So how bout that Marrakech eh?

Weve been in Marrakech for almost three days now (well two and a half to be exact), and as always there is something interesting to talk about.

We arrived here on Saturday after a very long eight hour train ride from Fez. We did our bestests lol to stay busy for the train ride but it still seemed a bit long. With that said, the scenery was pretty cool, as it has usually been since weve been here.

After getting off the train we took a cab over to the medina where we had to walk to our hostel, called Equity Point. As usual once we stepped out of the cab with our backpacks on "tour guides" lol popped up everywhere.

We made it to the hostel and it was worth the walk cause its a beautiful one, quite possibly the nicest one weve stayed in. Its probably nicer than the two hotels we stayed in Fez, and we payed a lot more for those ones. The room were staying in has huge carpets, a fireplace, couches and is really well decorated. The hostel also has a rooftop terrace (though without the hammocks that we had in Sevilla unfortunately) and a really nice dining area outside. Definitely cannot complain too much about this place, not that I really do alot of that anyway lol.

Saturday we went into the market and took a look around the place. There are many differences between Fez and Marrakech, most notably the atmosphere. Fez is a little slower and you see a lot fewer tourists, whereas Marrakech is very loud a lively. It also seems to be a little more rigid in Fez. You do not see anyone, men and women included, wearing anything less than a long sleeve shirt and pants in Fez. In Marrakech we immediately saw some men wearing short sleeve shirts, and the odd skirt being worn by females. And while you still generally see mostly men in the cafes, women here seem to be a bit more liberal here. We have even been approached the odd time by females to buy things here, something which we never saw in Fez. The town is also much more directed towards tourists, as there are a ton here.

After checking out the market we met 3 girls travelling through Morocco, two from Vancouver and one from London, England (they were cousins). They tried teaching me a card game called "Bobby" (dont know if thats how you spell it), an East Indian card game, as their parents were all from India.

Yesterday we met a couple guys from Pittsburgh who were in Morocco for their last day. After coming back from the market (after getting a pic taken with monkeys, booya told yall there were monkeys here haha) we all decided to head out into the town to look for some beer, as it is pretty scarce in most Muslim countries. After walking for about 20 minutes we "scouted" a cafe that sells Heineken for about 20 Dirhams (about 3 bucks Canadian).

The Americans from Pittsburgh were awesome dudes, and they were pretty well travelled. They have a practice of giving away something from home to a person in every country they go to that they really like, even if its just some dude that they met at the airport or something. Definitely a cool idea. They also had just come back from a two day trek into the Sahara Desert. The pictures were amazing, so clear that the sand almost looked computer generated.

Yesterday evening we went back to the hostel, but not until we had tried our bargaining skills on a merchant where Luke bought something for Meaghan. Needless to say, I think were gettin pretty good at haggling lol.

After our haggle venture Luke wasnt feeling too well (mustve been the lamb we ate in the market, shaisters) and I had one last beer with the American boys. All in all a pretty good day (well not as much for Luke unfortunately lol but hes ok).

Tomorrow we are headed to Essaouira for our last beach days. Unfortunately we couldnt fit in our camel trek but Im sure individually well find the time and money to do it on our seperate paths in the future. I think we are sad to leave the awesome weather (been about 25 everyday), and Morocco has been very cool and different, but definitely excited for alcohol in Ireland!

So as the shopkeepers say here in their limited english, goo'day mate (they all think your aussie or english), come see my shop, best stuff in Marrakech lol.