Stepping out and into life in Marrakech was a sensory explosion,
making our experience in Naples feel more like a serene getaway in the
countryside by comparison. Words and pictures just can’t get close to capturing
the 360 degrees of dizzying intensity that was happening around us.
Sights - Snake charmers, performing monkeys, beautiful architecture,
abject poverty, vibrant colours of Moroccan goods mixed with the dull red of
the buildings that is ubiquitous throughout Marrakech…
Smells – exotic food, spices, animals – both dead and alive, plenty
of manure…
Sounds – the constant hum of motorbikes, horns, prayers projected over
loudspeakers, spruikers selling their wares, ‘we give you good price!’…
Touch – shoulder to shoulder with a handful of tourists and plenty
of locals, being pulled into shops by over-zealous traders looking for a sale…
Taste – delicious Moroccan Tajines, Pastillas, Couscous…
Through all of this, it felt like everyone was either fighting for
space or battling for attention. The slightest sideways glance was enough for
shopkeepers to yell ‘we give you good price’, or in the extreme begin following
you up the street continuing to harass you.
Crossing the street was an exercise that involved dodging not only cars,
but horse-drawn carriages, donkey’s and carts, motorbikes, push-bikes, and spruikers
trying to sell you sunglasses or cigarettes, all with no lane markings, and
absolutely no pedestrian crossings.
The narrowest of market laneways were no safer, with motorbikes
zipping and weaving in and out of the smallest streets at frightening speeds.
Apparently there is no concept of ‘pedestrian zones’ here. We soon lost count
of the amount of times that we almost got cleaned up by unforgiving scooters.
While all of this was definitely tiring, it was an incredible
experience and we loved every minute of it. We really felt as if we had stepped
into a world that hadn’t changed much in a thousand years…except for the
motorbikes of course!
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