I am unreasonably irritated by the fact that the Arabic names of pretty much everything have no correct English spelling. On our first evening in Marrakech / Marrakesh we visited Djemaa el Fna / Jamaa el Fna / Jemaa el Fna - the main square and souk in the medina. We quickly realized that we could spend a lifetime in this market and never see the entire place. Alex sticks out for obvious reasons whenever we go on vacation and gets harassed by touts who want to make some quick cash. I get harassed for other reasons. This is part of traveling (to certain places) and we've grown accustom to it... and have learned some lessons. But, our guard was down as we entered the market and two ridiculous looking guys grabbed Alex and demanded that I take a picture. It was fine though - I just made sure I told them I wasn't going to pay them more than a dollar to take a photo that they were forcing us to take, and that seemed to satisfy them so I took it and we parted ways. I did want to get a photo of the snake charmers, but had read that they will throw the snakes on you and not take them off until you pay them... so, I kept my distance and ran away squealing whenever I saw one nearby. It's definitely a sensory overload but we obviously enjoyed it, because we ended almost each night with a trip to this maze of a market.
15 comments:
Those accounts of the harassers sound terrifying! Morocco is still one of my top places to visit so I'm loving this group of posts.
It seems like such a fascinating place. No wonder you would never be able to see it all!
Aubrey - If you go on tripadvisor, you can see what other people have to say so that you know what all the different scams are before you get there. Then you just laugh when someone tells you that you're going the wrong way or whatever because you know what they're trying to do. It's unfortunate, but people will definitely take advantage of you if you're not prepared... and always negotiate the price beforehand and confirm it, twice!
what a trip! loving these photos.
haha, I was also running away from the snake charmers - and the guys with the monkeys!! it definitely helps to prepare :)
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milittletreasure.blogspot.com
One of my favourite places on Earth. Gorgeous photos!
Such beautiful photos! I know what you mean with Arabic translations, sometimes when we are driving around the spelling of the town we are going to will change 3 or 4 times! So funny. I wish someone would just decide!
Love the photos of the man surrounded by spices. Beautiful! And, eek, if I ever go to Morocco I'll be running away from snake charmers, thanks to this info! Scary...
These are beautiful! I don't think I'd want to get close enough to the snake charmers to snap a photo anyway... O.O I'm glad you two were able to avoid the worst of the scams!
So colourful but the snake charmers would make me run in the opposite direction as well! Surprisingly, we experienced something similar at the Spanish Steps in Rome. There were men trying to sell us dying flowers and he forced it into my boyfriends hand then demanded money.
There was also a man following my boyfriend around trying to get him to put his finger inside of a small noose "For Love!" he yelled out to us as we ran away.
Great pictures.
The Wanderfull TRaveler
Amazing pictures, and what a city! I've visited Marrakech a year ago and it's still on my mind. I could walk trough that souks all day long!
You are the most fashionable traveler ever!
These pictures are amazing! I'm hoping to see Marrakech myself one day :)
XO Aline
browneyedgirlaline.blogspot.com
sometimes this accosting on the markets can be really tiring!
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