"Culture but challenging locals and sellers." Marrakesh by Robin020

Marrakesh from 07/07/2011 till 10/07/2011

Marrakesh the city of Souks, food, snakes , belly-dancing tradition and gardens and even soft drugs (hash and pot).The has a population of around 800,000 before my visit on july I was thinking to expect a high number of tourist in the city

How to get there by plane: Marrakesh airport is only 10 km from the city centre.

In addition, Marrakesh has good connections to the rest of the country, by train or coaches all comfortable and reasonable prices to travel. For example you can take train to Casablanca, Rabat Fes from Marrakesh

Train to Casablanca and ... is every 2 hours starting from 05:00 AM, the price for the ticket from Marrakesh to Casablanca by train is 100 DRH around €10 single way and it takes around 3 hours to get there.

Marrakesh train and bus station is located on the west side of the Medina (city centre) you can take a taxi to get there and will cost you NOT more than 20 DRH max ask the driver about the price before hopping in since they over charge you triple times . Moreover journey is less than 10 min from Jma el Fna.

There are no trains from Marrakesh to Essaouira and Agadir however you can take a coach from Marrakesh bus station that is located next to Marrakesh train station. The price of the ticket to Essaouira is 60 DRH and journey duration is 2:45 min time tables are from 9:00, 10:30 14:30 etc

If you want to travel at specific time is advisable to book 1 day ahead to guarantee your seat.

Or you can take the bus to Agadir it will take around 3:45 min the ticket is around 100 DRH.

Things to do and see:

Jma el Fna is the main square and the heart of Marrakesh there you can: eat, shop, drink (no alcohol),

At cyber park

Tips dos and don’ts (Personal experience) :

1) Watch the snakes you can take pictures of snake men but bear in mind that will cost you at least 10 DH.

2) Water seller on the street with funny coloury dress the same applies here taking pictures cost you as well. I had a good camera with nice zoom out so had enough pictures of them.

3) Eating in the square at the open market could be fun but expect a lot of harassment from people who keep chasing you to invite you for food.

4) Worth to mention in Marrakesh NOTHING is free, means when somebody says hi to you means he wants money by selling you something and offers you a service that could be sex, drugs, food, drink, and souvenir.

5) When ordering something beware to look at the menu and know exactly how much you need to pay. They will always over charge you if you do not know the price when paying make sure you give exact amount of money or a bit note since they will not bring it back to you. you can always ask your money back of course it happened to me frequently that i pay and I do not get my money back I had to ask for it and remind them etc its pretty annoying actually once is ok but not every time I eat, drink shop I pay double ..and trust NO body They may look friendly and kind but they always always after your money I may sound too pessimistic but this is the truth.

6)

I was standing next to the Bahni palace attraction I wanted to visit an old guy came to me and said this is Bahia bla bla I said thanks I know he said ok 20 DM hahaha this was many of the scenes I experienced during my stay.

For Moroccans tourists are just a wallet full of money and you must pay double or triple the price of the locals.

My inn at Jama square

Cheap flights : Ryanair The Irish airline ,Visa on arrival you get a stamp free of charge .

• Pros:Wi-Fi almost everywhere,Authentic,culture,cheap if you bargain to half price
• Cons:Rip off almost every where,pushy people,you need to bargain at least half price.City for 2 days stay max,attractions has charges entrance,Locals give tourists hard time by trying to sell you almost everything,Difficult to find a place to have alcohol
• In a nutshell:Culture city but be prepared for been rude to locals too pushy to sell you stuffs