Place Djemaa el-Fna

My mother had been able to eat snails here…I think I haven’t anything else to add…

Don’t give money to the snake charmers or monkeys. Be sure to drink the fresh juice (3 dirham) and eat at the night food stalls.

Snake charmers- yep, got that. The quintessential place to go in Morocco.

I visited Marrakech for 5 days. It was great. The food was excellent and the city is cool. All wandering in the medina (old city) either leads to the Djmaa El ‘Fna or to someone’s uncle’s carpet shop. Which one depends on whether and who you allow to “guide” you. Beware of the guides in Morocco and take a map and compass. They won’t hurt you, generally, but you could find yourself in a tricky situation in a carpet or leather shop where half of what you spend goes to your guide for bringing you there. I had a great time shopping in the medina without any guides. I had to do a lot of bargaining in French, not my native language, so that was an adventure. Also, I found it very helpful to wear long sleeves, long skirts and a head scarf (I am a woman). One might think this is repressive, but when I dressed that way, suddenly to the Moroccans I was a person instead of a target. It was well worth it and allowed me to actually get to know people a little instead of being instantly dismissed. I had less trouble with unwanted “guides” after that as well.

The square, which I believe translates to “place of the dead” is pretty cool and still has a lot of Moroccan, and specifically, Berber traditions. That includes water sellers, snake charmers (I saw hooded cobras not 2 meters from me), henna painting, and food vendors (including fresh brains in several sizes if you like that sort of thing). The food there is very good (I didn’t order the brains or the locusts, thank you). The food is recommended by many guide books because you can see it being prepared and you know it is fresh and safe. It’s also a nice place to meet other travellers. Automatic bank teller machines are not far off from here either, and that’s convenient.

A short walk from here is the Sultan’s ancient palace (about 1000 years old). It is now a bit of a ruin. You can see big storks nesting on the towers. I understand there is a museum there that is quite good too, but I was culturally lazy and did not attend.