Riad Turquoise

Beggars and begging

by angiebabe

On the other hand (not the one with leprosy) if you are talking about beggars and begging - Morocco has a lot of very poor people, with NO social welfare assistance - that includes those that are widowed, unable to work, handicapped, or simply cannot get any sort of decent income - so you can also take a stance of kindness and carry half and 1 dirham coins handy in a pocket to give to these beggars - which is not such a bad thing to have a bit of compassion and help - culturally this is also one of the pillars of Islam - its also a part of christianity - whatever approach - there is some difference between beggars and the hustlers in the souks who want to charge triple to 10 times more for anything you want to look at on display for sale -

but whatever there is no retaliation usually for choosing to just look the other way and ignore both beggars and hustlers - for more the little old ladies and little old men, even if in the back of your mind you imagine that through a day of outstretched hands they probably earn more than someone who is out working hard all day I think its a kind thing to give them a dirham here or there to help when there is often no pension from the government for them or perhaps no family at home to let them enjoy their old age in peaceful rest.

CTM bus transport

by li-anne

The most convenient way to travel from Marrakech to Ouarzazate is by CTM bus. Tickets cost 80 dirham (also for children) and can be purchased at the busstation or in advance. We bought our bustickets at an internetcafe at Rue Bab Agnaou street.
The bus will make a stop from 30 minutes halfway in the Atlas mountain village of Taddert.

The busstation is somewhat out of town, in the Menara (close to the airport), so you probably have to take a petit taxi.
Luggage is chequed in, and sometimes you have to pay 5 ot 10 dirhams for the baggage.
We wanted to go to Ait Ben Haddou, which is not a busstop.
We asked the busdriver to drop us at the roadjunction about 25 km before Ouarzazate.
From there you can take a grand taxi to Ait Ben Haddou.

mabye the most exciting square in the world.

by cachaseiro

djamaa el fna is the central square of the old part of marrakesh and a place that is out of this world.
the square really comes to live in the evening where the place is packed with musicians and story tellers who turns the square in to a surreal theater.

there are also dozens of food stands in the evening ob the square that are extremely colorful and serves good morrocoan food.

the square is also full of hustlers, but it's a part of the game there and as soon as you get used to having 50 guys shouting at you at the same time you will have a great time there.

Wherever you look there's something to see

by Flying.Scotsman

This section could be subtitled "Miscellaneous." There is always something you see that is out of the ordinary. We saw storks nesting in a communications tower neatr the Koutoubia Mosque and again near the El Badi Palace in the Kasbah. The gate and Palm trees are near the Koutoubia, and the pictures of the market stalls were somewhere in the nedina.

Marrakech

by shreddies

"Dmmaj El Fna"

The square in Marrakech is full of snake charmers, musicmen, men cooking sausages, playing games, tooting car horns, selling oranges and juice, monkeys and just making lots of noise.

"Tiles"

Moroccans really like tiles. If people have money they have patterned tiles everywhere. My hotel walls and floors are covered in tiles they are cool in the heat.

"Tombs"

I went to see the Saadian tombs and El Badu a ruined palace. They were built at the same time as Henry VIII by a Sultan. The palace was huge and had tunnels to explore, but all the decoration had been stolen by another Sultan, Moulay Ismail. He did not ruin the tomb, so they are covered with sparkling tiles and carvings in a lovely garden.