Skip to navigation

Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Morocco: Marrakech

Ben Saleh Mosque
Ben Saleh Mosque

I forget how long I've assumed that Marrakech represents the sleaziest, most hard-nosed end of travelling. The first time I remember reading about it was in a book by James Michener, The Drifters, in which Marrakech was portrayed as a drug-addled place in which to lose your mind among the exotic souqs and smells of the medina. Then a friend I travelled with in Asia mentioned he had travelled in Morocco, and sucked in his cheeks as he complained about the amount of hassle he'd been given practically every single day of his visit. Marrakech sounded like India, but worse.

Exploring the Souqs

Rue Azbezt
Rue Azbezt

There are two things about Marrakech that the guidebooks can't stop raving about: the souqs and the Djemaa el-Fna. The souqs are a good way to get out of the sun, and the Djemaa el-Fna comes into its own at night, so we spent the best part of our first full day in Morocco wandering around the former.

The Djemaa el-Fna

The western end of the Djemaa el-Fna
The western end of the Djemaa el-Fna

The Djemaa el-Fna is famous as the cultural centre of Marrakech, and for good reason. Forming both the geographical and social centre of town, this irregular and open-plan plaza is part market, part restaurant, part theatre and part hippy festival. It's fascinating, and really comes into its own at night, for every evening huge crowds of locals and tourists pour into the square in search of entertainment, nourishment and, for some, increasingly clever ways of extracting money from visitors.

Koutoubia Mosque
Koutoubia Mosque