Marrakech (1)

Peace be upon you, welcome to my travel diary. This year's destination is Morocco. The journey begins in Marrakech and ends in Tangier, with 21 unknown days in between. This time, I’m starting a day before departure with a train ride to Nuremberg. Everything on schedule; the hostel was very good. The flight on Tuesday went smoothly, although there could have been more food and some entertainment. But for €280 for both ways, I shouldn't have too many expectations. Charles de Gaulle Airport is a fantastic airport; you can even play on a Playstation 5. In Marrakech, I found the right bus right away and didn’t get lost on the way to the hostel (thanks to Google Maps). I’ve never been this well-prepared; it was a very relaxed arrival. I planned to travel with less stress and write in a bit less detail. The first goal has already been achieved quite well.

The first impression is that this is not a challenging travel destination. There are many tourists here. The streets are a bit busier, but it seems very safe. There are a few beggars, not aggressive, and you can see some poverty, but everything is harmless. Tourist tricks are also rare. Communication is not a problem; a lot of French is spoken here, but English works quite well. I can still manage a few words in French.

The Medina, or the town center, is very convoluted. One theory is that it is designed to confuse potential attackers. There are no cars there. Despite my generally poor sense of direction, I have no problems. I took care of everything in the evening – internet, exchanged money, and did a bit of shopping. Absolute routine. My first meal was chicken tagine with vegetables, which was enough for my French. And you almost always get tea, which is way too sweet. On the plane, a woman explained to me what I must try. Everything sounded delicious.

The first full day, Wednesday. I had planned a short city tour as an introduction, but overnight, I received an email saying it was postponed by a day. I don’t need that, so I set off on my own. The Bahia Palace is the first destination, a royal palace from the 19th century, not too old. Beautiful architecture, everything with courtyards and lots of decorations. The palace of the current king cannot be visited. The second stop was the tombs of the Saadian dynasty from the 16th and 17th centuries. On the way back, I passed the city wall, a city gate, and saw the Koutoubia minaret. There are hardly any skyscrapers in Marrakech, and this central tower can be seen from everywhere. Non-Muslims are generally not allowed to enter mosques. You can hear the call of the muezzin, and you occasionally see veiled women or a few people praying, but I hardly notice it. What stands out are the many cats, usually in poor condition. Fortunately, there are hardly any stray dogs. In the hostel, there were nice conversations, although communication was sometimes a bit awkward. I usually book very cheap hostels, so I forgive it when it’s not entirely hygienic.

In the evening, I met Mohamad for tea. We had a good conversation; he takes his religion seriously. A friend of his also joined us, who could even speak a little German because he wanted to study in Germany. Now many of them are active in tourism. We walked through the new district of Gueliz, everything was nice, with many new buildings, expensive stores, and restaurants. After that, we had a little motorcycle tour around the city and ended up eating kebabs somewhere: beef, chicken, lamb, liver. Really good food. A very funny guy.

It’s Thursday, and after breakfast, we head to the Jardin Secret. A rediscovered garden in riad form. One part is a botanical garden, and another part is a classic Muslim garden. Wonderful, you can sit there and enjoy the plants. It’s explained and shown how the irrigation system worked. The water came from the Atlas Mountains, and there were no pumps, so they had to work with gravity. A very sophisticated system for irrigation and wells. I sat in the garden for quite a while, despite the many tourists. The second stop was the Cyber Park, a public, very well-maintained park. Also nice for relaxing. I had lunch at a street stall and got talking with Ali. He is a Berber from the desert and a tour guide. He provided lots of information, and the food was excellent again. Here, you eat with your hands, which is a bit strange. There’s flatbread from which you tear off pieces to scoop up the food. Ali skillfully devours his chicken this way, while I stick to cutlery.