Marrakech, The Kingdom of Morocco
10/2/2024
Believe it or not, this is the second time I’ve been to Marrakech! The first time I took a trip here, I took it for granted! I was but a young sophomore at Penn, who had never left the country. Oh how the turntables.
The Park Hyatt, located in the Villas section of Marrakech, where a lot of French people reside in their vacation homes!
Marrakech is immensely popular, but you wouldn’t know it easily from American tourists. We like to travel to places like Italy, France and Spain from Europe. But where do the go?
Enter Marrakech. Another former colonized/occupied country from French.
In the past I visited Vietnam, the cuisine beloved possibly by the intersection of fresh flavors and French culinary practices.
We booked a walking tour with GetYourGuide - and met in the main markets of Jemaa El Fina, the classic main Market one always see in any film.
We visited the Koutobia, Saadian Tombs, Bahia Palace and a local spices shop, Marrakech Herbs.
Koutobia Mosque
Outside the Koutobia, hello from me and Anna!
Here are some top of mind thoughts on each place:
The Koutobia is a grand Mosque, a UNESCO world heritage site! We walked with our tour guide straight in front of the Cafe de France near the center square of Jemaa El Fina.
The bustling market was just setting up at 9am, the dry Moroccan heat is very similar to Vegas, and the sound of scooters and the hustle and bustle traffic was extremely similar to Vietnam.
My wife said that for travel destinations, I have a clear type! French occupied places with just a touch of danger. But really the danger evaporates once you really spend time learning about the area. The Moroccan shopkeepers haggle but don’t press too hard. The street food stalls were all safe! (Cross my fingers).
Donkeys are regularly used, this street walk had rows of auto and moped repair shops, perfect for the small alleyway streets.
The Koutubia, located 5 mins from the center market of the Medina.
As we moved on to the walk in the streets, the alleyways and cars remained intimidating, a strong heat, some walls with degrading stucco (or clay?), a whole alleyway of motorcycle scooter repair, or jacked up cars working on repairs. This is where I’d be probably in another life, here or Vietnam!
We visited the Saadian Tombs, an area off the top of my head that buries the King and Queen of Morocco, and the general Saadian who helped to foster a peace. We aren’t allowed to visit Mosques, but we are if they are converted to tombs.
Saadian Tombs
Saadian Tombs - where in the 1500s the esteemed general Saad fostered peace with neighboring empires including France and Spain.
With a further walk we went to the tour favorite, the Bahia Palace, named after the spouse of the King? That brought peace by marriage and becoming the 3rd spouse, It was an beautiful house - and the tidbit I remember was the horse stalls were converted to hold the concubines, and the 2 former spouses were moved in the main house with Bahia herself. Different times. And the water is named after her!
Bahian Palace
"Upside down boat" rooftop.
Getting around is a trip in itself. The main area is Jemaa El Fina, but we stayed 20 mins taxi away at the Park Hyatt, located in the fancy new developing site of golf courses the Mandarin Hotel. From Reddit, I heard InDrive is the Uber equivalent. And there is war between InDrive and the Taxi Union. One of my InDrive drivers showed me a baseball bat to ward off any taxis trying to bully him. Apparently, if caught driving for InDrive, then the police will take the car away. The language and attitude sounds very similar to New York in 2012 at the start of Uber.
My wife was skeptical, until we asked the receptionist how to not get scammed by Taxis. The answer: “You can’t, once they realize you’re a tourist, the meter is broken!” We took our chance on the lovely InDrive drivers. The cars varied from nice, plain, manual transmission, hot, secret Taxis who also have the app, to a daytime working Chef at the four seasons! Chef Nor!
Signing out of the historical sties and tours - the first day in Morroco was an absolute culture shocking blast.
The Park Hyatt is nothing short of a “White Lotus” hotel, of which I still feel guilty like I’m living like Royalty! Thank you Chase points. The hotel infinity pool is exquisite, even for a pool that I couldn’t even swim all the way across with its enormous length!
The room service was spectacular, the venue otherworldly, the taxi v InDrive is just the right amount of Danger, the heat staggering, the history sites colorful, the walking very very long (thank you marathon training), the company (my wife) the world, (missing you Stitcho too!), and the experience a world away from worlds.
The next post is: you got it: Eating Sheep Brains.
Sites Used:
InDrive for Taxis and Ubers to not get ripped of.
Get my Guide for an Amex 15% discount and easy app experience booking.
Orange Phone for 20GB data for 20 euros.
Fidelity Debit to take out cash transaction free.
YouTube to find Kech.Cab.
Reddit for advice.
Google Maps downloaded offline.
Extras
Flavored Nuts and trail mix - really delicious!
