Marrakesh - the aura of mystery!

Marrakesh the land of the red ochre, since most of the buildings are covered with it and then you have the snow clad Atlas mountains for contrast. I have to say that when I travelled to Marrakesh I cam here with certain preconceptions about this palace and the Moroccan culture. I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised with the way my entire trip turned out. First of all the airport customs could do with a little bit of help as far as the English language goes, you have to repeat yourself to make your point to them. That said,once you step out of the lounge, you may wilt a bit at the heat, but the sight that greets your eyes is bound to take your breath away, literally.
The Atlas mountains are magnificent and one can just spend the whole day just watching them without even knowing the passing of time itself and what is more, at sunset, just as the sun sets, the mountains turn to burnished gold, that is a sight that no one should miss for the world.
When it comes to accommodation overseas, the best thing that you can do is to reserve your hotel rooms in advance. There are many sites that offer to help you out on this and you can try out one of them for your rooms. The room rates generally vary between 24$ to 110$ a night and sometimes even more, it all comes down to what kind of a room you want. You can either settle for just a room or a room with a view of the Atlas mountains. I tried the later and I have to say that I am one happy customer.

Marrakesh is a place that has featured in many a novel from the ones by Agatha Christie to the other authors, it has always been a favorite destination for the Europeans for many years and today there are many french citizens who have made this place their home. So do not be all that surprised if the Moroccans speak to you in french. The Berbers maintain the age old customs and traditions of Morocco and the age old 'Le Souk' or the market is a place that one must not forget to go to. This market is one which is all about contrasts, although the souk has its roots in ancient history, it is very modern and the contrasts that one finds at this place is simply too hard to believe. Once can shop here till nightfall and anything and everything from clothes,furs,rugs,carpets,spices,bangles,jewellery and many, many more are sold here. Tip: always haggle before purchasing anything at any market in Marrakesh.

You also have the Hammam here, which is just another word for spa. And this is one spa experience that you will never forget for all sorts of reasons. First of all, park your inhibitions at the door because you will be asked to disrobe here and guess what, you will not be the only person in the room. But the treatment itself is just fantastic and I have to say that this one did work out all the kinks in my back, so it was great as far as I was concerned and very refreshing as well.
Marrakesh is full of sights and sounds that one should not miss out on. Of course there are the usual hotel bars and discotheques, but if you want the real experience, then you better start walking the city grids.
As far as sights and sounds go, there is the El-Badi palace, that was built I think somewhere in the 1570's by king Ahmed el-Mansour. It is quite vast and is very nice to look at, but unfortunately it was torn down shortly after it was built so we can only see the ruins today. Then there is the The Bahia Palace , which is beautiful in its beauty , the building and the surrounding gardens are all built in the Islamic tradition, please set some time aside to visit this place as it can take up a lot of time.
Then there are the museums to go to, and the tombs although I always found that part of the expedition a little bit too creepy and at the end of the day you can always get a nice cold drink of orange juice or some fruit cocktail at a stall in one of the many souks along the way.

At the end of my visit to Marrakesh, I have to say that I enjoyed my visit a lot but what i ended up enjoying all the more was the Moroccan food, with the bastilla or the cous-cous with lamb and then there is my favorite of the lot, some lemon chicken, grilled Moroccan style! Hope you will have fun visiting Morocco and Marrakesh as much as I did!

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