The longer - the more beautiful

It is here that the circle of my travels is getting complete and my journey nearly comes to its end: On my second stay in Marrakech, I discover how beautiful this city really is: city in an oasis, it has blooming strips next to vast land, beautiful gardens and outstanding sights with the ever lively Djemma el-Fna (square; see my entry "The Noisy Orient" above) in the centre. - In the early afternoon, I start from El-Jadida after a terrible night there and a morning of reconvalescence (with "verveine" tea for my stomach) and sight seeing in spite of it all (once round the walls and once into the Cisterne). I take the train which means I take a detour back to Casablanca in the north and from Casablanca to Marrakech (well in the south) which is the only way to avoid the low standard local buses and to assure a toilet when necessary (even if this way the costs are three times as high). Before Marrakech, the train moves through stony desert while the sun is going down and seemingly setting fire to the landscape...

In Marrakech, I get the last room in Hotel Sherazade. First, they don´t want to dispute the price, but when I am at reception, a charming French girl - an academic working in Rabat - impresses the receptionist who grants her some reduction, and she then takes over my case managing to lower the offer by 10 %. Thank you, Ophèle.

29.10.2006

After a lengthy buffet breakfast in the hotel (the first solid food that I take after El-Jadida) and some talks with other guests (Colin from the US; Ophèle from France and her German friend with his daughter; a Belgian fashion expert...), I dive into serious sight seeing: Palais El Badi (only 20 min left before the midday break; but no problem, you may spend an extra 10 min inside; in the afternoon: Palais de la Bahia and then to Jardin Ménara by Petit Taxi: the taxi driver tells me the garden will be closed by 5 p.m., the time we get there; instead he offers me a trip to the dessert, certainly more lucrative for him than the inner city trip to the gardens. In fact, officially, the entrance to Ménara seems to be closing at 17 hours, yet with only little asking, I am let in, and the pavilion with the view of the Atlas montains does not close before 6 p.m. A group of young students, playing traditional music instruments and dancing just for fun, don´t even leave the park before 7 p.m., and so do I (one of them approaches me to ask me where I am from and to tell me about his and his friends´ faculties, eagerly introducing his brother and his brother´s girlfriend to me...)