In the morning, the square is a big expanse of concrete, quiet and empty. As the day unfolds, the souvenir shops around the edges open up, and the vendors begin their various selling strategies. But as the sunlight fades, the activity ramps up –
· There are dozens upon dozens of ladies doing henna tattoos
· Snake charmers trying to introduce us to a photo opportunity (No – I do NOT need a picture of me with a snake around my neck!)
· More photo op’s with monkeys on metal chains
· Music and dance performed by men in various types of traditional dress
· The occasional card game
· Fortune tellers (at least, I think one guy was offering to tell our fortune – in French!)
· One particular game fascinated us (we checked it out 3 nights in a row!) it involved ‘fishing’ for Coca Cola bottles with long fishing rods, elasticated string, and a rubber ring. We believe that the objective was to ‘catch’ the bottle by positioning the ring around the neck; but it was clearly more difficult than it first appeared.
· There are rows and rows of carts selling freshly squeezed orange juice, and yet more selling dried fruits (figs, dates and apricots)
· A row of stalls all selling freshly cooked snails (I’d ‘done’ the snail thing in Spain, so I didn’t feel the need to repeat the experience here!)
· There are around 100 food stands, which seemed to be divided into (roughly) four menu options:
1. The ‘standard’ menu: tagine, couscous or grilled and skewered meats (with salad or vegetable accompaniments)
2. Sausages in bread: just that – flat bread, with sausages and spicy tomato sauce. There were a couple of these stands and they were incredibly popular (and very tasty – Carrie and I tested it out on our final night)
3. Harira soup and Dates: again, a single-option menu. This appeared to be very popular with the Moroccan consumers
4. Sheep’s head and brains: If I’d had a better time with my stomach in Morocco, I might have been tempted to give it a go… but I just really wasn’t feeling up to trying something challenging!
· Jamal (our tour leader) told us that we were not allowed to eat there, as the food wasn’t good (i.e. we would get sick). But, on our final night – after the tour had officially ended – Carrie and I DID; we were very careful with our selections, and we didn’t suffer any side effects.
Unfortunately, I don’t have many photos of this spectacle because (1) it was hard to take good night shots, and (2) all the performers are there to make money, so photos cost $$.
The souks around the square were similar, but much-much bigger than in Fes and Meknes. The further-in away from the main square, the more interesting: we saw the men at work sewing the bags, cutting metals and stamping leather. With more tourists around, the vendors were both more creative and pushier (and some were just not that pleasant). Some of the interesting tactics employed were:
· Use random phrases to get attention: ‘cheese’, ‘fish and chips’
· Cockney rhyming slang: I wouldn’t have picked up on this, but Katie tells me that ‘come for a butcher’s hook’ means ‘come have a look’
· Flattery (as experienced all across Morocco): ‘Gazelle’ seemed to be the popular compliment here
· The standard ‘everything is cheap / almost free / student price / democratic price’
· In the food stalls, we got ‘everything is lubbly jubbly’, ‘remember stand number xx’ and, ‘see you later alligator’
· We did have to make a few quick exits from stores, when the vendors became annoyed (and sometimes angry) that we were not going to buy anything. In these instances, the worst we got was angry mutterings, and one man told us to “go back to your country”.
Overall, Marrakech was fascinating and entertaining, but not exactly a relaxing place to be (except when we escaped to our Riad – which was situated out of the main city – or to the road top cafes overlooking the square).
No comments:
Post a Comment