A Week in Marrakech - Part 1

Koutoubia Mosque at sunset

Caroline and I just returned from Marrakech today and have decided that this trip requires epic amounts of blogging.  Not because it was the best trip we have been on, but because Marrakech was the destination least like any place we have even ever seen.  Today, I am going to write about the main highlights of Marrakech, while Caroline will put together another post shortly.  We will aim to put out a few more posts this week to cover all of the activities and so you can see all of the cool pictures we were able to take.

To start, we were a bit on edge before the trip even started because of all the civil unrest across North Africa and the Middle East.  I did a little research before we left (i.e. I Googled "Marrakech News") and found out that protests were planned for the day we were arriving.  A large youth movement was planning demonstrations in every major city to demand government reforms.  The protests were sanctioned by the government and only expected to last one day, but we were wary that they could escalate into a broader pro-democracy movement in Morocco.  The protesters were very clear however, that their aim was not to topple the monarchy, but only to seek policy reforms.

For those that do not know all the details (I didn't before this week), Morocco is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Mohammed VI.  While the legislative branch is democratically elected, the king has the power to dissolve the government at any time and has complete control over the military.  The monarchy is somewhat unique in that the King claims divine right as a direct descendent of the prophet Mohammed.  Despite this power, the country's political system has been relatively peaceful and the last time a King dissolved government was in 1965.

King Mohammed VI - Caroline Thinks he kind of looks like me, but I'll let you be the judge

So we arrived in Marrakech on Sunday, February 20, and as we rode in our taxi to the hotel, the city was eerily quiet.  There were many people in the streets but almost all the businesses were closed and buildings were shuttered.  Our driver, who also ran our hotel told us that the city was basically closed for the day due to the protests, but assured us that everything would be open again the next day.  Therefore, we spent the first evening at our hotel.  We ate dinner there and went to bed early.  A few of the other guests who had gone out during the day told us that the protests were very large and that there had been some violence and looting in town.  We went to bed hoping everything would be fine the next day.

And it was just fine. (I tried to make this non-event as stressful as possible for you by inserting a break.  I hope it worked!)  We woke up at 6am to some extremely loud yelling/singing, which I quickly figured out was the morning call to prayer.   Since we went to bed early and because of the call to prayer, we got out early that morning.  At first we were very wary of the city.  The morning traffic was heavy and the cars and mopeds made it clear they would not stop for us to cross the street.  Since the section of the city where we were staying, called the Medina, was essentially a giant maze, we were quickly lost and clearly had strayed into a residential neighborhood not meant for tourists.  It was actually interesting to see normal morning life in Marrakech with kids going to school and men and women on their way out for the day, but the looks we were getting seemed to indicate that we weren't supposed to be there.

Morning rush hour in Marrakech 

Finally, we found the main section of the city and wandered into the main square called the Djemaa al Fna. This was the place where the protests were held the day before and we quickly saw some of the aftermath. Two of the big banks next to the square had been attacked and there was a lot of broken glass and spectators milling around to see what had happened.  However, it really didn't seem to be that big of a deal and so after a few pictures, we went to go look at the square.

Djemaa al Fna

This is the main square in Marrakech and is a useful landmark to help orient visitors with the city.  During the day, the square is full of spice and orange juice vendors fighting for your attention.  In addition, this is where all of the snake charmers and monkey handlers try to get tourists to watch their shows.

Djemaa Al Fna

Herb vendor in the Djemaa Al Fna

Orange juice vendor in the Djemaa Al Fna

At night, the square transforms into a large outdoor food market with dozens of different food vendors trying to convince you to dine with them.  The food was mostly basic Moroccan fare and was not particularly impressive, but we could not complain about the price (about 20 euros for more food than we needed) or the entertainment.  During our meal, two of the vendors got into a very heated argument in which one of the vendors, a woman, threw a plate of food at the other vendor.  Their confrontation attracted a large crowd and I wish we could have gotten a picture...

Food vendors in the Djemaa Al Fna

A small plate of fried eggplant, roasted peppers, spinach and a potato ball

Pastilla - a traditional Moroccan dish of spiced chicken in phylo dough covered in powdered sugar and cinnamon

A food stand in the Djemma Al Fna

A picture with our waiter

Desert of spiced tea and cake.  The cake was a sweet paste combined with cumin

The Medina and Souks

The Medina is the name for the medieval center of Marrakech, which is a UNESCO world heritage site.  It is a labyrinth of small passages and alleys filled with shopkeepers, homes, and other businesses.  Since it is so confusing to navigate the Medina, it is extremely easy to get lost any many Moroccans seem to make a living helping to guide people out of the Medina (for a fee).  Being the stubborn man that I am, I refused their services, but it did take Caroline and I a little longer to figure out where we were going.

A busy passageway in the Medina

People going about their daily life in the Medina

A quiet street in the Medina

su

Morning sun shines through the roof of the Medina

The Souks are the shops in the Medina and the shopkeepers are extremely aggressive in trying to get you to enter their shops.  All prices are negotiable and from my limited experience, the shopkeepers start at extremely irrational price levels in order to get customers to overpay.  We bought a platter at one of the shops and even though we were able to talk the guy down to about 40% of his original asking price, we still felt like we got a bad deal.  In the end, we were on a very limited budget, so did not get to spend much time to try our hand at haggling.  As for the wares, there are some very cool things for sale - in addition to your usual touristy knick knacks, they were selling ornate lamps, lots of leather bags, dishware, jewelry, and lots of interesting spices.

Oh yeah, and they sold lots of shoes in the Souks...

A store selling cool lamps

A Moroccan spice shop

So there you have it with our first post.  Look out for a few more posts about our thoughts on Morocco and some of the sights and activities we enjoyed during the week.