Last day in Marrakech & Missing a Debit Card

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Day 7. 26^thJan

We got up at around 9, a good lie-in for us recently. Michael said he preferred a walk before breakfast so we went half a mile, towards the Bahia Palace to the South East of our Hotel and had a pancake with cream cheese and jam (on the menu as butter & honey, but near enough).

Then into Bahia Palace (70Dh) (10Dh in my guide book!) which was quite spectacular and extensive. Fantastically intricate mosaics on walls and ceilings, nice gardens in large courtyards, amazing painted ceilings, small stained glass windows in many colours – larger ones in just a few colours. We spent about an hour there admiring the detail. Quite a few parties were being guided around but we managed to avoid having our own, which was good. In the Grand Riad we found a seat and I read from Lonely Planet - The decoration was begun in the 1860’s by Grand Vizier Si Moussa and further embellished from 1894-1900 by slave-turned-vizier Abu ‘Bou’ Amed. In 1908 warlord Pasha Glaoui claimed it as a suitable place to entertain French guests, who were so impressed that they booted out their host in 1911 and installed their resident general in Pasha Glaoui’s place. Only a small portion of the palace is open as it covers 8 hectares & has 150 rooms! The Grand Riad, where I read all this, was the place where people waited in the sun for hours in order to beg for mercy from Bou Ahmed, who had 4 wives & 24 concubines.

Just after leaving Bahia Palace I saw an ATM at a bank across the road and decided to get more cash out as I was running low. It asked for language so I chose English, then the amount, I chose 1000Dh (about £100) then it wizzed and wirred a while before rejecting my request. However, it did not spit my card out, although I waited for ages. Other Moroccans were waiting to use it and did so, but without my card being ejected. Bummer! Of course the bank itself was closed. As we are getting the 10am bus tomorrow I’ll have to try before that, the bank opens at 8am. Otherwise I’ll have to cancel the card and borrow from Mike for a while (I have some £’s & €’s).

We then went to the nearby Dar Si Said Museum of Moroccan Arts (30Dh). In it’s way better than Bahia Palace, full of Moroccan Carpets from all the different areas, most hanging on walls including the oldest Moroccan carpet from late 18^thC. Also various looms (some huge), combs and other items used to make carpets. Many different patterns, some quite unusual (see pics). Also a display of Berber weapons; a few nice swords, some bullet moulds (lead shot) and very long muskets. But, best of all, were the bridal rooms, both fantastically decorated from floor to ceiling. The ceiling was very impressive and they had a table in the centre with a mirror top in order to fully appreciate it.

Then we slowly wandered back to our hotel. I finished and published my last blog and then started on this. Michael went for a walk to the North West end of the medina where there is a secret garden, some Fondouq’s (medieval caravanserai to house visiting merchants & their camels) and a Madestra (14^thC theological college which housed 900 boys but which only had one bathroom!)

Michael eventually came back having had a long walk to the North through a never-ending string of stalls enjoying the whole trip and clutching a t-shirt he had bought from a Gambian guy. Michael got quite friendly with him and found he had spent 2 years walking to here, and it seems sub–Saharans (or black Africans) aren’t made very welcome over here, so find it hard to trade. Nice t-shirt though, black with the shape of Africa in a brightly patterned fabric.

Whilst we were talking Mike got a call from his daughter, Ruth to say that the funeral has been brought forward and is now on 5^th Feb when we would be in a remote town in the Anti-Atlas mountains! After much discussion we worked out that he could fly back from Agadir after an extra night there and I could do the last town on my own, then we could meet up again in Malaga and I could still see his place near Granada. We left for a walk, with him saying that he may not go.

We went out to a money changer and I changed £60 into 745Dhs. Then we had some dinner at a very Moroccan gaff, I had falafel with salad (which came in huge quantities – about 8 large falafels and the salad consisting of potatoes, grated carrot, beetroot, rice, tomatoes, celery, lettuce and chips plus a small loaf of bread) and orange juice. I gave a few falafels to Mike, left most of the potatoes and rice and made a dent in the other piles. At one point during our meal 2 Moroccan teenage girls came & sat beside us, one in a burka the other not, I bet this would not be allowed in most Islamic countries. After dinner we walked across Djemaa-el-Fna where different musicians were warming up and the belly dancers were wiggling their hips (without any bellies showing) and chairs were being made into circles and the only crowds were around the storytellers. After this we both took a similar route to the North to the one Mike had just done, absolutely thousands of stalls selling everything and all looking quite tidy (at least tidier than India, my only known comparable). At one time the street got narrower and narrower before stopping at a dead end. We eventually found the way but didn’t go far and headed back to Fna where not much had changed. We saw a few bands and as we walked past a crowd I looked into the circle to see what was happening, thinking Mike had done the same, of course he hadn’t and we were separated! Not really a problem as we were near our hotel, so after a browse around the crowds looking for him, I wandered off to type this. Mike came back 15 mins later and we arranged to leave at 7:30am tomorrow for the bank which opens at 8. If I get my card back I may buy a phone here cheaper than back home. Mike now thinks he may go to the funeral, I think he should as his daughters want him there and he quite liked the guy.

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Comments

[Amy Friedman]

good nick
That oldest carpet in Morocco looks like it is in better nick than an oriental rug I bought in Stoke Newington once upon a time.

[DickDiamond]

The oldest carpet was in good nick. I went over and fondled it! Could have been new.