Marrakesh

In the morning we were woken up by the Berber at 4 because we needed to catch the bus leaving at 6 from Merzouga. So we made ourselves ready within a few minutes and got on the camels to bring us back to our hotel. It was magical to experience the sunrise in the Sahara while sitting on the back of a camel.
We had a quick shower at the hotel and then went to the bus station to board the 12h bus ride to Marrakesh. We saw a lot of changes in the vegetation and also the narrow windy roads leading over the Atlas mountains. But it was too long of a bus ride to be enjoyable... So we were glad when we finally arrived in Marrakesh.
The negotiations with the taxi drivers were unsuccessful so we decided to walk into the city centre. And it was a wise decision in favour of our feet :) At 8:30 in the evening we finally arrived at the Jeema el-fna, the main square in the center of Marrakesh. With lots of shops, markets, vendors and artists there's always something going on. So we just dropped our stuff at the hotel and then went out to explore the main square until late at night... We tried the moroccan soup, a spicy tea and some sweets. Afterwards we went on top of the Hotel Fourcade, a stop where my dad used to stay when he was in town. It also offered an amazing view from the rooftop over the whole city and especially the main square.

We spent the morning in the quarters around Jeema El-fna after a big breakfast (sweet of course) at the hotel's rooftop. First we just walked to some sights along the narrow streets that form a sheer endless labyrinth of walkways and alleys. But that's the right way to see and experience a city. Then we went to a former palace Badia, an impressive large complex in the centre of the city. Afterwards we had a coffee in a small shop amongst some friendly locals.
Refreshed we continued the exploration of the markets with curiosity. Eventually I found a tea pot that looked great but the price was a bit too high... So we haggled for half an hour until we came to an acceptable price :) It's an elementary part of the transaction. Later we headed back to the train station to catch the bus to Essaouira.Read more