Blogs from Marrakech, Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz, Morocco, Africa - page 40

How does one write about a country and culture so different from anything seen before. morocco stews the senses...period. you see things every other minute that shock you, sadden you, make you smile and only at the end can you shake your head and attempt to process it. we began in the city of marrakech after a 10 hour train ride down from the city of tagner. knowing that inside the historic walls of medina is where every visitor must see. we did our best of filling 3 days of walking the streets and squares of medina sampling moroccan cuisine, haggling with the best known scam artists in the world and escaping from the days heat in any shade we could find. our raid or house named menara atlas was hidden down unmarked streets and alleys ... read more

It seems that no self-respecting traveller should call their itinerary substantial unless it includes a stopover in Marrakech, regardless of their length of stay. Looking back over the past decade or so of holiday bookings, this trip easily stands out as one which I've always thought best fits the description of 'holiday bargain of the century', and a half board stay at a pristine 5-star hotel, plus flight, clocking in at less than £300 still suggests to me that there can be some huge rewards to be reaped by planning and booking trips as strategically as possible. In late June, the city was almost impossibly scorching, and bustling with life, and the sheer colour of the city alone floored me more than any other place visited up until that point in time. It is fair to ... read more

Ah, we´ve survived a week in Morocco, which was a much harder than i had originally expected. Lisa and I began our trip in Marrakech on the 2nd, after flying in from Madrid. We planned a full week here due to our preconceived notion that it would be quite difficult to get to the desert for some camel riding. Turns out this was not the case....so here goes.... MARRAKECH First arriving in Marrakech was incredibly overwhelming, to say the least. We took a bus in from the airport and showed him where our hostel was. He dropped us off at the Djemma el Fna and told us to go left. Hilarious. The Djemma el Fna is Africa´s largest medina, or city square. It is filled with snake charmers, storytellers, boxing, people selling everything, etc. There ... read more

Electronic ticketing is supposed to make the check-in process that much easier. Inevitably, Gene and I would learn otherwise. After being advised by our travel agent that postponing our flight from Egypt to Morocco by two days would incur no additional change fees, we decided to extend our stay in Egypt so that we could take the opportunity to explore Luxor. We were less than surprised, however, when the desk agent informed us at the time of check-in that we would have to pay an additional 500 Egyptian Pounds per person to change our tickets. “I don’t understand,” Gene countered. “We were told by our travel agent that there wouldn’t be a change fee.” A puzzled silence ensued. After several minutes of ticking away at her keyboard, the ticket agent confirmed, “I’m sorry, Sir. You can ... read more

url='/Videos/3566.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3566.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'Djemaa el Fnaaurl='/Videos/3842.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3842.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'drums The train ride from Meknes to Marrakech was interesting in that for a good distance the terrain was vitually barren with some sparse vegation scraping out an existance among stretches of hills covered in various hues of sand from grey to red. Occasionally there would be a river or small train station to break up the monotany of the last few hours of the trip. The train got in in the early afternoon and I got a bed at Hotel Ali in the converted crawl space/storage room/dorm right above the kitchen. The ceilings of the dorm were barely high enough for me to stand up in and though there were air conditioners they looked like they hadn't worked in years.... read more