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Published: March 16th 2009
My little room
It even comprises a four-poster bed and views of the swimming pool!For the third time in six days I saw 04h30. This time however, I was not driving down to London but having a quick breakfast before heading off to the airport. There's surprisingly little on the TV at 04h30, unless you're interested in teletext!
An hour later, I was parking the car (close to the exit and close to the bus stop!), pulling my rucksack out of the boot and heading to the fast approaching bus. My fellow travellers were a mixed bunch - four lads in their thirties with a large box (probably film crew), an elderly couple heading to the sun and a smartly dressed businessman heading off to some meeting somewhere. Oh yes, and then there was me - the only one not wearing a coat and in short sleeves! Well - I am on holiday!
Arriving in the terminal on the Arrivals level, I made my way to the escalator only to find that it was out of action. Finding a lift, I joined the short queue for check-in and, having had my rucksack weighted, took it to the special “backpacker/rucksack” drop off.
There were no problems going through security either - I've done
this so many time that I now have special travel clothes so that alarms don't ring and lights flash when I go through detectors!
It's now 06h30 and there's an hour to go before departure. The travel tablets have been taken, the coffee's hot and so am I! Woof!
First Experience of Marrakesh
We boarded the plane exactly on schedule, took off exactly on schedule and, after a very uneventful flight in which I almost completed the Sunday Times' crossword, landed on schedule. Entering the country was a sinch and, after having got the passport stamped, I entered the very empty terminal building and waited for my rucksack. Five minutes later, customs was cleared and I was met by Hassan, who would drive me to the Riad. Before leaving, I procured some Moroccan currency, exchanging a 200dh note for four 50dh.
Leaving the air-conditioned building, I realised how warm it was in the sun - lovely! My driver took me along several deserted roads before we joined the main road into Marrakesh. I've seen various driving styles across the world and this would rank possibly second to India - except that the traffic is moving much more
slowly. Notionally there were two lanes but traffic just seemed to occupy whatever space available!
Arriving at the hotel, I handed my passport to the reception and was invited to sit down and wait whilst the room was prepared. The central courtyard boasted a little fountain in the centre with traditional mosaics adorning the walls. It was all very colourful and a delightful setting to take my sweet Moroccan tea!
Finally, the room was ready. Making my way upstairs, I was let into my rooms for the next few nights. Certainly not big, there was enough space for a four-poster bed and a little table. Whilst there was no view
per se from the room, I did have a view of the swimming pool. Nice!
In which I get lost in the Souks and have a brilliant idea
Having seen two strange things outside (namely blue sky and the sun), rather than unpack, I decided to have a slow wander into the city. I'd been advised that the petites taxis will charge approximately 20dh (~£1.60) for a trip into town, but at an estimated 20 minutes, I decide to take a stroll.
It's very hot (feels
much hotter than the supposed 22ºC - yes - thought so - just seen the forecast at it was 30ºC) as I leave the comfort of the hotel and head into the great unknown. Fortunately, I have a map but succeed in getting lost some 500 yards from the hotel. Having reached the old city wall, I made the error of walking through some gardens and consequently ended up somewhere I thought I wasn't! Needless to say, I made my way down to the Place Jemaa El Fna and on reaching the square, decided to take in a fresh orange juice. 3Dh (~24p) for a glass of fresh juice - can't be bad!
At this time of day (early afternoon), the square is pretty much devoid of life apart from a few old ladies seated under the shade of umbrellas trying to sell their henna tattoos and a couple of snake charmers attempted to coax a snake out of it's shade into the hot sun! Oh, and the orange juice stalls! I therefore lost no time in heading for the shade of the souks. According to the map, it doesn't look that difficult to navigate - there's a central
Koutoubia Mosque
The golden balls are reputed to have been made of the melted down jewellery of the wife of Yacoub El-Mansour when it was discovered that she'd been eating grapes during Ramadan street (which admittedly changes name several times) with souks running off left and right. Playing safe, I decided to keep to the central street which meant that I couldn't get lost. Wrong! I came to a left hand corner which wasn't shown on the map and proceeded to lose myself in the little streets, past yellow slippers, silver hookahs, brightly coloured silks, foul smelling leather, beautiful wooden furniture, hammams and occasionally revisiting shops I'd recently been past! Sadly, I had to resort to getting out the compass but, as I could see no landmark, it could only show me the right direction not the right route. Street names were no use as they didn't match the map and there were no landmarks to be seen. Eventually, I found a job lot of tourists and followed them - to the Medersa Ben Youssef - where they disappeared inside. I carried on and found myself in a warren of back alleys with no other person around and eventually came to a dead end. Retracing my steps, several kindly folk insisted on directing me to the Tannery (where there was an auction - only today, as it happened!) - where I came back
Place Jamaa El Fna
The old and the new ... to the Medersa. I eventually found it on the map - several hundred yards from where I thought I was!
When I explore the souks more fully (!) tomorrow, I shall take the Sat. Nav. with me and ensure that the Place Jemaa El Fna is loaded into memory. That way, I won't be able to get lost!
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