The hallway outside our room (stairs going up the the roof) -
The front door -
The whole time we were in Marrakech, we were the only guests (Michelle and Simon were at another riad across the medina - the old town - due to our delay in booking). Bizarrely (in a good way) we were not given a key either - when we came back we rang the doorbell and Abdel opened the door for us. Even our bedroom door was unlocked, so it was more like staying in someone's home than a hotel.
The street from outside our riad towards the market -
In the evening, we walked towards the market to meet Michelle and Simon. Our 'map' featured about 40% of the actual streets of the medina and Abdel simply pointed right and said it would take us about 20 minutes to get to the main square, Djamaa El Fna. An hour later, after wandering down countless streets through the market (souk), we finally found the square.
The ubiquitous orange juice carts -
and dried fruit and nut carts -
The snail cart (seemingly showing the influence of the French from when they held protectorate status over Morocco from 1912-1956) -
After our first tagine in a cafe by the square, we headed back to the riad...in the completely wrong direction. After walking for about 30 minutes we finally realised that had no idea where we were going, or even where we were on the map. There were no street names and we could have been anywhere in the souk - all the stalls looked just like the ones we had passed on the way in. Eventually we asked someone in a shop who called over someone else and then discussed our situation at length, before finally pointing out we were no where near where we wanted to go and they really had no idea how we should get there. Finally we were approached by some kids who looked at our map and immediately headed off, telling us to follow them. Soon they were joined by various other people who led us back to the riad. This, we later realised, was a common occurance in Morocco - kids (and some adults) wait by taxi stands and around the main square, waiting for lost tourists and asking 'square?', 'riad?' knowing that you probably want to go to one or the other, and knowing that you will probably get lost. In the confusion, we failed to negotiate up front - not that we would have had any idea what this service was valued at. We ended up paying 40 dirhams (just under 2.50 pounds) - we think that was reasonable however negotiations contintued - fortunately we were in front of our riad and Abdel came and ushered us inside.
After our eventful evening, we slept late and (after a lovely breakfast in the courtyard of our riad) met Michelle and Simon in the square again, determined to remember the way in so we could get out again! Nick getting an orange juice from one of the carts -
We headed out of the medina and into the new part of town by horse carriage and then wandered around the shops before heading back to the medina, again by horse carriage, and going to the Kasbah section. The driver dropped us off at a huge store selling all kinds of rugs, pottery, woodwork and leather goods - all the same items sold in the souk, but with hefty price tags.
We walked back towards the main square and Nick and I headed back to our riad - almost finding it with a direct route! Later we caught a taxi to one of the casinos outside the medina for dinner at a place recommended by some girls Michelle & Simon met on the plane. It was also one of the few places that served alcohol (banned inside the medina).
On Saturday we met Michelle and Simon around midday and decided to quickly head back to one of the shops we had been to yesterday outside the medina. While the souk was fascinating, the negotiating and noise was exhausting and the owner of the shop had all the things we wanted and had promised us a great deal - all with the freedom to browse at leisure. I wanted a couple of bowls and large platters and ended up with 8 - all for the bargain price of 500 dirhams or about 30 pounds. (Of course, we then had to carry them home...fortunately they all arrvied safely!)
After shopping, we headed back to our riad to drop off our purchases and show Michelle and Simon around. We then walked back to the other side of the medina to Michelle and Simon's riad to have massages, hammam and gommage. The hammam was similar to a steam room/sauna, but less steamy, and the gommage was a full-body exfoliation where they soaped you with a strange black molasses-like soap, then scrubbed you (hard!) with a scratchy glove. All very good!
Later we went for dinner in the main square. Once night falls, the market fills with about a hundred different food stalls, all cooking and serving food. The stall where we ate (which was highly recommended) -
And the stall next door where they were serving a local favourite - sheep's head -
We said goodbye to Michelle and Simon after dinner - they were flying back to London early on Sunday - and headed back to the riad.
The next day we wandered around the souk making some last minute purchases and checking out some of the crazy things in the square, like the tooth man -
I can't/don't want to imagine who is buying the teeth, but I'm sure he makes plenty from charging tourists to take this photo.
The snake charmers -
It looks like he is telling me to go away, but he is actually trying to convince me to come and sit next to him so I could be in the photo too. Ummm, no thanks.
Rugs hanging along the top of the second storey of the rug store in the square -
The herbalist's store -
Main street, Marrakech -
One of the interesting things about walking from our riad to the square was seeing how the souk changed - near our riad, it was just the local shops - meat, vegetables, homewares etc. Then as you got closer to the main square, things started to get more touristy. Everywhere was chaotic - bikes, motorcyles, donkeys, people, cars, horses and carriages. I'm pretty sure our drive from the riad to the casino was the scariest I've ever taken - major intersections with absolutely no lanes or lights! Crazy.
After lunch in the square, we made our way back to the riad through the souk for the last time and then to the airport and back to London.
