Morocco - Marrakech (1)

From the Atlantic I headed to the east – slowly into the dessert, to Marrakech. The nature was changeable, small villages that looked abandoned from the distance and even ruined, but full of people working inside and on the fields.

My favorite part of any town of Morocco is the old part – Medina.

More precisely, the Zoco – open market on the streets of the Medina.

You just see so much and smell and hear… It is so full of everything… And the one in Marrakech is huge! You can walk and walk and go to another side street and walk and go back (‘cause it was a death end) and walk…

And you can pat as many cats as you like ‘cause there is no place I’ve seen that has more of them. (I know I’m a cat lover but that is true anyway… They are adorable! And no, there are no dogs, honestly…)

It’s also the perfect chance to negotiate! I bought myself a beautiful necklace made of sky blue stones for a price 5 times smaller than the first offer and as a bonus a nice chat and tea with the seals man who said that is coming from the town in the dessert and that there is a costume to treat the buyers and all the people you meet as your friends. I don’t know about that but the tea was very good.

The thing I didn’t like in Marrakech is that it is full of tourists… Ok, I know I am a tourist to but that doesn’t mean I want to be around the others all the time… Besides I don’t like the ignorant attitude some have towards the culture of the country they are in (read: if you are in a big group that doesn’t give you the right to try to go into the mosque with almost no clothes on).

But thanks to all the tourism there, the nights in Medina of Marrakech are very alive and smell really good!