I’m sure that when you read about Marrakech or Morroco the words used most often include: intoxicating, exotic, astonishing, magical, mesmerising, and spectacular and every word is true. We were here four nights and I feel we only touched the surface of what Morocco had to offer.

Marrakech, Morocco, located in North Africa is an intriguing mix of cultures with Arabic, African, Berber and Mediterranean influences evident throughout the city. Although French is the main language spoken it doesn’t hurt to know a bit of Arabic if you really want to get a feel for the city. Luckily for us English is also fairly wide-spoken though, as we often found, what you think you said and what is actually understood doesn’t necessarily always match.

Photos, Photos, Photos.

When?	Mid November 2007
Why Go?	The heady mix of cultures, the chance to practice your bargaining skills, the beautiful women, the glorious sunsets, the gorgeous weather, and last but definitely not least the hammans and spas (divine!).
Weather	Couldn’t ask for better. Though temps ranged between about 15-30 degrees in any one day it was warm when it counted most – when we were poolside!
Hint	– Know in advance what you should expect to pay for taxis to and from the airport (we paid about £10/160 Dh from the airport to Guilez – probably still a rip-off!) and getting about town (from £1.20-£3.00/20-50 Dh for petit taxis.) And make sure you agree your taxi fare before you start your journey.
	– Try to always have a few smaller denomination dirhams on hand for tips and paying taxi fares. In all likelihood if you hand over a large note the taxi driver or other will just think you’re being generous with the tip.
	– Be thick-skinned! When walking about you will be hassled – whether for a taxi ride or in the Square to get you to buy/donate/eat/drink etc. Generally, approaches will be very polite (always prefaced by Excuse Me, or Sir, or Ma’am, or some sort of greeting that will encourage you to engage in conversation) so it is much easier to ignore them and keep on walking if you’re not interested in what they’re offering than to politely respond with your refusal – otherwise you will be there all day.
	– When bargaining start at least at the third of the offered price and if its not going where you like it – walk away. Its amazing how quickly the vendor will agree to something close to your price as soon as you start the walk!
	– Finally. Relax! It is a culture very far removed from Western understanding, despite the European influences, and its easy to let the hustle and bustle get under your skin. The best thing to do is accept the culture for what it is an enjoy!
Regrets	Not having more time to take a trip to experience the Outdoor Morocco with the amazing landscapes of mountain and desert.

The Experience

The greatest thing about this Marrakech trip was the sense of balance I had between the part of me that wanted to rush around and see all the sights and the part of me that just simply wanted to relax. That is not to say that in the past my trips are not about relaxing but this trip in particular had more focus. We chose Marrakech because not only does it offer world class spa facilities at reasonable (if not particularly cheap) prices but it also offers a city which is rich in culture and is so far removed from our everyday life that it could only promise to be interesting. As a result I’ve titled this entry “A Tale of Two Holidays” because really I felt like I experienced two different sides of Marrakech on this trip:
– The Tourist and Traditional Side
– The Luxurious and Indulgent Side

Even though we were in Marrakech for only a few days our days sort of took on a routine. We’d have a leisurely wake up, explore the city about, come back to the hotel for a bit of r&r by the pool, have some lunch, head back out in the afternoon for more exploring or a visit to a spa, head into the Djemâa el Fna Square for dinner, and then head back to our hotel for some mint tea before bed. It was all quite lovely and I think I even managed to work up a bit of a tan. Glad I brought my sunscreen!

The Tourist and Traditional Side

A true holiday to Marrakech is about the experience – the colours, the smells, the sounds. Although it has its sights to visit just like any other city I felt that it was less about the sights and more about the people and the feeling you got when exploring the city. It was almost like stepping back in time. So much so that trying to get anywhere in a hurry will result in your frustration more than anything. It’s the kind of city where the charm is more in what you don’t know is there and stumble upon than what you actually seek if that makes any sense at all. Here are some of the highlights of the sights:

• At the top of the list must surely come the Djemâa el Fna Square – the heart of Marrakech. Day or night you will not fail to find something to entertain you here. We didn’t see it all, because more often than not we found ourselves lost in the maze that is the Marrakech street system, but The Square is where you’ll find such things as the souks, mosques, terraced cafés, musicians, acrobats, snake charmers, henna women, and fortune-tellers. At all times you can get fresh orange juice or dried fruit. At night the Square transforms into line after line of hot food stalls where offerings include snails, cow heads and the more traditional meat kebabs and tagines. Its not only the tourists who flock to the Square and nowhere is it more fun to observe the locals at play. If it all gets a bit much the rooftop cafes around the Square offer a magical seat to watch it all going down.

• Menara Gardens. The best time to visit the Gardens is towards late afternoon near sunset when all the locals come out to enjoy the beauty of the lagoon and the surrounds. Even at this time of year when the luscious gardens are less green (okay let’s face it – it was practically a desert although when going for a wander through the gardens we did see green, pink and black olives adorning the trees), the lagoon offers the perfect sunset vista. On a clear day, which it was for us, you can see out to the Atlas Mountains.

• El Badi Palace. The palace is now mostly in ruins and surrounded by nesting storks. That is not to say that the Palace is not beautiful. With the four sunken gardens in the centre of the palace surrounding a giant pool all of which is surrounded by beautiful sandstone walls you can imagine just how beautiful and opulent the palace used to be.

• Ali ben Youssef Medersa. An amazingly well-preserved 16th-century Koranic school this is North Africa’s largest. The intricate detail in the carvings in this school is very cool. The rooms, though numerous, were a lot smaller and darker than expected. This is well worth a visit.

• Musée de Marrakesh. There is nothing too exciting about this museum except for the gigantic chandelier type lamp in the central atrium. The fact that Akhlaq didn’t even see it until I pointed out was what was most amusing – considering it takes up a fair chunk of the room! There are revolving exhibitions in here but we had no idea what they were about as there weren’t any English translations.

Food was an interesting challenge. On our first night we thought we’d try the food stalls in the Square. Although I was a bit wary of getting food poisoning I was hoping the grilling would take away most of the risk. In fact the guide books suggest that you are more likely to get food poisoning from the plates themselves than the food because the plates are often washed with water only and water that has no doubt been recycled a number of times to wash other plates! The food was actually a lot tastier than I thought it was going to be and whilst its definitely a buzz being in the middle of it all a once off experience was enough for me.

On another night we decided to try our hotel’s Marrakesh restaurant with the promise of belly dancing. The following is some footage of the girl who danced for us – it was a bit embarrassing as she came up to every single table and danced in front of you. Talk about not knowing where to look:

I’ve talked before about how Moroccon food does not seem all that exciting to me so I was hoping that eating it from the source, that is Marrakech, I would feel a little differently. Well, the pigeon pastry I had as my starter was definitely something a little different. Strangely sweet it wasn’t too bad, except for the fact that it seemed the whole pigeon, that is bones included, was inside my pastry! My fish tagine was also fairly tasty although after eating my starter, most of Akhlaq’s starter, and some of his main I could barely touch it. 🙂

The Luxurious and Indulgent Side

Aside from the fact we lazed about under the sun a lot, we also made sure to fit in some visits to the local spas. Our biggest mistake was in not booking the visits before we left for Marrakech. Although we were able to get three treatments it would have been a lot easier to have everything pre-booked. Then again, the benefit of booking in Marrakech was that we got to see what some of the venues were like. Initially we were going to have treatments at three different hotels, including at our own hotel the Kenzi Farah, but because of the 1900 Dirham Drama we ended up going to one hotel twice.

Let me first of all say that I’ve never had any of these sorts of treatments before whether it’s a body scrub or a massage so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I can also say that I’m very glad I bought a bikini at the airport before I turned up in Marrakech. This, at least, allowed me a measure of modesty though I realised quickly that there was no point half the time in wearing my bikini top because, aside from the fact you walk from the change room to wherever you need to go in a giant bathrobe, as soon as you get into the room you’re told to take your top off anyway. At least I got to keep my bottoms on, sort of!

Here are the treatments we had: