9: The Final Leg

In the last blog, we reported (to the dogs disgust) that they'd had a full trim, wash and brush up. Nick has been feeling a little left and we can't have that so we find a friendly barber. Following a rather alarming flame-throwing display - presumably to sterilize the equipment, he's soon looking dapper again!

Visits to barbers shops in dubious locations seems to be a bit of a theme for us, Janette has sat and watched the routine in a good variety of countries now; naked flames have featured on more than one occasion but this is by far the most impressive display!

The legendary Djemaa el Fna, the great central square of Marrakesh has existed as a market place since the 11th century with traders flocking down from the mountains daily to sell their wares; for many centuries it was a place for traditional dance troupes, fortune tellers, acrobats and most importantly hikayat (story tellers). Today in our opinion, it has become a gaudy, tourist honey pot - it seems that Unesco agrees as it has flagged the square as being under serious threat from urbanisation and cultural assimilation.

There is though another way of looking at things (there almost always is); we can't expect the people of Marrakesh to remain in a time warp for our benefit and they, like the rest of us are moving with the times and nothing stays the same. Theirs is a tourist industry and they are giving the people what the want and judging by the crowds swarming around the square, they're doing a good job.

That's not to say that the old ways are all gone, they are still very much alive if you know where to look. We stumbled across a fascinating place that dyes and spins wool ready to be woven into carpets, shawls and scarves.

Many of the artisans are based in one of the few remaining fanadiq (old inns that once served as staging posts on the caravan trade routes). A funduq consists of a courtyard complex which would have provided stabling and workshops on the ground floor while the first floor had rooms for travelling traders to stay in.

We were lucky enough to find a funduq occupied by artisans who were only too happy to demonstrate their work, particularly interesting was a weaver, occupied with making some linen fabric - fascinating to watch.

This morning we want to visit the Ali Ben Medersa. Our taxi drops us in the middle of a market where a 'stallholder' suggest that we visit the tanneries first as they are nearby and there are visiting craftspeople there just for this morning - did we smell a rat? No. Should we have done? Most definitely yes! Someone who apparently 'works at the tannery' passes and he kindly says he'll show us the way - we still don't realise this is one of the oldest scams in the Marrakesh book and we're falling for it!

We reach the tanneries and the chap who has shown us the way bids us goodbye and there's no suggestion of paying him. We are invited in by a 'guide'; we know we'll be expected to give him a tip at the end and we're happy to do so - so far so good as far as we are concerned.

This visit is interesting; unlike the tanneries in Fez where you view proceedings from a balcony, we are right in amongst it in all its grimy and stinking authenticity.

Our guide explains the various processes to us one of which involves soaking the skins in water and pigeon poo to soften them.

After the tour is over we offer our guide a tip but he demands MUCH more, claiming there was also an entrance fee! This was never discussed, but he won't take no for an answer. He follows us down the road and some of his cronies start buzzing about us on their mopeds -it's pretty intimidating. One of them gets quite aggressive - swearing at us and reaching for a broomstick from a local shop - fully ready to have-a-go! But, what he hadn't bargained on was the 'Nick Webber' factor!

Nick leaves the scammers in no doubt that we won't be paying them any more. Our guide reluctantly accepts the tip we originally offered, muttering under his breath. As we make our escape the shouts from the scammers advising us to 'go forth and multiply' ring in our ears - it feels like a narrow escape!

Our intended destination, the Medersa is a much more refined affair. This was once the largest Quranic learning centre in North Africa and is reputed to still be one of its finest, a claim we don't have any difficulty in believing - it's magnificent.

You really can't beat the beauty of ancient Islamic architecture, the detail and the skilled workmanship is second to none.

Today we're back in the city again but this time in the Mellah (ancient Jewish quarter).We've been here before and love this part of town - there are no trappings of the tourist industry here and it's the one place we've found in Marrakesh where it feels as if you're seeing the city exactly as it was a couple of thousand years ago. Much of it isn't in such great shape!

We're here to have a hammam. We have the directions which is just as well because the door is unmarked and we aren't quite sure we're in the right place.

All is well and we spend the afternoon being scrubbed and rubbed and polished in a lovely riad. We come out gleaming, sweet smelling and very relaxed.

Today is our last day in Marrakesh, we've lingered here longer than anywhere else and the main reason is that we couldn't get tickets for the Jardin Majorelle until today and we really want to go here.

The Jardin Majorelle was the creation of artist Jacques Majorelle who bought the land in 1924, planted the garden and built an art-deco villa. Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé bought the site in 1984 to prevent it from being sold for development.

The gardens are very impressive and are home to 300 plant species from five continents no less!

The villa now contains the Musée Berbère which showcases the Amazigh culture through ancient artefacts.

In 1937, Majorelle painted his villa and various garden structures in a vivid blue which became his personal trademark and came to be known as “Majorelle Blue.” We're delighted to discover that the gift shop sells pots of this paint - you'll have to look out for the lovely colour in our garden, a reminder of our travels.

Our journey from Marakesh to the ferry at Tanger Med was always going to be miserable - we have to be back in Europe by the end of the month for vehicle insurance purposes and the end of the month is tomorrow! The time pressure and the fact that many roads in the north have been badly damaged by the floods mean we have no choice but to use the motorways.

The journey will take about six hours not accounting for rest stops. The boredom is occasionally tempered by the reminders that the approach to road traffic safety is very different here!

We are blown away by the spectacular show put on by the wild flowers lining our route. Their seeds have lain dormant for years waiting for the rains, whereupon they've burst into bloom - it really is something to see.

As we travel further north the destructive effect of the floods becomes only too apparent and we feel for the many thousands of people whose lives have been turned upside down by this catastrophe, very sobering.

So here we are at the port - on time and having stayed at a campsite not far away last night. Everything goes swimmingly - we're checked in, Lionel is X-rayed and sniffed by the customs dogs, passports shown... and it's not long till we're underway.

Morocco isn't an enormous country and this is our second longish trip here. The landscapes, culture and its people have captured our hearts and we're leaving knowing that we'll be back. There's still so much more to see.

.....We're also currently planning a trip to South America - so watch this space!

Thank you for joining us on this adventure, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we have.