well,it looks like I've got the travel bug...and even worse/better,there's no cure for it...whilst writing this post,I've got trouble to keep my mind focused on this one as it is already "travelling" to a country which I hopefully will visit in July...so basically,half is already done...now I only need to get my body over there...easy-peasy..is it? :-) we will see...for the time being,I'd like to share few experiences,accompanied by my photographs from a recent trip to Marakech...
I have to admit I was afraid,or better said anxious,before the trip over there,probably because it was the first contact with Africa(if you consider it to be a purely African country due to it's proximity to,and therefore expected influence of, European countries),but as I soon got to discover,my fears were not justified...there were few situations, of which I thought were a bit strange,like being shown a stable with an iron gate and one cow in a rather "by tourists avoided" market and being urged to have a closer look...my thoughts were not positive and the comment "I've seen this before in my country" was the slightest refusal I could come up with...it turned out it was just my prejudice,as our guides intention, by the name of Mustafa, was apparently to guide us to a shop of a Berber guy,whose name I cannot recall...I never felt that good in a shop with clothing,linen and all the other stuff I always considered to be women's domain...probably because we got served with what they call "Berber whisky"...really strong mint tea(actually I never drank a better tea in my life before)...we got ripped of the money,paying probably a really high price for a mirror,but still I think it was worth the experience.(I consider myself to be an ideal tourist for the Moroccan sellers,as I do not really care for the money...luckily I was accompanied by my girlfriend,which has a totaly different approach to money)...it turns out,that in Morocco there is no set price in shops...You have to bargain and the recommended starting price is one third of the price offered by the seller...and btw. not sure whether it's common in whole Morocco,but the Berbers never speak of the price,they prefer to write it down and pass it over to the buyer...negotiation without words,at least about the price,otherwise the guy was hard to stop talking,but what he said was wise and I felt like a child listening to an old man...next stop was the Koutoubia mosque...apparently the highest mosque in Marrakech.To be honest,I expected a bit more when I first saw it,but after a while I managed to see the small things,which make it worth visiting...
Koutoubia Mosque
Without any unnecessary words to annoy You,here are some other pics,which I consider worth seeing...better said,pics of the places worth seeing...
The first one are the Saadian Tombs (with the cleaner included...hopefully she won't come up with some legal stuff after publishing this pic,but she just wouldn't go away):
Next pic is of a specimen of an (apparently) endangered species of Barbary macaque we've seen on a trip to the Cascades d'Ouzoud...a must go if You're a fan of nature and astonishing views...there are some pics later,showing the waterfalls.
As I've been later told there's a light,or music show each,or maybe some(?) nights at the waterfalls,which is apparently spectacular...but as I have not seen it,just heard about it,I cannot judge...
At the Cascades d'Ouzoud
Another Mosque...I'm not sure,but it might be Ben Youssef Mosque
Cascades d'Ouzoud
And finally two pics of the reason I will come back here one day: Atlas mountains ...I was really upset I did not have time to get closer to them...
hopefully You'll enjoy my images more then the gibberish I wrote at the beginning,probably I will write some more after a while and add some more pics,it's just I couldn't focus on it right now...in the meantime I'll be dreaming (and getting my visas sorted out) of China and Nepal...
I have to admit I was afraid,or better said anxious,before the trip over there,probably because it was the first contact with Africa(if you consider it to be a purely African country due to it's proximity to,and therefore expected influence of, European countries),but as I soon got to discover,my fears were not justified...there were few situations, of which I thought were a bit strange,like being shown a stable with an iron gate and one cow in a rather "by tourists avoided" market and being urged to have a closer look...my thoughts were not positive and the comment "I've seen this before in my country" was the slightest refusal I could come up with...it turned out it was just my prejudice,as our guides intention, by the name of Mustafa, was apparently to guide us to a shop of a Berber guy,whose name I cannot recall...I never felt that good in a shop with clothing,linen and all the other stuff I always considered to be women's domain...probably because we got served with what they call "Berber whisky"...really strong mint tea(actually I never drank a better tea in my life before)...we got ripped of the money,paying probably a really high price for a mirror,but still I think it was worth the experience.(I consider myself to be an ideal tourist for the Moroccan sellers,as I do not really care for the money...luckily I was accompanied by my girlfriend,which has a totaly different approach to money)...it turns out,that in Morocco there is no set price in shops...You have to bargain and the recommended starting price is one third of the price offered by the seller...and btw. not sure whether it's common in whole Morocco,but the Berbers never speak of the price,they prefer to write it down and pass it over to the buyer...negotiation without words,at least about the price,otherwise the guy was hard to stop talking,but what he said was wise and I felt like a child listening to an old man...next stop was the Koutoubia mosque...apparently the highest mosque in Marrakech.To be honest,I expected a bit more when I first saw it,but after a while I managed to see the small things,which make it worth visiting...
Without any unnecessary words to annoy You,here are some other pics,which I consider worth seeing...better said,pics of the places worth seeing...
The first one are the Saadian Tombs (with the cleaner included...hopefully she won't come up with some legal stuff after publishing this pic,but she just wouldn't go away):
Next pic is of a specimen of an (apparently) endangered species of Barbary macaque we've seen on a trip to the Cascades d'Ouzoud...a must go if You're a fan of nature and astonishing views...there are some pics later,showing the waterfalls.
As I've been later told there's a light,or music show each,or maybe some(?) nights at the waterfalls,which is apparently spectacular...but as I have not seen it,just heard about it,I cannot judge...
At the Cascades d'Ouzoud
Another Mosque...I'm not sure,but it might be Ben Youssef Mosque
Cascades d'Ouzoud
And finally two pics of the reason I will come back here one day: Atlas mountains ...I was really upset I did not have time to get closer to them...
hopefully You'll enjoy my images more then the gibberish I wrote at the beginning,probably I will write some more after a while and add some more pics,it's just I couldn't focus on it right now...in the meantime I'll be dreaming (and getting my visas sorted out) of China and Nepal...
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