Despite an extended delay in Dallas, we reached Madrid in time to catch our flight from there to Marrakech, Morocco, and we arrived here right on schedule. We had arranged for a car and driver to meet us at the airport -- a good thing, as our digs are in the Medina (old city) and we'd never have gotten here without help. The driver took us inside the city walls, where we were met by another gentleman who loaded our luggage into a hand cart and walked us through maze-like narrow streets and alleyways the rest of the way.
We are staying in a riad, which is a traditional guest house in this country. They are former mansions with inner courtyards. Once through the entrance, the chaos of the busy medina melts away and tranquility reigns. After dropping our things, we found our way to the huge main square, Djemaa el-Fna, which is the ultimate in street theater. Snake charmers, musicians, dancers, henna tattoo artists, fresh squeezed orange juice hawkers, roving vendors dispensing brass cups of water from leather containers, guides and touts all competed for tourists' dollars and distracted attention from the motor scooters, hand carts, donkey carts and horse-drawn carriages also plying the square.
We found respite in the lovely rose
gardens of the nearby Koutoubia Mosque. (With the exception of one mosque in
Casablanca, non-Muslims are barred from entering mosques in Morocco.)
With renewed strength, we plunged back into the souks (markets) that ring the Djemaa el-Fna. While the square is a broad expanse, the souks are a tangle of narrow lanes that make it impossible not to get lost. The array of things for sale -- everything from spices to fabrics, clothing to sweets, toys to ornate lights, and leather goods to dried fruits and nuts -- conspires to make it impossible to keep your bearings as you wander. It was much like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, but outdoors and with the addition on of motor scooters darting in and out among the shoppers and gawkers.
In spite of the fact that we'd read all
about false guides, touts, and the "helpful" citizenry, we found
ourselves being lead on quite a trek to visit some Berber tanneries. We
actually found the tanneries interesting, the explanations informative, and the
mint sprigs we were given to hold under our noses as "Berber gas
masks" to mask the odors quite effective. Nevertheless, the entire
point of the exercise was to deposit us in a shop full of leather goods.
We politely informed the shopkeeper that, while his offerings were lovely, we
were not interested in buying. When we emerged from the shop, our
"guide" began to lead us back to the square. When Tom gave him
a tip, he demanded ten times as much for himself and the shop owner! A
young boy then took us under his wing to accompany us to the square and he and
his teenage companion balked at the tip Tom offered and tried to bully him into
more.
We did make it back to Djemaa el-Fna,
where the evening food court was being assembled. Tents were erected,
grills fired up, and long communal tables set for the nightly feast. We
had an amazingly cheap vegetarian dinner, with bread replacing utensils,
alongside locals, visitors and interested bees before heading back to our riad.
The lure of sleep in a real bed instead of an airline seat was too much to
resist!
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