Marrakech

We had three days in Marrakech, up from the original plan of two days
and to be honest it was one day too many. There is only so much of
souks, souvenirs and kasbahs one can take in.

The riad which housed us was excellent - a blissful retreat from the
chaos outside; quiet, cool, comfortable; the hostess friendly and
helpful. Hot showers and tea were the first things on our minds after
the long overnight bus ride from Merzouga After getting recharged
such, we hit the streets. The riad was in the old, walled city - the
medina - a 16 sq. km collection of filthy alleyways coated in fresh
horse dung, mostly unmarked with plenty of dead-ends and unintuitive
twists. Yes, you got it, the world's smelliest maze. Then you throw in
the crowds. The streets were barely four persons wide if you stood
shoulder to shoulder, and there must have been at least a bazillion
people walking down any given street at any moment, pushing and
shoving. Then you throw in the frequent bicycle, moped or scooter
travelling at a fair pelt (expecting people to jump out of the way),
the occasional horse carriage or donkey cart, and even the occasional
car ( wing mirrors scraping either side of the street ) and you get
the idea of the brand of chaos I'm talking about. The picture below
does it no justice - this was taken early in the day in the main
square, before the real crowds kicked in. And again, with insane and
aggressive touting, you can see how this quickly became tiresome. The
place really felt medieval, not just for the small streets and chaos,
but also for the peoples' attitudes and the 'wild west' feel. I can
understand now why many folks choose to spend a large part of their
time in Marrakech in the safe confines of their riad - or in the new,
modern and rather anonymous and dull New Town (think large boulevards
and malls).

Anyway, we were adventurous, rubbed shoulders (literally) with the
locals, got in (and out of) some scrapes, tried to out-tout the touts,
saw the sights and usual tourist attractions of the city, etc. (the
museum, menara Islamic college, palaces, main mosque, are all
breathtakingly beautiful pieces of architecture). All in though, by
the last day, we were pretty happy to be leaving. :)