An arrival in Marrakesh


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Africa » Morocco » Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz » Marrakech
October 11th 2011
Published: October 11th 2011
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When we arrived on the outer rim of Marrakesh at Marrakesh Menara international airport at around nine at night all seemed normal from the window of the taxi but as we began to immerse ourselves in the old part of the ancient city we seemed to be in some sort of time machine and the more we moved to further back in time we went. The taxi zigzagged deep into the narrow dark alleys littering the city as far as was possible by vehicle and to be honest i was uneasy and did not want to get out, it was all to much.
Then from nowhere a man with a wooden cart that he most likely made himself appeared and he loaded our cases onto it. He then made a gesture to follow him the taxi left and we were on our own in the darkness of the night in this med evil city. The walk seemed to go on for miles but it was in no way boring men were butchering chickens and goats in the middle of the street throwing the guts onto a large pile of rubbish swarming with flies and cats and dogs. Children roamed the streets in packs as young as 4 playing with live chicks by the crate full. Even if i tried i would never be able to find my way back, there or even out so the man we followed we had to trust with our possessions, holiday and it seemed maybe even our lives.
We finally arrived at our riad praying for it to have some sort of homely feature.The man knocked on this enormous studded wooden door in the middle of a dark deserted alleyway with the sound of the mopeds and chaos in nearby streets. All we knew this could have been some terrorist base and we were going to be taken as hostages all set up for our arrival.But to our surprise a face appeared in the small shutter in the door and he then opened it and invited us in to this beautiful stone riad. An English speaking person greeted us and showed us our room which was very basic but had all the essential needs and luxuries. Which opened up onto a magnificent open courtyard with plants and a water feature basking in the moonlight.Our riad was like a small haven in the middle of a chaotic city.
We were then served a lovely homemade beef stew. Shortly after we went to bed after a very tiring day! It all seemed like a strange dream which i don't know whether to laugh or cry about.
Then in the morning we were woken by the morning chorus of birds in the courtyard on a exquisite sunny morning which made everything seem so much less scary and strange.
We all then set out urging to see the culture of Marrakesh.



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