Marrakech

Last wednesday after a 3 hour flight from London, we arrived at Marrakech airport - a humble building in the middle of the desert at 8.30am.  In the background were the foothills of the Atlas mountains set against a vivid blue sky broken up by the odd palm tree.  Despite being so early in the morning, the heat immediately hits you and there has been little respite since.

An overpriced taxi ride in a battered old mercedes benz later, we arrived at our accomodation on the outskirts of Marrakech Medina.

We visited Marrakech a few times both at night and day.  Our first experience was at night time which was exhilarating to arrive at the square amidst thousands of people who just seemed to be congregating.

DJemaa El Fna (translates as death square)

On the streets

Street Vendor

Street food

Juice seller near the Minaret Gardens

Marrakech Park

Snake charmer in the town square.

Storks nesting high on a chimney top.

The many types of olives that are grown locally.

One of the main exports - leather, in this case shoes.

Walking into the souks.

Inside a store in the souk.

Marrakech Art Museum

Inside the museum - it was a palace.

One of many Minarets.

Tangine - a clay pot that is used to stew meats and vegetables in.

Gueliz in the new part of town.

Marrakech is exotic, vibrant, colorful, bustling, chaotic. A wonderful world of mayhem dropped into the middle of barren desert.  The city consists of high red walls holding small mysterious doorways that are linked to mysterious meandering corridors which weave an intricate maze around the city making it impossible not to get lost.  It is all part of the experience - walking through souks selling brightly colored carpets and tapestries, delicately hand-crafted leather shoes and just about anything from the necessary to the bizarre.  The city throws the smell of spices into the air with fresh food and drink always close at hand.
By day the sun is stifling, most locals dibilitated by the heat leaving people sleeping in the shade under palm trees, sprawling for cover or into cafes where they refresh themselves with fresh mint tea.

Josh Ritter once wrote a quite brilliant song named 'other side' - I doubt he was in a souk at the time but his words describe it pretty accurately nonetheless "twisted cul-de-sacs and the one way signs, I'm going round in circles, on the other side".

Marrakech is quite simply magical!