Welcome to Marrakech - TIS Summit Marrakech [Day 2]

Day 2 of my Marrakech trip. It's still early in the morning. It's the ideal time to start the day and get to writing. I just went on an early morning walk through marrakech which is very interesting and different from what I have seen after my arrival yesterday. When I arrived by plane, I started talking with the person sitting next to me on the pane. His name was Khalid, Moroccan, and he was very friendly, he just went to Europe for the first time. Next he told me his friend was going to pick him up and he would be able to drop me off in the city center. This was a very kind gesture and I accepted it. His friend was really friendly too. They dropped me off at the Jemaa el-fnaa square which is very close to the hostel I am staying at.

My first impressions of Marrakech was very different. I was having a minor culture chock, specially because I just flew in from the comfortable and luxurous Belgium. But here the roads are bumpy and the buildings are decayed. There are so many small street and alleys that it is so easy to get lost. All these streets are filled with small shops and restaurants. It reminds me alot of Venice, but then without the water and bridges. The big difference with Venice is that here the shops and buildings are more decayed, plus there are mosques everywhere.

I'm staying in Riad Dia hostel. A riad is a traditional Moroccan house that is built around a garden, so the garden is in the center and all the rooms are build around it. The riad looks very traditional and the walls are very nice painted. There's a rooftop lounge too. It looks really really nice, well it does so on picture. In real life you notice how it's more decayed than in pictures.

Yesterday was a really good day. I met some awesome people in the hostel and we decided to wander around in Marrakech together. I got over the culture shock pretty quickly and soon I felt really safe. We walked through the markets and saw some interesting things. Everything here is handmade and you can find workers making the products too. There are fresh nuts and seasoning everywhere. There's handmade leather bags and woven towels. The craftsmanship is fenomenal! We got some really good and cheap lunch and some not some good, pute tourist trap dinner. I didn't take any pictures of the dinner, but the lunch was amazing. I got a chicken Tajine and not only was it super cheap, but it was also freshly made! Totally worth it.

We also walked around on the jemaa el-fnaa square by the evening. Here we had some of the best freshly made juice! The shopkeeper was superfriendly, it was cheap and he was correct on the pricing. We came back here for a second round a bit later.

On this square is where we had the tourist trap dinner. The guy that was getting our table was super friendly and funny. But as soon as we wanted to order, troubles started. We wanted cheap food. But everytime we wanted something cheap it was either "we're out of those" or "it's a really small portion, you need to add something". We were getting annoyed and he finally gave somewhat in and a few of our group got to order. But at the same time, I was getting so pissed off that I wanted to leave. So I told the others that I wanted to leave, he only has the expensive food and I'm not paying that. However those who got their order in, their order got already shouted in and it was already being cooked. So they couldn't really leave anymore. But it was at this point that the server gave in completely. He knew that we weren't going to stay if we didn't get what we wanted, so now we were able to order the cheap food. We finally ordered and a bit later the food came in. The food was just okay, we had way better and cheaper lunch and that was without all the hassle.

We wandered around the square a bit more. It was very interesting. There are games, snakes and monkeys. Which all are tourist traps too, but it's very nice to experience it. Observe from a distance because sooner or later they're going to come up to you trying to get your money. Either by being really invasively asking for a tip or by asking money for pictures.

Overall I am really enjoying Marrakech. I'm meeting really awesome travellers and locals. Most of the locals are super friendly and very helpful. They are eager to show their culture and that is what I love about traveling. Today is going to be a fun day. I have a list of must-do's here that I want to check off before the Summit Pre Tours start!

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