My girlfriend Emma and I enjoy taking the odd city break as a short rest between work and education. Mainly to capital cities which we have never visited before, but also others that may be of architectural interest (for example Pisa with its Leaning Tower). Having visited many European countries on a previous InterRail escapade we were looking for something different and perhaps more adventurous. With a little research it immediately became clear where we wanted to go: Morocco. Although situated in the NW of Africa it is surprisingly close to the UK. The flight time is only slightly longer than that of southern Spain so there is not much difference in cost either. Luckily we also found a great deal online; three nights in a 4-star hotel with flights, transfers and spa treatment all included in Marrakech in the middle of January. Not that we really took advantage of the latter. It was a perfect way to escape the Christmas aftermath of a cold and wet Britain, and soak up the thirty degree sun on the edge of the Sahara desert.
On arrival we were greeted by our chauffeur to the hotel. That journey in itself was quite an adventure. There doesn't appear to be any real order or rules when it comes to driving the busy streets of Marrakech. Vehicles, bikes and pedestrians were simply criss-crossing in all directions to get to where they wanted to be. Thankfully, our driver seemed to know what he was doing anyway and managed to get us to our hotel in one piece. However judging by the state of other heavily dented cars we saw en-route; it seemed collisions were fairly frequent!
Once settled in to the hotel we set out on a quest for food for the evening. We immediately threw ourselves in at the deep-end by heading straight to Djemaa el fna; the main square of Marrakach's medina quarter. Coincidently the same place that had suffered a bomb attack just 8 months prior to our visit. We had read about the square in many brochures and reports, where it was recommended as a must see that came with a degree of caution. Once there you instantly knew why, this place looked like a pick-pockets paradise! And so I'm afraid from that point onwards I let my paranoia get the better of me and I was constantly on edge.
The square is very busy and chaotic with a mixture of those trying to earn a living and others simply out for a good time. There were buskers, snakes, eagles, monkeys, dancers, henna artists, food sellers, orange juice sellers, fruit and nut sellers, sweet sellers, horse carriages; the lot. All within a stones throw of the seemingly endless miles of souks. At any time of day the square can be quite a daunting place, especially at night. I must admit I was a little taken back by it all; it was nice, but very busy and there were people coming at you from all directions. We saw very few Europeans in the square, though there were some, and they seemed to be being hassled just as much as we were. On two occasions I managed to make eye contact with the wrong people; the first resulted in a 7-foot Python wrapped around my neck. They wanted money to allow Emma to take a photo of me; no chance! The second, a similar story, but this time a flea-ridden monkey tied to rope was plonked directly on my head. His owner was much more persistent with how much money he wanted from us, which made me even more determined not to give him anything. On both occasions my hands stayed firmly within my pockets; cautious in case this was some kind of distraction to get to my wallet or phone.
Eventually we found a stall in the market to eat at, offering food that sounded appealing to both of us. This was a fish bar and so we were served up a platter of mixed fish, eel and prawns all in batter with a side portion of fries. It was very tasty despite the large number of bones in the eel. As we neared the end of our meal one of the waiters offered to take a photo of us. We passed him the camera and he continued to get into position. A man pushing his stall of sweet goodies worked his way past and insisted he took the photo. He was a dodgy looking chap with an element of craftiness in his eye. Not
eyes - he had just one eye. Before we had the chance to protest, the waiter had handed him our camera. The man snatched at the camera and tore off at pace in the opposite direction. To say it was as fast as Usain Bolt would be an exaggeration, but nonetheless it was quick. Impressively quick considering the age of the man. I simultaneously rose to my feet ready to gain chase. The man made several large strides, before he stopped and turned with a huge grin on his face. He was joking. I was far from amused, and simply glared at him but eventually returned a smile. To be honest I was just relieved more than anything, that we hadn't just had our camera stolen.
The following two days were far less stressful. We went back to the square during the morning and it was considerably quieter. Much easier to walk the souks in peace and look around some of the impressive buildings and mosques. Needless to say we ended up buying a hijab. We also booked two excursions. The first was that afternoon; a camel ride on the outskirt of Marrakech through some arid land before we reached a small settlement that we were then invited into for mint tea and Moroccan sweets. It was all very pleasant.
The following day was an early start, our guide for the day picked us up directly from the hotel and we promptly headed off into the Atlas Mountains. We visited several Berber villages along the way including the film-set of Gladiator, The Mummy, Lawrence of Arabia, Alibaba and the Prince of Persia whilst taking in the incredible scenery. We enjoyed a traditional Moroccan lunch of chicken tagine, and also discovered how to make traditional Moroccan Argan Oil. All in all the weekend was quite an experience. Despite the traumas of the first evening, nothing bad actually happened and I blame it on myself for being too paranoid which perhaps hindered the experience for us. I would certainly be keen on coming back to Morocco in the next few years to explore more of this beautiful country and possibly take in more of the avifauna.
