Marvels and Mysteries of Marrakesh, Morocco

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Steph, Jeremy and Michelle at Night Food Stalls - Djemaa el-Fna

Once the hub of camel caravans and traders from the south, over the centuries the oasis of Marrakesh developed into a big bustling city with a hint of the exotic. Now a Unesco Heritage Site, the main square, called Djemaa El- Fna or La Place, is the pulse of Marrakesh and is quite literally an overload to the senses - the sounds, the sights, the smells. Everything from smokey food stalls to fresh orange juice carts, from dancing monkeys to snake charmers; from dentists selling their skills by displaying their latest tooth extractions (eeew!) to herbalists selling miracle cures from the Sahara.

Djemaa el-Fna at night

At dusk this magical place transforms as row upon row of open air food stalls are assembled and cook up a storm filling the air with smoke and mouthwatering aromas. Locals and tourists feast on barbecued kebabs and seafood and tajines, snail soup, harira (chickpea soup) and even goats heads if you want. Walking through the stalls feels a bit like running the gauntlet as the chefs and touts try to entice (more like bully) you into their stall. We did choose a place and it was a fun experience to sit there and soak up the whole atmosphere. At sunset, the beat seemed to change and the hypnotic piercing oboe-like sounds of the flutes of the snake charmers were replaced by the beat of drummers and musicians. The square filled with crowds of locals as they clustered around storytellers, fortune tellers and magicians.

La Place is in the heart of the medina or old town, and we found a cute hotel with character not far from the square (for $13 with wifi). After our desert trip we spent a couple of days exploring the medina's souqs - a warren of narrow lanes choc-filled with shop after shop of touristy souvenir schtuff.

Steph, Jeremy and Michelle at the Koutoubia Mosque

The ancient sites of Marrakesh were interesting: The Bahia Palace built in 1580s is basically a huge open square surrounded by red mud/straw walls with the usual stork colony in huge topsy-turvy nests teetering on the highest ramparts. Other features were the sunken orange groves, underground dungeons for storage - food and prisoners alike - and also a 12th century minbar or mini-bar as we called it: basically a beautiful restored wooden pulpit from the Koutoubia (main mosque) - the oldest wooden relic remaining. My other favourite site in Marrakesh was the Baadia Palace which, rather, than a series of crumbling ruins, was built recently in the 19th century for a prince/king with his four wives and 24 concubines! It had nice cool and shady courtyards and elaborate halls and rooms that were linked from one to another.

Rediscovered and restored by the French in 1917, the elegant mausoleum of the 16th century Saadian Tombs is the burial place of the Saadian princes, descendants of the prophet Mohammed.  These tombs were blocked off and hidden from raiding armies, and only discovered from the air, and then an entrance tunnel was constructed.  There are also 166 other tombs in the complex.

Martin at the Really Big Slipper Shop

The 70m tall Koutoubia Minaret built in 12th century is the oldest and best preserved of three famous minarets by Almohad Sultan Yakoub el-Mansour - the other two sister minarets are, in Morocco's capital city Rabat and, perhaps the other more impressive, Giralda in Sevilla, Spain. Beside the Koutoubia are the remains of a previous mosque that had to be torn down as it wasn't in alignment with Mecca!

The everyday life that continues as we wander around the sites - people selling their wares, sewing, making things, bargaining and persuading, and even begging etc add to the tangible excitement of Marrakesh. * Mush