"Marrakech" a Marrakesh Travel Page by sachara

Marrakesh is the most amazing and exotic town I visited in Morocco. My first visit to Marrakesh was in 1975. I loved to stroll in the souqs. And many times a day I walked from our nearby hotel to the Djemaa el-Fna, to experience the spectacle of musicians, snake charmers, acrobats and streetvendors. I had really the feeling to be in another continent. So this must show me, how Africa could be.... The small boys, who offered to be my guide, knew me after two times and didn't bother me anymore, just said hello.

In 2000 after 25 year I came back to Marrakesh. I was happy to find the same enchanting atmosphere in the medina, the souqs and the Djemaa el -Fna. What has changed was the part of Marrakesh outside the old city.
In my memory of 1975 I had images of a lot of camels on dusty roads, only some paved roads with caleches. No cars or only a few. Now in 2000 I saw modern avenues with a traffic jam, caused by many cars. And everywhere a lot of modern shops, hotels and other buildings.

The next time I didnt wait 25 years, but I came back in 2007. This time I stayed several days with enough time to stroll around in the medina and the souqs and to visit some known places and to discover lots of new places. In 2008 I visited Marrakech again shortly.

In 1975 I was at a very special moment in Marrakesh. The green march of King Hassan in November 1975 by 350.000 Moroccans, who walked over the border of Western Sahara to claim the region. In Marrakesh I saw thousands of people, young, old, traditional, modern, men, women walking in the streets from the north to the south, passing our hotel. At that moment nobody could explain us what happened and we didn't understand the banners and the yells. The only thing we felt, that it was a very impressive event. And an important historical one turned out later.

In 1975 my camera broke down. So all the pictures on this page are made in 2000 or 2007.