Week 1 Part 2: Marrakech

Marvelous, Mind-blowing, Morocco

"I don't think we're in Europe anymore."

Links to other helpful sites & blog posts are underlined.

 

Les Jardins Majorelle, French-inspired Moroccan garden

 

Palais Badii (the Badii Palace) in the Medina, the center of Marrakech

Truly Experiencing Foreign Cultures

Around this time last year, I spent the second to last week of my Australian semester abroad in Indonesia. I spent one week on a solo trip in Bali, and I absolutely loved it. Throughout that trip, I kept thinking to myself "This is the most foreign place I've ever been." Well, Morocco blows Bali out of the water in that respect. 

 

Bali was incredibly touristy, and so was Marrakech, but the culture surrounding tourists in each place is very different. In my opinion, the general attitude of Balinese toward tourists is to please them and to help them have a good experience so the tourism cycle continues. In Marrakech, the shop vendors and business owners also care about tourism, but their mindset is more focused on making a sale. Tourism drives both economies, but in Marrakech you can clearly see the difference between locals who want tourists in their neighborhood and those who don't.

In both cities, I felt I really had to keep my guard up with every purchase because there was a chance I would get ripped off and over-charged. However, in Bali, I generally felt safer. In Marrakech, I felt more noticed and targeted as a tourist, specifically a female one, who could fall into a sales trap. However, that did not stop us from having a great time and even laughing about the mishaps later.

 

As I mentioned in my posts about Bali, there is poverty everywhere, and it's a strange dynamic when you're on vacation looking to relax and spend money but you also feel so terrible for the impoverished people everywhere you look. 

Because of the lifestyle I've been gifted with and born into, I have the ability to get a glimpse of the experiences that Moroccans live through every day. Because of the lifestyle the people in and around Marrakech have been given, they will most likely never get a glimpse of the lifestyle I live. It is truly mind-blowing.

In spite of or maybe because of the poverty in Marrakech, many workers, especially tour guides & people who work most closely with tourism, speak 2-3 other languages besides Arabic. It's so impressive, and it's equally unfortunate that I, with a much higher level of education, am just getting stronger in my Spanish fluency but primarily only speak English. I couldn't have communicated even close to efficiently in Morocco if I didn't speak English. It's all at once intimidating because of the drastic differences in language, motivating because I'd love to learn a new language now, and awe-striking because I'm reminded that my first language is the most universal and the easiest to use for communicating no matter where you are. 

Another cultural experience of Morocco was being there during Ramadan, a month-long religious celebration in the Islamic year. Ramadan tends to alter the hours of restaurants and businesses because almost every local you see is fasting from sunrise to sunset. And I don't mean fasting like "It's Friday during Lent and I'm not eating any snacks or meat today." I mean no food, no water, no nothing, from sunrise to sunset. For a WHOLE MONTH. 

The whole concept is really fascinating. However, if you do visit during this time, keep in mind that many dinner places won't serve food until after sunset, and there will be huge crowds near the mosques and in the squares during prayer times, especially around sunset. Listening to the prayers coming from the mosque towers at sunset is alarming at first, but it's quite cool and was one of my favorite parts of our trip, even though I understood nothing. 

The Best Part: Our Favorites

Favorite attraction: camel riding & four-wheeling

  

Dunes & Desert

• For the 2nd day of our 3 day trip, we chose to do a camel-riding excursion. (huge thanks @Kaila Lewis :))
• For only €95 per person, we spent a full 7 hours out in the desert, just north of a Marrakech city, where we rode camels, ate delicious food, and drove four-wheelers (aka quad bikes) around the dirt roads and dunes.
• Read my review on TripAdvisor or check out Dunes & Desert's social media for more details. This truly was the best part of our Moroccan trip, and it definitely makes the list of Most Adventurous Things I've Ever Done.

 

  

Check back later for pics from the second half of the tour: quad biking! Our guide took us to an amazing lookout point near the Atlas mountain range.

Favorite food: Beef ta'jin 

• Why: ta'jin/Tajine/Tangine is the most famous dish in Marrakech. It's their city's adaptation of a traditional Moroccan dish. The presentation is amazing because they bring it out in this huge clay dish with a funky funnel-looking covering, and when they open the covering, everything is steaming hot 
• Where: Every restaurant
• What: We ate Tangine every day, including different versions with lamb, beef or chicken. The best was the one on the tour because it had huge chunks of fresh veggies like carrot and cucumber 
• How much: included with Dunes & Desert tour price! In a sit-down restaurant, it can be anywhere from €10-20 for a good portion.

 

Other favorite food: Trid with chicken at Terrace de Épices restaurant

• Trid- delicious flat noodle thing that tastes like dumplings
• Also, if you go to Marrakech, get a reservation at the restaurant. It gets crowded on weekends. It's a fantastic place & a little pricier but so worth it. Also had some of the best chocolate lava cake of our lives, & coming from me that's a big compliment!

Favorite drink: Moroccan mint tea 

• Why: this is a huge tradition in Morocco, and people say they make some of the best tea in the world. I love tea, but everybody we were with who doesn't usually drink tea also loved it in Morocco!
• Where: Hotels, riads, your activities, spas, etc.
• What: Green or black tea (I'm still unsure) with a big handful of mint leaves and a LOT of sugar (recipe). They all pour it from at least a foot and a half above the pot, steaming hot. It's a cool experience just to watch the locals make it.
• How much: free/complimentary with many activities; €1-2 for a pot at a restaurant. Hopefully reasonably priced at Teavana if I now want some for myself home :)

 

 

Advice for travelers:

I could probably write a whole blog post (or possibly a whole chapter of a book) about how to handle yourself as a tourist in Morocco, including common mistakes to avoid. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it certainly means there is a lot to know about this country. Still, no matter how much you know, at some point you'll be confused and you'll most likely get overcharged at least once.

That being said, the sharing of information is a wonderful tool, and I can't help but overshare about this amazing and surprising place. These are our best tips for Marrakech. 

• Exchange your currency in the Marrakesh aiport. They had a great rate compared to Spain, and it was important to have dirhams (Moroccan currency) on our person when we left the airport and got in a taxi. Also, always bring cash with you & don't always expect shops to have change, at least not for larger bills. You can always stop at a currency exchange window or ATM near the shops.
• Get acquainted with the currency before you arrive. Train your brain to understand that 10 dirhams is about €1, 100 dirhams is €10, etc. This will make you much more comfortable when you hand over 250 dirhams to pay your dinner bill or 50 dirhams for a taxi ride.
• On your first day, book a walking tour of the Medina (city center). This would've been extremely helpful for us, but wandering around was fun too.
• The Jemaa el Fna (or Jamaa) is the main market (or souk) in the Medina. It's widespread and colorful and has so many options for shopping, and it's a must-see. However, it's also pretty overwhelming. If I'd had more time to shop, I would have preferred spending most of my time in the side streets surrounding the market.
• The best tactic for bargaining (which I am pretty bad at) is simply walking away. (Check out the link & see if you're guilty of all the mistakes- I know I was, but I learned from it, had fun, & helped the economy a teeny bit.)         As soon as you walk away, the shop owner will call at you to come back for a lower price. "Ok, I give you special price. Just for you." Saving €2 seems silly, but it becomes a much bigger deal when you realize it's the equivalent of 20 dirhams and that could buy you a whole sandwich or a 1.5L bottled water later, which you will definitely need. 
• If you don't want to buy anything, walk with your eyes ahead and walk with purpose. Be comfortable and confident but a bit leisurely- like you belong there- but stick to the right side and don't get in the way of any mopeds or carts.
• Expect to be asked to pay for pretty much everything. And do not fall for a too-high price. Honestly. Water or bread in restaurants, bathrooms, even for a palm leaf a kid hands you on the street. If somebody gives you directions, especially children, they will ask for money. It's polite to give them €1 or 2, but they will always ask for more. They might even show you a crumpled photo of their family. It's depressing and terrible and it may very well be a true sob story, but it's also incredibly impractical and unfair for you to over-give coins and bills to every poor person in the street who asks you. Be polite but cognizant and firm.
• Many people on the streets of the Medina will also try to give you directions about the palace. If they say "Don't go that way. The palace is closed." (they will, at least twice a day) just say "Thank you, I'm just walking." or "Thank you, I'm going to my hotel." Our mistake was often responding "Thanks. We know." or just "Thank you" but that wasn't enough to get people to leave us alone. Once they understood we were walking with purpose and not trying to visit the palace, they were less inclined to try to show us the way and ask us for money. 
• Learn a few important words/phrases like thank you, no thank you, please, excuse me, and I'm sorry. You'll feel more confident and appear more respectful.
• Tip 5-10% for good service. Morocco's economy relies on tips in a significant way whereas most of Europe does not. Remember, you're in a different continent on this trip.
• Book a hammam spa treatment. It's very different from what we are used to at a spa, but it's cheap and very relaxing. We stumbled upon Les Jardins de Henia in the southwest corner of the Medina wall, and it was €15 per person. Great deal and PERFECT for the day after lie sweaty, sandy and dirty excursion in the desert 
• And lastly, do NOT let a man in the Jemaa put a monkey on your hand or a snake around your arm. It seems like common sense, but it's easier said than done. Don't let it happen, unless you want to pay for a really cool photo, which is a questionable personal choice, but possibly well-worth it, if you like that kind of thing.

Marrakech- Shukran & Ramadan Mubarak!

Thank you & Blessed Ramadan.

Europe is not only more accessible than Morocco, its cities are also much safer than Morocco's, like Marrakech. As wonderful a time as we had in Morocco, it's not likely a place I'll visit again, at least not as soon as I'll go back to Europe. (Look at me already mentioning when I'm coming back to visit Europe, when I'm only halfway through my trip and haven't even left it for the first time yet!)

Anyway, Morocco was a really good choice for a first visit to Africa. It was overwhelming and colorful, but not too dramatic or dangerous. It was fun and beautiful and surprising, but not enough to keep us from finding our way. It felt foreign and uncomfortable, but just enough to learn new cultural concepts and to appreciate our own life situations at home. 

As strange as it may seem, we really were in another continent, in a city full of people who follow significantly different customs and hold dissimilar religious beliefs from many people in Western Europe. I'm so glad we chose to take this leap into an area so new to us, into a new adventure, and into a new segment of culture shock. I'm so glad we spent time in Marrakech and got a small glimpse into daily life there. And I'm so glad we made it through our trip with no traffic accidents, only a couple minor scams, a few new friends, and a new love of Moroccan food. 

 
The square near our hotel at the south end of the palace wall

Sunset from Kosybar Cafe rooftop with view of the Koutoubia Mosque