After a late start this morning, we went to visit the market at a neighbouring town called Rissani. It draws people from far and wide as there are is a very large variety of goods for sale.
On the way, we stopped at a shop that sold handicrafts made by various tribes that live in the Sahara (an Arabic word meaning ‘desert’). It had an amazing variety of products and we spent a long time browsing through the shelves. I chose a little elephant that we can place on our ‘International Christmas Tree’. This is the 68th country that I have visited, so we now have a plethora of ornaments for its branches. It’s a good way to remember our travels.
We reached the market a few minutes afterwards and it was really fascinating. The vegetables were sold on tables along dusty passageways. I am not sure whether the most interesting part of the market was the produce, or the people who were shopping and those that were running the stalls.
The loaves of bread in this bakery sold for three Dirumh (about 40c each) They were baked fresh every day in a wood fired oven.
I had to take all of the photos of people with my camera hanging from my neck and pointing it in the general direction of a potential subject from my navel. That way, I could look as through I wasn’t doing any photography and people weren’t offended. My images just needed a lot of straitening and cropping.
As we wandered through the market, we passed many fruit stalls.
At the back of the market area, there was a huge pile of metal and junk from old bicycles. In fact, alll this stuff was valuable for spare parts to be used in repairing other bikes.
Outside in the sun was the fabric section where people pored over material and garments.
Nearby was something that you will never see at an Austraian market – a donkey park. Donkeys could stay here for a small fee whiile their owners shopped or did business. They were tethered to a peg in the ground far enough apart so that they coudn’t fight with other animals by biting or fall into a trap of donkey amourisity and having unwanted sex together
In another area, we found the goat market. There were dozens of them and I watched men have in-depth discussions about the health and stamina of a certain goat. I suppose that they eventually agreed on a price and the goat was sold.
The section where cows were sold was similar. People bought their own animlas to market and let others assess their value. Ultimately a price was agrred upon and everyone was happy.
We headed back to the front of the market to meet our drivers taking photos of anything intersting (just about everything).
Our tour leader, Rosa, was concerned that I had taken a photo of some police officers but they were actually in a much wider shot of the sreet – I had just done some heavy cropping to isolate them.
By now, we had beem in the market for a couple of hours and it was time to head to a restaurant for lunch. The Moroccan food in these places is delcious but they serve enough food to feed a regiment – a four course meal all for a price of 100 Dirrhums (about $20.00).
We were due to go for a camel ride this afternoon but it was raining heavily so we called that activity off and instead sat in the hotel lounge drinking tea and writing this blog.
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