Fao Fuzzy re Marrakech
Fao Fuzzy re Marrakech
Your inbox was full, so heres your answers:
Hi fuzzy - had a brilliant time, its a crazy place - not actually what i expected mind, so heres my tips:
in the riad you can wear what you like, it got to 42 degrees one day, so make sure you check the weather on the bbc website, it was pretty accurate. Outside the riad, there were western women wearing vest tops and short skirts but i wouldnt advise it at all - a pashmina or shawl is good as you can take it off when it gets hot and put it on when you feel its appropriate. If you are going with a man, you are pretty much left alone, but as soon as you go out with other girls / on your own you ARE hassled and looked at, one girl we stayed with said 'i only had my hair stroked 3 times today'. It can get chilly at night too so make sure you have some jumpers or something you can put on when you need to. Id take knee length skirts, knee length shorts and light trousers with shirts / jumpers you can put on as needed over your tshirt
where are you staying? you cant get alcohol in the square, but theres a bar called Kosy Bar at the south end of the medina (down riad zitoun el kedim and across the roundabout into an enclosed square) which you can drink without buying food, the kids in the enclosed square there will take you for every penny (i liked them though - they stand next to you at the ice cream counter and ask if you will buy them one), they are experts at making you take a rose off them. Theres a nice traditional resturant with belly dancers and a really good atmosphere on the Riad Zitoun el Kedim, its called Dar El Salaem or something similar
Le Fondouk resturant - crazy place to get to, you get a cab and a man in a fez with a lantern leads you through the streets near the tannerys to get to the restaurant, it looks like bethlehem 2000yrs ago, well worth it - best to book
Lunch at a 5* hotel - Les Jardins de la Koutoubia - in the medina, its pretty cheap but a really nice lunch in a beautiful hotel with amazing day rooms off the central courtyard
Cafe alhambra in the square is quite good for lunch too
Best italian restaurant in the city is La Trattoria in the french quarter, only 20dhm taxi ride away (agree the price before you set off, or get them to put the meter on or you will get stung) - BEAUTIFUL place, and really nice food. You are best booking and your riad owner will do it for you if you ask them
we got a massage at Bain De Marrakech which was impressive, really beautiful, luxury spa - massage was only 300dhm for an hour - i have forgotten the exchange rate now but you cant get dirham in the uk, and on the way back, you cant even spend dirham in marrakech airport duty free so dont save any, we tried to exchange it at the airport but the exchange place was shut as it was in the evening. I still have 1000 dhm i cant exchange so if you are in london and you want some, you can buy mine!
theres not much there really, its a long weekends worth of stuff to do - the Yves Saint Laurent gardens in the north of the french quarter and the palaces are worth seeing, but the tombs are a bit of a let down and you cant go into the mosques although i stuck my nose in one. The people REALLY dont like having their photograph taken too if you are wanting to get some pics of moroccan life
The square - you need your wits about you, if you take a pic of a person, they expect money so try and stockpile as many coins as you can as you will need them. People try to act as your guide and you have to be firm, but you are likely to get lost in the souks and need someone to guide you back. Dont let anyone in the square take your hand as they will either start drawing henna on you without you even realising (i got mugged by the henna girls twice) or you will turn round to find a monkey on you or a snake around your neck. Say ' Non' firmly and they listen. If you speak a bit of french its much easier. The arabic for Hi is 'Salam' and its really appreciated if you say a few arabic words - the back of the travel guides have some words in
The souks - the further north out of the square you go, the better prices you get and the more lost you will get. I bought 2 leather poufs, brass and ceramic bottles, vegetable silk throws (if you want to buy vegetable silk throws or cactus silk rugs, you are best going to a cooperative - if you do a day trip to the atlas mountains we stopped at one cooperative where we got really good prices, i think my bfs rug was 700dhm for a small one and the guide said expect to pay 1,500dhm. The stripey silk throws i got for £45 each whatever that is in dhm. The leather poufs i got for £20 each, i paid £120 for exactly the same pouf in Red Direct so they are a right bargain. You need to pay about 1/3 to 2/3's of the price they quote you. oo the tea glasses are v nice, i got some of those - they are £19.95 in Monsoon Home. I cant remember how much i paid now though, about £6 i think. You get fixed prices on riad zitoun el jedid which is easier to cope with.
oo the one thing noone told me to do which i am glad i did.... the hamman spas, they use a hamman glove to take half your skin off (then you get pushed into sub zero temperature water) the waiter from our riad took me to the locals souk near bar Kosy and bought me 20 gloves for 7 or 8 dhm each. I realised because i walked into a cactus while gorping at the storks and they used a hamman glove to get the spikes out. My skin felt amazing afterwards.
Our riad owner sorted a car to come and collect us, ask them if they will do the same, i imagine its easy to get a cab from teh airport, its only a 15 min drive so shouldnt be too expensive - maybe 100 dhm
I think thats everything!
Answers:
natopmt-
what a lovely person you are to sit down and write all that info - thats so kind of you ......
Thank you ever so much for that ...we arent staying in a riad , we are staying in a hotel (medina spa and hote) which is in the outer parts of marrakech......
i will fil you in when i come back ......
thanks ever so much
Answers:
no worries, have a lovely time and report back
Answers:
Oooh, lots of lovely notes - thanks for putting it all down.
I've just received my guide book today from Amazon and am planning a long weekend for January/February. I need to find a riad with decent heating!
Your inbox was full, so heres your answers:
Hi fuzzy - had a brilliant time, its a crazy place - not actually what i expected mind, so heres my tips:
in the riad you can wear what you like, it got to 42 degrees one day, so make sure you check the weather on the bbc website, it was pretty accurate. Outside the riad, there were western women wearing vest tops and short skirts but i wouldnt advise it at all - a pashmina or shawl is good as you can take it off when it gets hot and put it on when you feel its appropriate. If you are going with a man, you are pretty much left alone, but as soon as you go out with other girls / on your own you ARE hassled and looked at, one girl we stayed with said 'i only had my hair stroked 3 times today'. It can get chilly at night too so make sure you have some jumpers or something you can put on when you need to. Id take knee length skirts, knee length shorts and light trousers with shirts / jumpers you can put on as needed over your tshirt
where are you staying? you cant get alcohol in the square, but theres a bar called Kosy Bar at the south end of the medina (down riad zitoun el kedim and across the roundabout into an enclosed square) which you can drink without buying food, the kids in the enclosed square there will take you for every penny (i liked them though - they stand next to you at the ice cream counter and ask if you will buy them one), they are experts at making you take a rose off them. Theres a nice traditional resturant with belly dancers and a really good atmosphere on the Riad Zitoun el Kedim, its called Dar El Salaem or something similar
Le Fondouk resturant - crazy place to get to, you get a cab and a man in a fez with a lantern leads you through the streets near the tannerys to get to the restaurant, it looks like bethlehem 2000yrs ago, well worth it - best to book
Lunch at a 5* hotel - Les Jardins de la Koutoubia - in the medina, its pretty cheap but a really nice lunch in a beautiful hotel with amazing day rooms off the central courtyard
Cafe alhambra in the square is quite good for lunch too
Best italian restaurant in the city is La Trattoria in the french quarter, only 20dhm taxi ride away (agree the price before you set off, or get them to put the meter on or you will get stung) - BEAUTIFUL place, and really nice food. You are best booking and your riad owner will do it for you if you ask them
we got a massage at Bain De Marrakech which was impressive, really beautiful, luxury spa - massage was only 300dhm for an hour - i have forgotten the exchange rate now but you cant get dirham in the uk, and on the way back, you cant even spend dirham in marrakech airport duty free so dont save any, we tried to exchange it at the airport but the exchange place was shut as it was in the evening. I still have 1000 dhm i cant exchange so if you are in london and you want some, you can buy mine!
theres not much there really, its a long weekends worth of stuff to do - the Yves Saint Laurent gardens in the north of the french quarter and the palaces are worth seeing, but the tombs are a bit of a let down and you cant go into the mosques although i stuck my nose in one. The people REALLY dont like having their photograph taken too if you are wanting to get some pics of moroccan life
The square - you need your wits about you, if you take a pic of a person, they expect money so try and stockpile as many coins as you can as you will need them. People try to act as your guide and you have to be firm, but you are likely to get lost in the souks and need someone to guide you back. Dont let anyone in the square take your hand as they will either start drawing henna on you without you even realising (i got mugged by the henna girls twice) or you will turn round to find a monkey on you or a snake around your neck. Say ' Non' firmly and they listen. If you speak a bit of french its much easier. The arabic for Hi is 'Salam' and its really appreciated if you say a few arabic words - the back of the travel guides have some words in
The souks - the further north out of the square you go, the better prices you get and the more lost you will get. I bought 2 leather poufs, brass and ceramic bottles, vegetable silk throws (if you want to buy vegetable silk throws or cactus silk rugs, you are best going to a cooperative - if you do a day trip to the atlas mountains we stopped at one cooperative where we got really good prices, i think my bfs rug was 700dhm for a small one and the guide said expect to pay 1,500dhm. The stripey silk throws i got for £45 each whatever that is in dhm. The leather poufs i got for £20 each, i paid £120 for exactly the same pouf in Red Direct so they are a right bargain. You need to pay about 1/3 to 2/3's of the price they quote you. oo the tea glasses are v nice, i got some of those - they are £19.95 in Monsoon Home. I cant remember how much i paid now though, about £6 i think. You get fixed prices on riad zitoun el jedid which is easier to cope with.
oo the one thing noone told me to do which i am glad i did.... the hamman spas, they use a hamman glove to take half your skin off (then you get pushed into sub zero temperature water) the waiter from our riad took me to the locals souk near bar Kosy and bought me 20 gloves for 7 or 8 dhm each. I realised because i walked into a cactus while gorping at the storks and they used a hamman glove to get the spikes out. My skin felt amazing afterwards.
Our riad owner sorted a car to come and collect us, ask them if they will do the same, i imagine its easy to get a cab from teh airport, its only a 15 min drive so shouldnt be too expensive - maybe 100 dhm
I think thats everything!
Answers:
natopmt-
what a lovely person you are to sit down and write all that info - thats so kind of you ......
Thank you ever so much for that ...we arent staying in a riad , we are staying in a hotel (medina spa and hote) which is in the outer parts of marrakech......
i will fil you in when i come back ......
thanks ever so much
Answers:
no worries, have a lovely time and report back
Answers:
Oooh, lots of lovely notes - thanks for putting it all down.
I've just received my guide book today from Amazon and am planning a long weekend for January/February. I need to find a riad with decent heating!