Whilst I don't travel to replicate my home environment, there are certain things that I value that, when combined with foreign locations, makes for a spectacular experience. It's places like France and Italy that I love for several of these reasons. Even though I intellectually knew what to expect in Morocco, being there in person made these preferences (or lack of them) all the more apparent:
- Variety and quality of food: Brochette, tagines, couscous and mixed salad is basically what I ate for 4 days because that's all that was available. From nice restaurants to street vendors there wasn't much of a difference in choices and after trying both ends of the scale, we didn't find much difference in quality. Everything was okay to good, but everything was also rather bland and I know that if I lived here for awhile, I would definitely lose a lot of weight by virtue of only eating enough to be full and not really for pleasure.
- Alcohol as part of daily living and meals: Being a Muslim country, alcohol (particularly in the old town, the Medina) is not really available because of the proximity of so many mosques, and at the few places that it is, selection is minimal and prices can be steep. I can respect people's choice to not drink, but I found it difficult to sit through meal after meal without a glass of wine or beer to enjoy; I mean, we were on holiday! We did find a bar or two for a few beers in the evening, but again, it's something I would struggle with if I lived there.
- Respect for personal space: I won't get into the details here, but here's an attempt at a polite message to about 40% of the people running stalls in the souks: if I don't talk to you or make eye contact, please don't initiate contact with me, particularly when you are just trying to sell something. Following that, yes you might just be doing your job, but if I keep on walking or ignore you, please do not yell insults at me, continue to yell meaningless phrases in English just to get my attention, or worse, follow me and get in my way. And if you touch me to get my attention, know that I am trying *really* hard not to physically push you away. If I never come back to Marrakesh, you are the reason.
Right, so now that I have my venting out of the way, I will give some attention to the more positive aspects of the trip.
Charley and I stayed in a Riad, which is a traditional courtyard home (many of which have been converted intos bed and breakfast-type accommodation). The riads are all unique and most only have 4-10 rooms, so it's an intimate experience where you get to know the staff (in our case, three really lovely people, two of which I assume are related) and sometimes the other guests. Our riad was called Riad Quenza, in the heart of the souks and the Medina (check out the pictures on the web site).
I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet and peaceful the riad was, even though it was just off a main derb (alley) with lots of stalls. All of the rooms face towards an inner courtyard (so we had windows in our room, but they faced the courtyard, not the external alleys). Our riad also had a lovely rooftop terrace with bougainvillea, cushioned benches, and patio seating, which is where we had breakfast every morning and even caught some sun one afternoon. Our bathroom was large, had all modern conveniences and was a pretty bright blue colour with red accents. We spent an hour or two in the room each early evening to rest up and recoup from the craziness of the city before venturing out to dinner. I was very grateful to have found such nice accommodation, in such a central area and for such a reasonable price (it was on the lower end of the price scale of most of the riads that we looked at).
As for hospitality, I have never had so much mint tea (or so much sugar in my tea) in my life! Every meal ends with mint tea, every time you arrive somewhere (like the riad) you are offered mint tea, and even in several shops you may find yourself having mint tea with the owner. Charley ended up buying a teapot and the right kind of tea in order to duplicate it back home, but it wasn't until we actually saw it made in front of us that we had any idea how much sugar goes into it. In a small pot, they put 4 "cubes" which are really like blocks of sugar, each the size of 6 cubes! No wonder it tastes good!
Being a Brit and a fun-loving American, after our first few hours on the evening, we had nothing else to do and started looking for a a bar. We came across one from the guidebook, a tacky hotel lobby just down Avenue des Princes in the Grand Hotel Tazi. A beautifully decorated ceiling indicates that this was once a posh hotel, but not anymore. With (albeit matching) run-down sofas crammed into the corners of the lobby-turned-bar, it was a humorous way to have a beer or two (Speciale, a Moroccan beer surprisingly) and even meet other Westerners in the same situation. For great pictures and description of the hotel and bar, check out this blog that I just came across today.
Later that night, we ate at Cafe Arabe, which turned out to be our favourite venue for ambiance (and wine!) of the trip. Very cool restaurant, and good food for the price, given how nice the restaurant was. We ate in the restaurant bit because it was too cold to sit out on the terrace, but see the pictures on the site for the overall effect.
Over the subsequent days we meandered through all the tourist attractions. There aren't that many, they don't take that long to see, and they are all really cheap (less than £1) to get in, so you don't make choices on what to see based on price. My favourite was the Medersa, the Koranic school, while Charley's was the Marrakesh Museum next door for the building/architecture/decor itself. The Majorelle Gardens (oddly, owned by Yves St Laurent)were also nice, but when we went I was at 'stage 3' hunger, and forcing myself to eat nasty cheddar-flavoured Pringles to stave away the hunger headache and pain behind my eyes so I didn't end up taking any pictures there).
Another site to note is the main square itself, Djemaa el-Fna, but fortunately referred to most often as the 'big square'. This is where all the action is - the snake charmers, the orange juice sellers, the cheap food stalls, several souk stalls, terrace cafes, the henna-decorators, the storytellers (unfortunately, in Arabic) and this weekend, a stage for the Magic Festival (the only thing we actually saw were fire throwers/dancers). Always crowded and lively, this square is the heart of the old town, the Medina. We would have spent even more time observing some of the acts if it hadn't been so chilly in the evenings.
The final thing to note is that despite my frustration and anger at most of the sellers in the souks, Charley and I met one lovely guy, Taoufik, who we chatted with a few days in a row and eventually bought some souvenirs from, afterwards sharing mint tea and chatting for an hour in his shop. He speaks several languages, was very friendly (not aggressive!) and we really enjoyed getting to know him. I feel much better about the overall trip after meeting him, and realising that although I will always look like a tourist in a place like Morocco (as I did in India) there are some genuinely nice people that won't treat me like a simple way to make a dirham, no matter what crap they are trying to sell me.
In summary, I enjoyed using my French (it was very useful), getting some sun and having the overall experience, but it left me exhausted, often very frustrated, and not keen to go back anytime soon. That being said, I would still recommend it to other people. I know not everyone gets as worked up about all the poor country bullsh*t and haggling and hassling that I have little tolerance for.
1 comment:
Well, if you don't like being hassled, I would discourage you from visiting Egypt -- that was pretty much the experience I had and I've been to plenty of Middle Eastern countries but that took the cake for being hassled. I actually lost it and yelled at one guy in Luxor for particularly irritating selling techniques. But if you're feeling really adventurous and want to explore more of the MidEast you'll get a lot more interesting ancient history and very GENUINELY friendly people in Syria. Maybe we can make the trip together someday! :)
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