We arrived Wednesday in the pouring rain in Marrakesh after an overnight flight from Buenos Aires and a 5-hour layover in Madrid. Getting through immigration was a slow and painful experience; but, we knew ahead of time did that Morocco is a culture of “whenever it gets done”. Given Marrakesh’s location at the crossroad of African and Midddle Eastern culture; it also provides great venues. Maarrakesh is home to numerous Palaces, ancient tombs, beautiful gardens and beautiful mosques.
On this very chilly day (Thursday), we decided to take a walking tour (with 15 other international travelers) of Marrakesh’s Medina district in order to gain some insight into this intriguing and mystical city. The largest, open square in the Medina is Jemaa el Fna – “the assembly place of the dead”. It is clearly not that – it is buzzing day and night. This massive square can be daunting with worrying about food safety, the snake charmers, monkeys and their handlers, henna ladies and Gnaoua performers who all want to pose for a photo at a cost. It can all be just a little overwhelming.
The Medina district, which is a mishmash of souks (markets), tanneries, restaurants, riads (small hotels) and other small shops & manufacturers is truly an old world labyrinth whereby it is very easy to get incredibly lost in the alleys; however, the deeper you get, the more interesting it becomes. It is hard to describe the energy, color, contrast and culture of this market. The streets and alleys are crazier than most places with the exception of Hanoi. The narrow alleyways do not keep out the motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, donkey carts, hand carts and an occasional horse drawn carriage. Pictures are worth a thousand words! Lesley really wanted to put on her haggling hat in the numerous craft shops and carpet stores; however, she didn’t want to carry “souvenirs” for the next 4 months. . . . David was so disappointed!
Within the Medina, there are numerous museums, mosques, tombs and other landmarks. The Ben Yousseff Medresa was one of the largest religious schools in the Arab world until it closed in 1964. It’s labyrinth of small student sleeping rooms never ended. The 253 ft. high minaret of Koutoubia Mosque overlooking the Medina was key to us finding our way out of the Medina. You could eventually find an open square and see it in the distance.
Marrakesh has a kaleidoscope of traditional restaurants that serve up tasty-looking tangines and couscous. Most of our group took the half-day tour and left before lunch. We dined with and spent the rest of the day with a delightful Indian couple from Canada and their daughter and friend (who were both nurses). Our lunch was a tasty chicken tangine dish with all the accoutrements. It was quite good.
After 6 hours of walking around the streets and the souks, we were totally exhausted and headed back to the hotel for an early evening cocktail by Sofitel’s beautiful pools.
