marrakech, morroco, back to the 1800s

Arrive at the airport via british airways. outside there is a line up of cabs. book says 60 or 100 at a nite to the city. I dont speak french uh oh. FInally decided to take any cab 150 they carged which is like 20 cnd. of course they overcharged me but i am at their mercy. looks a bit smoky a bit cloudy outside. we enter the gated city. pink everywhere. not the bright pink of jaipur (which was for the welcoming of the british royal visit) this pink is the color of the sand. the sand creates the bricks the cities are made of. get off now what. i understand that i have to walk across the souks. but where do i go. hmm. finally an unfocial guide who i happen to ask directions takes me to where i need to be. 10 minute walk through narrow narrow streats, a bit dodgey but surprisingly marrakech is very safe as the police have implented tough rules, very narrow alleys and finally i meet the guy from the hostel. he says these guides are shady although if he wasnt there i would be looking for hours so i gave him 10 morrocon dirhams. of course its never enuf here in morroco. I am hungry so i decide to go exploring. bad idea. after walkin around and getting a bite to eat i had back home. i am now really tired. here is where the problem starts i do not have the address on me so i after failing to find the street that i thought i knew, i decided to go into a internet cafe which is all in french. find the address now i go around asking people everyone giving me random hints. one hour has passed i cant find the place. i dont know french and everyone is giving me the wrong direction. then finally my angel comes. mohammad the 8 year old boy asked the guy there if i wanted him to take me to my hotel (of course for a little bit of euros). i agree as i have no clue and i am tired now. finally i find my place thanks to mohammad. so know to give him some money. oops i only got big bills. 10 minutes convincing him that a british pound is more then a euro and finally he agrees to go a very happy boy more money then he will see this month (assuming he figures out that a pound is 16 dirhams). i have found my morrocon home at least for the next 3 nights. in morroco i am staying in a city called marrakech. many celebrities organize big parties in this city. i was stayin in the old city which is more then 200 years old. there is also the new part of the city called mohammad v street in gueulliz. there was lots of history to morroco with the fighting of the berber tribe, the movement of the muslims, the tryant king, the french colonization or i guess french ruling and finally to what it is today with a king again and finally indipendent country located in northern africa.

place de fna

the old city as it is called is full of morrocon singers, snake charmers, henna artists , fortune tellers, monkeys on a chain . if you take a picture of anything you are approached right away and you have to pay. and not just a little probably a euro or two to satisfy them. you can take a picture with a snake on you or a monkey or whatever. the old city is souks by day selling everything. carpets, leather, watches , purses, dvds, fruits and nuts and at night there is also hot food sold. the local dish is tangire which like a slow cooked plate of food. i tried the goat one on the last day of course at a restaurant. not bad but not really good either. as the days went on the shock was reduced. there were some old tombs, reuins of palaces and just walking around from teh old city to new. the new city is just like europe with shopping stores and all the restaurants. the old city is like 200 years back. 20 minutes and you can travel in time. the three days were interesting. definately if you know french it would be much better but oh well another city to see.

i was not there on the weekend so i didnt get to seet the party scene although i think its more of a place where private celebrity parties are held (like p diddy )

I finally board my plane to lisbon. medeval city. morrocon archetechture with lots of domes and the hotel room had very interesting honey comb lanterns and the entrance with domes, nice terrace living in the old city and walking around seeing mules used to transport things, bicycles mopeds, carts, hoarses. very old city feeling. finaly time to get back to civilization au revoir....