Friday 17 April 2015

Marrakech Souk

If you remember my last post, our Riad was based within the old town - the Medena - with its' hustle and bustle, the Souk (market) taking up a vast proportion of this, with all the winding side streets leading to the main square. I had no idea that the Souk could be as deep as it was - once you are in, you are completely and utterly lost in a never-ending maze of glitz, noise and bartering. 





It definitely out did any London market I've ever been to! Every turn you take greets you with items you never knew you needed - treasure coves of lanterns, lights and jewellery, huge carpets slung over eachother, spices, animals - anything you can think of, it's here. The amount of stuff is just overwhelming - every stall has got something different and unique. 




I became obsessed with this Hand of Fatima seen everywhere in Marrakech! 


I was expecting to be jeered at for my blonde hair and 6 foot height, but I didn't actually come across anything much worse than I've experienced before. I was respectful and covered my body in maxi dresses, and sometimes my hair in a shawl, but on the whole it was fine. I think I scared them more with my intense bargaining skills! 



I picked up some spices to take home for my spice-obsessed boyfriend (seriously, we have an entire ceiling length cupboard filled with the stuff) which were all cheap as chips and smelled amazing. There's quite a lot of knock offs of spices and things like Argan Oil though in Marrakech - quite a few stalls claiming to have the best in the Souk! Luckily we went with a great man, Abdul, who took us to great stalls (even though they were probably his friends'!) who definitely made up a large part of the fact that we weren't really ripped off anywhere, and found our way home! It was amazing to follow him navigating his way through the hundreds of stalls. 





I came home with so many bowls, plates and pots - I had to wrap them all in several items of clothes to get them back in one piece! 





A truly one of a kind place - I could have got lost for days quite happily in the Souk! 




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