Lixus

I’ve been in the northern town of Larache for a couple of days now. The kind folks at my hotel tried to dump a bunch of English-language books on me, saying they didn’t remember the last time they had an English-speaking guest (among tourists, mainly Spanish and some French). Alas, my bag is heavy, and I still have another week in Rabat to go before I return to Assoul, so I only took one, swapping it for a novel I just completed. Besides, now that I only have 3 months left in Morocco, I really need to do my best to stifle my book hoarding tendencies… Time is short, and if I start feeling obliged to read everything I still have on-hand (which doesn’t appear to be possible at this point), I won’t get around to some other things I really need to be taking care of as well right now! And I know I am just impractical enough to want to try to carry home every unread book I have accumulated in this country, on top of all my other possessions (that said, I hardly own an article of clothing here that isn’t stained and/or in shreds, so it’s not like much of that will be coming back to the States with me!).

Still, a little reading material (and a stack of DVDs) certainly doesn’t hurt here in Larache. I realized after planning my vacation, but too late to want to bother with changing my itinerary with the Peace Corps Morocco powers that be, that there isn’t really all that much going on here. Even the “real beach” is 14k out of town (I have no desire to go play with Moroccan boys on the rocks here in town), and after having a pretty good dose of that earlier this month both in Asilah and Essaouira, I just can’t seem to motivate for that haul. Besides, I have yet to find a beach in the world that I enjoy so much as my Outer Banks back in North Carolina! It’s never the same here.

I did, however, walk (I am tired of public transportation, and miss all the walking I do back in Assoul!) north to the Roman ruins of Lixus – the main curiosity that led me to put Larache on my itinerary at all. These were very run-down, yet fascinating in their contrast to Volubilis, outside of Meknes. Guided by the groundskeeper, I walked through some parts directly beside the busy Tangier highway, before heading to the top of a windy hill overlooking the Loukkos Estuary. We ran across three Moroccan tourists picnicking at the top, but the place was basically silent, which I loved! I could have guessed the spot but would never have seen the only remaining mosaic had it not been for the caretaker, who carefully pushed away some rocks and dirt before pulling back a small piece of plastic to reveal a portion of tiles depicting the god Neptune. While part of me thinks it is a shame to see these pieces of history deteriorate, the postmodernist in me also appreciates the beauty in nature’s winning the battle with the relics of humanity. It certainly does not diminish the history itself.