La Maison des Oliviers

Marrakech November 2006

by Aoifesully

"General"

We flew to Marrakech on Easyjet - takes about 3 hours and its a very twilight-zone-ish feeling to touch down in a completely different world to the one you have just left (cold, rain, dark London).
Stayed in a Riyadh - La Maison des Oliviers - about 6kms ouside Marrakech. Private pool and very peaceful. Ate at Yacout, La Plage Rouge and another I cant remember the name of, in the Kasbahs.
The suuqs are great - I did get done though. Paid way over the odds for a bag that was a fraction of the price a little further on - it pays NOT to trust the taxi driver who recommended the shop! I should really know better by now.

Don't be pressured to pay a fortune!

by aaaarrgh about Lamps, hats, jewellery, herbalists etc.

Buying things can be a scary business if you are not used to the Moroccan custom of haggling!! I purchased a few souvenirs but I think I paid way over the proper price.

For example, we were led to a quite beautiful shop filled with lamps, Berber jewellery and other souvenirs hanging off the ceilings and walls. I wanted to buy a Moroccan lamp before I left Marrakesh. In the shop was one very unusual lamp which I fell in love with :-) I asked the price and was told 1600dh. This is over £100!!!! I was so shocked that all my powers of mental arithmetic deserted me. After a lot of stammering and sweating, I offered 400dh, which the salesman refused glumly. He pushed me up to 600dh, at which point he could not contain his eagerness to wrap my lamp and take my money :-) I found a small split in the lamp and managed to compromise at 500dh. He threw in two small silver bracelets as a goodwill gesture (they were quite nice). And they wrapped it in padding and plastic to within an inch of its life :-)

So I came away spending the equivalent of £33 on a dusty, split, camel skin lamp that would cost me extra in the UK to wire-up with a bulb.

Subsequently I found out that a friend had paid 170dh for one of the more normal triangular lamps (no bulb either). It was nowhere near as decorative *wink* but made in a similar way.

I think that Moroccan shopkeepers have developed a sixth sense and can spot a nervous, gullible western shopper and 'try it on'. In my case, I paid a fortune in Moroccan terms. But at least I had a rather unique souvenir :-) Two can play the haggling game. Practise your false 'that-is-FAR-too-expensive-I'm-not-interested' look so you can match the shopkeeper's 'that-is-far-too-little-try-harder' expression :-))

Especially if it is drawing towards the end of the tourist season I think you will achieve a more fair result that me.

Marrakesh shopkeepers are quite mischievous I think, and enjoy the drama of the haggling experience :-)

And I guess I had an 'experience' to remember. The shopkeeper and staff all spoke good English and gave us several glasses of the de menthe. Less than me for allah's sake ;-))

Puerto Banus Cant say I'd recommend this place

by 43beckos about Puerto Banus

Whilst this place is quite nicely decorated, that i'm afraid is where the good bits end. To begin with, we were not offered the fixed price menu ( as locals were ), and therefore had to choose from the quite expensive a la carte menu.

On visiting this restaurant, I broke my own rule of never eating "fresh" seafood in a resturant that is more than 25 miles from the coast, and lived to regret it the next day and the day after if you know what I mean.

This was second rate seafood at best with the food being served by somewhat surly staff, who could'nt wait to get us out of the door at 3.00pm so they could have a siesta.

We ate here of a lunch time so others may have had a different evening experience, but this was the most expensive restaurant we ate in whilst in Marrakech, and was definitely the worst. Skip this and head to Al Fassia where the food and the atmosphere is much much better. The coffee and the water were good

Ancient Tombs

by Donna_in_India

The Tombeaux Saadiens are located next to the Mosque of the Kasbah. The tombs hold the remains of rulers from the 15 & 1600’s. It was a very interesting place with mosaic tiled tombs – just the top (umarked) was above the ground. Definitely recommend a visit here.

Open 9-12 and 2:30-6:00

Guides are available (negotiate price before), tours last about 30 minutes.

Fun at the Mellah.

by belgianchocolate

Frederik had the best time ever. Since I got
in touch with moroccan cuisine , I'm really fond
of it. I love the spices.... so I was getting a closer
look at some of the spices at the covered market.

The guy with the crook face in the picture
(No , I'm not talking about me , I'm the victime
this time.) wasn't even around. A shy nice
guy was explaining me some things and I
was asking questions in my best French. haha.
Then the owner showed up and took over.
The minute I saw him I knew it was going to cost me.
I still was asking questions and before I knew
it I was sitting down...wrong wron wrong.

Frederik asked him about some moroccan
beauty secrets. And it was a white powder ,
consisted of five extracts of plants. You need
to mingle it with rosewater. Before I knew it
the stuf was on my face...and my shirt.

The shop wasn't really tooled to get my face fresh
again. So cottonwool and water came from the
shop next door. They got really fluffy and stayed
behind in my beard stubbles. YES , frederik
was laughing his pants of. Now the finishing touch..
Oil....lots of oil.

By the time I came out of this 'Pharmacy Berber'-
I was dirty , ruined but amused as well.
A little too enthousiastic Frederik who kept on
ordening and we did the poorest job bargaining
ever raised the prices out of the roof. lol.

Oh- and when I arrived back home everybody
told me how good I was looking....it worked?