Visiting Souks & Bazaars:...
by Krystynn
Visiting Souks & Bazaars:
When you're planning to visit bazaars and souks, but you don't like to be hassled by vendors and Moroccan men all the time, here's an invaluable tip that I've learnt (albeit the difficult way... Sigh): Pick out one of those so called students/ kids that offer to guide you around. Make clear to him you want to walk and look around but don't plan to buy anything. You pay him a little amount of money and he'll help keep the vendors/ men off, and you won't get lost in these dark, narrow streets (hey, believe me.... they all look the same)!
Train to/from Casablanca
by mrotsmit
If you want to make sure you get a seat buy a first class ticket, the first class is the front cars.
Generally I found Moroccans to have an almost German-style efficiency about things, the return trains were late though.
Majorelle Gardens
by SallyM
This garden is one of the highlights of the new town. Created by the artist Jacques Majorelle in the first half of the twentieth century, the garden has now been bought and restored by Yves Saint Laurent. The garden is not large, but contains botanical specimens and cacti, wonderfully set off by the deep blue paint of the architecture. A pavilion in the centre of the garden contains a small exhibition of Islamic art.
The Koutoubia Mosque is...
by hajin
The Koutoubia Mosque is unavoidable in Marrakesh. With the highest minaret in the city, you can really see it from everywhere. There's an interesting history about the new mosque and the old one, of which you can still see the ruins, but you can probably find that in your guidebook.
If you're not Muslim, entrance inside the mosque is forbidden, which is fine by me. I always felt funny about stomping into churches and synagogues as people tried to pray or being asked to pay an entrance fee to see the inside of a religious building. You can still see the beautiful architecture, stroll through the lovely grounds or relax in the plaza in front of the mosque.
Marrakech. The other Morocco
by Bixente
Marrakech is not only a fantastic city, it is also a symbol of the Morocco that once was, and which still survives here. The streets of the old and pink city have been too narrow to allow the introduction of cars, and tourists searching for the "real" Morocco have turned the medieval structures of Marrakech into good business.
The hordes of tourists that come here all through the year have still not managed to change its character. Actually their high number contribute in a postive way to preserve one of the greatest monuments of the Morocco that once was. And the people of Marrakech love their city even more, and Moroccans all over the country would not let down an opportunity of visiting it.
The most worthwhile tourist traps are collected inside a rather small zone, starting in the north with the suuqs, continuing through the town square of Jemaa l-Fna with its crowd of storytellers, musicians and the Koutoubia mosque which is visible from practically anywhere in Marrakech.
Going beyond this, the Menara gardens- by young Marrakechians considered as the most romantic place in town- is high up on the list. But don't forget to visit one of the many examples of sights left by the many Europeans and Americans who fell so much in love with Marrakech that they erected their palaces and gardens here.
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Street musician
marrakech street during Ramadan - c Iris2002
morning
Place Jemaa El-Fna (Marrakesh, Morocco)
