When you think about the city which never sleeps usually New York is the first city which comes up to your mind. But this saying fits perfectly for Marrakech as well. No matter which time you enter the small streets of Marrakech you are surrounded by people. Especially in the day the streets are crowded and as a tourists you receive thousands of offers of buying fruits, tissues, cigarettes, drugs or just tea. Marrakech people will sell everything to you. But be careful about the prices they are mostly exaggerated. Try to trade till you got one third of the original price. And like in Agadir always remember -nothing is for free. The people want money for everything. Even a question about how to get to your hotel or riad may cost you some dirhams. Better always deny when someone wants to show you the way. While in Europe people would help you whitout asking for money, Marrakech is trying to get every single penny from it’s tourists. But not only in this point you can mention cultural differences. The citizens not even dress different you still can feel the inequality between men and women. Even if Morocco has equality rights since 2011, it does not seem to work as well as, for example, in Europe.
Medina
Medina is the old town of the city. No Taxis are allowed here because the streets are narrow and a taxi is not able to drive. The hole old town is just one big souk. You find stores nearly all over the streets of Medina. But even if the streets are not allowed for taxis, there is no restriction for motorbikes. Usually the natives are using their motorbikes to make their way through the old town.
Motorbikes are not the only means of transport you will see in the streets. Donkeys who will pull drinks and food through the streets are very common as well.
When you want to live in the old town you should go and find a so called “Riad”. A Riad is always led by natives, it has just a few rooms. They have their own charme and you are closer to the moroccan culture. I mean who locks their bedroom normally with a real lock?
But if you prefer hotels you can only find them on the outskirts of the city.
The old town itself has some famous mosques and sights to see, but it is very difficult to find them. The problem is that the GPS is partly not working, in addition to that most of the maps are useless as well because they do not include all the streets. Sometimes you can feel a bit lost because this part of the city feels like a labyrinth.
In some cases this can be useful to discover beautiful places.
Djemaa el Fna
The biggest square is the Djemaa el Fna. Plenty of people are meeting at this square in the evening for eating, making music or listening to comedians. Furthermore you can play some ridiculous games. For example we tried one game where you have to hold a fishing rod with a small tire at the end. Three bottles are standing in a row in front of you. Goal of the game is to put the tire over the bottleneck. When the bottleneck is covered with the tire you win the bottle. But sadly me and my friend never won. It is more difficult than it may sound.
As well you can do hanna tattoos on this square. But this women are very tricky so better be very careful with them. One time I was watching the bottle game and a woman came to me and asked if I want a henna tattoo. I replied no, but she just took my hand and started drawing. I told her to stop but she held my hand very tight. After I could free my hand she said to me that this costs 400 Dirham. This is about 40€. I started to discuss with her cause she did this against my will. When she regognize that I will not give her the money she wants, she scratched through the hanna tattoo and I had the brown color all over my hand. The rest of the evening I spend washing and scrubbing the hanna of my hand. So better stay far away from this women if you do not want a hanna tattoo.
Be careful about the guys with the snakes too. I wanted to make a photo of a cobra and I knew before that this means I have to pay them some money. But during I was photographing the cobra they hang plenty snakes all over my friend. The guy told me to make a photo of him. Directly after that they told us that we have to pay 600 Dirham (60€) just for the photos. Which was totally crazy and my friend started to discuss with the guy.
Beside the hanna ladys and the snake guys the square has many booths where you can eat or drink fruit juices. The ones who want to find alcohol in this city should better go to the outskirts of Marrakech. Medina is the very traditional part of the city where no alcohol is offered and allowed. Not even in restaurants.
But if you want to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city i can recommend you the restaurant “L’adresse”. The restaurant is very european and calm but also offers the typical moroccan dishes. The food is very good!
El Badi Palace
The El Badi Palace is the other palace where you can go for a visit (again for 70 Dirhams). El Badi Palace was once a very spectacular palace in Marrakech. Today, only ruins are left from the former magnificent palace. You have to imagine how it looked like back in the times of its splendor. The Palace was constructed around 1500 from Sultan Ahmed al-Mansour.
Bahia Palace
The Bahia Palace was built in the late 19th century. The name itself means “brilliance” because it should be the greatest palace of its time. The palace is still inhabited today when, for example, state guests come for a visit to Marrakech. This is the reason why only the first rooms are are accessible to the tourists. The Palace once was built from Si Moussa. He and his son former used it partly as a harem. Unfortunately, the rooms are without furniture, but the painted ceilings and wall mosaics offer a glimpse into the history of the palace. The entrance is about 70 Dirhams.
Aid Ben Haddou
Marrakech offers you plenty of excursions to the desert or to the Atlas Mountains. We did one excursion to Ait Ben Haddou which is a famous city in the desert where many movies took place. For example Indiana Jones and Game of Thrones shot some scenes in this city. Since 1987 Ait Ben Haddou was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage. The ride to the city is very long but you are able to see the stunning nature of the Atlas Mountains. Ait Ben Haddou was once a very important city on the caravan route between the Sahara Desert and the city of Marrakech and now it even became a popular tourist destination. I really liked this city because it made you feel its history and its beauty. The surrounding landscape is breathtaking and amazing. Every minute there is worth it and if you like to photograph you can get a good shot around every corner.
La Koutubia
La Koutubia is a big mosque in the middle of the city. Sadly you are not to allowed to enter if you aren’t a muslim. But even if you have no chance to see whats inside, the outside is stunning too. The minaret is about 70 meters high and has beautiful ceramic tiles around the minaret on the upper third. Behind the mosque you can discover the small Koutoubia-Garden. It is very calm place because not many people know this garden.
La Maison de la Photographie
La Maison de la Photographie is located in the heart of Medina. Patrick Manac’h once startet to collect photographies and is presenting them since 2009 in this little Riad. The photo museum shows many pictures of the city back in the past. Beside this some pictures are telling you stories about the huge social changes.
After the tour through the exhibition, you will reach the roof-terrace. It is kinda ironic that from the house of photography you can take the best photo of the old town. Enjoying the beautiful view you can relax at the terrace by drinking the typical moroccan mint tea. I really loved this museum it is defiantly worth a visit.
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