Arrival & The City
We had a mid afternoon flight out of Greensboro, with a connection in Atlanta (that we barely caught), followed by a 7 hour flight straight to Marrakech. We’d heard that customs could be slow in and out of Morocco but for us at least, it was pretty easy. But our arrival was at 6:30 in the morning in a city that really doesn’t get going until 9:00 or so.
But our first step was to get some dirhams. There will be ATM’s in the cities, but less so out in the country- and they may or may not work, or they may not work with your card, or they may only give out large (200DH) bills. This a largely cash based society, very few places will take your credit cards and you will be tipping a lot. Things are not terribly expensive- good dinners are around 150DH ($15), street food 60-80DH ($6-8) and tips are 20-50DH ($2-5). But I can assure you that only larger restaurants and shops will have change, so the cost of whatever you are buying out in the street will be lowest bill you have. The trick is to have a LOT of 20 & 50Dh bills. And while the exchange service in the airport probably doesn’t give the best exchange rate they do have lots of cash in all the denominations so we got $700 exchanged immediately for 7000DH and the exchange fee was about 10%, or $70. They will also try to sell you a debit card that will get you a better rate for the dirhams you sell back at the end of the trip but it was too expensive and it is unnecessary- just keep getting dirhams as you go and spend them all as you go. Also take multiple cards with you- credit & debit- because sometime some will work when others won’t.
Once the money was figured out we exited and found our driver- he was friendly and spoke some English, something we greatly appreciate. But as he was paying for his parking the attendant there didn’t have any change so his parking was more than he planned. The exchange was in Arabic, so I don’t know the details, but it was our first experience with “no change” and it would not be our last. Small bills matter!
But our driver got us to Riad Mur Akush in the old medina. In the States we’d be cautious in the small dark alleyway, but in Morocco it is normal and totally safe. Our driver found the poorly marked riad door and woke up the attendant, who kindly let us into the gorgeous atrium area and let us go to our room early (even though we weren’t booked there until later) for some much need sleep and a shower. Our first tip was to the driver (40DH).
After a couple hours of sleep the riad staff kindly prepared us an amazing breakfast- eggs, crepes, breads, fruit, yogurt, wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice and amazing Moroccan spiced coffee.
We had a tour guide schedule for the afternoon, but we wanted to get out and start exploring- so with a paper map and Google maps we set off. Let me tell you, Marrakech on very little sleep is an overwhelming experience of sights, smells, architecture and people! The people are very kind, almost as soon as we got out on the main street several people just looked at us and smiled and said “welcome to Morocco” and then went on their way, but…. there is also the guy who started talking to us and said “I was working at the riad next door to yours, fixing the kitchen and saw you come in. There is a a special exhibit of something something by the ladies of the mountain area and they are only in town this week because of something something government…let me show you” after which he leads us to a spice shop where there is indeed, an older lady pressing some kind of oil (aragon, we’d later find out). The guy who led us there just walked away at that point. It isn’t a scam per se, he’s just out there trying to get people into his, or his friend/relative’s shop to make a sale. But this will happen to you many, many times if you let it. Same story, different places and days.
Once out of the shop- after several “no thank yous” we were out on way. The maps, paper and digital in conjunction, worked pretty well and we made it to the Saadian Tombs (200DH), Bahia Palace (200DH), and El Badi Palace (200DH). These were all amazing places, but if I were going to drop one it would be El Badi Palace- not that it wasn’t interesting, it was the oldest one we saw- but it was just the least interesting and ornate. But the architectural details in the other buildings (really all the buildings) is amazing- marble floors, intricate tile mosaics on the walls, going to ornately carved plaster and then stunning carved wood painted ceilings. If you’ve read our other trips you’ll know that in Patagonia we coined the term ABFM (another beautiful freaking mountain) and in Iceland it was ABFW (waterfall) and in Morocco it became ABFC for their amazing ceilings.
But we had to hurry back to the riad to meet Sahid, our guide for the afternoon who took us to see the Koutoubia mosque, gave us some background on Islam, then to a spice store- where we felt a bit of pressure to buy something…and we did, small pack of spice. They are always selling or helping their friends sell things. But after that we visited Madrasa Ben Youssef and Dar el Bacha, Souks of Marrakech (Dyers’ Souk) and Djemma el Fna Square. The souks and square are fascinating, but there is a sameness to all that is being sold. Sahid left us in the square and we had dinner ($38 on credit card) at L’Adresse Marrakech overlooking the square. We tipped our guide 70DH + driver 20DH. We saw a lot of stuff but did not see the snake charmers- evidently too cold for them?
After a good night sleep and another excellent breakfast we went to had a hammam- recommended by the person at the riad, who then gave us a ride there and back. The wash down and heavy scrubbing with coffee and who knows what else, was amazing! And it was followed by a strong massage, both much needed after a long plane flight. The hammam is very traditional and worth doing when you’re there.
The afternoon was more wandering around the maze of souks and enjoying “window” shopping. We got sucked into the a rug shop where we got quite a show and explanation of rug styles… the young man laid them out like playing cards! We almost walked out with a rug… and trust me they were more than willing to ship them to our house! But we resisted and left without a rug.
Dinner was at Espices, right next door to the rug shop- another great meal! I will say the food here does not disappoint! But from our rooftop table I could see a minaret and some cell towers I recognized as near our riad. I thought that I could work our way back through the souks and come out near the riad. Well, I was wrong and we ended up outside the medina in a very busy and chaotic area that was kind of like a yard sale- and we were very lost. We got some very bad directions from a young man that cost 20Dh, and he was annoyed we didn’t give him more.
Tomorrow we will get the car and head out of Marrakech.
