Marrakesh: Shrines and Souks

After breakfast at about 8.30am, in the courtyard – a beautiful, restful spot, since there don’t appear to be any other guests staying at the riad – we set out to the north this time.

The alleys soon turned into the labyrinth of the souk (bazaar) – a confusing maze of merchandise-lined passages that all looked the same; outside each shop a man sitting on a little chair trying to entice you to enter. The hassling really wasn’t that bad, as we really weren’t browsing – neither of us are much into shopping when we travel, and frankly it feels like after you’ve seen your hundredth tagine dish, metal lantern, wooden chess set, or blue pot you’ve kind of seen them all.

Without too much difficulty we came out onto a square with the Ben Youssef Mosque before us, and found the 14th century Ben Youssef Madrasa (theological college) nearby. Very similar to the one in Fez, but we could look upstairs and poke out noses into the various small cells where students once crammed religious and legal texts.

Nearby we visited the Musée de Marrakech, which featured the usual collection of fabrics, pottery, and weaponry, with Arabic and French descriptions; however the palace courtyard of the museum was beautiful, roofed by a modern arcade that cast a soft yellow light over everything, and dominated by a huge metal lantern. A fountain played, as did soft background music. We stopped for mint tea at the outside cafe.

Next stop on our 60 Dh, 3 in 1 ticket was the Almoravid Qubba (also known as the Qubba al-Ba’diyyin), a small 12th century Almoravid shrine in an excavation below the level of the road. A simple, serene little building with unusual carved decorations in its ceiling.

Plunging once more into the souk, we rapidly managed to get lost trying to find a couple of sustainable co-operative shops in which we could buy some things for family. Eventually we asked a guy, who put us back on the right path for 15 Dh.

For lunch, we ate at the Terrasse des Épice, a very well-run rooftop terrace restaurant, featuring individual mud-brick booths lightly sprayed with mists of cold water. The food was excellent and I think I finally had a decent chicken bastilla.

Using Terrasse des Épice to regain our bearings we struggled on with the very rough Lonely Planet map, and eventually found a little shop called KifKif where we bought a few things. Nothing’s particularly cheap, but at least we’ve got that out of the way!

Back to Riad Magi and some chill out time, at about 3pm. Exhausted!

While resting I was suddenly afflicted with a mild nausea and thought I was going to throw up – I lay down and Carol patted me down with a cold, damp towel, and after a rest I eventually recovered. Just a last bout of something before leaving Morocco!

I felt better in the evening thankfully, and we headed out again about 6pm. Walking north into the souks from Jemaa el-Fnaa, I chose a shop selling slippers whose owner was sitting at the back, and strode in with a big smile introducing myself. In the end, after at least ten minutes in the shop, I think I only saved 50 Dh on his original price, but the haggling was fun. I got three pairs of Moroccan leather slippers (babouche) in orange – one pair for me and two for presents.

We continued on and came to the Plaza Rahba Kedima, a small irregularly-shaped square which seemed to mostly feature hats and bags for sale. We had a Schweppes Citron on a terrace overlooking the square, then I bought a crocheted cap from a small store owned by a woman in full hijab, only a pair of laughing eyes showing as we haggled in a friendly fashion, and I got her price from 80 Dh to 40. A more successful haggle! Carol told her, laughing, “now he feels more like a man!”

We wandered our way back to Jemaa el-Fnaa and found another restaurant and another terrace, there to eat thin pizzas and watch the endless comings and goings of hundreds of people criss-crossing the square. Little cats begged us for scraps from the other side of the railing (of course Carol gave in, and what’s more I had to save the ham on my pizza for the scrawny mother and kittens that huddled outside out riad’s front door).

After refuelling we briefly re-entered the souks to buy a small pendant for our friends in London who let us sleep on their couch. I spied some pottery cups and after laughing heartily at the shopkeeper’s starting price of 2780 Dh beat him down to 90 Dh. That’s more like it! As I remembered from my old Egypt trip, haggling is fun as long as you stay as good-natured as possible – I’m sure the people we bought from appreciated a big smile and a joke too, because I’ve seen some grim-faced, haughty tourists in the souks, that’s for sure.

We had a long travel day ahead so we strolled home through the chaos and back to the riad, where I’m now lying in bed catching up on the day’s events in this diary. While tired, a bit sick, and ready to leave, a big part of me is going to miss the sensory overload of these Moroccan cities. It keeps your senses working overtime, to paraphrase the XTC song. And I love the irregular shapes and textures of the medinas; the narrow twisting alleys that look like something out of a German Expressionist film. Our modern cities are so sharp and square, designed and planned, in contrast to the way these chaotic conglomerations of mud brick and concrete have organically grown up around the people living in them.

Still, we have a couple of weeks remaining on our holiday and plan to make the most of them exploring things we both love in England – castles, manor houses, cathedrals, abbeys. How lucky I am to be with a woman who loves the things I do.