Posted by Emily
While Casablanca was nothing like I had imagined Morocco to be, Marrakech is everything that I could have imagined. Seems that the stereotypes and sonewhat true after all! We took the train here from Marrakesh this morning (about 3.5 hours) and arrived around 1 pm and made our way to our hotel, whiwh involved wandering around for a while with our packs on, a sure fire way to attract lots of unwanted attention! The hotel that we wanted to stay at was by the medina and off of a very lively square called Djemaa El Fna, a place where you can find food stands (dried fruit and the orange juices stands are the ones we have frequented so far...a glass of fresh squeezed juice is about 3 cents, which might even be cheaper than bottles water), snake charmers, henna artists, men with monkeys you can pet (I refused, thank you very much!) and all sorts of other arrays of street performers and the like. There are several terrace cafés that line the square so we are definitely going to watch all the activity from there one night.
After arriving, we found a place to eat real Morrocan food, something that we somehow didn't manage to accomplish in Casablanca. I had a tanjine, meat and vegetables cooked in a clay bowl with a conical cover over coals (I think?) and Nicki had chicken couscous. I'm definitely going to like the food here! After lunch we wandered to a travel agency of sorts that organizes tours into the Atlas Mountains for a very decent price (about 100 dollars for 3 days, 2 nights everything included). Turns out the trip we wanted to go on is leaving tomorrow so I guess we are off to the mountians tomorrow. I am SO excited! They also organize trips to the nearby waterfalls and day long treks into the mountains that we are also interested in taking.
The rest of the afternoon was spent wanting through the various souks (markets) that line (or rather, make a confusing, tangles maze around) the main square. The market was so full of sights, smells and sounds that I think we could probably spend a whole day getting lost there. There are spices, cosmetics, leather goods, scarves, metel light fixtures, wooden goods and on and on, all lending their scent and color to the picture. I was very happy to find the market cleaner and better smelling than the ones in Dakar!
Okay, almost out of time. More about the amazing sights of Morocco later!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
oh YAY! you're in marrakesh! well, actually, by the time you get this you'll have been to the mountains and back. but still. i LOVE marrakesh! you need to visit a restaurant that is up a windy staircase, kind of on a rooftop, overlooking the Djaama el Fna. Name: i think El-Waha. it's in a corner. if you have your back to the souks walk straight ahead for a while - it'll be the farthest corner on your left. yum yum yum. eat pastilla! drink mint tea! be a gazelle!
Post a Comment