The magnificent madness of Marrakesh
And how to survive it. (A first timer’s guide)
Most people kick-off their acquaintance with Morocco by visiting Marrakesh. I’d been to Fez, Meknes and Tangier - admittedly some 25 years ago - before finally making it a couple of weeks ago to visit, as I mentioned in my first post, some friends who had moved there.
The final weekend though I stayed in the medina in the heart of the city and experienced it in all its noisy, crazy, chaotic glory.
Where do you begin? Well I can hardly claim to be an expert on the basis of 4 days but here’s what I learnt about where to stay and eat, what to visit and how to get around.
Despite its busyness it feels a really safe city, the main dangers being getting lost or hassled though the hassling is much better than it was. Basically Moroccans are courteous and hospitable, willing to help, not always in the expectation of a tip though one is generally appreciated.
It’s good value too so long as you agree prices in advance. Especially important with taxis which don’t generally have meters.
The usual advice when travelling applies - don’t draw attention to yourself, keep your bag zipped up, don’t carry too much cash although carry some. Most transactions are in cash (dirhams of which there are roughly 12 to the pound, or 10 to the dollar).
I was told to avoid eating salad and drinking tap water advice I followed, though that inevitably meant a lot of plastic bottles.
Oh and take a bath plug. There are baths but rarely plugs!
This post is longer than usual so you may need to finish reading it online or in the app.