December 2018 itinerary link
YK had arranged for a 4 or 5 bedroom riad in the heart of the medina in Marrakesh (population: 928,000). A riad is a residence surrounding a large open air courtyard. Ours was located at the end of a narrow alley.
Our riad was located near the man on the bike on the map below.
The medina in Marrakesh felt larger and more complex than that in Fez, yet we managed to navigate it perfectly until the morning of our last day when we spent an hour hopelessly lost. Fortunately, we found our way back in time to catch our ride to Casablanca. If anyone wondered what the big deal was by looking at this blissfully simplified map above, the map below would show a more accurate picture.
On our first night in Marrakesh we went to a small shop, really just a counter onto the street, and, as I started to order in French, a young boy, maybe 10, came up to me and asked in perfect English what I wanted. He then conveyed the order to the shopkeeper. I asked how he learned to speak English so well and he smiled and said TV.
[YK is adding some meat to Pat’s skeletal sketch of Marrakesh that ended above]
We were tired and a bit intimidated by the mazes in medina the first night, thus, we stayed home and had dinner at home with whatever we had accumulated thus far.
Next morning we successfully navigated ourselves through the mazes and arrived at Cafe France on Jamaa el-Fna, the main square in the medina to meet our guide, Abdul. He was an exceptional guide who seemed to know everybody in the medina, and he was eager to introduce us to his city and people. We found him on a free walking tour website, but, he actually had his own tour company.
“You need to taste a local breakfast,” he said and brought us to this lady who was making Moroccan pancakes. “Her pancakes are the best,” he said, and yes, he was right. We could never find the pancakes as good else where.
Compared to Fez, streets and alleys here were not as crammed or narrow.
In the middle of the medina was a souk (souq), a market, that spilled over every direction. Technically, the souk was divided into specialties – food, ceramics, clothing, jewelry etc., but the merchants seemed to carry whatever they wanted like the one above who mixed dried vegetables with little ceramic pieces on display.
Tajines (tagines), their earthenware pot that is used everyday by everyone, it seemed, were the most common items on display in the market.
Abdul wanted to show us high quality artisan stuff, and they were quite exquisite.
Lunch was at this BBQ place where the meat was cooked in an underground fire pit. Very tender and delicious. No, not expensive.
There was a lot of renovation work going on in medina, and Ben Yussef Mosque, considered to be one of the most beautiful mosques in Morocco, was one of them. Frankly, we were happy not “sight-seeing” and just wondering around.
We took a break in this rooftop cafe.
After the tour, we came home and rested till dinner time. Let’s venture out tonight since we now can handle the medina, we had decided.
Jamaa el-Fna square was packed with people, and the whole area was now a giant outdoor restaurant.
Motor bikes were the preferred mode of transportation.
Locals were casually walking around the alleys lined with all kinds of stores: a guitar shop next to a scarf vendor next to … you get the picture.
This cafe was supposed to open at noon, but it wan’t. We finally succeeded getting in there after the third attempt.
What are these? These were the visual clues to finding our riad. Don’t laugh. These saved so much potential agony.
Pat and I had a relaxing afternoon at home while others ventured further outside medina into the new section of the city with modern building and shopping centers.
Bill was going back to Spain next morning, thus, we said good bye to him by letting him buy us the most expensive dinner we ever had in Morocco at a fancy restaurant in the neighborhood. Great food, presentation, service, atmosphere – and the price to match.
We had found a transportation service through gettransfer.com and the service provider ended up being a Moroccan businessman who had worked in Korea for 12 years. I had fun exchanging emails with him because he missed Korea so much that he was happy to talk to someone who knew the Korean language. The 2.5 hour trip on a Mercedes Benz mini van big enough for 8 people and the luggage cost us about 120 euros. The driver was very professional and punctual.
Our journey: Tangier –> Chefchaouen –> Fez –> Sahara Desert –> Marrakesh –> Casablanca
Small Wide World 