Great cities have an energy that sets them apart, New York, Bangkok, and Paris come to mind, Marrakech is part of those elite cities that have their own special energy.
The traffic is chaotic, the souk is a loud and frenetic zoo, and the main square despite being under construction overloads the senses. It is a truly cool city that you will either love or hate immediately.
I’ve been driving in Europe, North America and South America, and the traffic going into the city center was world class chaos. I thought it was my opinion, but our English neighbors who have been in the country for 60 days told us they were so glad they didn’t drive into the city.
We started out by visiting the main Mosque in Marrakech. Koutoubia Mosque was built around 1100 AD. It is the tallest Mosque in town. Like most buildings that are 900 years old it is undergoing maintenance. Ton had to walk a long way to capture a picture that did not have scaffolding or construction equipment in it.
We next entered the souk, without a plan, Ton wanted to look for some soap that is famous here. It is hard to describe how immense this marketplace is. We spent about 4 hours walking, and I guess we may have covered 10% of it. It is full of hidden alleyways and side rows with different merchants. It is a fantastic place to visit. The alleys are throbbing with energy, it is a mix of tourists and locals shopping together, but for very different products usually.
The roads in the souk are only 8 to 10 feet wide with shoppers, shop keepers ,and motorcycles and bicycles all vying for space to move, or talk. It has a throbbing energy, and you have to be aware of what is going on at all times.
We eventually found the cooperative that we were looking for that sells soap, perfume, and spices for food. It is a way for women in villages surrounding Marrakech to market their products and to get a fair wage.
After an extensive shopping expedition in the cooperative we asked for recommendations for lunch. The salesman we were working with took us about 300 yards thru the souk to an old restaurant that used their spices.
What was amazing about this place was one minute we were walking down this crazy narrow alley way full of people and motorcycles and our guide suddenly turned into a nondescript door and we entered a peaceful beautiful, and immense space.
After entering the enclosed courtyard we were led thru a series of hallways until we entered the open air garden of the female riad which had been maintained in its original state. This was the restaurant we would have lunch in. It was a beautiful setting and we were a bit overwhelmed.
We settled in for a three course lunch. Our waiter had a sense of humor when we ordered a bottle of sparkling water with lunch he declared it to be Marrakech Champagne and mimicked the wine tasting process with the water. He explained that alcohol cannot be served within 150 meters of a Mosque in Morocco which means in the Medina of Marrakech it cannot be served anywhere as there are so many mosques that no place is more than 150 meters from a Mosque.
We spent another couple of hours happily exploring the souk, before heading back to the campground for the evening. We think there are a few more days to be spent in Marrakech.
