Marrakech
Jemaa el-Fnaa at night
Sorry to be so negative – but Don’t bother going to Marrakech! Over the last few years the city has been affected badly by tourism – it is no longer the laid back hippy centre of the 1960’s. I would certainly encourage visiting Morocco – just avoid this city.
Morocco Photos:
The main tourist draw is the central open area called Jemaa el-Fnaa, where in the evenings there is the street entertainment – snake charmers, monkey handlers, story tellers (in Arabic!), colourful water sellers, etc. However you don’t even have to stop before you are pounced upon with aggressive demands for money. Maybe if you are a poverty-looking backpacker you will not be pestered. Unfortunately Ann & I don’t still look the part and we were incessantly hassled in the square.
One evening on leaving Jemaa el-Fnaa a pick pocket tried stealing Ann’s camera (despite it being clipped in a case with the strap over her shoulder), but after throwing it down I wrestled him to the ground but he managed to struggle free & run away. Luckily the camera was not damaged. Despite being in a crowded area no-one tried to intervene or help until after the guy had run away. Unemployment is very high and some young people are obviously very desperate.
Sadly, three years after our holiday a terrorist bomb was detonated in the restaurant that we ate in & from where the above photo was taken.
I have one final complaint about Marrakech – the motor scooters! They are a menace. Walking anywhere in the old Medina, scooters weave their way at high speed through the pedestrians. The trick was to walk very slowly and keep looking behind you. We saw one particularly nasty accident when a car stopped and two motor scooters crashed into the back of it, badly injuring one of the riders. A very off-putting incident to have witnessed.
Jemma el Fna
At 70m in height you can see the 12th century Koutoubia minaret from most places in Marrakech; great for getting your bearings. It is considered to have the ideal proportions for a minaret.
Our Riad, just off the Jemaa el-Fnaa was situated in this quiet alleyway. Note – no pedestrians or scooters.
Palais el Badi
When built in the late 16th Century this was claimed to be the most beautiful palace in the world, and was known as the “Incomparable”. Unfortunately a little over a century later, the ruthless Sultan Moulay Ismail (more on him later) spent 12 years stripping the palace of all its treasures leaving just the bare walls. As you can see in the photos, even the remnants of the palace are enormous. What remains of the palace covers a vast area. The central pools in the main courtyard are 90m long. Here Ann is standing by one which has been turned into a garden.
Saadian Tombs
Originally this was the cemetery for the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed. From the 16th Century the Saadian Princes were buried here. A very tranquil place set in well kept gardens.
These peaceful tombs escaped the destruction of the Sultan Moulay Ismail apparently because he thought it would be unlucky to desecrate them. So he simply sealed them up and they were then forgotten until rediscovered in 1917 through an aerial survey of the city.
It is difficult to find the tombs. Along with some other tourists we found a sign to them which appeared to only take us into a shop. We had to go through this shop (avoiding the salesmen) before finding the tombs’ real entrance.
These tombs are considered to be the best preserved examples of Moroccan-Andalucian decorative art in existence.
