Marrakesh

     Last night Le General took the evening off (a mild case of travel fatigue/culture shock) while Ford, Ed and Asha walked to a nearby restaurant, guided by a "bodyguard" provided courtesy of the hotel.  We dined on the roof and were visited by stray cats.  The food was truly scrumptious -- cous cous, tagine, and pastilla (a Moroccan chicken/almond pie with a crust dusted with cinnamon).  Yum!  And, of course, no dinner would be complete here without mint tea, olives, bread, cucumbers, potatoes, spicy beans, beets, tomatoes, and oranges with cinnamon.  Oh, and other goodies too.

     After an outstanding breakfast the next morning (do NOT try to diet for a bodybuilding competition while touring Morocco), we met our guide for the day -- Abdul.  He took us all around the labyrinth of narrow streets and alleys that comprise central Marrakesh (i.e., the old medina).  Without him, we would have been lost immediately.  He took us to the Palais de la Bahia, a sort of mini-Alhamra where royalty once resided, to a carpet "cooperative" (or so we were told) where carpet making was demonstrated and wares were sold, through a small museum and shop selling spices and oils, and then through the warren of "souks" (shops in a vast network of alleys) selling everything imaginable (from live chickens to leather goods to dessert delicacies and things in between).  We bought some cookies and a few bags of spice and ended up at Djemaa el-Fna which our guidebook describes as "the backdrop for one of the world's greatest spectacles."  We wandered about wide-eyed, soaking it al in.  Let's let some pictures do the talking:

Typical Alleyway

Abdul Explains Something in Courtyard of Former Palace

Royal Residence

Descending Into the Labyrinth

Ed Makes a Cookie Purchase in the Souks -- a Demi-Kilo Melange

In the Souks with Abdul

Cobra

Parting Company with Abdul

More Cobras

Spices Piled High

Carts of Goodies Abound . . .

 

     We parted from Abdul about 1:30, had another satisfying rooftop lunch, and then decided to try and find our way back to our riad on foot.  Within 10 minutes we were lost in the souks . . . . we approached a boy of about 16 to ask directions, and he turned us the right way and walked us much of the way back to our riad . . . he seemed grateful for our tip of 20 Dirhams (about $2.50), which was a bargain for both sides.

     Without exception, we have found everyone to be very kind and nice to us.  There has been little "hard selling" and bargaining occurs in good spirit.  Yet Morocco is poorer and less developed than we had even anticipated.  Litter is everywhere, traffic is insane, cats and dogs roam . . . . .We must seem very rich to the average Moroccan . . . . our guidebook says the average Moroccan earns $3.50 a day.  Even at ten times that amount, we would seem rich.

     Now we are relaxing at the riad, but tonight we will return to Djemaa el-Fna where things are really supposed to get nutty.  Here's what the guidebook says:

     "At night the curtain goes up on rows of open-air food stalls infusing the area with mouthwatering aromas.  Jugglers, storytellers, snake charmers, musicians, acrobats and benign lunatics consuming the remaining space with the occasional hustler, pickpocket, hashish dealer and glue-sniffing kid.  Snail soup is steaming, the kebabs are smoking, and sheep heads are offered for sale . . . all is eaten but the eyes . . . .but the real dessert is the show unfolding around the square . . . . . "