congee in the free hotel breakfast and a good long nap, we went back to the airport to fly to Manila!
We were in Manila for just a few days for a dance event! Our Japanese friend Hiroshi from Vancouver (who now has moved back to Tokyo) was going to Kaleidoscope Jam, a street dance event in Manila and we figured, why not! Let’s do it!
It was an awesome event – the vibes were off the charts, and the Filipino dance scene had awesome energy. Jonny made it to finals – you can watch all the footage here!
We stayed in Makati where the venue was, but because of the short time we felt like we didn’t really see Manila or the Philippines at all. We will have to come back!
It was really fun to be at an event with a friend and cheer each other on!
Jonny made it to finals!!
Reunited with our friend Hiroshi!
Then, we spent two luxurious weeks in Penang, Malaysia.
For the second half of December, we decided that it was time to slow down and chill. We were super excited to come back to Asia and spend some solid time in one place to rest and regroup before the new year. Our main criteria was that we wanted to spend time somewhere with incredible food that was not too expensive… we had wanted to go to Singapore, but then had heard that Malaysia has some of the best melting pot vibes and food and in Malaysia, Penang is known for its food.
So that is where we spent 2 weeks! We rented a condo a little bit further away from the hustle and bustle, discovered the wonder of hawker centers, and have of course been eating. it. up.
After 3 months in Europe…. We’re so back in Asia, baby.
Oh, hi!
WW posing in front of the “Lin” jetty bridge!
For more photos, check out this Google Photos album.
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