The arse end of the Medina (7000 camels)

Although it was a little cold we set of on time as scheduled.  Claire had booked the airport parking with one of those pick up drop off things where they drive your car.  This would have worked perfectly if Claire had booked it for the day that we were traveling o rather than the next day.  It still worked, as when Claire rang them to let them know our ETA, although a little surprised they still came to pick us up.

I also booked the private pickup from the airport as it had worked so well in Prague and was only a few pounds more than the shuttle.  Good job we did as the taxi couldn't drive right to our Riad and had to park up what turned out to be a good 5 minute walk with all the bags up narrow dark streets.

 There is no way we would have ever found it without the private pickup.  The taxi driver phoned ahead and someone from the hotel met us where he dropped us off and carried our big bag along the tiny streets to a welcome cup of mint tea, Claire’s favourite.

Riad’s are hundreds of years old traditional houses with an internal open courtyard.  Some have been turned into restaurants and some, like ours into boutique hotels.  Ours has 8 rooms but the courtyard has been covered with canvas for shelter.

Our room is on the ground floor right off the courtyard.  Here is our little “love nest”.  Claire just loved it and couldn’t wait for a night of passion.  That’s boosted my brownie points some.

I think even our furniture is two hundred years old, it must have come with the property.  The tv was almost as old and it could only pick up German channels.  This might be because the owners are from Germany.  The shower is circular but difficult to control the temperature, its either scolding hot or freezing cold with only a short time in between when you can get under it.  Trouble is the room smelt like a tom cat had given us a visit.  At least the sheets and cover are silk and there is a soft surround around the mattress so you cant fall out.  Its also difficult to get out for a pee.

We did have a walk out last night to the square but it was too dark for any decent pictures.  Our guide that carried our bag walked us to where the taxi dropped us off and gave us a hand drawn map illustrated in German.  This showed the local area and how to get to the main square.  Out breakfast is served from 8am until 11am but we were there first as our table is right outside our room; you can see our door behind us.

We walked out again after breakfast and I took a picture back towards our Riad.  We are right at the north end of the medina at the extreme arse end.  Even with the map its very tricky to find your way as there are so many decisions to make both ways and it looks completely different in both directions

The main square is massive, the biggest in the whole of Africa.  We were awoken at 5am with the wailing of Muslim prayers in the background.  Every now and again throughout the day they start up again; I can hear them now while Im writing this.  Its lovely around the square but you have the constant sound of snake charmers whistles and the bells of these funny men with a fruit bowl on their heads.  You get the occasional waft of urine or of overworked donkeys or barbecued, “who knows what”.

From the main square there are little streets leading to market stalls and the souks.  They sell everything from olives to olives.  You can have them in any colour you like.

The snake charmers sit around in little groups like Ali Barba and the forty thieves.  They charm the snakes and wait for an unsuspecting lady to hang the snake around her neck and charge her 100 Dirhams to take it off again.  There are about six Dirhams to the pound and everything is very expensive for tourists here.  The Dirham was originally a weight used by the Ottomans that we call Drams.  Most Arab countries use them.

There is a massive mosque near the massive square and the next few pictures are all around that area, they have a park leading off it.  It looks like there are ancient ruins all around the mosque that they are half trying to preserve but lots of rubbish is being thrown around the area.  Even these sacred areas dont seem to escape the constant smell of urine that greets you around every corner.

While we were walking around the park there are not so many people begging or selling as everywhere else.  One guy selling bracelets offered me 7000 camels for Claire.  I refused; what would I do with 7000 camels? Anyway, we don't sell our women where I come from.

Claire had spotted a posh hotel in the guidebook that we had been keeping our eye open for called, “Jardins de la Koutoubia”.  Its the one with the piano bar upstairs and the huge pool.  We found it and went in for a look.  It has a nice reception area and a huge pool.

It also has a nice restaurant area but with very expensive dishes on.  Most main courses were around the £30 mark and that was for a tagine.

We found another hotel with a terrace bar on the roof but it was a “has been”, called the palace hotel.  We were totally ripped off and charged £30 for four tiny beers.

Still, it gave me chance to take a picture of Claire’s little grumpy face with the mosque in the background.

We had passed a nice little cafe that sold omelets, burgers and pizza’s etc at quite reasonable prices so we went there.  They didn't sell alcohol and Claire had the chicken and chips while I tried a beef tagine.  I definitely chose best.

 When we got back to the hotel we found that our Riad has a terrace on the roof so we went up to that.  I left Claire up there reading and warming up while I charged all the electrical devices and wrote this blog.  Tomorrow we intent to go on a day trip to the Atlas mountains and a waterfall.