So in addition to our time in Marrakesh, we also took a 4 hour bus to Essaouira (pronounced essa-where-a) on the coast. It's a stunning little fishing town with similar rambling small streets and a much more laid back approach to selling than in Marrakesh. There are tons of tiny shops mostly selling carved wood stuff. The people there were happy to just chat with you - at a much smaller cost than in Marrakesh.
But like everywhere else in Morocco, bargaining was part of the fun. In general I am not a huge fan of bargaining. I know that in places like this they are ripping you off anyway, but I still feel like the 43 cents we are arguing over will go a lot further for him than me.
But in Morocco, everyone does it with a smile on their face! It's totally a game, and if you play by the rules, you can end up doing quite well. I bought a leather shoulder bag for about 20% of the asking price - but I had to walk out the door and down the street 3 times to get him down to that level. And in the end the guy was still very happy and I felt like we'd bonded the way you do with a tough competitor on the football pitch. You know what I mean?
But the best part was just wandering around, seeing the boats, the people and the birds. So many birds!
Then after taking the bus back, we were walking along the streets of Marrakesh on my last day and ended up walking through a part of town where we hadn't been before. There were tons of shops with counters selling mostly meet, fish, and produce. It seemed to be mostly locals poking around getting their Sunday groceries. Clearly not the same type of Sunday shopping we did in Connecticut.
As we were going along, I stopped and watched this guy for a few seconds. Basically what he does is takes one of the chickens behind him, puts it through the machine in front of him, and serves what comes out on the counter in front of you. Amazing! Shocking! I had to have a picture. So I raised my camera - a bit shy because lots of people there don't like having their picture taken - and he put his hand up towards me. I'm thinking he's telling me to bugger off. But actually he was waving to the camera! Maybe I'm not the only tourist horrified to see this going on right on the street?
Here's a bunch more pics, too many good ones to miss out!
Next blog stop - last week was skiing in Bulgaria! Oh! And my dates for India are settled - first week of May!
Cheers!
Dan!
P.S. The top two pics were taken by Dave with his fancy camera. Man he's good!
1 comment:
Dang. I had my heart set on a lamp. A plate will do in a pinch, I suppose.
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