Explore Morocco: Day Five in Marrakech

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Day Five in Marrakech

As we had spent the previous day shopping, I wanted to spend our last full day in Marrakech seeing some of the historic sites. Our first stop was the Qoubba Almoravide, the oldest building in Marrakech, built just after the year 1000. The site was fenced off and under construction, but we were able to see the ancient dome structure.

Then we continued to the Place Jemaa el Fna, turned down Rue Riad Zitoun El Kedim to the Saadian Tombs. It cost just 10 Dh per person, and there was no line to get in! The Saadian Tombs are down by the Mellah district, behind a mosque that had a stork nest on the minaret! The entrance was this very narrow, two-person-wide gap, part of the reason the tombs were walled off and forgotten for so long.

The above plaque shows the two official languages of Morocco: Arabic and Amazigh (Berber). It reminded me of written Inuktitut!

Once inside, there was a garden dotted with tiled graves. A long line snaked around the garden, waiting to see the main chamber, which had 12 marble columns, amazing carving, and intricate tilework. The viewing area was again just two people wide. In the gardens was an artisan who was demonstrating how to make the tile mosaics. He started with a square tile glazed in blue, and was chipping away at it with a chisel to form an eight-pointed star. Amazing to think that all the tiles were made this way!

After the tombs, we visited the Bahia Palace, a sprawling complex of chambers, antechambers, courtyards, and gardens. There was again a lot of beautiful, colourful, geometric tilework all over, carved doors, carved archways, and marble floors. The gardens smelled of orange blossom and were full of palms and banana trees.

While we wandered, a group of about twenty super-fashionable men walked by wearing full suits, leather-like daishikis, and polished shoes. Ryan and I tried not to be too obvious as we stared and wondered who they were.

As we made our way through the palace, we came across a large wide-open courtyard that was paved in marble with a fountain in the centre. Walking across this courtyard was almost torturous because the white marble reflected the bright sun, and I had forgotten my sunglasses!

Following the Bahia Palace (which we had chosen to see over the El Badi Palace, which was apparently a ruin), we ambled along Rue Riad Zitoun Jdid and went to find lunch. Both of us had a hankering for shawarmas, so off we went on our shawarma hunt! One the way, we found two stalls selling briwat/briouat, those samosas made of a phyllo-like pastry and stuffed with flavoured vermicelli. I had the cheese and thyme, and Ryan had the chicken. Both were delicious, if a little greasy.

After a while, we found a little, afffordable restaurant with shawarma on the menu! We climbed upstairs to the little terrace overlooking the street. When we arrived the terrace was empty, but when we left it had filled up! Each of us ordered the chicken shawarmas, Moroccan style. They had tomato, lettuce, cheese, and roast chicken inside a toasted folded pita. Of course they weren’t our favourite Saudi shawarmas, but they were still tasty!

After lunch, we went shopping. Or rather, I didn’t. We went to the square and into the Jdid area of the souks, where I bought two silver necklace chains. Then we walked back into the depths of the souks where I bought a cowhide leather backpack for myself, and pink suede embroidered babouches for Tomiko. Somehow we ended up outside Bob’s Music again (Ryan may have been navigating), and he picked up two Moroccan CDs. By now, our feet were aching so we stopped by the Cafe de France. We were lucky to get a table on the upstairs patio, overlooking the Place Jemaa el Fna. Ryan sipped a fresh orange juice while I had a cafe au lait, and we people-watched.

Once we were rested and refreshed, we headed back down to the square. I wanted another henna tattoo before we left. This time I approached a woman sitting in the square to do my henna, and was able to pick out a design myself. This Berber woman, with her face covered, did a much better job than the pregnant woman a few days before! She used the real, dark green henna and I immediately recognized the earthy aroma. When she was done decorating my hand, wrist, and fingers, she dusted my hand with glitter!

As I let it dry, Ryan and I wandered around the square,. There was lots to see, including horse carriages, storytellers, cross-dressing belly-dancers, snake charmers, and hawk men. The storytellers attracted huge crowds and we wished we could understand Arabic! Around 7 pm we sat for our last dinner, again on a rooftop terrace overlooking the square. Ryan had a chicken and almond bastilla, and I had the grilled lamb brochettes. We enjoyed these with fresh round khobz bread and sliced green olives. For dessert, Ryan had the chocolate crepe and I had the creme caramel. After dinner, we made the long walk back up to our AirBnB to pack and have an early night.

The next morning, we were up early and took a taxi to the train station in order to return to Casablanca. We shared our train cabin with two Quebecois who thought we were American, as we were speaking English. We saw a lot of tourists in Marrakech, but most of them seemed to be European. Not surprising, though, since Europe is so close to Morocco. Many people thought we were British because we spoke English. A surprising number of people also thought Ryan was Moroccan!

We only spent a week in Morocco, but I would love to go back. When we visited with our family in 2001, we traveled throughout the country visiting Fes, Tangier, and Chefchaouen. Ryan and I thought about doing a day trip to Essaouria, but we ended up liking Marrakech too much. If we had more time, though, I’d definitely want to go camping in the desert. Either the Sahara or Erg Chebbi, which is closer to Marrakech. We’ll be back again some day!

Read about the rest of our stay in Morocco:

• Two days in Casablanca
• First day in Marrakech
• Second day in Marrakech
• Third day in Marrakech
• Fourth day in Marrakech