A rare trip outside of Europe for me and first to Africa. I chose Marrakesh as my birthday trip but I’d originally gone onto the Ryanair deals website to book a trip to Edinburgh! Marrakesh turned out to be cheaper and for a longer stay which included breakfast AND dinner! How!? But there was a large earthquake only a few weeks before our trip so it was in doubt right up until we headed there. You could see a lot of evidence of it in certain parts as we walked around.
Anyway, it turned out to be some experience, totally different to any holiday I’d ever been on before. We arrived late at night and went through a slightly scary passport control where we were questioned at length by a pretty stern policeman. Then I realised that my phone data plan didn’t work in Morocco because it’s not in Europe. That caused a lot of panic because I rely heavily on the phone while abroad. We had to do things the old fashioned way and try to find our way about manually until I got wifi and bought a data plan. The airport transfer turned out to be a shared drive with another woman (very bravely) travelling alone in someone’s old, personal car with a couple of very dodgy looking men. They dropped us off in a very rough looking part of town where we were met by another dodgy looking guy and let down dark, scary alleyways to our authentic Riad. I felt obliged to get the woman’s number before we got out of the taxi just in case she needed help! I’m not sure what we could have done if she got abducted though! Thankfully she texted later to say she reached her hotel safely..
Our authentic Moroccan Riad turned out to be very nice and the staff were friendly and helpful so we settled in for the night. Breakfast and dinners were adequate and the hotel had a lovely pool in the central area on the ground floor. I swam in it but I was the only one so maybe it was a pond!? Who knows.. We ventured out into the wild wonderful, scary town of Marrakesh after breakfast and to the insane Jemaa el-Fna central market area. I’ve never experienced anything like this. The sights, sounds, smells and tastes were insane. I was half terrified and half jaw-dropped. Between basically being henna raped and near kidnapped and robbed in the alleyways to having one of the best food experiences of my life on a food tour, we experienced the market to it’s fullest! Even crossing the road to get to the market was a near death experience. It seems you just do whatever you like on the roads in Marrakesh, the traffic light are just for decoration!
I’d highly recommend a food tour around the market. You are safer with a local guide rather than on your own. You wont be bothered by any traders. We tasted so many different things and most were awesome, the pick & mix nuts were a highlight but the snails weren’t! We even visited a herb and spice shop and got to drink mint tea (a habit I kept long after we came home) and sniff some weird nose clearing spice. It finishes with a group dinner where we had a traditional Moroccan Tagine, an awesome slow cooked stew which I’ve also tried at home a few times.
Other highlights included the beautiful Secret Garden or “Jardin Secret” and the Moroccan Museum. We paid a brief visit to the new, richer and more modern part of Marrakesh and it was totally dead with no atmosphere. It was a Sunday though.
I’d highly recommend Marrakesh for a once in a lifetime experience but I wouldn’t go back! Done..
