Marrakech

The second most famous city in Morocco after Casablanca is undoubtedly Marrakech, a place that often appears in movies and games, and there’s even a board game named Marrakech where players take on the role of carpet merchants. For first-time visitors to Morocco, with such brand recognition, Marrakech would likely be on the wishlist. However, Marrakech is not a place for you to relax after tiring days; it might even make you more mentally drained.

The Coach to the City

I booked all my CTM bus tickets through the company’s website, so on the day of departure, I just had to go to the station, paid the luggage fee at the counter, and the staff would give me a tag just like for a flight, then I just waited for departure. However, since it’s my first time taking a coach in Morocco, I still walked to the station early when it was still dim. Thanks to arriving early, the procedure went smoothly (the staff and locals were also very helpful), so I had time to buy some snacks at the convenience store and watch some cute stray cats. Despite being the largest city, the CTM station in Casablanca is quite shabby, not as modern as Rabat.

This would be a four-hour journey, departing at 8:30am and arriving in Marrakech at 12:25pm. The city was cloudy, but as I headed towards the outskirts, the characteristic colors of the country gradually emerged: the blue of the sky, the yellow of the sand, the chestnut red of the rocks, dotted with the green of shrubs.

The bus was running on the Casablanca - Agadir Expressway, passing through Settat to reach Marrakech. For most of the time, the scenery stretched with agricultural fields on the barren yellow sand, and you would recognize a distinctive green patch when the bus crossed the Oum Er-Rbia River.

The deeper you travel inland, the drier the climate becomes; when the landscape shifts to sparse rows of palm trees, you know Marrakech is very close.

The bus arrived in Marrakech around midday under the blazing sun. It’s quite difficult to get an inDrive ride from there, so I called a taxi right outside the station. When the towering Koutoubia Mosque minaret came into view in the distance, I knew Medina was close. My homestay was located within Medina, so the taxi dropped me off outside the old city wall, on Hoummane El Fetouaki Avenue near Arset El Bilk Garden.

So the exploration of this city officially began! I dragged my suitcase along the dusty and bumpy Prince Moulay Rachid Passage, and then Jemaa el-Fnaa Square opened up right in front of me, where the sound of snake charmers’ flutes echoed in the distance, and the chaotic Marrakech was waiting to welcome you.

Wandering in Medina

After wandering through the alleys following the directions from Google Maps and the homestay host’s video, I finally found the address I needed to reach. Riad Córdoba is tucked away in an alley, requiring several turns and passing through noisy shops to get there. My room was on the top floor right under the rooftop, and carrying a heavy suitcase up those oversized and crooked stairs wasn’t easy at all.

There’re two extremely important concepts in Marrakech: riad and rooftop. A riad (originally meaning garden) is a traditional house with an inward-facing architecture, few doors opening to the street, and a courtyard garden inside, creating a quiet space separated from the outside. Nowadays, the term ‘riad’ is used loosely to name any homestay. The second concept is the rooftop: in Marrakech, you can find it in every guesthouse and restaurant, where you can relax and enjoy the view of the city.

And my honest advice is to book a hotel outside Medina, and just use Medina for walking around and exploring. It’s hard to relax in a small room in Medina, where the bathroom is completely separate, the wooden door creaks, and the interior design is quite ridiculous.

A Local Lunch

After resting and recharging, I started my stroll in this old city. Passing through the still-sleepy alleys to reach the main street of Souk Laksour, the blazing midday sun combined with the dust from the ongoing renovation of Jemaa el-Fnaa Square made me decide to take shelter in a restaurant immediately.

This was the first time I tried Moroccan specialties: I ordered a portion of beef couscous and a bowl of harira soup. While waiting (for so long!), customers would be served some bread and pickled olives. The first culinary experience led to the conclusion that “there won’t be a next time.” The salty olives were not suitable for a dusty sunny afternoon, the couscous had quite mismatched components and the meat portion was small, only the soup was decent enough to salvage the meal.

Perhaps the balcony view of Terrasse Bab Ftouh is the reason why the food here is so expensive.

Lost in the Maze

I started wandering along one of the main streets of Medina, Fehl Chidmi. The whole Medina is like a giant open-air market, with alleys always bustling with pedestrians, and occasionally the roaring motorbikes of the locals weaving through the crowd and the bumpy potholes.

The market streets are all covered with canopies, allowing beautiful slanting rays of sunlight to filter through. Lining up are shops selling exquisite souvenirs, spices, soaps, argan oil, ceramics, fabrics, and carpets. You can also easily come across carts selling fresh sweet pomegranate juice.

These Souk streets, along with Jemaa el-Fnaa Square and Ben Youssef Mosque, have been formed and existed for thousands of years. From the outside, they may not look particularly impressive, but once you step inside, you’ll find a hidden wonder, with decorations in the distinctive Moorish style: horseshoe arches, polylobed arches, zellij tilework, along with intricate stucco or cedar wood carvings. The blend of Arab Islamic, indigenous Berber, and Andalusi (Islamic Spain) cultures has created a unique character for Morocco that you can hardly mistake.

Cats in Marrakech

Morocco, like other Islamic countries, has many stray cats, and they’re often cared for and cherished by the people. You can easily encounter them in every nook and cranny, freely lying in the sun, strolling around and resting.

At the park in front of Koutoubia Mosque, I came across a whole family of cats. Some locals were feeding them, but they also took the opportunity to ask for money from tourists who intended to take pictures of them.

Le Jardin Secret

When coming to Morocco and especially Marrakech, you can’t miss visiting the gardens. They were once cool retreats for the elite and a green heart in the arid land - a miniature paradise with plants imported from all over the world, irrigated by the khettara system. Khettara is a network of underground channels that bring water from the distant Atlas Mountains to mosques, hammams, and fountains.

But in Medina, the most outstanding garden is Le Jardin Secret. It was once a palace of the Saadi dynasty, but it was destroyed when the dynasty declined. From the mid-19th century, it went through several ownership changes, and in 1934 it fell into disrepair again after the owner, the chamberlain al-Hajj Muhammad Loukrissi, passed away. It wasn’t until 2012 that restoration efforts began and were completed eight years later.

The area isn’t too large, but it’s just enough to give you the feeling of stepping into a world separated from the outside: a lush green space filled with exotic flowers, small water channels directly fed from the Atlas Mountains, and architectures with a strong Moroccan character.

The entire complex consists of two sections designed in the riad style, each embracing a garden: the Islamic Garden and the Exotic Garden. The Exotic Garden is located at the front, gathering plant species imported from all over the world; the Islamic Garden has a traditional layout with two intersecting paths at the center dividing it into four green sections, with a marble water basin in the middle.

Not only is it a place to immerse yourself in nature, slow down and reflect, the garden is also a metaphor for paradise according to the Qur’an, where order is applied to tame the wildness of nature.

Jemaa el-Fnaa

No one comes to Marrakech without passing through this square, as it’s right at the front of Medina. A noisy, chaotic place with all kinds of vendors selling everything under the sun. It’s dense, colorful, and not for the traveling novice.

When I arrived in Marrakech, Medina was undergoing renovation, with new pavement being laid, so part of the square was narrowed and quite dusty. But the atmosphere wasn’t diminished at all, here you have the sounds of the tambourines, snake charmers’ flutes, lively folk tunes but not in sync.

You have to keep walking straight and avoid getting caught up in the hundred identical food stalls in the square, as well as avoid being scammed by the snake charmers or Henna artists.

I found a rooftop café where I could look down on the square, quickly bought a can of soft drink, and squeezed into a small standing spot when it was already packed to observe the sunset.

When the sun set, the food stalls all lit up, creating a vibrant scene when viewed from above.

But in reality, the food here isn’t particularly special: kebabs, grilled skewers, tagines, fruit juices. Perhaps the most interesting thing to try is the babbouche snails, although they’re quite salty and the flavor is relatively bland compared to those in Vietnam.

The vendors couldn’t care less about whether you’ve eaten enough or not, so you’ll have to go through a series of haggling obstacles to leave Jemaa el-Fnaa. As an Asian, they’ll always call you ‘China’, and that isn’t a very pleasant experience.

Bahia Palace

The last day in Marrakech was quite chill, although the trip to Ouarzazate made me catch a cold, so it was a bit less relaxing. This time I woke up early and didn’t encounter the bustling scene in the square, so I had the chance to see cats swarming everywhere.

If you go to the edge of Medina, like Bahia Bab Mellah Street, everything becomes more peaceful and orderly. The eateries have opened early, and the Moroccan people sit by their cups of tea or warm coffee observing the passing traffic.

Getting there early didn’t help much, because both Bahia Palace and El Badi Palace nearby only opened from 9am. According to online photos, El Badi Palace has more beautiful corners, but when I arrived, it’s still in the process of renovation, so I decided to visit Bahia Palace. Although it’s still early, there’re already quite a few tour groups lining up, so if you can get to the front of the line, you’ll have some nice shots without people in frame.

After passing through the entrance, you walk along a long corridor lined with greenery before stepping into a maze of rooms. The walls, carved patterns, and ceilings all bear the distinctive mark of Moroccan architecture. The most mesmerizing aspect is the intricate wooden ceilings adorned with magnificent chandeliers.

The most impressive part of the palace is the Grand Courtyard, but when I arrived, a section of the courtyard was still under renovation. To the north of the Grand Courtyard is the Grand Riad encompassing the main garden of the palace, and it’s also the earliest built area.

Koutoubia

Whether leaving or returning to Medina, wandering around the square or dining at a rooftop restaurant, the towering Koutoubia Mosque minaret always stands tall, attracting your gaze and obscuring the sunset from the round orange sun at the end of the day.

In the late afternoon, I wandered along Lalla Hasna Park next to Koutoubia, bought a glass of orange juice, and sat on a bench in a secluded corner of the park. The park was much quieter than inside Medina, yet the sun set quite slowly, so it wasn’t until around 5pm that the sunlight finally softened.

I strolled back to the square in front of the mosque, watching the sun slowly descend. The ochre walls became the most vibrant at this moment. Tourists started pouring into the square, making the atmosphere lively.

Whether at dusk or dawn, the minaret always captivated me. A witness to history with a lifespan of thousands of years, it still stands firm after the earthquakes that have struck Morocco and the surrounding regions.

I set off while Marrakech was still shrouded in darkness, when everyone was sound asleep after a night filled with lively sounds. The noisy door lock, the stairs with steps as high as climbing a mountain, and me weaving through the maze of flickering lights at night - where a few homeless people still slept outdoors - to reach the main road near Koutoubia to catch a ride. Outside there was a more modern and orderly urban area, in stark contrast to the Medina behind me.