Marrakech

"A visit to Marrakech was a great shock to me.

The city taught me colour." 

- Yves Saint-Lauret

We spent a week exploring Marrakech with my best friend in the beginning of february 2017.

We did not plan the trip at all in advance, it was a full surprise for me. 

 Rugias friend is going to see a tinder match there, and wanted Rugia to go with her. Rugia again, didn't want to be a third wheel, so she invited me. Less than two weeks after that, we were on our way. 

It turned out to be a good choice for Rugia, since her friend didn't spend any time with us, and only stayed in shady airbnb apartments. Us? We booked a nice hotel.

 

We flew to Casablanca and spent a day there. 

They told us at the hotel, that we shouldn't go outside when it's dark, since it is too dangerous for girls.

We did not like the idea of spending every night inside, so we took a train the next day to Marrakech. The train took almost 3,5h and cost about 20€. 

 

Mostly we walked around the city, our hotel was not too far away from the town and the bazaar.

A couple of times we took a horse carriage ride around the city, but it was so crowded, we decided that walking is a better option.

We were really lucky with the weather, as always. It was mostly sunny and extremely warm, only one night was rainy. 

 

It was not full season yet, so not too many other tourists.

From the hotel they arranged a few tours just for us. 

  

They took us to Setti Fatma waterfalls, and also knew some of the locals who took us for a hike on the mountain.    We had a private guide, who hiked with us and told us about the aboriginal village on the mountain side.

The trail was definitely not easy, so it was a good thing to have a guide. 

We encountered a lot of cafes, souvenir shops and even people selling fruits along the way. 

Some parts of the trail was very rocky uphill that we had to climb using not only our feet but our hands as well. 

                        

Note to self! Bring hiking boots for mountain trips.

Next day we went to a half day tour to a camel farm.

They showed us how to take care of the camels, and we took a camelride.  

 Most of the evenings we spent walking around the city and the bazaar.

The bazaar was endless, and Marrakech is know for it. Anything you could think of, you can find there. 

Even monkeys. 

It was always crowded, but not too much.

People are really nice and friendly, but many of the hotels are really shady. 

You need to walk small alleys with no street lights, until you find the hotel door.

We checked one hotel with good reviews online and took a taxi close by, walked the rest. 

It was super creepy, just a big black door like any of the others, and nobody opened even we knocked. We decided not to go there and took a really nice hotel little further away, as I mentioned in the beginning.

                

  

I would definitely go again. We are already planning our next trip to Morocco.