My Walking Tour of Marrakech

Today, I took myself on a self-guided walking tour to get an overview of the city. I used my favourite Iphone App called ‘GPS my City’ to get around and to give me some information about each stop along the way. It offers guided walks of nealry 200 cities around the world complete with a description of major sights and a a GPS route to get from one to another. Fortunately, it also gave me a route back to my Riad so I didn’t get lost.

I set out along some of the laneways which were still free of tourists at 8.00 am. Some merchants in the Souk (market) were setting up their stores but many were yet to open. When I returned in the afternoon, the streets were crowded with tourists and there was a lot more jostling required to get around. 

It seems that cats are very popular here and I came across many as I walked along the streets and lanes. I guess that by definition, these are some of the original alley cats. They seemed friendly enough but I wasn’t sure about diseases such as rabies so I left them well alone.

As the day went on, it became more difficult to wander along as pedesrtrians competed with motor bikes in the laneways and with hundreds of taxis along the roads. In some places it felt a bit like being back in Saigon as I had cross the road through a continuing stream of traffic. I followed the same principle of walking slowly and letting the cars and motorcycles weave around me.

I found some interesting architecture along the way

My first stop was at Bahia Palace. This was a walk of about 1.5 kilometres but I added at least one more trying to find the entrance. The Palace is a 19th century building, consisting of rooms decorated with stunning stuccos, paintings and mosaics.  It was intended to be the greatest palace of its time. The name in Arabic “brilliance”. The architecture was intended to capture the essence of the Islamic and Moroccan style. Every one of its intricate carvings and mosaics was done by hand.

The Palace was crowded with tour groups that seemed to mostly consist of American and French people. I was a bit disappointed as it was hard to photograph much with all the people in the way. Most of my shots ended up being close up views of ceilings, doors and windows.

From there, it just a few hundred metres to El Badi Palace. This palace is now in ruins. The Palace was built in 1578 by Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, the ruler of the Saadian Dynasty. The palace was built as a symbol of the Sultan’s power and wealth. It was built in a combination of traditional Moroccan and European styles, and it was decorated with intricate mosaics, marble columns, and ornate carvings. The palace was also home to the Sultan’s harem, which included over 500 women. Its only inhabitants now are a few storks.

On my way to the next stop, I passed by a building with a high wall and some men in interesting uniforms. I was able to sneak a quick photo of them. I later found out that this was a royal palace and behind the wall there was an extensive area of garden.

People in Morocco do not like having their photo taken. Some of the reasons for this are religous and cultural factors. The main reason is simply that Morocco is a very popular tourist destination and people are sick of having cameras thrust in their face. I took most of my photos today on my phone which was less obtrusive than with a proper camera.

I found a cafe for lunch near the Moulay El Yazid Mosque which is located on Place Moulay Yazid. It was constructed in 1190. Non Muslims cannot enter it. The mosque has a modernistic minaret because the original mosque was destroyed in a gunpowder explosion in 1569. The whole building was reconstructed in 1960 and has pretty impressive architecture. You can see shops built into the wall in horseshoe arches around this mosque.

Donkeys are used to cart goods around the city and I saw a good number during my walk.

By early afternoon, I had walked enough so I followed my GPS back to my Riad through a number of alleyways and narrow streets.

We had a group dinner tonight with our guide, Rosa, and an American couple from Oregon. They are the only other people on this tour and I guess that I will get to know them well over the next two weeks.