The Road to Marrakech

The next day we packed our bags, thanked our house cleaner Saida profusely, and made our way to the Supratours bus station. 

At 12:10 our bus slowly backed out of its parking space and wove into the tapestry of the cyclists, mopeds, and taxis. Then we were off, roaring out of town and into the low hills full of thuja trees. Our fearless chauffeur drove with one elbow-- one arm hanging out the window and the other either holding his cell phone to his ear or thumbing through the newspaper. I'm not kidding. Music blared from the stereo. After about ten minutes, we slowed to look at something on the side of the road. It was another bus that had lost control and careened into the hillside. The entire front end was a wreck and a crowd of curious bystanders huddled so close around it that I couldn't ascertain the condition of its occupants. The driver paused for about half a second and then he careened away. I quietly reached over and buckled my seatbelt. 

After three hours of hot scrubland and the occasional congested town we arrived in Marrakech! The roads widened, the drivers became MUCH more aggressive and the temperature had risen by 20 degrees. 

From the bus station we took a taxi to the famous Jemaa El Fna. It is the largest square in Morocco and the beating heart of the country. By day it isn't much to look at-- just a huge expanse of baking heatwaves with the occasional snake charmer and henna artist. But at night it comes alive with food stalls serving cooked goat heads, boiled snails, fresh squeezed orange juice, and other foods. The snake charmers really turn up their game (likely because their fast is finally at an end) and are joined by men offering to let you take a picture with their monkeys, people selling every good imaginable, storytellers and furtive figures who skulk past you muttering, "hashish, cannabis, kef?" 

But on our first day we skipped all this. After meeting our wonderful housekeeper, Fouzia, at the Café de France we were lead to our Riad, which was just past the Jemaa but far enough down a side street that it wasn't too noisy. As in Essaouira, it was a fantastic place! Far and away the best part of our home is that the bedroom has air conditioning! Honestly, we spend most of that afternoon luxuriating in the cool, man-made breeze while the rest of the world baked in 95 degree heat. We only ventured from our arctic paradise to eat dinner at the cafe Bakshish (or Bakshich or Bakchich depending on which sign you read) which served excellent and affordable Tagine and Couscus. Nate had fresh-squeezed kiwi juice which was sublime. 

We slept very well.