The souks of Marrakech

by Karen

Souks are giant open-air marketplaces (i.e., a bazaar) where locals and tourists alike go to purchase goods and souvenirs. Haggling is common and very much expected. Souks are very common in cities across Morocco.

The souk in Marrakech, Jemaa-el-Fna, is one of the largest and most famous. Even with a map, it is VERY easy to get lost inside.

So many colors, sounds, smells, and things to see. It was insane, it felt so intense, like a culture shock-and-awe. Vendors selling orange juice, skewers of meat, herbalists selling snake oils, musicians and storytellers performing dances, beggars, children, shopkeepers; the city was ALIVE.

On a side note, all the locals (in both Marrakech and Essaouira) assume we are Japanese, and start shouting random phrases at us, mainly “HELLO JAPAN! KONNICHIWA!” or “ARIGATOU!” as we walk by. I’m not sure if Japanese people frequently visit Morocco (I saw only one group), or if alllooksame, but I thought it rather interesting. If we don’t stop, they start listing all the countries they think we belong to.

Another note, we probably circled around many of the stalls twice. Being the only Asians around, we really stood out. During our last circuit, I decided to take my scarf and wrap it around my head like a hijab, since I noticed the only tourists getting harrassed were us and Europeans. There were plenty of Middle Eastern & Arabic tourists as well, but they weren’t being chased around. Once I wore the headscarf, nobody called out to us, even when we walked along the same stores. Mark wore the exact same thing, and I even had the same jacket and pants. The only difference was that I was wearing a headscarf. According to the internet, it’s perfectly fine for non-Muslim women to wear the hijab (which is what I was worried about), but it might bring about a whole other range of social etiquette I am not aware of.

Related articles

• Jessie Loves Marrakech {Introduction} (jessieloves.com)
• Marrakech, Morrocco (aroundtheworldwithlindaandtricia.wordpress.com)
• Marrakech, Morocco (Day 1) (iliveandlovelife.wordpress.com)
• Marrakech: and a tale of seeing is believing (moroccanmaryam.typepad.com)
• Marrakech Excursion (ecolodge-adventures.com)

 

Salam, Morocco!

by Karen

Wow.

We were still on the plane when we’d already gotten an invitation to eat dinner with our seat neighbor’s family home.

Only an hour after stepping off the plane, and already we’re enchanted. Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore. It’s a sensory overload.


Our chauffer picked us up in the airport. We were very lucky to find him at the last moment, because he was not given any information about our flight, only Mark’s name. He assumed “Florentino” was from Italy (which is a reasonable assumption), and the only planes arriving from Italy were later at night. He was about to turn around and head home when we found him waving our sign. Huzzah!

Our van was surrounded by crowds of people at the airport waiting for their loved ones to return from the Hajj. It was a beautiful kaleidescope of chaos. People joyously reuniting with families, roses, balloons everywhere. Our driver was none too understanding though, but he handled the crowd like a pro.


We drove along the main roads for a bit, they looked like western-style paved roads. Mopeds, cars, horse-drawn carriages everywhere. Then, our adventure started. Everything you’ve seen in movies, games, and TV shows showing crowded streets, faded window shutters, shopkeepers hawking their wares, people cooking food on the street…it’s all real. We even had a kid hop on the back of our van and hitch a ride for a bit. Cars driving recklessly with moped bumper-to-bumper, bicycles narrowly hitting people, pedestrians walking slowly in front of oncoming traffic–it was madness.



Our driver dropped us off in the middle of an alley, and another man met up with us and took our bags. We followed him through dark alleyways and arched passageways, winding streets with no name. You could very easily get lost here, and the best way to know where to go is to memorize it by heart. We shared the road with motorcycles (I almost got hit by an oncoming one coming out of the shadows!) but on the whole, the streets felt pretty safe. It was invigorating to see the streets so crowded with people going about their nightly lives.

We arrived at our lodgings (Riad Edward), and I immediately felt transported back to the medieval Ottoman empire. We were speechless, the place looks run down from the outside, but inside is like a magical fairytale palace, with lots of charm reminiscent of a life long ago. Our room had arched wooden doorways we had to duck down to enter, the entire suite was spacious, and rose petals were placed everywhere.







In the middle of the riad was an atrium with a pool of water in the middle, surrounded by trees and plants. We had Moroccan mint tea (need to add plenty of sugar!), and a satisfyingly good dinner:

– salad course (eggplant dish, tomato dish, and green bean dish),
– main course (beef, tomato & egg dish, and noodles sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar),
– dessert (very dense chocolate cake with some kind of goat yogurt?)

 

First few days in Morocco

via our Facebook page:

We are alive! We’ve gotten lost in the streets, led astray by locals, almost run over by motorcycles, met very friendly people, and our stomachs are still ok!

@ http://www.facebook.com/pages/p/190184244496819