Winter in Marrakesh
Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Tue 28 Jan 2020 11:28
So we caught an early morning flight from Tangier to Marrakesh and booked a small hotel close to the main square and Medina of the city.
There’s an old city in Tangier, with a souk and a strong sense of time stood still, which is exciting and engaging, exotic and mysterious, but it’s nothing compared to the Medina in Marrakesh.
We checked into our hotel after a delightful mix up at the airport, involving a taxi transfer organised by our agent for a trek into the desert and visit to Fez....to follow. Even as I write, a week later, it is still not clear if we were in the correct taxi and if someone else was disappointed and left waiting at the arrivals gate.
Straight away, we took a stroll into the Medina. Its big. Very big. And for me, the shops and stalls took on a blended character, all selling much the same goods at the same unmarked prices. And we, perhaps inevitably, got lost, fell pray to the ubiquitous street guides, who unsolicited, directed us or more often, led us to uncertain unnamed and unwanted destinations, all for a small fee. I became impatient and a little bad tempered, but eventually we found a way to navigate ourselves and calm restored.
We found a nice restaurant and had a late lunch of lamb tagine, overlooking the main square.
In the evening, after a short rest to restore ourselves, we returned to the square called Jama el F-na and witnessed the curious entertainment going on there. Everything from snake charmers to performing monkeys, street food to drag dancers. And of course, the street musicians.
All this lit by gas lamps powered from old camping gaz bottles, and punctuated by passing carriages pulled by horses, hundreds of Tuk-Tuks and thousands of mopeds.
We had a second day of Marrakech before being collected before dawn on the third day for our trek eastward.
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