kelaa m’gouna
Morocco:Marrakech:cyber ichbilia
decided to backtrack to for kelaa m’gouna a day or so of the rose festival, only because of the exhuberance of the old man at the hotel in ouarzazate. i arrived thursday eve, the first official day was friday but things were swinging early, i couldn’t find a single room since there are only two hotels in town, one a 1 star and one a 5, so i had to take a pretty shabby room with 3 beds in it, only for a night…and i’m glad i arrived thursday night because the opening ceremonies were amazing, nearly full moon, drumming folkmusic crews from Ouarzazate and Zagora, talented guys who dance cool too, wearing all white jelaba and silver knives, and berber women in the multi-colored tribal wear, got some great minidisc recordings, the drums and singing were intense. met up with khalid and friends i met at the todra gorge and we hung out at their apt. late into the night eating, drinking tea, and playing drums and banging on other things we could find in their large but furnitureless and barren apartment they rent for 25bucks a month, just to have a place to hang out in m’gouna. i left the next day after seeing the parade and more music and the crowning of the berber queen of the festival, seems the parade isn’t anything historical, the guys say it was started about 20 years ago just to celebrate the valley of roses and the produit de rose, that gives m’gouna a lot of tourism and other commerce…
now in marrakech which is way way more modern than i expected, much moreso than fez or meknes, had to shake off a guide instantly, pure scum this guy, complete with red cloth jacket, white sneakers and a secret wristband with little hash turds in it… djemna el fna, which is “where all the action is” is very cool, despite the controlled chaos feeling you get, just for the eats and music if nothing else…its on tarmac of all non traditional pavements which slightly surprises and disturbs me…more later…