Had Dra حد الدرا
Stopped here at a old-fashioned traditional Berber market town to have lunch and to ramble around an authentic Moroccan market. It’s completely different to the markets in Marrakech and any of the other tourist places. This is completely non-tourist and extremely basic.
The market itself was unpaved and lots of stalls with sheep and goat heads and entrails and Zeus knows what. All the transport was horse and cart and donkeys who looked like they had PTSD. There was hardly any mechanised transport. It felt very authentic .
We went into a restaurant to have a meal. The word restaurant is a bit of a misnomer. It was basically a open air hole in the wall with some rickety tables on an uneven trampled earthen floor and some homemade benches. In the front, there was a homemade barbecue and we ordered a mixed barbecue and about 15 minutes later they put two huge plates of meat on the table and a tray with a battered teapot and some glasses for mint tea. There was also a basket of round loaves of delicious bread.
(Please click on any thumbnail above to enlarge the whole gallery for full sliding photos)
We called one plate the salmonella plate and the other one was the ecoli plate. The tablecloth was a study in botulism. We wondered if we were going to get a dose of the Tangier trots. Earlier on, in the truck, we has a conversation, of sorts, about the 7 types of poop on the Bristol Stool Form Scale. We wanted to stay as far away from the bottom one as far as possible. That would he a bummer.
Although there was no sign a day later of illness yet, there’s an awareness the my Irish O’Flora and MacFauna were having a spirited conversation with the local Al-Flora and Fauna. I suppose it’s inevitable that at some point I’ll get ill, especially when we get right into West Africa with very basic hygiene. I’ve brought meds to cover all eventualities.
It felt like an extremely authentic Berber experience and there was no hassle to buy anything. 130 dirahms for the whole shebang for 5 of us. I’m pretty sure a local would have paid a fraction of this price but that’s the way it is and I’ve no problem with that.
When we were having our meal and some local musicians came and played for us. They had flutes, bodhran type drums, a violin/guitar type instrument with 4 strings and a long neck. The music was intense and arousing. The guys performing were really into it.
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