Marrakech : A walk in the Souks

The first thing that comes to mind when people talk about Morocco would be Marrakech. And I never knew how chaotic Marrakech is, especially in its square. There will be people dancing, holding monkeys, doing arcrobatic shows, drawing henna tattoos, gambing and so on. When you stand by and watch, or if their monkey touches you, you'll have to give some money for the show.

Authentic Moroccan Mint Tea served everytime we arrive back to the Riad

Riad Marrakech Rose

Upon arriving Marrakech, we took a bus from the airport to the Djemaa el Fna square. And it all started. With our backpacks and luggages, faux guides starting following us and offering help or an accomodation and showing us ways. It was pretty annoying. Beware to those who will be visiting Marrakech. Especially if you're not Caucasian. It seems like they only target asian tourists. European people could just roam around without the horror. A lady in my flight told me that they have undercover cops that would arrest locals would harras foreigners. Maybe that'll only be for Europeans or Americans. I don't know.

Well our horror story was that there was a man named Abdul Rahman. Who kept repeating that he's genuine in helping us and that he did'nt want money. Then he showed us to the wrong hostel. Yeah, which alley, I don't know. We could have been sold at the black market. So when we arrived our hostel, the manager greeted us, and this guy asked for money. Tolong tak penah nak ikhlas. So we gave him a few coins. And he gave them back and asked for 20 Dirhams! We were already quite pissed. So we went in to take a break because we were both pissed and tired (we slept at the airport the night before). We were served mint tea which was over-the-moon.

My choice of Tagine Lamb (60 Dirhams)

Because we did'nt speak neither French nor Arabic, we decided to follow the Lonely Planet guide. Had lunch in a very touristy place, and walked the alleys of the Souks. We were quite tired in the afternoon so we went back to take a nap and headed back out for dinner.

 The Souk alleys of Marrakech

An unattended stall of dried fruits

Iguanas for Sale :: Tapestry for Sale

It was really fun to walk throgh the Souks, but we didn't dare look for too long before a salesman comes out to get us to buy something. Watching was really fun. They were many kinds of people there. From pursuasive salesman, to elderly women who stand along the sides trying to sell thier homemade cakes. One thing that caught me by surprise was the people riding on motorbikes. With a narrow street crammed with human beings, at the same place, there will be dozens of bikes and mopeds trying to get through, not forgetiing horses that are parked along the alleys. I fear that my leg would might just get torched by the exhaust of those bikes. And they ride them really fast in those alleys. And you just might be in luck if you could photograph without people screaming at you, asking for photographing fees or calling you crazy. Because I got called crazy!