A room with a view
Saturday, February 10th, 2007For US$14 at the Hotel CTM, we got no smiles from the staff but a room with an unbeatable view over the Djemma El-Fna, the most famous place in the entire country and the pulsing heart of Marrakesh.
The Djemma is one of the world’s most fabulous (and largest) squares, and by day is famous for snake charmers and for having some of the best and cheapest orange juice in Morocco. It comes alive at dusk to the beating of drums when dozens of food stalls are set up, storytellers turn the square into a stage of their own and the most touristy aspect of the Djemma, the ‘water-sellers’ (in reality photo posers not much different from the ‘gladiators’ outside the Colosseum) have gone home.
Aside from the square, Marrakesh has some beautiful buildings (most notably the 12th century Koutoubia mosque and the Saadia tombs), but the old city itself cannot match the medieval atmosphere of Fes. Even within the walls of Marrakesh, most streets are wide and have motor traffic (even ‘Hop On, Hop Off’ buses as though it was Paris!). Still, it’s a great place and I can see why it’s so popular. And for all the tourists here, the touting is not as bad as Fes: we walked for 30 minutes from the bus station right through the Djemma El-Fna with our backpacks and not a single hotel tout came up to us the whole time! (If you’ve been to Morocco, you’ll understand why this is a pretty historic achievement…)
So, we only have a week left before hitting steamy West Africa, so we’ve got one more cold experience left in us: the High Atlas. This afternoon we’re going to Imlil, from where a nice three day hike awaits, insha’allah. The CNN forecast for the next four days in Marrakesh is for two days of ‘sunny’ and two days of ‘partly cloudy’ so hopefully we’ll get clear skies in the mountains and be able to enjoy the views.
Nick