Marrakech

March 2007

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To describe Marrakech in one word I would use "FRENETIC"! Between the people, the children, the cars, mopeds and bicycles, the donkey carts and horse pulled carriages, the orange juice sellers and dried fruit and nut sellers along with the snake charmers and henna tattooists in the main square, Djemaa el Fna, by day, the outdoor restaurants that transform the Djemaa el Fna Square by night, and, most of all, the stall owners and shopkeepers, it is all non stop!!!

We decided to spend a long weekend experiencing all of this madness which was really great fun. We stayed in a very nice hotel, Ryad Mogador Agdal, on the outskirts of Marrakech which we initially thought was a bad idea, it turned out to be a peaceful haven from the chaos of this North African market town.

We only arrived after midnight on our first night there so started the adventure with a late night haggle over taxis and costs thereof. That set the tone for the rest of the weekend where, apart from fixed hotel or restaurant prices, everything was open to negotiation.

The giant Marrakech souk is divided into many smaller specific types of souks. On our first morning, after a really good breakfast buffet at our hotel, we walked into the town centre which took about three quarters of an hour. We spent the day wandering around a variety of these souks including the spice markets, the olive and pickle market, the homewares market (mops to stepladders!), the wool and tassel market ("need any curtain pulls?"), the Berber carpet market, the dried fruit and nut market ("have a taste"), the general pottery, clothing, slippers and other things you expect to see markets ("come and have a look, looking is free"), and, most interesting of all, the apothecary herb-sellers souk. This was most fascinating and we were given the grand tour of one of the shops by Annie's new best friend Mohammad. It is quite amazing the knowledge these sellers have and also the resemblance some of these herbs, spices or oils have to everyday products that we use in the "modern Western world"! We ended the manic market with a coffee in the sanctuary of the museum courtyard where many a tourist arrived with a sigh of relief and a much needed rest from the "come and have a look" calls of the souk stall holders.

On our second day we started the day lazily lying at the pool in 27 degrees Celsius sunshine which, after our cool London weather, was wonderful.

Later on we got a lift into the town centre and went on another walking tour. This time we took a new route to try and find the oldest practising Synagogue in Marrakech which, after being taken on various other walks by impromptu tour guides and having another visit in a spice shop, we were taken to the Synagogue by someone professing to not want anything (apart from the tip afterwards), just to help us. From what we could understand of the resident caretaker, it is unlikely that the Synagogue practises too often but there are still approximately 20 Jewish families living in Marrakech and approximately 20 children attending the Jewish day school! Most of the Moroccan Jewish population have either emigrated or live in Casablanca. Later on, just to make sure we had not missed anything, we took another walk through some of the souks and even bought a few bowls as a gift for a friend (last of the great shoppers).

We could hardly visit Marrakech without sampling the Tagine and Couscous dishes that they are so well known for. As it turned out, apart from for breakfast, that was all we ate and without complaint. We tried Couscous with vegetables and with chicken and Tagine Berber style of lamb and vegetables and, our favourite, Tagine chicken with pickled lemon (YUMMMMM!!!).

On our last day, which was a Sunday, we did not have enough time to go into town but it turned out that we were close to the Sultans palace and the Jardin Aguedal orchard gardens which were open to the public to walk through on a Sunday afternoon. We rushed off to have a look at the orchard and, after a bit of a walk, noticed a building and people at the end of the road. When we got there we walked around the building and up the small hill and were treated to an amazing view. Behind us was the orchard of palm and fruit trees stretching out for what looked like miles and, in front of us was a huge pond / small dam filled with crazy carp jumping out the water to get the bread people were feeding them with. If it was not for the plane times we would have stayed watching this amazing spectacle for ages, it was hilarious!

And that was Marrakech. For the town alone, a long weekend is perfect. Any longer would have given us time for a few day trips to the mountains and beaches but for what we were after, this was perfect. Definitely worth a visit if you have not yet been.