post

Marrakech medina – what a place!

 

Need your senses to be dazzled, your snake charmed, hands tattooed, lunch pulled out of a pit in the floor or second-hand false teeth?  Then we’ve got it covered!

The Marrakech souks are on the edge of the city’s main square – Djemaa el-Fna – inside the medina, or old town.

Looking across Djemaa el-Fna into the medina beyond

Looking across Djemaa el-Fna into the medina beyond

Here you will find any amount of entertainment – some of it even intentional – such as the intimidating snake charmers who guard their pitches ferociously, demanding money with menaces from anyone who dares to take photos from afar,

The snake charmer leaves one customer in no doubt about the price of a holiday snap

The snake charmer leaves one customer in no doubt about the price of a holiday snap

 

the drummers and dancers,

How can you resist those smiles!

How can you resist those smiles!

Drumming is an essential part of the day in Djemaa el-Fna

Drumming is an essential part of the day in Djemaa el-Fna

henna tattooists and amateur boxers.

Henna tattooists waiting for a client

Henna tattooists waiting for a client

Day and night it is all about the hustle and inside the medina it isn’t much different.

Morning time at Djemaa el-Fna and the square is barely awake - a shadow of its night life

Morning time at Djemaa el-Fna and the square is barely awake – a shadow of its night life

Nightime lights up Djemaa el-Fna

Nightime lights up Djemaa el-Fna

The medina is a rabbit warren of mutli-coloured stalls, assaulting your senses with colour, noise, taste and smell. Only the legions of satellite dishes perched atop ancient rooftops give away the modern world.

Handicrafts, food, spices, clothes, kitchenware, jewellery and shoes are everywhere – it is part local market, part tourist draw, with daily essentials and needless trinkets, beautiful artisan work and total tat in equal measure.

The shoeless salesman

The shoeless salesman

Looking down the medina side street

Looking down the medina side street

Light bounces off lights

Light bounces off lights

Herbs and spices, colour and scent combined

Herbs and spices, colour and scent combined

For once in Morocco - the price up front and obvious!

For once in Morocco – the price up front and obvious!

Any colour and any match

Any colour and any match

We strolled through for hours, just looking and tasting – especially tasting the mechoui – slow roast lamb which is lowered into pits in the floor of the tiny serving kiosks at the edge of the medina.

 

Mechoui Alley meat ready to go

Mechoui Alley meat ready to go

Mechoui ready for eating in the Marrakech medina - delicious

Mechoui ready for eating in the Marrakech medina – delicious

Mechoui pit in the middle of the kiosk - the lambs are slow baked in the hole heated by the hammam baths

Mechoui pit in the middle of the kiosk – the lambs are slow baked in the hole heated by the hammam baths

The clay pits steam day and night.

Mechoui is cooked in steaming pits heated from the fires of the neighbouring hammam (public baths)

Mechoui is cooked in steaming pits heated from the fires of the neighbouring hammam (public baths)

 

Whole lambs are raised from beneath the floor at lunchtime, then chunks are simply served in paper with fresh bread and cumin.

Mechoui lamb emerges from the steam pit

Mechoui lamb emerges from the steam pit

Mechoui piping hot is sold by weight in half kilo chunks

Mechoui piping hot is sold by weight in half kilo chunks

Mechoui (slow cooked lamb) mmmmh!

Mechoui (slow cooked lamb) mmmmh!

Deliciously tender and a perfect early lunch to set you up to feast on the excesses of medina life!

Thankfully the lamb was lovely and tender, so we didn’t need to avail ourselves of the second-hand teeth and dentures stall. We weren’t sure if the forceps were for pulling new stock or fitting the old ones!

Dentures for sale, or just single teeth if you prefer - forceps at the ready for fitting or exchange!

Dentures for sale, or just single teeth if you prefer – forceps at the ready for fitting or exchange!

In many ways life has barely changed in the square and medina. The Photography Museum exhibits from the early 20th century look strikingly similar to our ExtraordinaryPlaces exhibits from a century later.

A timeless place - this photo was taken in March 2014

A timeless place – this photo was taken in March 2014

And this photo was taken nearly a hundred years before

And this photo was taken nearly a hundred years before

The dress maybe more traditional, but the similarities are vivid in this image from the Photography Museum

The dress maybe more traditional, but the similarities are vivid in this image from the Photography Museum

 

The dress may be modern, but the street is unchanged

The dress may be modern, but the street is unchanged

 

There is so much more to see, so sit back and enjoy the show!

 

post

The high road to Marrakech

 

The road to Marrakech is worth a mention in its own right, for the sheer beauty, variety and breathtaking scale. It was a truly gorgeous and memorable mountain drive.

We left the dunes of Merzouga and found ourselves crossing wide valley floors, at first still with hard packed desert crust – known as reg, but soon scrubby bushes began to sprout in the valley and the distant mountains had a touch of white on their peaks.

After the desert sands, the earth gives way to barren road and mountains

After the desert sands, the earth gives way to barren road and mountains

And then desert becomes scrubland and rocks turn to ice

And then desert becomes scrubland and rocks turn to ice

En route we passed through the beautiful Gorges du Dades, with its curious rock formations, glorious mud kasbahs, almond blossom and deep canyons.

Gorgeous colours, shapes and angles in the Gorges du Dades

Gorgeous colours, shapes and angles in the Gorges du Dades

In the Gorges du Dades the colours almost defy nature

In the Gorges du Dades the colours almost defy nature

The Gorges has every rock formation imaginable, from boulders to melting wax

The Gorges has every rock formation imaginable, from boulders to melting wax

The houses in the Gorges du Dades are almost invisible against their mother earth

The houses in the Gorges du Dades are almost invisible against their mother earth

The Gorges houses ancient buildings that look more like clay models

The Gorges houses ancient buildings that look more like clay models

Gripping the sides of the Gorges du Dades, strange rock formations are a characteristic of the valley

Gripping the sides of the Gorges du Dades, strange rock formations are a characteristic of the valley

Great builders created beautiful kasbahs straight from the mud and earth

Great builders created beautiful kasbahs straight from the mud and earth

We made a short stop at the most recognized kasbah in Morocco – Kasbah Amridil.

The most famous kasbah in Morocco - Amridil - as seen on a 50 dirham note

The most famous kasbah in Morocco – Amridil – as seen on a 50 dirham note

The modest courtyard of the Kasbah Amridil

The modest courtyard of the Kasbah Amridil

The mudbrick walls of Kasbah Amridil have stood the test of time - just!

The mudbrick walls of Kasbah Amridil have stood the test of time – just!

The music may have stopped but the kasbah Amridil lives on

The music may have stopped but the kasbah Amridil lives on

 Soon we started to climb, and despite our 2CV Charlie Charleston being fully loaded, his mighty 600cc engine, combined with Geoff’s navigation of every twist and turn – finally brought us over the highest road in Morocco – the Tizi n’Tichka at 2260m. 

Just the spot for a picnic in the High Atlas

Just the spot for a picnic in the High Atlas

The palms give way to rock and ice

The palms give way to rock and ice

The barren hills on the south side of the High Atlas

The barren hills on the south side of the High Atlas

There is always a place for a pot seller, even on the highest road in Marrakech!

There is always a place for a pot seller, even on the highest road in Marrakech!

The slopes are starting to show more vegatation

The slopes are starting to show more vegatation

The long, winding and glorious road through the mountains

The long, winding and glorious road through the mountains

Almost immediately we began to descend, we found ourselves in another world, very far from the desert roads and dunes to which we had become accustom. Verdant valleys, bright with green grass and fields, it felt like another country, not the other side of the mountain.

The southern slopes give way to green hills on the northern side

The southern slopes give way to green hills on the northern side

The sudden change is like a different country, with succulent cacti and rolling hills

The sudden change is like a different country, with succulent cacti and rolling hills

But the snowy Atlas Mountains never really leave you – even in the heart of Marrakech, they are quietly peering over your shoulder in the distance.

Welcome to Marrakech - with the snow caps faintly showing in the distance

Welcome to Marrakech – with the snow caps faintly showing in the distance