SOUK IT - HATERS GONNA HATE
Some of you pride yourself on having a built in GPS in your brain. We'll maybe mostly men. Sorry guys.
Myself? Kind of just wander, and eventually end up where I need to be. Time is bendable....and it can get lost in the souks, along with you. You will get lost.
Some may say being lost is relative. "All that wander are not lost" type of thing. Here, every alley way in the souk looks almost identical. Even if you've determined a few landmarks. A cafe, a spice vendor, maybe a door or archway. Somehow, someway....you will get lost.
At least the beginners. I'm on day 8 and, I can find some "favorite" stalls and vendors, but still thinking I'm on my way home, I find myself on the way to a local derb (neighborhood)
I've had moto drivers drive by...."Market that way" they yell out. What? Do I look lost? Because I'm white? Wtf?
Maybe I wanted to be in your neighborhood! Ever think of that? Ok that particular time it was unintended, but I have found some uber cool colors, tiles, and photos away from the multi national tourists circuit.
Don't get me wrong. You can shop your heart out in Marrakech, both in the central shops of Gueliz and the souks.
If you don't feel like braving the labrinyth alone. Its' trendy to hire a guide. Eliminate the getting lost, the pushing, the constant persistency of the shop keepers. Get in, get out. Enjoy a quick Tajin and Cappuccino on your way.
You can find these guides on local classifieds, ex-pat websites, and talking with both locals (who are in business) and locally living ex-pats.
While merchants from Timbuktu, Egypt and Europe originally came to Marrakech as the "gateway" to the south, to deal in cotton, gold, silver, slaves and spices. Today the open air markets are the same except for the onslaught of foreigners. This has changed the economy and the attitude.
You see above the "souk junk". I took this photo, because this shop was literally walled with anything metal. No space to put them in his, 3 mt, by 3 mt. shop, they just pile up. It's beautiful in a chaotic way.
I love the tips that Isabelle gives on the souks @ Travel Guide. She is spot on and lots of other tips to boot.
Moving on. Spices, food, potions, lotions and the like. I do eat in the souks, at shady cafes sometimes. However don't fear, as the increase in tourism has brough many trendy cafes amidst the stalls. Trendy, means toursit price. Though to westerners the price will still seem uber cheap at $3 for a sandwich (with fresh ingredients) and coffee for $1, imagine the local price at $ 0.50. Most shops will offer a mix of westernized food and Moroccan food.
Pick up a mix of Moroccan pancakes, cous cous, falafel, tajin, Moroccan soup or salad, and every kind of fresh squeezed juice you can think of.
Shopping. This is where the haters come in.....a lot of ladies like to shop. I like to shop. I don't like to look. I know what I want and that is that.
Here there are leather items, shoes, belts, and purses that other shops import in your area for a premium price.That is just the beginning. Metals, furniture, lamps, jewelry, exotic crafts......blah blah blah ba blah. Cheap?
$10 for a leather bag. Yes. $3 for a scarf? Yes.
There is the medium quality and high end quality, but the shopping is good. Agreed upon by many celebrities with their guides who frequent the souks.
I often shop in the souk and buy tokens like jewelry. I seem to be obsessed with earrings. Never can have too many. Like shoes.
Well, that's my trip through the kashbah. I'm determined to know each nook, so off I go. Eating, shopping, drinking, wandering, and marking a point in my little life.
So Souk That People. Awww.. soukie soukie now.
And for my girls out there. chhhh, chhhh.
You know what I mean.
More on souks, shopping and the Marrakech hook up if you're interested @ Guide to the Good Life
http://www.gayot.com/travel/citytrips/marrakech/day1.html
and http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/morocco/marrakech/tips/shopping
Some of you pride yourself on having a built in GPS in your brain. We'll maybe mostly men. Sorry guys.
Myself? Kind of just wander, and eventually end up where I need to be. Time is bendable....and it can get lost in the souks, along with you. You will get lost.
Some may say being lost is relative. "All that wander are not lost" type of thing. Here, every alley way in the souk looks almost identical. Even if you've determined a few landmarks. A cafe, a spice vendor, maybe a door or archway. Somehow, someway....you will get lost.
At least the beginners. I'm on day 8 and, I can find some "favorite" stalls and vendors, but still thinking I'm on my way home, I find myself on the way to a local derb (neighborhood)
I've had moto drivers drive by...."Market that way" they yell out. What? Do I look lost? Because I'm white? Wtf?
Maybe I wanted to be in your neighborhood! Ever think of that? Ok that particular time it was unintended, but I have found some uber cool colors, tiles, and photos away from the multi national tourists circuit.
If you don't feel like braving the labrinyth alone. Its' trendy to hire a guide. Eliminate the getting lost, the pushing, the constant persistency of the shop keepers. Get in, get out. Enjoy a quick Tajin and Cappuccino on your way.
You can find these guides on local classifieds, ex-pat websites, and talking with both locals (who are in business) and locally living ex-pats.
While merchants from Timbuktu, Egypt and Europe originally came to Marrakech as the "gateway" to the south, to deal in cotton, gold, silver, slaves and spices. Today the open air markets are the same except for the onslaught of foreigners. This has changed the economy and the attitude.
You see above the "souk junk". I took this photo, because this shop was literally walled with anything metal. No space to put them in his, 3 mt, by 3 mt. shop, they just pile up. It's beautiful in a chaotic way.
Moving on. Spices, food, potions, lotions and the like. I do eat in the souks, at shady cafes sometimes. However don't fear, as the increase in tourism has brough many trendy cafes amidst the stalls. Trendy, means toursit price. Though to westerners the price will still seem uber cheap at $3 for a sandwich (with fresh ingredients) and coffee for $1, imagine the local price at $ 0.50. Most shops will offer a mix of westernized food and Moroccan food.
Pick up a mix of Moroccan pancakes, cous cous, falafel, tajin, Moroccan soup or salad, and every kind of fresh squeezed juice you can think of.
Shopping. This is where the haters come in.....a lot of ladies like to shop. I like to shop. I don't like to look. I know what I want and that is that.Here there are leather items, shoes, belts, and purses that other shops import in your area for a premium price.That is just the beginning. Metals, furniture, lamps, jewelry, exotic crafts......blah blah blah ba blah. Cheap?
$10 for a leather bag. Yes. $3 for a scarf? Yes.
There is the medium quality and high end quality, but the shopping is good. Agreed upon by many celebrities with their guides who frequent the souks.
I often shop in the souk and buy tokens like jewelry. I seem to be obsessed with earrings. Never can have too many. Like shoes.
Well, that's my trip through the kashbah. I'm determined to know each nook, so off I go. Eating, shopping, drinking, wandering, and marking a point in my little life.
So Souk That People. Awww.. soukie soukie now.
And for my girls out there. chhhh, chhhh.
You know what I mean.
More on souks, shopping and the Marrakech hook up if you're interested @ Guide to the Good Life
http://www.gayot.com/travel/citytrips/marrakech/day1.html
and http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/morocco/marrakech/tips/shopping
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