Morocco Journal - Part 7: The Trip to Ifrane!

So, as some of my readers might know from my Twitter and/or Facebook, I attended a Moroccan wedding in Ifrane, Morocco this weekend (the best wedding I've ever attended!). Well, it wasn't exactly in Ifrane, but somewhere near it. But on our way to the wedding, we stopped by Ifrane, which is considered The Switzerland of Africa. It truly is, folks, it truly is! It has these lush green plants and trees all over, beautiful waterfalls, and when it snows there in winter, it's even more stunning. (I saw pics from the locals.) Read below for the details of our trip to Ifrane, and wait a short while (maybe a day?) to read about Moroccan weddings and the town.

Ifrane, Morocco (a Google image)

Some of you prolly know I love weddings and wedding ceremonies and just the atmosphere of weddings in general (feel free to read about how our weddings in Swat take place. Or used to many years ago, but still the same for a lot of families). So I was dying of excitement ever since the host family told us we'll be going to a wedding soon--and that we'd be going to Ifrane on our way to the wedding! Ifrane, as I mentioned, is known for its beauty, and I thought nothing would or could compare to Swat in its beauty so I was like, meh, whatevz. Can't be any more beautiful than Swat. Swat, again, as some of you might know, is considered the Switzerland of Asia and "the paradise on Earth." Clearly, any place that's beautiful, the world decides to call it Switzerland or Paradise, so there are many mini-Switzerlands and Paradises around the world, and Swat and Ifrane are among them.

Swat, Pakistan (a Google image)

Ifrane and Swat are both sources of water for their countries and known for their beautiful water rivers, streams, and lush greenness. I highly recommend googling "Ifrane, Morocco" and "Swat, Pakistan" to see some beautiful images of the places. If you go to Pakistan, your trip there is incomplete until your visit to Swat; similarly, a trip to Morocco is incomplete without a visit to Ifrane. Since Morocco is in Africa, a lot of people wrongly assume that it must be scorching hot in Morocco (because, duh, it's like that all over Africa, right? Wrong) and that there must be no water here and no greenness anywhere. Totally wrong.

So I hope I've convinced y'all to see Swat and Ifrane at least once in your lifetime.

On our way to the wedding. The following photos are mostly while we were in Ifrane. 

Just some building we saw while waiting for something. Not Ifrane yet.

Ifrane

People visit this particular spot for the waterfall.

Ahhhh the waterfall!!

Roommie on her horse inside the fall area

Roommie again

Isn't this cool!!!

The waterfall!

How the Horse-rides ended

Well, they ended horribly. Just horribly, folks. Our host family had made an agreement with the ... horse guides? (What are those people called who guide the horse you're riding?) Well, the agreement was that we'd each pay 50 dirhams ($1 = 8.53 Moroccan dirhams). The guides agreed.
BUT! The guides just took us all over, had us try all these different hills that our horses had to climb up and down. And, boy, did those horses climb up and down the hills, and my horse even fell into the water at one point. It was scary, but I survived.

So about an hour later, we give our 50 dirhams to our respective guides. My guide turned out to be un-cool with that amount while I think at least one of the others accepted it and moved on to another potential rider. And then another guide returned and was like "Oh no, uh-uh, I'm not okay with this price either then if my buddy isn't." Host family gave them more money ... then a little more ... but they kept returning for more, and they didn't leave us alone till we had to drive off and say "to hell with y'all." Roommie and I took pics of the confrontation between the guides and the host family, lawl.

Some verbal fighting took place.

They wouldn't leave our car alone either!

And More IfraneThe following were taken mostly near/around Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco.

Didn't get a good shot of the name, but ... it's legible nonetheless, eh.

 On top of the above bridge was a woman doing henna for really, really cheap (10-20 dirhams). So roommie, host sisters, and I got some.

Roommie getting her henna done.

Me & my henna! The artist being generous and making my hands prettier with some green glitters over the henna

Little Host sister N. with her little henna!

Host sister M. with her henna

Totally random but too cool! On our way to ... I'm tempted to say the place in Ifrane that serves as the source of water

There's a water truck there taking water from the place

Anyone can come here and drink and take the water.

I'll end with a video.

Okay, folks, that should be all for now.  But . . .

Coming up: the wedding experience, pictures of the village where the wedding took place (including a photo of the style of bathroom we had to use), and so on. So stay tuned!