Published on December 28th, 2014
6Catching Up Series: Morocco 7 of 8
While I’d originally planned on starting my Morocco itinerary in Marrakech, my little MISSED PLANE IN MADRID fiasco forced me to reverse my circuitous loop around this astoundingly diverse country, and instead visit “The Red City” at the tail end of my trip.
I also anticipated that Marrakech would be among the highlights of my trip, but… as it turned out, I’m glad I only spent 2 nights there. The maze of shops in Marrakesh’s Medina were most interesting, and the legendary “Djemaa el Fna” Square was purely magical after dark. But… I must say, Marrakech turned out to be my least favorite locale that I visited in Morocco – by far the most “touristy” and thus, it fell short of tickling this TravelnLass’ toes. Nonetheless, I did manage to have some fun there…
Pecked from: Marrakech, Morocco“The Red City”, Marrakech
Met a fine fellow from Wales as I hopped off the bus in Marrakech (from Essaouira). He was looking for an economical riad to stay and I knew just the place – the riad I’d dumped my rugs at when I’d passed through Marrakech a few days prior en route to Essaouira.
After settling in, I invited him to tag along with me to grab a geocache at Menara Gardens. LOL, after stepping daintily around a dead chèvre (goat), we found the little sucker (a micro hidden in a cubby hole in a clay/straw wall) and… I do believe Wales now has a new geoaddict! ;D
That night (alas, my last in dear Morocco!), we headed for the legendary “Djemaa el Fna” Square for a sunset dinner. And oh my, we had the best balcony seats in the house as the sun turned the scene to a rosy glow and the square came alive with smokey food stalls, snake charmers, jugglers, magicians, et al as darkness descended.
All in all, a most magical night to top off my fantastic adventures in Morocco.
xxxxxx
Fast-forward 5 years:
Seriously. If I live to be 100, I shall never forget that magical night in Djemma el Fna Square.
Whew! That about wraps up the diary of my long ago adventures backpacking around what turned out to be one of my most favorite countries on earth. But do stay tuned ‘cuz I’ve saved the best til last – a near 12 minute video I cobbled together of my entire Moroccan odyssey!
I arrive in Morocco in April. The more I read about Marrakech, the more I realized I’d like it best if it were, at most, an overnight stop to and or from the High Atlas. I’m not surprised it was your least favorite. But I gotta admit, the rooftop experience of Djemma el Fna is most appealing.
Yes FLN, an evening amid the magic of Djemaa el Fna is not to be missed, but yes too, imho a day or two in Marrakech is plenty. Not so much that’s it’s so awful (hardly!), but rather – there’s just so many other corners of Morocco that are far more worth your time (e.g. Fes, Essaouira and Chefchaouen – I’m lookin’ at YOU!) 😉
Morocco is so much fun, yeah? I want to go there too.
Oh my yes, Kathryn – Morocco is among my favorite countries. Especially Chefchaouen (“The City of Blue”) – don’t miss it when you go!
Video sounds good. Looking forward to that. What else you got planned for the coming year?
Stay tuned Ted – the Morocco video to follow sooon. But just got back from a most excellent visit to one of THE most fantastic corners of the globe – the Galapagos Islands. And I now have more than 2 THOUSAND images to wade through to prove it! 😉
As for further travel plans this year? Suffice those luscious Gs will likely keep me satiated for at least a little while. Though Cuba is now on my radar for sooner rather than later.