So this is what they were singing about.

April 9.10.11, 2009

Marrakech, Morocco

Crosby, Stills Nash & Young had a song a long time ago where they sang about the “train to Marrakech”. Now I know what the hell they were talking about.

Marrakech has been a market and trading town for maybe a thousand years. Sure there seem to be a lot of new developments on the outskirts of town but the old Medina looks much the same as it did 500 years ago. Of course, I am overlooking the continuous stream of motor scooters racing down the narrow passageways but they still have to stop for the burro carts blocking the way.

We stayed in a B&B that was in the old city. The directions were to enter at one of the old gates and then take the first right and the second left. Stop at the door with the 70 above it. The passageways were only eight feet wide (no names of course) and I felt that we stepped back into the movie set of some biblical epic.

Through the occasional open door, we could see tiled entranceways but mostly there were solid wooden doors with embedded steel rivets that wouldn’t have been out of place in a medieval fortress. We had a bad moment with a swarm of kids that wanted money to guide us, followed us there and demanded payment. Insulted by the paltry change we offered they eventually stormed off in search of wealthier prey.

We spent the next few days wondering the old city (and getting lost on a continuous basis). The souks, or markets, are narrow passageways crowded with vendors selling everything from clothes to lamps to spices to produce to antiques to rugs to pharmaceuticals. Most of their customers are locals not tourists and the bargaining can be furious. Of course, if you are a tourist the initial asking price triples but that just gives you more room to bargain.

The passageways can be more than crowded with burro carts, motor scooters, bicycles, the odd small truck and hundreds of people. If you are hungry then lots of vendors sell the local round flat bread to nibble on. The vendors are not as aggressive as those in Turkey are but once you start to bargain getting away without a sale can be a serious problem.

The real heart of Marrakech is the Djemaa el Fna. In a ritual that is hundreds of years old the huge square is filled during the day with snake charmers and vendors (like the guy selling the teeth – a whole table of human teeth). For a few Dirham you can have a poisonous snake draped on your shoulders or take a picture of a cobra swaying in front of a charmer playing a flute.

At night, the square really comes alive. Half of it is filled with musicians, storytellers and speakers. The other half (set up only at 4 pm and gone by the morning) becomes a vast restaurant with kitchens and tables selling kebabs, snails, fresh orange juice, fresh sheep’s head (really) and a dozen other things. With the lights, the smoke from the grills and the hundreds of people it is a truly unique sight. I have never seen anything like it. Really one of the world’s really cool places.

That CSNY song was always one of my favourites but now it’s magical, just like the Djemaa.