Life in the Medina of Marrakech

I flew Christmas day (doesn't really matter in Muslim countries what December 25th is) from Rome to Casablanca and then onto Marrakech on Royal Air Maroc. It's the first time that I have flown on a plane that is written in Arabic.

The Medina (old city) is the heart of Marrakech. This is the Koutoubia which was the landmark I always used to try and find my way around.

Usually, I'm really good with directions, but in the Medina there are dead ends and the streets twist and turn and you get all turned around, even myself, the one with the internal GPS system.

In the streets of the Medina, you're battling with cars, scooters and other pedestrians on small or non-existent sidewalks. Don't forget about having to dodge the street vendors too!

But you can always find a beautiful door or building as well.

There are vendors all throughout the Medina selling dry goods, live chickens and of course....

....spices and teas.

The Medina is full of "souks" or vendors selling all kinds of goods. But these goods aren't imported, they are made right in the Medina in small shops.

This man is hand carving one of the beautiful intricate doors that are found throughout the Medina and Morocco.

Every few hours one hears the blaring of sirens, it's the call to prayer. You'll then see many men scurrying to the nearest place of worship, slip off their shoes and go into pray in the direction of Mecca. This is always a good time to get around as the streets are fairly empty but watch out when prayer time is over, the place returns to being a madhouse.

Half of my trip was to go on a desert trek (pictures to come) but I had a few days after the trip to explore and I stayed in one of the "Riads" that are found throughout the Medina. Here's the front door, which was at the end of an alley. To get to it the first time, you have to call and then meet at major intersection near the Riad and then get led to it. It's like a secret society.

The courtyard of the Riad derb Zemrane. There are four rooms and a roof deck.

The room which was on the ground floor had a window that opened onto the courtyard so I had a breeze all night.

Wandering through the Medina I was brave enough to eat in one of the stalls where the locals eat. At this stall I had fried fish and beets.

Around dinnertime, the streets get flooded with kids getting out from school. I loved dodging the kids as the ran around playing with each other. Boys and girls go to school although in the evening you only see teenage boys out on the streets.

There are many leather goods made in the Medina and the skins are tanned right in the old town. Here are the skins before processing.

Workers then put the hides in lime.

The tanners then scrape off the fat.

The hides are then put in pigeon feces to made it softer and set out to dry in the desert sun. After being dried they are dyed to whatever color and then auctioned off to those who will make leather goods.

The city of Marrakech is at the base of the Atlas Mountains, which run east-west.

I learned another way to figure out my bearings in the Medina. Simply look for the satellite dishes which ALWAYS point towards the Atlas Mountains, which is south.

Fresh squeezed orange juice for the equivalent of 40 cents.

The heart of the Medina is a place called the Jamaa al Fna. At night the plaza becomes a food and entertainment extravganza. You can buy dates or spices but here's a stall for eating snails. You just pull up a seat and get served.

This "big" bowl of snails in broth was about $1.30.

I wandered around the food stalls and cold have sandwiches, couscous or full on lambs head. The annoying thing was that everyone though I was Japanese (man, those Japanese tourists must have made their mark earlier but I guess because their economy is in the dumps now, there were NONE to be found at present) I would get addressed with "Konichiwa." The first guy who addressed me in Chinese with "Ni Hao" was the guy who got my business. I told him as such. Oh, and FYI, I had assorted Kebabs with couscous.

The entertainment is mostly Moroccan singing and story telling but the atmosphere is just so high energy you can't help but get caught up in it and stop and listen.