We got onto the bus to Marrekech and sat down shocked. How could a bus have so much room? How could a bus have seats that didn't pinch your butt and give you TBS (tired butt syndrome)? Clearly our reaction shows our standards. Welcome to the European influence! We arrived in Marrekech and had a debate on how to get through the labyrinth of the medina to our hotel. Pallavi said, "let's take a cab." Sarah, the cheap, said, "we're backpackers. let's take the bus. I'm sure we can get a bus that'll take us to a spot closer to our location than the main square." Onto the bus we went. Did the bus drop us at a spot closer to our location? No. Did we end up walking when Pallavi specifically said she didn't want to walk? Yes. Did we end up asking everybody along the way where to go? Yes. Needless to say, by the time to poor young boy who tried to make a bit of money off of us by showing us the way to our hotel just two streets away from it (when we mostly knew where to go), he got nothing but glares and hostility from us. Pick your moments kid! Do not mess with "tired, cranky, just walked when we didn't want to and had to ask lots of questions" travelers!
Marrekech is definitely a tourist town. It is nice, but not nearly as charming as Essaouira. We went to get breakfast and selected a restaurant in hanger. Why had we chosen to go out? To save a bit of money by not eating in our hotel. What did we end up paying? Almost double the amount we would have spent had we eaten in the hotel!!! Why? We ordered drinks not on the menu and got overcharged, with nothing we can do about it. Rookie move! We know better than that! #BadBackpackersStrikeBack.
The town has quite a lot of historic places, but we only went to the Saadian Tombs. The Saadians ran the sugar and the salt trade in the 15th century where one pound of sugar = 1 ounce of gold (according to my made up interpretation of Lonely Planet history). We found their tombs fascinating. The tombs have imported Italian marble, multiple vibrantly coloured marble mosiacs, beautiful wood lattice work, and more. However, the tombs don't have the same size as we expected. We expected Taj size. We thought we had a good feel for how the other buildings in this city would be, and didn't really explore too many more from the inside.
We spent our day just exploring the Medina, primary the souks and the main square, Jemaa El-Fna. The square is an absolute circus. It is filled with buskers and street performers. These guys have an eye for people taking photographs, so we decided to spend the extra money to go up to a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the main square to get our photo fix. After at least an hour filled with pointing out different scenes on the square, I realized that this was real-life 'Where's Waldo.' What did we see:
Marrekech is definitely a tourist town. It is nice, but not nearly as charming as Essaouira. We went to get breakfast and selected a restaurant in hanger. Why had we chosen to go out? To save a bit of money by not eating in our hotel. What did we end up paying? Almost double the amount we would have spent had we eaten in the hotel!!! Why? We ordered drinks not on the menu and got overcharged, with nothing we can do about it. Rookie move! We know better than that! #BadBackpackersStrikeBack.
The town has quite a lot of historic places, but we only went to the Saadian Tombs. The Saadians ran the sugar and the salt trade in the 15th century where one pound of sugar = 1 ounce of gold (according to my made up interpretation of Lonely Planet history). We found their tombs fascinating. The tombs have imported Italian marble, multiple vibrantly coloured marble mosiacs, beautiful wood lattice work, and more. However, the tombs don't have the same size as we expected. We expected Taj size. We thought we had a good feel for how the other buildings in this city would be, and didn't really explore too many more from the inside.
We spent our day just exploring the Medina, primary the souks and the main square, Jemaa El-Fna. The square is an absolute circus. It is filled with buskers and street performers. These guys have an eye for people taking photographs, so we decided to spend the extra money to go up to a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the main square to get our photo fix. After at least an hour filled with pointing out different scenes on the square, I realized that this was real-life 'Where's Waldo.' What did we see:
- A boxing match
- Snake charmer
- A man with a Moroccan hat twirling it for two babies in a stroller
- An old man playing a violin by himself
- Two men with a Moroccan version of a sombrero with pom-poms hanging off of it, in all red
- A man playing a big drum
- Card readers
- A table filled with teeth and dentures
- A man in a red and white striped shirt. We found Waldo!
It really is like nothing you've experienced before. We even managed to start a crowd for a really good performer who, before we stood before him, hadn't had anybody listen to him properly the entire night. There went our good deed for the day!
Then, at night, the different grill restaurants compete to get customers. We liked ours the best. They applauded after each person selected them and sat down. Who doesn't like a bit of applause to whet the appetite?
Then, while getting some fresh orange juice at the end of the evening, a little girl came up to Pallavi and asked if she could have one of her bracelets. Pallavi has collected one bracelet from every country we've visited. The little girl picked one and Pallavi gave it to her. No way would I ever have been so gracious. The bracelet made the little girl so happy that she gave Pallavi and I each a big kiss on the cheek - the kind of kiss her parents must have taught her to give when thanking family members for gifts. What a super sweet way to end the day.
We've had to stay a bit longer than we preferred here in Marrekech while we wait for a good price on a car rental. Tomorrow, we'll head off towards the High and Mid Atlas mountains and to head towards the Sahara.
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