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My Marrakech Adventure

I have been travelling off and on now for around 14 years. I have slept rough on beaches and in parks in Italy; have solo navigated the darker side of Tunisia; and have explored the delights of many islands... I have also stayed in 6 star, sprawling palace style hotels... and have discovered that the way to my heart, - the true soul food for me - is raw, true, no rose tinted glasses ‘cultural travel’.

I use italics, because I do realise that unless you actually live in a place for a while, you don’t genuinely experience a country’s actual culture properly. BUT what I definitely appreciate from our world, is discovering the true soul of a country. This blog/vlog is about Marrakech which for me, does offer this.

Despite being extremely poor, it is of course a commercial entity in itself... a sort of money making machine... just not a lot of money is actually changing hands. But the souk - the medina - of Marrakech is overrun with street LIFE. Unique foods, smells, colours and sounds. It’s all there. Everything is extreme and to an extent the entire centre is a performance. An art in itself.

I am sure, like me, you don’t actually enjoy seeing the brutal way they ‘care’ for their animals: monkey’s in nappies; horses and donkeys so poor their heads hang low, tongues trailing on the floor and feet so sore they have to stand on their toes… nor do you like to see poor snakes, chameleons, birds being pulled from pillar to post by aggressive hands… I’m sure you don’t really like to feel permanently grubby… nor permanently harassed by the street vendors selling their wares… and yet, surely this is all part of the incredible and exciting life that is the Medina of Marrakech? It is for these reasons that I list that I DO love Marrakech. Because that is their culture. That is life for them. The magical street entertainers; the enticing yet slightly creepy stall vendors; dem ‘pesky doughnut boys’ with their grubby innocent faces; the artistic women creating their versions of Henna beauty on our ignorant bodies. I love it all. I accept it all which is why it is all acceptable for me.

The amount of people that I have spoken to who have been to Marrakech and loved it is far fewer than the people I have met who express their dislike of it all... so I say, open your eyes, your ears and your hearts and embrace it all for they know no different life… and are trying to make it work for them.

Then trust me, you will love it.

Solo female in Marrakech

I had a lot of people shocked at the fact I spent 4 days in Marrakech by myself. OK, so yes, there are some places safer than others and I do agree that Marrakech is possibly not one that I would recommend whole-heartedly to all solo female travelers.

I am not a standard ‘girly girl’. I do not really ever feel fear. I embrace adventure and enjoy risk. I love jeopardy. I thrive off it. So I wasn’t scared of the prospect of Marrakech. I have traveled in many places alone and had a few risky moments here and there and survived... so I doubted Marrakech would be much worse!

However, I have to say that for all my bravado, for the first time in about 10 years I DID have a moment of ‘Oh f*** Al, what have you done now!!’ and although I’ve shrugged it off now, I did berate myself at the time.

I walked through the souk. I found the ‘Epice Market’ – the spice market. All fine, except this market is certainly ‘closer’ than the normal lanes. I kept walking. Found a little corridor I liked the colours of (i’m a moth when it comes to pretty walls etc). Walk down said narrow street into what was now VERY close and the whole area around me was covered with cages full to the brim of chickens, cockerels, rabbits… some dead, some alive, many bleeding. Kept walking. Now people are actually killing said animals around me. Hmmm. Keep walking, head down, slightly retching now at the smells and sights around me and feeling thankful that I do not suffer from claustrophobia. I see another colourful lane that is not strewn with dead animals so head for that.

I exited the dungeons and find myself in a maze of lanes. Not really wanting to go back the way I came, I check the map and although I am not 100% sure where I am, I am convinced that I am ‘somewhere round there’. I’m sure you know what that’s like. Again, no fear. Until I suddenly feel a real feeling of dread. Suddenly I did have a feeling of claustrophobia and it wasn’t because I was in anything narrower than I was before, but it was because I had clearly now walked into a part of Marrakech that was NOT for tourists. Here I saw the reasons WHY the souk is how it is because I was in no-man’s land. The place where the desperate people live, and don’t leave because they can’t or have given up the hope of trying. And what’s more is that there was not a female in sight and I could feel many, many male eyes just watching me. Now I really was out of my depth. I racked my brains. What to do. Do I stop and turn around? NO, that will show them that I don’t know where I am going. But how to carry on?! I stopped and pretended to look at my camera; looked back the way I came and felt more gloom as I saw 4 lanes and genuinely didn’t know where I had actually come from.Clearly despite my excellent acting skills, they were not fooled as one gent made his way towards me and pointing down a random lane telling me I ‘need to go that way’. Who knows, maybe he was helping me, Ill never know because I chose to nod, and tell him I had friends behind me so was going back for them. A RUBBISH line I know, but trust me, it’s rare that I feel anxious. And I felt anxious!

So anyway. I did turn around. I put on my best confident face and strode towards one of the four lanes and walked firmly away from where I had been. I just knew I needed to get out of that area and fast!After maybe 5 more minutes of contained panic I spied what looked like tourists. A couple. I marched up to them, tried speaking English which they half understood, and just explained to them that if it was ok I was going to be joining them for a while until we found somewhere safer. They explained that they were also lost and felt a little nervous but had the comfort of each other and they welcomed me. So we all walked, and weaved through the labyrinth and eventually found a main road where I thanked them and headed off. I actually walked off and straight into another area that felt pretty weird, but it was open and I just felt relived to not be where I was. Again, I checked the map and guestimated where I was and where I needed to head. I kept walking quickly so that even though I was unsure as to my exact direction, I figured I was not too far from the touristy areas and knew I would find it soon.

As I was walking, a young lad, maybe 17 came and walked alongside of me. He asked my name. I ignored him. He told me not to ignore him. I said I was called Alex. He asked me why I was this side of town so I just said I was on my way back to the souk. He looked at me, smiled and said “Its ok Alex, I mean you no harm. I am Hassan. Alex, keep walking and go that way (pointing)”. He looked kind. Genuinely kind. So I thanked him and headed in that direction. He crossed the road and walked off.Literally, no more than 5 minutes passed and I have stopped to take this photo:

I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn to see Hassan standing there again. He tells me this: “Alex, you are beautiful, so keep walking and also put your phone in your bag otherwise you will have it snatched from your hands by a biker. Be safe ok?”. With that he turned around and walked back the way I had just walked from.

He was definitely an angel.

Accommodation

Riad Dia

This is the hostel that I stayed in for these 4 days. What a beautiful place. Everything you’d like in your Moroccan boudoir you have. This is the most colourful, creative and expressive place I have ever stayed in. No the beds are NOT comfy. No it is not luxurious. Yes there are way too many beds in the bedrooms. However, the ‘lounge’ area, with its candle lit pools and lantern strewn walls and ceiling is romantic and chilled. The Riad is run by a wonderful girl called Leila and she is helped by 3 lads and they do an exceptional job and make everyone feel extremely welcome. Breakfast and endless, delicious brewed herbal teas are included. And, as a solo female, I felt very safe. All that for a grand total of £10 per night. (www.booking.com/riaddia)

Kenzi Menara Palace

After my mini travelling time in Marrakech I joined my Eurosport work clan to do 5 days work. During this time I stayed in the Kenzi Menara Palace…. And palace it is. I imagine there are a few thousand rooms at this hotel but there is nothing claustrophobic about it. The sprawling rooms are impeccably tastefully done – as if, in fact, the lobby, the pool area, the bar, the lounges…. All of it. There is a super large swimming pool which although a little too cold, is a real highlight of the hotel grounds and the sister pool for children is slightly warmer and not overrun with…children!The staff are very friendly, the buffet breakfast is exceptional and caters for all needs and they also offer a very good lunch and dinner service which is also delicious.As expected, the prices are fairly high. Rooms are around per night. The room bar is extortionate but that’s fairly standard for a top hotel.

If you are heading to Morocco and need a hotel to stay in that is close to the drama of the souk and the new town but also a welcome relief from it all then Kenzi Menara Palace is ideal. And with a beautiful, luxury spa to boot you can have endless massages and salt scrubs to unwind and wash away all the grub ;-) (www.kenzimenarapalace.co.uk)