A Marrakechy Christmas

Onto another famous Moroccan city, but not before taking the mountain pass to make sure I can say I've seen snow this Christmas.

However this scenic route meant I arrived in Marrakech just as it was getting dark on Saturday, almost the busiest possible time. So far I had been relying on the trusty 'maps with me' app. It had every single alley of Fes in it, all offline ready for me to use at anytime. In fact in Fes it helpfully told me what was a street and what wasn't. All this made me feel good about picking a hostel in Marrakech that I could ride up to the door. You can probably see where this is going, particularly anyone who has been to Marrakech. But for those the haven't. Take a street 10ft wide, subtract 3ft from either side for the souk stalls, then in the remaining 4ft fit the population of Marrakech doing its shopping, then place me on a 3ft wide bike trying to part the waves, whilst frantically work out which direction I should be going. 45 minutes later I arrive at a location you most definitely shouldn't ride a bike to. Unfortunately the go pro was out of charge otherwise it would have been an amazing video to watch back.

Marrakech is all hustle and bustle without my input. It's all good natured and enjoyable but I have never been so pestered in my life. It's a great experience, the whole city is just constantly trying to sell you something, even if it's just directions. The main square, jemaa el fna, is supposedly the busiest in Africa and at night it comes alive with a mix of locals are tourists. There are various food and drink stalls, but in the open bit of the square, people gather round Berber story tellers, musicians and dancers. The place just has a constant noise of people and drumbeats.

I also went to the Bahia palace where there is a bit of quiet and you can see the best examples of the carved plaster and wood.

Photos
1) A local looking out of one of the windows at the Bahia palace
2) Snow on the mountain pass
3) More Bahia palace
4 and 5) Jemaa el fna, the second one is taken on a long exposure so you can see how a lot of the square is busy moving around, but then there are these circles where people are standing listening to the story tellers
6) Local takeawayRead more