Tuesday 24 October 2017

It’s little wonder this city is known as the Jewel of the South.  It is modern, ancient, sophisticated, simple, bewitching, all at once.  Mercedes mix with mules and traffic jams often occur

But the many motor bikes, donkeys, cars and pedestrians manage to survive amongst the chaos, against all odds I must say.

This morning we meet our guide, Abdul Raheem. Jilali drives the three of us through the wide, tree lined streets to the Bahia Palace, built by the Prime Minister of the day to house his 4 wives and 23 concubines. As well as himself of course. It’s quite beautiful, with those wonderful mosaics which never fail to delight. We have learned that the three totems of Islamic art is geometric, calligraphy and flowers.

Sensible walking shoes are a must when on tour, don’t you agree?

From there, to the Ben Youssef University, built in the 12th Century. It has survived subsequent earthquakes because of the clever technique of the brickwork, which added significant strength.

We saw the so called Saadian tombs of the 16th Century where more than 100 members of the royal family are buried. Muslims are buried on their side, facing Mecca. There are, however, tombs here of Jews, too, who consulted the royal family and were close. The mausoleum was originally built by Sultan Ahmed el Mansour, who went on to found a chain of manchester stores in Sydney.

Walking to the souks, via back streets, revealed surprising and refreshing quiet.

Morocco has the largest solar farm in the world, not far from Marrakech, and 40% of the city’s power is solar generated. This is a source of great pride, and rightly so, and the daily stats are displayed for all to see. This sign is indicative of what the panels on the mosque are generating.

Seen one souk, seen em all you might say. And there is some truth to that, except the souks of Marrakech seem more ordered, cleaner and less frantic. Rather like the city itself. Whatever you want is on hand here.

I was pleased to see that in Marrakech, at least in the souks, there are still plenty of pouffes

More leather auctions, like those we saw in Fes

But Abdul Raheem is here to show us around his city, not to shop. He actively discourages browsing and moves us at quite a pace. We would have preferred a more leisurely pace but we daren’t lose him for we might never find our way out of here. Call me a sook.

A delightful oasis of peace amongst this madness is Le Jardin Secret, which hosts two gardens – the Exotic which has plants and trees from five continents, and the Islamic Garden, in the traditional four quadrants. The garden is watered by a flow from the Atlas Mountains (from where all the water for this southern part of Morocco comes) via an ingenious system of underground channels. I’m not sure if the Romans were responsible for this, but someone very clever was.

 

 

 

We finish our tour of the medina and exit into the main square of Marrakech. This is where the snake charmers are, and the men with monkeys on leads. But of course this is a dreadful tourist trap which Abdul Raheem was not going to allow us to have a bar of, since he knows we are far too discerning to care about such trifles. I secretly vow to come back without his knowledge, as I am particularly keen to see a snake being charming.

Off to lunch. A simple sandwich, we plea, but alas we are delivered to a rather nice courtyard restaurant, where we indulge in two courses. Abdul leaves us at the entrance to the restaurant with a promise to meet us at 10am tomorrow for our day of garden tours.

After lunch, Jilali kindly agrees to take us to a supermarche, to buy some picnic items for our next two dinners. We might have lost the lunch battle, but we can control dinner at least! Jilali takes the opportunity to drive us around this beautiful, curious, cosmopolitan and historic city with its wide tree lined boulevards, modern buildings, architectural heritage and chaotic traffic, complete with donkeys . It really is something, Marrakech. Jilali has an eye for the girls. We have observed often his preparedness to run down any car, bike, cyclist or pedestrian who gets in his way, but he will come to a stop for any attractive female crossing the road. And then follow her path in the rear view mirror.

Back at the hotel we swim and laze by the pool. It’s still unseasonably hot here – 34 degrees today. Later we enjoy our bread, cheese, olives and dates on the Juliet balcony of our room. Washed down with the well travelled remaining bottle of red purchased in Fes.  Palatable. Just.