ATLAS PANORAMA HOLIDAY:
Day1 - In and around Marrakech

We had checked into the Hotel Ibn Batouta late the night before and went immediately to bed. In the morning, we awoke to the sound of the Call to Prayer and memories of my previous trip to Morocco, 7 years ago, came flooding back. However, rather than jump out of bed and begin our prayers, we managed to turn over and go back to sleep. We woke again an hour later at 7am with the slightly less romantic sound of a mobile phone alarm clock! We had breakfast, which was rather unexciting - white bread with jam and tea or coffee. There was some very fresh orange juice which was great. Then we had the morning briefing from our guide for the week - Hamid. I had already visited Marrakech and if I'm honest, this was the day that I was least looking forward to. I had found Marrakech to be rather too big and bustling for my liking and the constant feel of being jostled, hassled or pick-pocketed didn't add to my enjoyment. However, this time, I had the advantage of having a male at my side and seven years more wisdom and experience on my side!
Our guide for the tour of the city arrived: it was Mustafa - who had been my guide 7 years previously! What were the chances of that happening? Mustafa is a very jovial and entertaining speaker, with stories about everyone inhabitant and every place in Marrakech. He whisked us off into the town and the steered us through a mind-boggling set of streets and alleys in the course of the next 5 hours. We visited:
  • Ruins of the old Mosque
  • Tour of the Souks, including the iron-workers souk
  • A traditional herbal pharmacist, where I had a massage and we bought some black powder to stop Dave snoring!
  • The Musee de Marrakech (very peaceful)
  • The Koranic Madrasa - a place where people used to study the Koran. We were all struck by the tiny bedrooms which would have been shared by the students
  • The main square: Djemma El Fna
    • We had lunch together with the whole group in a hotel just off the main square. We then split up into smaller groups and set off to find our own way around the town. In the afternoon, we saw:
  • the Saadien tombs [link]
  • The Babi Palace: this was a fantastic place. It took a bit of finding, but the tranquility inside was fantastic. I took some time out at this point and sat on a wall watching and listening to the storks, who were nesting on the ramparts around the palace. In one corner of the palace, it is possible to climb the ramparts up to a roof terrace. It was from there that we had our first glimpse of the mountains - to the North of the city.
  • the souks: we had about an hour to wander around the souks and I had a lot of fun chatting to the stall holders and trying to find out how much things cost
    By this time the large square (Djemma El Fna) was coming to life and there were musicians, drummers and storytellers. Whilst it is certainly an amazing spectacle, I started to feel quite nervous. The last time I visited, we had eaten on the square but our guide this time had warned us away from the stalls because the hygiene is not as good as in the restaurants. We found a restaurant and sat down, full of our memories of the sights and sounds of the day: the Call to Prayer, cats everywhere (who apparently eat scoripions in the summer), unusual smells, scooters, cars and bicycles - completely manic, jellabas.....
    the final laugh of the day came after we had eaten dinner. Looking at the dessert menu, we saw an item called "Mahalabia"... Sarah looked at it and said "mmm - I'll have a beer"...something we were all beginning to crave to a greater or lesser degree! It was going to be a long week. We walked home in the drizzle.

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