Riad Dar Warda Marrakech

Situé en plein coeur de la médina, à quelques pas du port et de la plage, le Riad Chakir Mogador est le lieu privilégié de votre escale à Essaouira.


Cette maison d'hôtes, entièrement restaurée dans le pur respect des traditions et de l'architecture ...

... We kept walking, Dad took a small interest in a
wooden mask and then boy then followed him for hundreds of meters through more
stalls trying to get him to buy it. The boy looked like he was half asleep and
his fly was undone, not really someone up and coming who you would buy an antique
off. Finally got rid of him by the herbs and veggies and then we left Shane and
went into the museum of Marrakech.

It had lots of
beautiful old knives, clothing and art ...

From the fun flats of Marrakech...we made our way to the High Atlas mountains for well...mountains of magnificent hiking and views.

Jebel Toubkal stands at 4200m above sea level and at that is the highest most point in northern Africa and also a bit of a mission! We made it up the mighty mountain in a few days and did some sleeping, sun burning and Scrabble in there as well. An absolutely incredible adventure!

Back down and all set to embark on a road trip to Fez!

XXX

... reminds me of India and all the experiences i had there that live on in my mind but it is an odd amalgamation of the western and traditional. The main square is a magical place where all is alive by night and oh so chilled and interesting in the day.

We did a couple of days exploration of all it had to offer and then onwards AND upwards...

XXX

... juice (a large glass of orange juice that was in oranges 30 sec ago cost 42 cents Cdn); to skewers of chicken or lamb with rice & salad for a buck. That was the smoky part of the square. Then the women competing hard for customers, portfolio of their work in hand, to apply henna tattoos (Susan got one); a rooster on an old man’s hat who was surrounded by a circle of people – we couldn’t figure that out ...

... office where we were met by a plain clothes gentlemen who took our nicely wrapped and taped box and cut it to shreds. Apparently they need to "inspect" the goods you are sending (read: see if it is worth furnishing there home with). Much to my surprise, the same random guy then took our paper to a door marked customs and got it stamped no problem. He then reassembled our box inside out and did a commendable job taping it back together ...

... ask if you may take a picture, the answer is almost certainly no. If you get a yes, it is because you've asked if they'd mind. If you ask why, they will tell you, it is against their religion. This is hard to argue against. However, one thing would easily change everything: Lots of people will ask for money if you want to take a picture. Maybe I just misunderstood, did they say it's the prophet or the profit that matters?

... so glad I decided to splurge. After arriving I was shown to the main square which is about a 10min walk. The main square is alive with people, performers, snake charmers, and sadly monkeys on chains. The whole place is like nothing I have ever seen, or smelt. I walked to the square for a bit, then headed back to the hotel. My first day I explored the square and the souqs, got terribly lost for a few hours then went to the Marrakech museum. After a lot ...

... já me chega a diarreia e afins...
Bem
lá passou...chegamos ao hotel que paraíso...aqui percebo porque se
chora quando se vê um oásis, não é pela sede, é por causa do rabo....
Descanso....piscina soube mesmo bem....
Dia
seguinte fazer os trilhos do Paris-Dakar bem o nosso "driver" o Speedy
como nós carinhosamente lhe chamávamos, o tipo tem o pé pesado....150
160 km/h em pleno deserto de pedra vulcânica...não gostava de chegar em
segundo...

... been cool. In my aimless wanderings around the medina, completely ****ing lost, I randomly came across the city tanneries - the exceptionally pungent leather making area - which were not nearly as spectacular as hoped but still quite amazing; I went in and out of Marrakech's souqs, peering at stall after stall of lamps, spices, moroccan viagra, dyes, shoes, stuff that I still couldn't identify after lengthy explanation; bizarre apparently edible ...