Marrakech part two

I returned to Hotel CTM, and even got my same room. The location was really great. Spent most of the next day in bed, trying to get over the cold that started just as I was heading to the desert. The next day was my grand tour day. In the morning I visited the palaces: first Palais de la Bahia, then Palais el Badhi (yeah. The similarity in the names makes it easier to follow the signs to the right place). de la Bahia is an intact and restored palace, part of which is open to the public, and the rest is still used by the current royal family. The place is amazing. I kept turning off my camera because I figured the plaster work or tile designs in the next room or courtyard couldn’t be better than the last, and then turning it back on because of a beautiful fountain, or cool sconce, or great cedar work. el Badhi isn’t so impressive now. It’s currently just a bunch of ruins, mainly inhabited by storks, though it must have been something when it was intact. It does currently house the minbar of the Koutoubia mosque, along with a fascinating exhibit on how it was restored and how the original inlay, woodworking and gilding was done.

In the afternoon I headed into the souks. I got a bit lost, but in the generally right direction, and managed to come out where I had intended, at a cluster of monuments: the Musee Marrakexh, the Ali ben Youssef Medersa and the Qoubba. (You can get a discounted ticket for all three of these at either the museum or medersa, and it’s worth it). The museum was neat – it’s an art museum, housed in a former mansion. The building’s own decoration is even more amazing than the artworks on display, and it’s got a hammam to wander through. The medersa had, of course, beautiful decorations, but the most interesting part was wandering through the student’s rooms, many of which made my dorm rooms look huge. The Qoubba is a neat shrine, and is surrounded by some neat ruins of old fountains and cisterns. It’s also cool because it is one of the few surviving pieces from the Almoravid dynasty.

Afterwards I wandered back through the souks (and realized that it’s a bit hard, though possible, for me to keep my sense of humor after the sixth “gazelle!”).

Later that night I ate at one of the food stalls and had a great dinner of harira, olive and sausages. The food was great (though far more than I could eat), and I got to chat with a Canadian couple to my right and a pair of Aussies, headed for the desert, to my left.

I headed back to my room to pack – next stop Fes!