Deadly Vipers at Our Feet

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Today we've booked a walking tour of the Medina, and our guide Ben leads us out into the maze. Although there are no cars, there's no shortage of motorbikes and donkeys pulling carts, and Ben warns us to keep to the right to avoid getting mown down. He explains that the alleyways are narrow to maintain as much shade as possible, and the earthy red colours are intended to minimise reflection and thus keep the temperature down. He says that most of the buildings face into central courtyards, so they don't need windows onto the alleyways, which maintains privacy. This would seem to be just as well; the alleys are so narrow that you'd be able to read your neighbour's newspaper if you both had windows.

We go into the market area, or souks, where there's a separate section for each of the handicrafts - ironwork, copper, leather, baskets, lanterns and slippers. Everything is handmade right in front of our eyes. We stop to watch a craftsman produce a piece of decorative woodwork. He uses a piece of string attached to a stick to drive a lathe with one hand, whilst using the other hand to guide a chisel which he holds with one of his feet. Miraculously all his fingers and toes seem to be in tact. Ben says that recycling is big here, and nothing goes to waste - the wood shavings will be collected later and burnt to heat the public baths. Everyone's very keen to sell us something. We're offered a pair of slippers for free. We're not sure what the catch is, but there's nothing more certain than that there'll be one, so we politely decline.

We have absolutely no idea where we are or how we'd get back to the Riad if we lost Ben. I tell Issy that we need to watch him like a hawk. As fascinating as it is, spending the rest of our lives wandering around lost in here is not a particularly attractive prospect.

Next stop is a museum displaying some of the earliest photos taken in Marrakech, dating back to as early as the late 1800s. We climb up to the roof terrace where we get great views over the Medina. Every building here seems to have at least two satellite dishes. We noticed earlier that the small house next to the Riad had four of them, plus a fifth one dangling from the roof that looked like it probably didn't work. It seems a bit ironic that despite this we have no phone reception most of the time, the Internet moves at glacial speed, and there's no TV in our room. I'm not missing TV. We had TVs in our rooms in Santorini and Malta and scarcely turned them on. I assume the satellite dishes here are mostly for TV reception. If so I hope for their sakes that the good people of Marrakech aren't subjected to the same never-ending doses of reality TV that we seem to get at home these days. I'm certainly not missing "Master Chef" and "Dancing with the Stars".

We continue on to the town's old university, the Medersa Ben Youssef. Its spectacular courtyard has a disused fountain in the middle and a large room at one end, which Ben says was the lecture hall. He says that all the students sat on the floor and the small alcove at the front was for the lecturer. Apparently it faces Mecca. He says the acoustics were set up so that everyone could hear the lecturer from the alcove, even when he was facing away from them. I don't think that this would have worked too well at the University I went to; any lecturers there who turned their backs for more than a few seconds usually had paper planes thrown at them. The walls of the courtyard are covered with millions of tiny hand-made tiles. We watch on as a craftsman shapes these from larger tiles using a chisel. The workmanship is remarkable and the complex shapes all fit together perfectly. I wonder how anyone could possibly have the patience to do this.

We head into the main square, the Jemaa-el-Fna. We're in the open for the first time in a few hours, and it's ridiculously hot. We feel better when Ben tells us that this summer has been exceptional. We tell him it's good that it's not usually this hot, but it seems that what he meant was that this summer's been exceptionally mild. He says that last summer they had a week of temperatures over 50 degrees, and one day it was 54. It's Ramadan so no one's allowed to eat or drink anything during daylight hours. I don't see how anyone could possibly survive working outdoors in this heat without drinking. Ben says that if you're out in the middle of the Sahara Desert you get an exemption from the no drinking rule. I wonder who makes the rules and who you apply to to get an exemption. Surely it can't be any hotter out in the Sahara than it is here.

The square is full of extraordinary sights. Two men suddenly appear in front of us dancing and playing castanets, and then expect us to give them money. We see a man sitting on the ground next to some dead looking snakes. Ben says that they might look dead but they're only sleeping. He says that they're deadly vipers. They're just lying on the ground, and there's nothing to stop them from crawling off into the crowd. I hope they don't suddenly wake up and make a beeline for our legs. I feel very nervous. We see a snake charmer with a cobra. I ask Ben whether many people get bitten. He says that it's usually only the charmers. I take particular note of the word "usually". He says that they'll pose for pictures with their snakes if you give them some money. I really don't want to think too hard about what might happen if you refused to pay. Other odd sights include a man walking a monkey on a lead. It's not too crowded now presumably because of the heat, but Ben says it really comes to life at night.

We head back towards the Riad along a busy road. Ben starts to cross it. I don't want us to follow him as I don’t think there‘s any chance that we won't get run over. He says it's important to walk slowly and at a steady speed, and to always keep looking straight ahead. I think he must be feeling suicidal. Sure enough all the cars and motorbikes swerve around him. We take a deep breath and follow, and miraculously arrive at the other side seemingly in one piece. I must remember not do try this at home. Most drivers in Melbourne would line you up at the slightest opportunity, and the best possible outcome would be a string of expletives flung in your direction. I wonder why it's so different here.

We have a siesta followed by a swim in the pool on the roof terrace. A fellow guest from California tells us he and his family just arrived here after seven hours on a train from Fes, and all but one of them had food poisoning they got from a restaurant they ate at the night before. He said that the restaurant was highly recommended. I don't think we've got any hope of escaping from here unscathed. I ask him what the train was like. He says that the toilets were good.

We don’t seem to have learnt from the experiences of the family from California; we set out for a restaurant highly recommended by the Riad staff. The menu includes camel hamburger. I wonder if you can catch MERS from a hamburger. We decide not to risk it and settle for some tagines, which are excellent.

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Comments

[COG]

looks an amazing place and hot!.....pity about the food poisoning stories.