The famous city of “Astapor” where the unsullied were freed in Game of Thrones
Yesterday, I traveled to the quiant city of Essaouria famous for its decidant seafood, gorgeous beaches, and most importantly the fact that it was back drop to a few Game of Thrones scences. Everyone remember in season 3 when Daenery’s got her first army of the unsullied? Yeah well that scene was filmed right in the heart of Essaouria. The walk of punishment took place here as well. Although, I must admit it was hard to picture the scenes without all of the actors, props, etc. To me it just looked like a regular old street, but if you want to read more about it click HERE.
Essaouria is located on the west coast of Morocco about three hours north of Agadir. Our bus left at 8am so that we would have all day to explore the city. However, on the way we stopped at an Argan Oil factory. For those of you who do not know what Argan Oil is, its what Moroccans call the famous Moroccan Oil that you see in hair salons. The Argan plant is indigenious to Morocco and used to produce oil which can be used in many ways such as soap, lotions, in cooking, and most famously for hair products. Here in Morocco it is is very cheap to buy at places such as the Souk, but in America to get the real stuff can cost you a pretty penny. The factory that I visted was a women run cooperative which hires older, widowed women, to deshell the argan seed and pressed it into oils. It was really a cool processes to watch, and the factory smelled heavenly. However, there is also a more natural way to attain this covetted oil which you can read about HERE.
Once in Essaouria we really did not do much except walk around the city and grab some food. However, there was so much to do in the city, so many little shops, beaches, and restuarantes to explore that I decided I had to go back. Tomorrow morning at 9am I plan to catch a bus ride back to Essaouria and spend the weekend there. It is a much more touristy area than Agadir which means that there are many more hostels and inexpensive accondation. For example, I booked a hostel with a 9.1 rating our of 10 for only $3.52 a night. Crazy, right?
Mert (from Turley), Myself, and Devon all enjoying a traditional Moroccan Iftaar.
Overall life in Morocco has been good. I am loving the people, the culture, and most of all the food, but working in such a large group has been challenging. Walking around in a mob of 38 people who all have their cameras poised and ready can be both comical and embaressing at the same time. I am grateful to have been giving this oppurtunity, but it can be rather difficult at times – espeically with regards to making plans and decsion making. That being said I have defintly learned a lot of valuable life lessons on how to work well in a group setting. I am very much looking forward to a weekend away from it all and Essaouria seems like the perfect place to unwind.
The weather here has been good and I have been running in the mornings now. Over a month without proper excerise had me losing my sanity a bit. Today is a “work day” for our This is My Morocco blog there for make sure you check it out later to see the new posts. I also plan on walking over to the Souk one last time and doing some “laundry” (aka rinsing a few things in a bucket) before packing up all my stuff. I am sad to be leaving Agadir, but I also feel that it is time. I have experienced all that I desire too in this city and am ready to move on.
Also, on a side note, I hope you guys like the better quality pictures. I felt as though my previous posts have been lakcing so I really made an effort to step up my photography game and post some higher quality, edited, pictures. Enjoy!
Postcards from Hannah 