Morocco Travel Guide

The Djameaa El Fna - Morocco travel guide 1

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Jemaa El Fna, Djemaae el Fna, Djemaa Fna

The Djameaa El Fna

there's nowhere in Morocco like the Dejemaa El Fna - no place that so effortlessly involves you and keeps you coming back. By day it's basically a market, with a few snake charmers, storytellers and an occasional troupe of acrobats. In the evening it becomes a whole carnival of musicians, clowns and street entertainers. when you arrive in Marrakesh, and after you've found a room, come out here and you'll soon be immersed in the ritual: wandering round, squatting amid the circles of onlookers, giving a dirham or two as your contribution. If you want a respite, you can move over to the rooftop terraces of the Café de France or the Restaurant Argana to gaze over the square and admire the frame of the koutoubia.

what you are part of is a strange process. Some say that tourism is now vital ti the Djemaa's survival, yet apart from the snake charmers, monkey handlers and water vendors (all of whom live by posing for photographs), there's little that has compromised itself for the west. In many ways it actually seems the opposite . Most of the people gathered into circles round the performers are Moroccans - Berbers from the villages and lots of kids.There is no way that any tourist is going to have a tooth pulled by one of the dentists here, no matter how neat the piles of molars displayed on their square of carpet. Nor are you likely to use the scribes or street barbers or , above all, understand the convoluted tales of the storytellers, round whom are gathered perhaps the most animated, all-male crowds in the square.

Nothing of this, though, matters very much.There is a fascination in the remedies of the herb doctors, with their bizarre concoction spread out before them. There are performers, too, whose appeal is universal. The Jemaa El fna square's acrobats, itinerants from Tazeroualt, have for years supplied the European circuses - though they are perhaps never so spectacular as here, thrust forward into multiple somersaults and contortions in the late afternoon heat. There are child boxers and sad-looking trained monkeys, clowns and chleuh boy dancers - their routines, to the climactic jarring of cymbals, totally sexual (and traditionally an invitation to clients).

And finally, the Djemaa's enduring sound - the dozens of musicians playing all kinds of instruments. late at night, when only a few people are left in the square, you encounter individual players, plucking away at their ginbris, the skin-covered two-or three-string guitars.Earlier in the evening, there are full groups: the Aissaoua, playing oboe-like ghaitahs next to the snake charmers; the Andalucian-style groups, with their ouds and violins; and the back Gnaoua, trance-healers who beat out hour-long hypnotic rhythms with iron clanging hammers and pound tall drums with long curved sticks.

if you get interested in the music there are two small sections on opposite sides of the square where stall sell recorded cassettes : one is near the entrance to the souks and the other is on the corner with the recently pedestrianized Rue Bab Agnaou. Most of these are by Egyptian or Algerian Rai bands, the pop music that dominates Morocco radio, but if you ask they'll play you Berber music from the Atlas, classic Fassi pieces, or even Gnaoua music - which sounds even stranger on tape, cut off only by the end of the one side and starting off almost identically on the other. These stalls apart, and those of the nut roasters, whose massive braziers line the immediate entrance to the potter's souk, the market activities of the Djemaa are mostly pretty mundane.

Marrakech City

Marrakech: "Morocco City",as early travellers called it -has always been something of a pleasure city,a marketplace where the southern tribesmen and Berber villagers bring in their goods, spend their money and find enter-trainment. For visitor it's an enduring fantasy - a city of immense beauty low, red and tentlike before a great shaft of montains-and immediately exciting. At the heart of it all is a square, Djemaa El Fna, really no more than an open space in the centre of the city, but the stage for a long-established ritual in which shifting cir-cles of onlookers and comedians. However many times you return there, it remains compelling. So, too, do the city's architectural attractions: the immense, still basins of the Agdal and Menara gardens, the delicate Granada-style carving of the saadian tombs and, above all the Koutoubia Minaret, the most perfect Islamic monument in North Africa.

Unlike Fes, for so long its rival as the nation's capital, the city exists very much in the present. After Casablanca, Marrakesh is Morocco's second largest city and its population continues to rise. It has a thriving industrial area which reflects the rich farmlands of the Haouz plain which surround it: notably flour mills, breweries and canning factories. And it remains the most important market and administrative centre of southern Morocco. None of this is to suggest an easy prosperity-there is heavy unemployment here, as throughout the country, and intense poverty, too -but a stay in Marrakesh leaves you with a vivid impression of life and activity. And for once this doesn't apply exclusively to the new city, Gueliz; the Medina, substantially in ruins at the beginning of this century, was rebuilt and expanded during the years of French rule and retains no less significant a role in the modern city.

The Koutoubia excepted, Marrakesh is not a place of great monuments. Its beauty and attraction lie in the general atmosphere and spectacular location -with the magnificent peaks of the Atlas rising right up behind the city, towering through the heat haze of summer or shimmering white of winter. the feel, as much as anything, is a product of this. Marrakesh has Berber rather than Arab origins, having developed as the metropolis of Atlas tribes-Maghrebis from the plains, Saharan nomads and former slaves from Africa beyond the desert, Sudan, Senegal and the ancient Kingdom of Timbuktu. All of these strands shaped the city's souks and its way of life, and in the crowds and performers in Djemaa El Fna, they can still occasionally seem distinct.

For most travellers, Marrakesh is the first experience of the south and-despite the inevitable 'false' guides and hustlers-of its generally more relaxed atmosphere and attitudes. Marrakchis are renowend for their warmth and sociability, their humour and directness-all qualities that (superficially, at least) can seem absent among the Fassis. there is, at any rate, a conspicuously more laid-back feel than anywhere in the north, with women, for example, having a greater degree of freedom and public presence, often riding mopeds around on the streets. And compared to Fes, Marrakesh is much less homogenous and cohesive. The city is more a conglomeration of villages than an urban community, with quarters formed and maintained by successive generations of migrants from the countryside.

For westerners, Morocco holds an immediate and enduring fascination. Though just an hour's ride on the ferry from Spain, it seems at once very far from Europe, with a culture Islamic and deeply traditional- that is almost wholly unfamiliar. Throughout the country, despite the years of French and Spanish colonial rule and the presence of modern and cosmopolitan cities like Rabat or Casablanca , a more distant past constantly makes its presence felt. Fes, perhaps the most beautiful of all Arab cities, maintains a life still rooted in medieval time, when a Moroccan empire stretched from Senegal to northern Spain; while in the mountains of the Atlas and the Rif, it is still possible to draw up tribal maps of the Berber population. As a backdrop to all this, the country's physical make-up is also extraordinary: from a Mediterranean coast, through four mountain ranges, to the empty sand and scrub of the Sahara.

All of which makes travel here an intense and rewarding -if not always easy -experience. Certainly, there can be problems in coming to terms with your privileged position as tourist in a nation that, for the most part, would regard such activities as those of another world. And the northern Morocco cities especially have a reputation for hustlers: self appointed guides whose eagerness to offers their services -and whose attitude to tourists as being a justifiable source of income (and to women as something much worse) -can be hard to ideal with. If you find this to be too much of a struggle, then it would probably be better to keep to low-key resorts like Essaouira or Asilah, or to the more cosmopolitan holiday destination of Agadir, built very much in the image of its Spanish counterparts, or even a packaged sightseeing tour.

But you'd miss a lot that way. Morocco is at its best well away from such trappings. A week's hiking in the Atlas; a journey through the southern oases or into the pre-Sahara; or leisured strolls around Tangier, Fes or Marrakesh -once you adapt to a different way of life, all your time will be well spend. And it is difficult for any traveller to go for long without running into Morocco's equally powerful tradition of hospitality, generosity and openness. This is a country people return to again and again.

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is a majestic, brown-walled city situated between Agadir and Ouarzazate. It is sometimes called the 'Grandmother of Marrakech' as it seems to be a smaller, slower-paced version of Marrakech. The city is one of the most elegant in the country and you will see beautiful buildings and the stunning craftsmanship that adorns the city's facades. Taroudant is perhaps most noted for its crafts - so if you plan to shop, this is the place to do it.

Off hand, Taroudant may seem a bit confusing as there are a large number of ramparts that head off in every direction. However, once you figure it all out you can make your way to the souks and workshops in the central part of town and enjoy some shopping. The metal work here is very good; it can even be considered superior to most of that found elsewhere in Morocco. If you are not shopping for jewelry, the carpets here are also quite popular. Everything is reasonably priced and exceptionally good value for money. There are three shopping districts in Taroudant, Morocco, so you'd better make sure you find them all!

Your Taroudant hotel will likely be the very pretty Palais Salam: a renovated old Kasbah. The courtyards are lavishly decked with beautiful green plants and numerous small animals while the walls, ceilings and woodwork are painted with colorful traditional Arabic graphics. Stained glass windows shed colorful light on soft sofas and large baths. If you book accommodation elsewhere, you can be sure you will be treated to similar ornamental beauty. Most hotels also have restaurants where you can enjoy your meals.

Besides taking in the fantastic backdrop of the High Atlas in the north, you might also enjoy a walk along the city ramparts which were built by the Saadians in the sixteenth century. Many visitors envision what it must have been like to defend the city from these ramparts in times gone by and enjoy watching the hustle and bustle of daily life from this vantage point. Taroudant is a great place to stop if you land at Agadir or are en route to the Western High Atlas or the eastern Djebel Sirwa. Whatever reason you are visiting, you can be sure that you will enjoy your little stop in the 'Grandmother of Marrakech'.

In Morocco, the City of Chefchaouen is located 40 miles (60 KM) south of Tetouan. Chefchaouen has a history of Spanish-influence and is located in the heart of the Rif Mountains, where surrounding trees, hills, springs, and wildflowers attract tourists looking for a calm getaway. Just a few hours away from Tangier, or the Imperial cities of Rabat, Meknes, and Fez, Chefchaouen offers the nature lover rows of hills perfect for hiking and outdoor activities.

In this Moroccan town, dubbed “the Blue City”, the Berber mountain people of Morocco have a lot to offer tourists. Their hand-woven earth-tone blankets, rugs, and even lamp shades are seen displayed at the small shops within the city’s medina walls. They will welcome you in, ask you to look around, and even offer you some mint tea without hassling you to buy.

Also, dotted throughout the medina, you’ll find wood workers who are so engrossed in their craft, they might not look up from what they are doing until they hear the muezzin calling all the faithful to prayer as the sun is setting.

Chefchaouen is also the center of hashish production. So, be aware that touts and false-guides (called

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Faux-Guides, in French), will offer to sell you some or take you on a promenade to show you where it is grown. Even though you will see locals puffing away in public, it’s best for foreigners visiting Morocco to avoid such solicitations since you may end up getting arrested and serving an unwanted jail sentence.

‘Chaouen’ as it is known to local Moroccans, is a great place to explore one of the country’s most interesting, yet small medinas. You can take a walk along the main avenue, Hassan II and enter into the Medina through Bab l’Ain. In the springtime, in the Nouvelle Ville, you can sit in the Place Mohammed V Park and enjoy the view of the mountains in the background. The old city, called Place Uta el Hammam, is a photographer’s delight, and one of the few places in Morocco that has an octagonal minaret next to the Grand Mosque.

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In the 1600s, Moulay Ismail built Chefchaouen as an Arab fortress. In the centuries that followed, Chaouen saw itself transformed from a Spanish prison to what it is today.

If you visit the museum, in the Kasbah, you can see the collections and artifacts that bring the diverse history of Morocco to life. One of the main attractions of this region is the unique style of clothing worn by the Berbers. You will notice most of the men wearing thick, earth-tone djellabas made of wool as they stroll through the blue and whitewashed walls of the medina. These gowns keep the men warm during the long winters they experience in the high altitudes of the Moroccan mountains. On the other hand, the women will be seen wearing colorful straw hats, and a red-and-white-striped cloth tied around their waist that looks like a skirt.

So, as you hike among the Rif’s lower knolls, be sure to admire the backdrop of the city as you discover the warmth and friendliness of the village people in Morocco.

The Djameaa El Fna - Morocco travel guide 1

The Djameaa El Fna

Marrakech City

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