Blogs from Marrakech, Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz, Morocco, Africa - page 41

Despite having a good map it wasn’t until my third day in Marrakesh that I managed to navigate my way purposefully and accurately through the maze of alleys in the souks to reach everyone’s primary and ultimate destination the Jemaa el Fna square. But of course that’s the point of the souks - to lose your sense of order as well as direction, to give yourself up to the claustrophobic sensuality and vibrancy of the markets. If you really want to know where you are, the map does give you some idea of the layout, but the minute you open it to re-establish your position, a young boy will be insisting he leads you to “la place”, as the Jemaa is simply known. Better just to drift and head for any glimpse of daylight from ... read more

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 ... read more

Fes-Casa-MarrakechTom Griffithurl='/Videos/3194.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3194.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;'In the Djemaa El Fna So. The clock is now ticking. Thanks to the Mauritanian Consulate, we now have 22 days to get from Marrakech to Senegal. Which means the next three weeks is going to be a mad headlong rush through perhaps the driest, hottest, least-serviced-by-public-transport part of Africa there is. We can't wait. We left Fes, and returned to Casablanca on one of Morocco's relatively speedy and comfortable trains (2nd class is more than sufficient, but nobody gets a reserved seat, so it's every person for him or herself). Suze hadn't seen Casa before, so we did a quick loop of the medina and returned to the still-massive Hassan II mosque. Our real reason for being in Ca... read more

Sleeping in an Airport! When I decided to backpack around Europe, Michael and Joel told me that no backpacking experience was complete without overnight bus and train rides (which I have done) or sleeping in airports and train stations (both of which I have now done too!!). Our chance to sleep in an airport came at Gatwick en route to Morocco and it certainly was an interesting experience! Michael and I found an empty bench and settled down for the night in our sleeping sheets and our bags tied to the bench legs! I must admit I slept better than I thought I would, probably because it was a pretty safe location! There was a constant murmer of people during the night and PA announcements telling us that any bags found unattended would be taken away ... read more

So, 13 hours HK to London, waited at LGW without any GBP for 6 hours, then another 3 hours from London to Marrakesh... FINALLY arrived. Their airport totally...helpless. Grouped with a British couple and hopped on a taxi to the city centre.. DUMBdumb us, got on the grand taxi instead of the petit. So, had to pay more...argh... After looping around the Medina, finally arrived at my hotel. not bad ne. many tourist...haaa Still need to find my way around....this place is like old China, except with everything in Arabic and French. Signed up for the Sahara dessert trip...haaa...got a big group so can pay less. hohohoho. The guide talked to me for so long...and asked me to go have a drink with him tonight.....scary....haaaaa...but he said he will show me around the night Market....haaa.....maybe I ... read more