blog series #01: The city of Marrakech and the mighty Ouzoud waterfalls

Marrakech. A famous and colorful city situated in the western part of Morocco at the northern foothills of the Atlas mountains. It’s the fourth largest city in the country and former capital of the country (couple of times).

When we visited the city it was beginning of December and the weather was quite all right. A little bit colder/more clouded than usual, but still not bad. Temperatures around 20/21 degrees Celsius. We arrived by plane at the Marrakech Airport and took a bus downtown, pretty convenient and well organized. We got off at Jemaa El Fna, the famous square and market place in Marrakech Medina quarter, also known as the old city. You will find a lot of people and stalls here (almost) every hour of the day. At night it is even more crowded with lots of people making music and eating in the restaurants adjacent to the square. Sadly there are also a lot of animals in captivity performing tricks, even today. Personally I would never spend money on such acts or even take pictures of it.

Around the square you will find many so called ‘souks’. These traditional markets in (small) covered up streets are really popular. They sell almost everything, ranging from traditional carpets to spices to modern electronics. Although I’m not a shopper myself I guess you can get some pretty nice stuff there if your bargaining tactics are good. But I also guess they sell a lot of worthless stuff as well. I’m definitely no specialist in old traditional Berber carpets, so I left them where I found them for the pro’s =).

One thing I really like about Marrakech is the architecture in the city. You will find centuries of history and cultural evolution in the buildings. These are some of the places I really enjoyed and which I definitely recommend to visit:

Koutoubia Mosque

This red stone mosque from the year 1199 is located near the Jemaa El Fna square. Since a straight road leads to the mosque you can spot the minaret tower quite easily if you’re standing on the square. Around the mosque you will find some ruins and a nice garden where you can relax. Although non-Muslims are not allowed to go inside, it’s worth it to walk around it and check the exterior aspects of the biggest mosque in Marrakech.

Medersa Ben Youssef

This old mosque from the year 1070 was one of the first brick buildings in the city, but was demolished in 1147. The story is that the mosque was pointing to Mecca with a deviation of six degrees to far south. The current building you will find there, was built on top of the old one. You will find this building in the Medina quarter of Marrakech. There is also a medersa (theological college) to be found. You can visit the college, which has some really nice decorations in the form of wood carving and tile patterns.

Dar Si-Saïd Museum

This museum of Moroccan Arts is a monument to Moroccan master artisans and the residence of Bou Ahmed's brother Si Said. You will find many different stuff here ranging from carpets, clothing, jewelry, weaponry and ceramics. Also you will find a big domed room in the museum which was the wedding-reception chamber.

Palais de la Bahia

This palace with its 8.000 m² of gardens was built in the late 19th century. Once built by Si Moussa, grand vizier of the sultan, for his personal use. It has a huge central basin which is surrounded by rooms (for the concubines). In total the palace has 150(!) rooms. Although most of it looks quite the same, it’s a great place to just wander around a bit and look for the beautiful architectural details.

Saadian Tombs

Sealed up for centuries until their (re)discovery in 1917, these magnificently decorated tombs are really amazing. The tombs are part of a ruined palace and you will find them in the kasbah (the part behind a defensive wall). To reach the tombs you need to go in an alley behind the Moulay El yazid Mosque. You don’t need to take a guide or anything. As mentioned the tombs are really nice. It’s hard to take pictures of because it gets pretty crowded quick and the lightning is not amazing in the tombs. But you will remember them vivid.

Ouzoud waterfalls
We also took a trip outside the city. There are many trips to take. Ranging from visiting a Berber village in the Atlas, to taking a walk in a valley or visiting a massive waterfall. We did the last one. A bus picked us up in the morning near the main square and took us to the waterfall in a few hours. It was a nice trip because it gives you the chance to see something more than just the city. The waterfalls (Ouzoud waterfalls) are situated southwest of the Western High Atlas National Park, so the views from the bus during the trip are pretty amazing. The bus takes you to the village of Ouzoud and from there it’s a short walk down to the 110 meters high waterfalls. They say that the best time to visit the waterfalls is in the spring because of the ice water that is coming from the mountains. Funny thing is that we visited the waterfalls in December and it happened to be raining now and then for the past few days. The result was a brown waterfall that looked like a freaking mud show. But still the immense waterfalls and the force and violence it produces was pretty stunning.

You can walk all the way down to the bottom of the waterfalls and halfway there is a platform and some kind of restaurant. You’ll get pretty wet because there is a lot of water in the air. In our case it meant getting pretty brown….

Back in town we relaxed some more and enjoyed the food. Although I must say Marrakech did not enchanted me as much as I expected, the food is really good. The Tajine dishes are great and I love the spices they use (and I really like dates and figs). You almost cannot go wrong with ordering food in Marrakech, but I think that counts for the rest of Morocco as well.

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