Photos : Morocco, Marrakech 2006
Anyone for a taxi?
It seemed distant memory when we last had a holiday so thought we earned ourselves a break. We headed to Marrakech for 4 nights of relaxation at Riad Yasmine located in the Medina.
All seemed to be going well, we had researched our destination (enough), we had Euros for a taxi from the airport, we had our bags. The one thing we weren’t clued up on was the difference between a ‘large’ taxi and a ‘compact’ taxi. No sooner had we accepted and jumped in the cab to drive past the ‘compact’ taxis that would have been 1/2 the price…doh!
As we entered the taxi arena (I defy someone to tell me it’s a rank) we were shuffled from driver to driver until we found one who said he knew where our riad was located. Our trusty Lonely Planet book had that it should cost us around 80 Dirhams so when told 250 Dirhams by the first driver we were aghast and suggested as much. We got him down to 150 but neither he or any of the other taxis would go below…we smelt a rat/con. All drivers had the same hand signals that made it look as though we had to go over some fly-over to get to the medina so we thought there might be a toll or something (my Arabic doesn’t extend beyond ‘hello’, ‘thank you’ and of course ‘no thank you’). Nope…just animals en-route.
Needle In A Haystack
Our driver assured us that he knew where the riad was and that we were in good hands. Our destination was only about 6km from the airport and there was no toll…only animals on the road to avoid so I don’t think the extra cost was for that. We drove into the medina and stopped. We were at an intersection with no sign of the riad so we asked the driver where it was and he pointed north. We got out and I thought it didn’t seem right…the driver had no idea. 0 for 2 was the score so far in Marrakech. Luckily I had map from the riad’s web site and according to that the riad was the opposite direction to where the driver pointed. Immediately we were set upon by very helpful locals trying to ‘guide’ us. We didn’t have any local money so I wasn’t keen on any help but as the taxi had left we were stranded and looked very lost. The look on our faces plus our backpacks plus looking at a map was magnet for assistance and immediately had 2 guys directing us, even though we were already walking in the same direction. Unable to shake them but not 100% certain we were walking the right we half followed and half directed ourselves to the riad to then find them hassling for money that we don’t have.
What is a riad you ask? A Riad is a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden. Once through the front door the craziness of Marrakech was forgotten and we met with tranquility and were greeted by our hosts. Before too long, about 5 minutes, we found ourselves on the roof terrace with a beer or two and the decision to remain on our collective fat behinds was made. Had a great 3 course dinner at the riad that included a wonderful fish tajine.
Soukville
Was great to walk around the souks (markets) but as with most things, there were things you quickly tired of. The salespeople were the most annoying but you always have to be polite otherwise, as we found out, they will let you know they took offense at your rudeness. Our rudeness was ignoring them when they asked us to look at their shop. There are 100’s of stores so after saying politely ‘no thank you’ for 300 times you tend to get over it and keep quiet and pretend you didn’t hear them. Chris was mistaken for Japanese and we continually heard ‘Konichiwa’…I actually know more Japanese than Chris!
We had planned to buy a number of things such as rugs, crockery, jewellery (not for me) and nick nacs but we were disappointed with the quality of the rugs and crockery plus the price wasn’t too our liking.
A path less travelled….
I like to think that my sense of direction isn’t too bad but damn we got lost one night. Our host gave us his own designed ‘map’ of how to get to the square. Getting to the square isn’t an issue as once you spot a couple of tourists you can just follow them and voile you’re there. Obviously for the trek home you could reverse the procedure but as not all tourists stay inside the old city it doesn’t work too well so you need to be able to navigate yourself.
One night we stayed out later than intended so when retracing our steps to the riad, many of the shops and indeed walkways had been closed. These were our reference points and we got ever so slightly lost. For a trip that should take 20 minutes it took use a little more. After 50 minutes Chris was looking pensive, after 80 she was looking even more so. I thought we were maybe 5 minutes from where we should be, but the fun of wandering around night markets was beginning to wain when even the local night markets started to close and we still had no clue which direction to head. Grudgingly we accepted a local guide to show us the way, he wouldn’t just point us in the right direction but was saying something like “yes, yes my friend…I show you”, and after 5 minutes we were heading back to the square to start our journey again.
I don’t know how but we ended up being due east of the square when we needed to be due north. So we finally find our way back to the square and once again set off for home (you thought the story was going to end…didn’t you?) and we turn left then right then straight etc and once again….lost! We see the same landmarks that we saw about 90 minutes ago when we were lost so at least we are consistent and always getting lost in the same place. Chris has reached the end of her tether and says “I’m over this…. let’s just get in a cab”. As we walk about 20 meters I notice something and say to Chris “see that white doorway?” Yep we walked right by our riad the first time an almost did the second 🙂
So I think 2 hours to get home and show Chris the local night markets was a good evening but I think she begs to differ (and of course I was over it by the time we got back to riad).
No need to rush
As our flight was departing at 7:30 and we were advised to be at the airport by 6am. As the ‘compact’ taxis don’t start before 7am we had to get the Mercedes taxi and pay double the price again but we were at the airport early. In a model of inefficiency the time to check in and get through security meant that we had about 5 mins to wait until called for our flight.
The temperature for our entire stay was in the mid to high 30’s so Chris was very happy to work on her tan and I was happy to be putting on sun screen rather than getting an ‘English’ tan. 🙂