Omg! Such a cool city
Note that I wrote most of this post yesterday (everything between the lines) but didn't publish this due to bad internet 😊.
I'm a little biased due to all the nostalgia I mentioned in the last post but this city is pretty fricking awesome. I chickened out and decided not to explore on my own. I witnessed enough yesterday when I went out for dinner with the girls (let's just say that they aren't very respectful of women) that I decided to play it safe. As such, I booked a tour through the hostel. It was super easy to do. It's supposed to be shared but I was the only person signed up so I got to go everywhere. I did get the driver Saeed's contact info in case anyone ever decides to visit. He was very sweet, explained everything and took me to authentic places versus trying to fleece me for commission (I verified on getting home). So let's see, we started with the Medina. Medina means old city. The old city is separated from the new by a wall that goes around 20 kms. There are 17 unique doors into the Medina. To beat the crowds, Saeed took me to the Jardin Majorelle first. These gardens were built by a french man and maintained by a non-profit. It was pretty beautiful and super calm. I actually recorded some of the audio in case you want to hear it when I'm back.
After spending some time there, we made our way to the Palmerie. It's filled with date palms and cashew trees. The guide mentioned that it is now become the place for rich people to stay and government officials to celebrities have villas here. In the Palmerie, I rode a camel. I'm sensitive about hurting animals so I learned a little bit before hand about how you can tell if a camel is being treated well - no scars around mouth, good strength in front legs etc... The camel had its baby walk with us too to train it to walk as well. It was a fun walk and the camel guide even made me a funky camel ring out of a palm leaf.
As we were heading to the next stop, the guide noticed my bag and offered to take me to the local tannery (thanks Aunty 😉). It was amazing to watch the process at the tanneries with a bunch of mint in my hand (to help with the smell). They manufacture all kinds of leather and use only natural dyes for coloring. I was then taken to a shop where I did some shopping. It's the only shop/group of shops in Marrakech by the government and so they have fixed and good prices which is awesome since I suck at bargaining. The money goes straight to the tribes and people making the goods. This area is the oldest area within the Medina and a lot of crafts began here. The souls all get their goods from here which is why the prices are good.
Sounds like a lot in one day right? But I still had the palaces to visit. The bahia palace and the badi palace are enormous and super old now.
I finally ended my trip in a spice shop where they make a bunch of different spices and extract argan oil by hand too. I was tempted to get some tea and a spice called king of the spices from here but I honestly have no space left 😒. She did tell me that the moroccan tea that is so good and everywhere is 90% green tea and 10% mint tea. I'm going to try that combo at home.
And that was my big day today. I spent the early evening relaxing in the sun and absorbing as much of it as I could before I leave tomorrow.
Fun fact: a lot of people believe that everyone speaks French in Morocco. It explains the large number of French tourists here. Turns out that isn't true for every place in Morocco. In Marrakech, for example, they speak mostly Arabic and Berber and a few people speak French. The tour guides and hostel people, on the other hand speak like 15 different languages.
Fun fact #2: people in Morocco love India and Bollywood. They go crazy for it.
P.S. For all those who were worried about me, thank you. I was super careful, read up on all the scams and avoided trouble partially because of your warnings. I didn't ask anyone for directions or get sucked into people trying to sell me goods so I didn't get cursed or cornered. I didn't click any pictures with anyone and used "La Shukran" a lot. I'm on my way to Portugal now with a stomach full on Moroccan breakfast (see pic below, it covers all the major food groups 😉) and my throat soothed with the oil remedies the kind people working at the hostel and fellow travellers gave me (to help with this cough that refuses to leave me).
By the way I updated my previous post with some photos.
I'm a little biased due to all the nostalgia I mentioned in the last post but this city is pretty fricking awesome. I chickened out and decided not to explore on my own. I witnessed enough yesterday when I went out for dinner with the girls (let's just say that they aren't very respectful of women) that I decided to play it safe. As such, I booked a tour through the hostel. It was super easy to do. It's supposed to be shared but I was the only person signed up so I got to go everywhere. I did get the driver Saeed's contact info in case anyone ever decides to visit. He was very sweet, explained everything and took me to authentic places versus trying to fleece me for commission (I verified on getting home). So let's see, we started with the Medina. Medina means old city. The old city is separated from the new by a wall that goes around 20 kms. There are 17 unique doors into the Medina. To beat the crowds, Saeed took me to the Jardin Majorelle first. These gardens were built by a french man and maintained by a non-profit. It was pretty beautiful and super calm. I actually recorded some of the audio in case you want to hear it when I'm back.
After spending some time there, we made our way to the Palmerie. It's filled with date palms and cashew trees. The guide mentioned that it is now become the place for rich people to stay and government officials to celebrities have villas here. In the Palmerie, I rode a camel. I'm sensitive about hurting animals so I learned a little bit before hand about how you can tell if a camel is being treated well - no scars around mouth, good strength in front legs etc... The camel had its baby walk with us too to train it to walk as well. It was a fun walk and the camel guide even made me a funky camel ring out of a palm leaf.
As we were heading to the next stop, the guide noticed my bag and offered to take me to the local tannery (thanks Aunty 😉). It was amazing to watch the process at the tanneries with a bunch of mint in my hand (to help with the smell). They manufacture all kinds of leather and use only natural dyes for coloring. I was then taken to a shop where I did some shopping. It's the only shop/group of shops in Marrakech by the government and so they have fixed and good prices which is awesome since I suck at bargaining. The money goes straight to the tribes and people making the goods. This area is the oldest area within the Medina and a lot of crafts began here. The souls all get their goods from here which is why the prices are good.
Sounds like a lot in one day right? But I still had the palaces to visit. The bahia palace and the badi palace are enormous and super old now.
I finally ended my trip in a spice shop where they make a bunch of different spices and extract argan oil by hand too. I was tempted to get some tea and a spice called king of the spices from here but I honestly have no space left 😒. She did tell me that the moroccan tea that is so good and everywhere is 90% green tea and 10% mint tea. I'm going to try that combo at home.
And that was my big day today. I spent the early evening relaxing in the sun and absorbing as much of it as I could before I leave tomorrow.
Fun fact: a lot of people believe that everyone speaks French in Morocco. It explains the large number of French tourists here. Turns out that isn't true for every place in Morocco. In Marrakech, for example, they speak mostly Arabic and Berber and a few people speak French. The tour guides and hostel people, on the other hand speak like 15 different languages.
Fun fact #2: people in Morocco love India and Bollywood. They go crazy for it.
P.S. For all those who were worried about me, thank you. I was super careful, read up on all the scams and avoided trouble partially because of your warnings. I didn't ask anyone for directions or get sucked into people trying to sell me goods so I didn't get cursed or cornered. I didn't click any pictures with anyone and used "La Shukran" a lot. I'm on my way to Portugal now with a stomach full on Moroccan breakfast (see pic below, it covers all the major food groups 😉) and my throat soothed with the oil remedies the kind people working at the hostel and fellow travellers gave me (to help with this cough that refuses to leave me).
By the way I updated my previous post with some photos.
Comments