Do I recommend to spend some precious time in one single town? Yes, I would! Do not misunderstand me, I love mountains, the endless plains, even more water, shores and beaches. But towns I love too. And ancient towns are special. Somehow they are able to blend their heritage with modern tourism without loosing their identity. It always starts where to stay and what to pay, isn’t it? Well, stay within the Medina, the ancient part, the old native residential district of a any North African city. The Medina provides you with everything, little by little, at any time. Talking food, shopping, nightlife, cafes, hammans, coiffeurs, repair shops, street sellers and street hustlers, wise men and dumb men, story- and fortune tellers (your fortune?). But where to stay? Many places are good to start with, but the area called Riad Zitoune El Jdide, located South East from the (in)famous Djemaa el Fna, is recommendable. Riads and Dars(houses) are plentiful and top class. Excellent services provided and, if you are lucky and throw questions to the employers (the Hassans and Mohammeds and Abdullahs), you easily get insight information about the colourful story regarding Marrakech and Morocco. Open your eyes and wonder! And there is a lot to wonder. And there is always the name of one man sticking around, a ghost from the past, an ancient warlord and Pasha (turkish for big), big man than? No I do not mean Allah, certainly not. He is always around, not only in Marrakech. But the man I am referring to is Pasha Thamid el Glaoui, a vicious and brutal ruler of Marrakech until the 1950ies. Define fortune? Somebody rich? True, but this man was outstandingly rich and powerful. Within Marrakech the saying goes what Pasha Glaoui once saw belongs to 100% to him, and what he did not see, to 50%. Just imagine now, you cannot have your eyes everywhere but you always have a 50% share in everything, and that is not a little, by far not. His hunger for women was even bigger than his hunger for fortune. People do not refer to numbers anymore, they just mention that the Pasha saw somebody, pointed towards her and she was gone, never seen again in her village, house, where ever she belongs to. What he once saw belongs to 100% to the Pasha. Unimaginable! Everything at any time!
Formations by text&pics (Formationen aus Text&Bild) 