Alternate title: Fez but Flat
The worst thing about an overnight bus is not sleeping on the bus, but the awkward arrival time. We left Fez at about 8 at night and arrived in Marrakech at 6 am. Which is way too early to do anything.
Being so early, we wanted to give our hostel a bit of time to wake up before we arrived so we decided to walk from the bus station to our hostel. The taxi drivers didn’t seem to get this message. As we walked down the street every a few feet another taxi would pull aside and offer us a ride. After about 20 no’s we were finally far enough from the bus stop that the taxis stopped swarming. Good effort guys, but you’d think after we rejected the first three taxis the others might have received the message.
We still ended up at our hostel pretty early and ended up awkwardly sitting twin the lobby for a bit. Eventually, we abandoned our bags at the hostel and set off on an adventure into the city.
Our hostel workers in Fez described Marrakech as “It’s Fez, but flat.” This described the medina pretty well honestly, and thank heavens for that. My calves were in sore need of a break from all the hills. Marrakech does have something Fez doesn’t: big museums.
Our first stop after breakfast was the Bahia palace. We heard this was the prettier palace in Marrakech, and since boats cost 70Dh we went for beauty. And boy was it beautiful. Carvings and mosaics litter the courtyards and the ceilings were covered in amazing murals and tiles.
I love the use of Arabic in the carving at the palace. Arabic is a beautiful language, both to hear and see. I could stare at the calligraphy for hours wondering what it says and appreciating the gentle curves If the words.
After the Bahia palace we stumbled into some tourist signs pointing the tapestry museum. When you don’t know much about a city randomly following tourist signs is a pretty good way to spend your time.
The museum was filled with the history of Moroccan rugs and the different styles and techniques. I loved watching the videos of artisans at work weaving. Weaving seems like witchcraft to me. I can’t wrap my head around how the thread stays in place and out comes a rug. Not the mention how wool twists into usable thread with no adhesive or anything. Rugs are crazy, man.
A lot of the rest of our day was spent wandering the medina and seeing the city center. Several times we ended in the famed Jemaa el-Fnaa square. They say this is the busiest square in Africa and I believe it. The place is absolutely massive with stalls and street performers constantly trying to get you to buy from them. My friend was approached by several shoe shiners looking for a client. Luckily no one wanted to shine my old tennis shoes so I was only bothered my every other type of vendor on the square.
Unlike the medina which is overwhelming but cool, the square is mostly just overwhelming, You can’t stop for a moment without being accosted by several different people. I wasn’t really a fan of the square. But it was cool to see once and a good landmark to use to navigate.
For our lunch we went to. Sort of Moroccan fusion restaurant where my friend got herself a camel burger. I had a bite and can confirm that it tasted a lot like a regular beef burger. The difference was in the texture which was a little more dense than a typical burger in the US. It’s always a little terrifying trying a new meat as your you never know why you are getting into.
Next was back into the medina for a few hours to some window shopping. My favorite section was the lamp market. I’ve always loved the lamp aisles at hardware stores and here was a whole section of an old time medina illuminated by gorgeous metal lamps. If I had more money and a proper house I’d be swimming in Moroccan lamps because I love them so much.
After a good wander we went back to our hostel for the night. I got to eat dinner at the hostel with a whole bunch of other guests as we chatted over tagine and bread. Hostels are great for meeting people and I chatted with some polish people for quite awhile. It’s always interesting to see different people’s perspectives on travelling. There is always that question of “why did you come here?” Which I feel like 90% of the time is answered with a “Why not?” It seems like most travelers do it just because. After all, why would you need a reason to explore the world?
The next morning saw us heading out bright and early onto a three day desert adventure. My second day in Marrekech after we returned wasn’t really noteworthy, pretty much I wandered and bought souvenirs for my family. I’m terrible at shopping Im way to indecisive about everything. Even when I have a set shopping list I’ll dither over it for ages trying to find exactly what I want. I’ll save you the boredom of reading about my suffering and just let you know that in the end, I did successfully get my souvenirs.
And that was Marrekech! It was a nice city and I liked getting to wander around so much. My next entry will tell you about my favorite part of my Moroccan trip: my trip into the Sahara.
Ambling Adventures 