The Red City That is Marrakesh

W and I spent 3 days in Marrakesh. 1.5 days should be more than sufficient if you have instinctive navigation skills. If i were to do a pie chart, 40% of our time will shown as "wandering around like a headless chicken". This is despite us asking for directions and with the help of google maps, amazing.

This really frustrated me but not W. I detest walking around aimlessly unless that is my original objective (i.e shopping). W tried to persuade me to deviate from the checklist and include "walk around and soak up the local atmosphere"-his synonym for being lost. Nice try. Might work if I wasn't one of those annoying bitches who plans every step of the itinerary right down to taking line X of the train service, alighting Y stops after and then heading off to the streets  via exit Z. I think we make a good pair-W with his OCD standards of hygiene and paranoid me with my Plan Bs.

Okay, back to Marrakesh. The thing I like most about this city is how it is so real and bursting with life-the noise, the sweat and the grime. Also, it is refreshing to witness how locals were so fervent about their religion. 5 times a day, prayer bells chime and streets become empty as locals rush to the mosque. 

a-MAZE-ing city

Our first stop was the Marrakech Museum garden to purchase the 3-in-one ticket (S$10/pax)  for Marrakech Museum, Ben Youssef Madrassa and Almoravides Qoubba. It is cheaper to buy the 3-in-one ticket as opposed to getting them individually. All the 3 sites are must-go!

At the Saadian Tombs, the green lights used added an eerie vibe to the already dark enclosure. It was a welcome relief for us to step into the cheerful garden and bask in sunlight. Apparently, indoor tombs were the royalty's and outdoor ones the servants' and soldiers'.  It is quite fascinating to see how people tries to take everything with them when they die. The more you have, the harder to let go.

Indoor tombs

Outdoor tombs

Next, we went to the Koutobia Mosque. It is pretty close to the Saadian Tombs. Only believers could enter so we stood outside to observe its exterior. We didn't linger long cos the weather was really hot. 

We also visited the Palais de la Bahia which you could skip as

1) It offers very little shade and the sun was so hot you could literally feel the process of the back of your exposed neck turning red. If you must go, bring a good umbrella and wear your sunhats and shades.

2) Unlike Beijing/Korea Palaces or Versailles where could see recreations of furnished palace rooms, you only get to explore the palace infrastructure which I feel lacks the human touch/ story dimension. I got bored pretty quickly and turned to bird stork watching.

We were trying to find the spider

A hungry man is an angry man

Making it slightly harder for invaders to advance 

To cut gardening and water cost, they had the gardens built below ground level which was pretty smart....Im guessing this also facilitates hankypankies hehe.

Smart irrigation system

Below ground level gardens

Old walls. New technologies.

Hiding in the shade

I am... 

..a human canon...

Palace storks

lonely at the top

As this was the fasting month, many places which I had excitingly bookmarked were closed. After turning up at the third closed restaurant, W and his growling stomach decided that enough was enough and firmly marched me to Hotel Jnane Mogador. Jnane Mogador was located just a few doors away from our riad and we were certain that the restaurant was open as your truly had scouted the area on our arrival day (yes I always check out hostel surroundings for food and emergency evacuations). This turned out to be a brilliant choice as the omelette and beef tagine they served were absolutely delicious. The only downside was that there was no air-con so the place was pretty hot and stuffy. Sorry, no food photos cos we were so famished by then. 

Lunch@Jnane Mogador

Next, we headed off to Ali Ben Youssef Madrassa which used to be an Islamic college. Despite tourists flooding the place (I had to camp pretty long to take the below photo-why do people stupid things like this when there is google images hmm), you cannot deny the sense of peace and serenity this place exudes.This is easily one of my favorite Marrakesh sites. The carvings were super intricate and detailed. It is not easy to envision the design and be able to combine all these different shapes/patterns together in a harmonious manner okay! The color scheme chosen was also more refined and understated unlike Versailles' which was more opulent and in-your-face. 

I dono what the center waterpiece serves besides aesthetics purposes. It is definitely too shallow to be a pool.

The mystery of the water centerpiece

 Motorcycle spotted at the second floor!

Coffee, tea or me?

Next, we went to the Museum of Marrakesh which is another must-go. This museum is full of interesting artifacts and have plenty of art work, dresses and pottery. We heard that it used to be the Dar Menebhi Palace. That explains the amazing decor and tiling.

Yee-haw

Aladdin Plate - Super like

Calming Patio with chandelier-like thinggy

There was an ongoing exhibition in the museum and I really like the piece below. Too bad the artist's name was not displayed.

We lingered in the museum longer than planned cos it was so cooling and serene. In the end, we rushed to the Almoravides Qoubba ten minutes before its closing time. The good thing about arriving so late is that you could practically have the entire place to yourself cos most tourists would have gone off.

Pretty Ceiling

more camwhoring

Touted as the heart of Marrakesh, Djemaa el-Fna is a buzzling square which comes alive at night with acrobats, snake charmers, musicians and hawkers selling exotic medicine items.  Our london backpacker friends told us that some of these snake charmers will suddenly appear, put a snake around your neck and then ask u to to pay them. I think most ppl will pay out of fear that the snake might bite them hahahahah. Although my zodiac sign is the snake, the closest I have ever came in contact with one is this pair of snake skin heels I own. And they are probably synthetic. Epic fail.

Souks

We spent a full day navigating the souks. It reminded me of Thailand's chatuchak weekend market. Shops are clustered based on the specialized item they carry. (i.e textiles, carpets ect)  Haggling is a must and expect to experience motorcyclists zooming by you any moment. Hawkers generally adopt persistent and aggressive hard-selling so don't ask for prices if you aren't interested in the wares. I wanted to buy a caftan (morocco dress) and some babouches (slipper). Alas, designs which caught my fancy were sadly way out of my budget. 

The  really competitive orange fruit juice business 

Horse carriage

different vibe at night

For two nights, W and I hung out at the second floor of the restaurant and had a good view of the night scene unfolding at the square. From the photograph above, u should be able to locate this cafe.The cafe is perpendicular to the mosque I think. Don't go to the cafe right beside the mosque (also in the above photo), acrobats often perform at the empty space in front of that cafe and then collect money from diners after their performance ends.

Enjoying my mint tea

Photos of Marrakesh's new town is in W's iphone so I will have to wait for him to pass me those before I could update you guys about new town (W's favorite part of Marrakesh).