7 Things to do in the Marrakech, Morocco

There’s a reason I don’t enjoy traveling to most of the highly developed countries. Having visited mostly European countries in the last one year, this visit to Morocco reminded me exactly why. Oh how much I’ve missed the rawness, unpredictability, unknownness and vibrance of visiting a new place. Being an Indian, I didn’t think I would find any place more chaotic than I am used to. Morocco proved me wrong, in a good way!

As you walk deeper into the heart of the souks further from its prime touristic parts, as you move away from Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakech shows you what Morocco is at it’s heart. Where people no longer understand English and you communicate with gestures and smiles. Where people are not tired of tourists and would love to spend time with you and break into an impromptu bollywood number. Where people are going about their daily chores. Where a vendor gives you a sweet for free because you just want to taste it but they usually sell by the kilo. Where you can sit with the Moroccans and enjoy a good glass of Moroccan mint tea or a hot bowl of Harira or B’ssara.

Photography in Morocco – A special topic
Photographing in Morocco was the most difficult amongst all the countries we’ve been too and that’s unfortunate because it’s a haven for great shots; every corner, every scene, every colour begged to be captured. One of the biggest revelations we had in this trip started when a vendor started shouting at us when we were taking a pic of the street (of which his shop was a part). [Earlier that morning, as we were trying to take some photos of the locals, many of them covered their faces. For example a vendor was singing some Bollywood songs(“Badan Pe Sitare” and “Aaj Kal Tere Mere Pyaar Ke”) and dancing to them, on finding out that we were Indians. And suddenly when we took out a camera to capture this beautiful moment, he covered his face. The Moroccans are very friendly, helpful and love to talk. But the moment you aim your camera at them, all this changes. Some of them will suddenly cover their faces, others might even shout. We respected that assuming they just don’t like to be photographed.] Back to the guy who shouted at us; We all know that most people around the world may not like their own photos taken by strangers, but this was a first to us – he was not even in the frame. We were really dejected wondering why people are so rude and why they even welcome tourists to their country.
On doing some online research, we found out that this is mainly due to their religious/cultural belief. The Curse of the Evil Eye is a belief that if one appears to be happy, bad luck will strike them due to the jealousy of others. The Hand of Fatima/Khamsa (that you will find in abundance in Marrakech), offers protection to the Curse of the Evil Eye. It is also due to the concept of Aniconism in Islam which condemns images – thus they don’t like themselves or their kingdom to be captured in images.
What we thought of them being rude, was in fact a cultural behaviour. What may seem ludicrous to us, is belief to another. We were sensitised to a new dimension of cultural beliefs and the rest of the trip went really smoothly. This is what we travel for. To understand what’s outside the bubble we live in and know of.
P.S – Not all of them have the beliefs, so just ask for permission before taking a close up of people.

The heart and soul of Marrakech is the historical fortified Medina in the centre, a UNESCO world heritage site, which is now bordered by modern neighbourhoods.

Let’s start with the list of 7 things to do in the Medina of Marrakech!

Google Maps for the rough walking route we took in Marrakech –

Day 1
Day 2

1) Walk through the souks

Souks are commercial quarters within the Medina roughly divided into areas for particular craftwork goods such as leather, carpets, metalwork etc. Souks ignite childhood memories of the most popular Arabian stories!

This was a good map of the souks of Marrakech – Souk Map

2) Visit the Bahia palace

3) Get lost in the streets (Maps given above)

Called the Red city because of the red coloured buildings (owing to the red tint of Tabia. Tabia is a mix of red mud and water from the Hazou plains).