Travel diary #41 : Marrakech, the minimalists' nightmare
Hi !
Last week I packed my bag to continue exploring Morocco with an unavoidable stop : Marrakech. Let's see what surprises the pink city has to offer.
The 3 hour bus ride from Essaouira to Marrakech went better than the previous one. The trips between the places is definitely my favorite part of travelling. It's a suspended moment - often without internet access - where all you can do is observe the landscape while thinking about you just lived, and the experiences that await you.
Arrival in Marrakech in the late evening. Once again, it seems that I am the only foreigner here. I try to be discreet - a fail with my huge purple backpack -, I catch a msimen on the way and go straight to my hostel.
In the morning, I discover how my Riad looks. It's a shame I'm the only customer here…
Later in the week, Moroccans, a French man and Chinese women checked in the hostel. Good time all together with the hostel employees, I cooked my first Tajine !
I travelled alone in Marrakech, and surprisingly, I didn't have a minute to be bored. Every day, I take hours walking from point A to point B, letting myself be distracted by everything in my way, camera in hand…
For someone who is trying to detach from material possessions and travel light, hanging out in Marrakech doesn't make a lot of sense. Paradise of consumption, hell of the minimalists, it seems that the main activity here is shopping. But don't get me wrong, I saw beautiful products : Artisanal leather work, terracotta dishes, jewelry, argan oil products…
It is troubling to witness a city like Marrakech so quiet. A calm more sad than soothing. I discover the famous Jamaa Alfna square, (the central point of the markets and of the exoticism of Morocco) practically empty. However, it filled up in the weekends and I discovered the Moroccan folklore. Within 10 minutes on the square, I’m offered to pet a monkey in a diaper, take a photo of a peacock on a leash or watch a cobra hyptnotized to the sound of a flute. "This is the African Bangkok" I text a friend that same evening.
About animal welfare, not quite that...
*diaper
An unusually empty Jemaa el Fna ⤴️
Streets where souks are normally held are empty because of the closed borders...
I visit the photography museum and where I learn about the works of the photographer Rosine Mazin and Jean Besancenot. The museum normally welcomes 300 visitors per day, but this day I am the only tourist…
Finally, I visited my favorite place in Marrakech: The Majorelle garden.
Created in the 30's by the painter Jaques Majorelle, it was left abandoned and bought by Yves Saint Laurent 30 years later. I feel very lucky to have been able to walk alone in the alleys of the garden which normally receives more than 5,000 visitors per day. This place is definitely my favorite spot in the entire city.
I wondered if visiting Marrakech at such a special time was a mistake. I think there is no "normal way" to explore a city. A city is something organic, it is therefore by definition something that evolves and is always different. I’d say I just experienced Marrakech at the beginning of the year 2022 …
For the past months, I realized that slow travelling was making much more sense to me. For ecological and human reasons, I want to stay longer in each destination I go. I want to experience more than visit. It's quite paradoxical because the more I explore this country, the more I think about the quote "I know that I know nothing” . The more I spend time here, the more I realize how much I still have to learn. So I’m wondering, how long are you supposed to stay in a country to "get it" ?
See you in the next one ! 😘
I have started this blog when I first travelled solo in South East Asia more than 2 years ago. The passion hasn’t faded and I’m still really excited to share photos and stories with you here. If you like the content I post every week and want to support the blog, you can buy me a coffee here ☕️ (A big thanks a lot to the people who supported me already, it means a lot 🙏🏻) or simply leave a comment :)
