Marrakech, Morocco, Day 3

On our final full day in Marrakech we started with the Majorelle Gardens and the Berber Museum (housed inside the gardens). Inside the gardens it is quiet, peaceful, colorful, and exotic.  The garden is 12 acres and was designed by a French artist, Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s and 1930s. The designer, Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Berge bought the gardens in the 1980s. We walked around for quite a bit admiring the variety of cacti and other plants. We enjoyed lunch at their outdoor cafe, and we visited the Berber Museum. The Berbers are natives of Morocco who have a rich culture and history. The exhibit was extensive and displayed many beautiful pieces of clothing and jewelry from the culture.

When we were finished relaxing in the gardens, we took a taxi back into the center of the town to the Jemaa-el-Fna square. We weren't there for more than a few minutes before we decided to go back into the souks. The square is mentioned in the tourists books as a lively place with food vendors and snake charmers but we just felt downright uncomfortable. The snake charmers and monkey handlers just seemed creepy and it made me a bit sad. Even more sad was the young children desperately trying to sell stuff to tourists. Even during the day I would recommend steering clear, or just quickly walking through. Hold on to your stuff.



Once back into the souks, we explored a bit more, until we found a cafe to sit and relax for a minute. Once we left the cafe we must have gotten turned around and confused because we got lost for quite some time. Finally a young boy of about 10 years old guided us back to the square, where we walked from there back down towards the spice markets. We did some last minute shopping before we went back to the Riad absolutely exhausted.

A couple of useful pointers and hints about Marrakech:

-Haggle! The vendors expect you to. Everything is already quite reasonably priced, but definitely haggle. It will not insult them, and they will settle on a price that is reasonable to both parties. Bring a price converter cheat sheet with you to check. This also goes for cab fares. Again it is also incredibly cheap, but there shouldn't be much reason to spend more than $5. The journeys are short.

-Almost everything you buy is handmade. Respect that. Buy as much as you can that you may possibly want because it will be nearly impossible to find the handmade goods from Morocco outside of Morocco, especially at such reasonable prices.

-Keeping that in mind, pack light, and leave lots of room to bring stuff home. Rugs will be rolled up into nice packages. Many of the nicer shops will even ship items. Had we known our luggage was so under weight, we probably would have bought more. What were we thinking!! Haha.

-Dress modestly or at your own risk. I read many conflicting pointers about this. I saw many tourists in tank tops and shorts. This is not respectful to their culture, and it makes you stand out even more as a tourist. I went with a maxi dress and a t shirt over it, and sandals.

-Most of the terrain is uneven-old cobblestone. Be careful.

-Like any other city, be mindful of your personal belongings.

-Drink lots of water. Especially when visiting in the summer, you will want to do lots of touring, but staying hydrated is key. Drink bottled water only. The locals do too.

-The people are friendly. Don't let your guard down, but it doesn't hurt to be friendly back to people who are being friendly and welcoming to you.

-Have fun, take lots of pictures, and enjoy.