Morocco … Marrakech and the dunes

Stepping into the main square, is overwhelming to say the least. Expect to be pounced on by snake charmers, henna artists (who just tug at your arm!) and monkey trainers who will happily throw the animal on your shoulder and command payment. Remaining courteous with an ear-to-ear “I love the locals” smile is a struggle… and you almost feel like going back to your Riad from the moment you leave it. It definitely took us a good two days to get accustomed to the hectic atmosphere, but once you get used to it, you’ll love the frantic bartering, getting completely lost without thinking about how to get back and the mountains of colourful spices (we were told by every spice man the history behind each one!!). Of course, returning to hot mint tea served with sweets at our small hotel after a day of wandering the bustling souks, was always a welcomed rest.

 

Djemma El Fna sort of feels like a deserted stage during the day with cautious tourists awkwardly wandering round in their visors and white trainers, not quite sure where to go next, yet when the sun sets this wide square comes to life. Food stalls spring up out of nowhere and the whole place becomes a spectacular theatrical affair, where acrobats, story tellers and musicians come together. It becomes the regular social hub for all the locals and its such a fun experience!

The perfect place for a sundowner before hitting the square was a little place we found called Kosybar with views over the city and right by our favourite restaurant Le Tanjia – which incidentally featured in Made in Chelsea recently! We also loved Le Fondouk for it’s romantic rooftop terrace and the most delicious chicken pastis. We splashed out on our last night at Darmoha, where we found their set degustation menu really interesting and the most contemporary dining experience we had in the city. It’s recommended to book in advance to secure a table outside in their garden.

The views from Kosybar

After four days in the medina, we took off on a three-day excursion, organised by Moroccan Views. The sun was just rising at 7am when a mysterious white van pulled up at the obscure meeting point we were told to be at. We weren’t even sure if this was right… we just got hustled into the van by a non-English speaking driver. Weirdly we didn’t ask any questions even though there was no one else in the van, there was no indication that this was even Moroccan Views and the English-speaking guide we were promised was missing (as well as other two tourists we were told would be joining)… It was just us, so we were slightly confused – but we got in anyway because we’d hate to be rude when asked to hop in right? So we drove on and (thankfully) collected a fun couple from New York and soon after Mustapha, our expert guide for the trip, climbed into the van. Big sigh of relief when we realised this is just how it’s done here, no clipboard nonsense, no upfront payments ‘so how much do we owe?’…… ‘ah oh yes, as you like, maybe you pay after?’ so we did.

Ait Benhaddou

Sleeping under the stars, I’ve never seen such a clear sky and we woke up around 5am to see the crack of dawn spilling over the desert dunes… (the least romantic side of this story is that we also slept under dusty camel rugs, being tickled all night by crawling beetles… so getting up early was no struggle!). We rode our camels back to where we jumped back into our van and took a long, 12 hour drive home, arriving back in Marrakech for our last day before heading to London.