On to Marrakesh

---

14-20 May

After stumbling back to Efroud I got back on a bus and headed on to the second great city of Morocco - Marrakesh. After passing up the opportunity to walk through some beautiful gorges along the way due to concerns about getting sick again, I got sick again - this time in the small city of Ourzazate. The same symptoms presented themselves and I lay in bed for two days before going to the doctor in town.

After walking up a set of dark stairs that didn't inspire too much confidence I arrived in a waiting hall in a second-story private clinic. After talking to the doctor in a mix of English and Spanish I told him that I was worried about malaria. He briefly examined me and didn't think that was the problem, concentrating instead on my sinuses and lungs/chest. I told him I didn't have a problem with my sinuses or chest, both when I was sick and when I felt fine. Nonetheless he sent me down to the x-ray room for a look at the old noggin and chest. The x-ray machine was state-of-the-art technology - for 1960s Soviet Union, perhaps. But it was perfectly functional and turned out some very clear pictures, neither of which showed any problems with sinuses or lungs, of course. At the end of the approximately hour-long visit he prescribed two French antibiotics and another liquid thingy which, due to the language problems, I never quite learned the function of. I also had an appointment for a malaria test the next day but, due to the language barrier again, I never quite knew where the location of that laboratory was, so I wound up not getting the test, figuring that with the pattern of this sickness I wasn't due to moan and groan in a strange bed again for another two weeks or so, and by that time I would be in Spain and I could see a doctor there. Total cost of the doctor consultation and x-rays - about 400 dirhams, or a little over $40.

True to the pattern of whatever the illness is, by the next day I was feeling fine and continued on to Marrakesh. The main attraction in Marrakesh is the large open-air market and collection of temporary restaurants that springs up in the night in the old medina of Marrakesh. Here there are dozens of small grills and temporary tables that can accomodate hundreds of diners at a time. You just sit down on a bench next to a pile of complete strangers, order whatever looks/smells good and start talking to your neighbors. The food starts ariving in a matter of minutes and you can keep the whole thing going all night long if you want. Along with carts piled high with dried fruits and nuts were carts with fresh orange juice - for about 30 cents you could get a big glass of the sweetest, freshest orange juice, and at many places they would fill up the glasses again for no charge. For a sicko, this was better than any antibiotic the French could come up with. At night in the market there were also snake charmers, story-tellers, musicians, dancers, and people selling all varieties of goods - all adding to a carnival-like atmosphere. At the end of the night everything was packed up and the next morning it was just a big open square. The next night everything started up again at dusk.

---