Marrakesh

I started the Morocco part of my trip in Marrakesh, Morocco’s capital.

This is the hotel I stayed in. It is a traditional Riad that has been converted into a hotel.

The riad is built around a courtyard.

The courtyard was a beautiful place to have breakfast before heading out into the streets of Marrakesh.

The detail on the walls was intricate.

This was the entrance to my hotel.

Inside the city walls, there are many narrow streets like these in the residential area. It is a maze of twisty little passages, with many dead ends. Most of the Riads are tucked away in streets like these, which makes them very hard to find.

Towards the center of the city, the streets are much wider and full of people and shops..

At the centre of Marrakesh is the Djemaa el Fna, a huge open air square filled with entertainers and food stalls. It is a bit quite during the heat of the day, but we’ll come back at night when it gets busier.

The Koutoubia Mosque is famous for its ancient minaret.

It is unexpected to find a tree filled park in North Africa. It is even more unexpected to find one that has Internet kiosks dotted around it, hence the name.

The main part of Marrakesh is surrounded by a large city wall. However, today Marrakesh extends well beyond these walls.

Exotic destinations.

This garden was designed by the French artist Jacques Majorelle. It is a calm and lush place, compared to the dusty streets around it.

It is a botanical garden full of different types of plants.

Back to the hustle and bustle of the markets.

You can buy all sorts of things in these markets.

Notice that half the people in the market seems to be tourists.

Back at the Djemaa el Fna we get a closer look at the stalls selling dried dates and orange juice.

The food stalls are setting up for the evening trade.

The entertainment is also coming out.

I sit down at one of the rooftop restaurants to watch the action. Many other travellers seem to have the same idea.

Although there were many stalls, most of them seem to be selling the same type of food: grilled meats on skewers. They seemed strangely clinical and designed for the tourist market. Instead, I found a stall which had the most locals sitting at it: they only served grilled sausages (called merguez) with bread and a tomato based sauce. Although simple, it was very popular with the locals.

The dried dates and orange stalls are still open at night.

This is a grand palace in Marrakesh.

It was a good thing I got here when it opened in the morning, because by the time I left the place was filled with tour groups. Marrakesh is a popular tourist spot and there were tour groups everywhere. Fortunately, my next destination was more remote and had less tourists: the Sahara desert.