Advertisement
Published: March 5th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Djemma el Fna
awakening the senses Eighteen months ago in Perth, Australia we rented a house for our stay, supplied with tv, dog and the rest, the lady who's house in which we were living was quite a roamer herself, and had a lovely Moroccan carpet displayed on the floor, It was with this in mind that when we visited Morocco that we wanted to browse, (casually of course) for a traditional - hand made - one of a kind - super-duper carpet.
The initial ground work for the going rate is achieved by visiting the Artisan Ensemble, a government run initative with fixed price woods, pottery and textiles, here is probably the only place in Morocco where you can examine local goods without a smiling man in a jellaba appearing to tell you of his excellent price.
This is all part of the fun of course, bargaining is a way of life in numerous countries around the world, and although sniffed at by some Westerners, its a perfectly acceptable way to trade, its a little like ebay, but face to face.
"Hello"
"how are you? where are you from?"
"England."
"I Like England and English people, I have a friend in London, do
Spices
Turmeic - Paprika - Cumin
Flavours of Morocco you know him?"
"no, sorry"
"would you like some mint tea?"
"mmm, yes please"
"please, sit, sit....
Sometime later after viewing numerous carpets, and drinking many a cup of ridiculously sweet tea.....
"....so you like this carpet,yes?"
"it is very nice but I don't think we can afford it"
"ensha'llaah (god willing), what would you like to pay?"
"very little"
"Here is my first price... (a scrap of paper is jotted on at this point) 3800dh (£350).Wait!! wait!! before you say anything, just think... this carpet is made over many months in the desert by the nomadic people, it takes much time, this is individual, nobody in the world will have this exact same carpet, it is one of a kind, LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY PATTERNS!!! (okay I made that last bit up)....
" I'm sorry we can't afford it...."
(at this point a look of pain comes across the man's face and after much muttering in Arabic to his colleagues, we decide this is too expensive and leave.)
Luckily we found a carpet later with a much more agreeable price-tag, but I guess the old adage of shopping around is never more apparant. We
Marrakech
Carpets for sale! met a family of 6 who paid nearly £40 for a 10 mile taxi ride, and I guess that is why the price sometimes begins so high, people will occasionally knock him down £20 and happily pay 3500dh, before the seller departs on a long holiday to the desert with his winnings!!
Anyhow, Marrakech... quite a place, It is centered around a square named Djemma el Fna, pronounced "jama-eel-feena" or when we first arrived "germa-L-fana", we were soon corrected, all the little lanes lead away from the square, although it seems to possess a magnetic pull, and somehow like a maze, you always end up returning to the start point.
In the day, its a reasonably placid place, people on scooters and horses pulling tourists duck and dive through the masses, only a few stands try to tempt with a freshly squeezed juice, or succulent dried apricots or dates, However in the evening, the whole area is transformed, dozens of food stalls, snake charmers, storytellers, street performers all appear and to be perfectly honest, one couldn't swing a cat.
It's an encounter which awakens the senses, and is enjoyable just to walk around taking in the surroundings.
all this is enclosed in centuries old medina walls, stretching 10 miles around the souqs, shops and salesman who could sell ice to the eskimos.
Another Moroccan experience not to be missed is the Hammam, before entering the Hammam which is similar to a sauna but not as hot, tentatively strip to your underpants, breathe in and cover your body with black soap before being pummelled by the masseuse whom is wearing a scrubing glove, penultimately having the hair washed with ghassoul (a clay like mixture), finally you are washed down, and leave feeling as clean as ever likely to be again.
Maybe we were lucky, but we also had the honour of meeting who became known to us as the "Hashish man", This Gent was probably the only person we saw in Morocco who wore traditional British scoundrel dress, decked out in Adidas tracksuit, Bomber jacket, Nike trainers with obligatory skinhead. We encountered him on an almost nightly basis, appearing like a mirage out of the crowd, walking at quite a pace, almost in a threatening manner, A man who's demeanour was one of a man on a mission, with things to do and people to
The Square
Dates? Apricots? Banana? Cheap!! see. he proceeded to dash before us, before muttering "HASHISH". unable to reply fast enough "Yes!" "No" or "what is Hashish?" he was gone. returning to the crowd until tomorrow evening.
I can only conclude that he is the worst Hashish salesman in Marrakech.
A country with a hell of a lot to offer but in one week we barely scratched the surface, cities like Essaouira, Merzouga, Casablanca and Fes are all begging to be explored at a later date god willing.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.092s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 58; dbt: 0.0663s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Maarten
non-member comment
Hello UK Wow, what a great place to visit! I love the carpet story!! haha. Respect for the picture taking man-women really good! (new camera?) Take care Maarten Oldenzaal