Morocco – Marrakech

 

The medina was already buzzing the evening we arrived in Marrakesh. Brightly lit stalls with mounds of oranges and bins of apricots, dates, nuts, and figs surrounded the main square, Jemaa El-Fnaa. At the gate of the medina, we were immediately enveloped by the “do-gooders” trying to direct us to our riad. With my trusty old Blackberry which I save for travels like this, sim card fully loaded, I called the riad we had booked, and within minutes, Pierre and Simone showed up to whisk us to our very lovely “home” in the Medina. We loved our riad, just off the main square, but down a side street which ensured a quiet’s night sleep.

The sun is blindingly white, I’m squinting even with my sunglasses on. We take refuge in the shady lanes of the souqs, trying not to look directly at the brightly colored pottery, metal lanterns, hand-stitched leather purses, and silver mirrors, otherwise the merchants catch us looking and launch immediately into their hard sell, chasing us as we keep walking. We know the marrakeshi merchants are ruthless – they step into one’s path, blocking the way, commanding us to look at their shop. I dodge, and they chase after me yelling “Oh madam, why do you not like Moroccan men?” Small boys sell packets of tissues and big balloons while women sells baskets and cookies.

When we make eyes at something we want to buy, we realize that the prices in Marrakech are exorbitant as compared to Fes, and the shopkeepers seem angry at us for counter offering a price that we already know is reasonable. With hard bargaining skills, we often emerged triumphant, but one must be firm and be prepared to walk away if the seller refuses your final offer (so tough!).

My favorite purchases in Marrakesh were, of course, the lovely little sugar pots which we tracked down after failing to purchase them in Fes. Other highlights were hand-woven scarves purchased from the best-dressed man in the souk, tiny hand-tooled leather purses, and leather Tuareg camel reins.

As expected, traveling in a unfamiliar terrain comes with frustrating challenges. Every time we paused to consider which direction to head or to take a peek at our map, a boy latched on to us, demanding money to show us the way, even though we protest loudly that we don’t need any help, merci. Taxi drivers refuse to use the meter, and ask for a fare that we know is quadruple what we should be paying. Maybe it’s not any worse here than it was in Delhi, Kathmandu, Hong Kong, or Kuta, but it feels more ruthless. We are exhausted.

Every restaurant plunks down a free dish of olives when we sit down, and they are delicious. The olives make us crave good cheese and good wine, though we can’t find either. Wine and beer are on the menus in the fancy hotels and restaurants that are filled with well-dressed Europeans, but impossible to find at the more affordable places where we mostly eat. We spent two hours out in the no-man’s land of the ville nouvelle finding our way to one supermarket, and then another to buy a bottle of wine and some crackers to enjoy on the terrace of our hotel. Alcohol consumption seems so secretive here that we feel like we are smuggling drugs back into the medina.

It's funny when you travel in exotic places that require you to be on point and use so many senses you did not realize you had! The truth is that in any country no matter the different customs, at the end of the journey people are people and a smile and a hand shake and a bit of warmth gets you a long way.

Morocco – Fes

We arrived at the gates of the Fes Medina just after sundown, met by Mohamed who managed the riad deep inside the Medina, where we stayed. The Casablanca airport is connected to the train station, making the train connection to Fes seamless. That was the only easy part this trip.

Full frontal assault is all I can say about Fes. I would never go to Fes first while visiting Morocco if not already a seasoned traveler; with 9000 streets in the 1200 yr old Medina alone, and 1000 of those dead ends, it is impossible to know your way, even for those with great direction. Naturally, the defense-minded urban planners of the medina knew what they were doing and so we were constantly hitting dead ends, maps were useless (who can fit 9000 streets on a map?), confirming and re-confirming, and still getting lost.

Babouches

Our first day we spent in one tiny corner of the medina, circling around and around, yet never passing by the same shops as the streets were so numerous. We were lucky enough to happen upon a delicious little patisserie where we took refuge from our lack of direction to have café au laits, banana smoothies, and gallete au morrocain (marzipan filled crisps). Thus fortified, we managed to successfully haggle for several pairs of fashionable babouches (leather slippers) from a lovely man, Ahmed, who we found deep inside the slipper souk. Having successfully found our way back to our riad, we went to sleep dreaming of tomorrow’s shopping adventures.

Naturally, nothing is as easy as it sounds. Having realized that we had spent our first day literally going in circles (yet never rounding back again) we decided to go in the opposite direction the following day. This was a lucky move. Going right instead of left rewarded us with ceramic sellers, Bedouin blanket weavers, and the elusive copper sugar pots (you seem to love them as much as I do because they're almost sold out!). The latter we mistakenly did not buy (which we made up for in Marrakech), but we spent a lovely afternoon haggling with the Bedouin blanket weaver. After our deal was done, he offered us homemade lunch and tea. It turned out to be the best tagine we had all trip!

Afterwards, we went back to the ceramics dealer to test out our (by Moroccan standards) unpolished bargaining. I fell in love with these pedestal soap dishes, buying all he had, which, as is the case with most of my purchases, turned out to be only 12. Ryan and I ended our trip in Fez at the lovely, albeit touristy Clock Café where we ate our first really good Moroccan meal: camel burgers and pickled veggies on the side. Yum! 

I hope to see you back here next week when I'll be sharing a bit more about my market experience in Marrakech...