On the Marrakech Express...

A few nights ago we took the Marrakech Express (yes, really) down from Casablanca. brian1789 has been attending a geobiology conference by day, and I've been wandering the city and taking in the culture and the sights.

It's been an immersion, definitely... riotous colorful souks (bazaars), winding narrow alleyways, a melange of traditional and ultramodern attire, auto and pedestrian traffic mingling on the streets, and beautiful buildings everywhere.

On my first day, I wandered through the local streets to the Jewish Cemetery. It's from centuries and generations of Sephardic families, most of whom relocated to other countries in the 1950s.

The cemetery is away from the tourist areas, and I was definitely self-conscious about standing out as a white person - lots of people asked if I needed directions to where I was going, or simply looked up and stared. There isn't quite the same level of staring here as in India, where Jay and I were probably the only white people that some of the locals had ever seen, in the smaller towns. But one does get noticed immediately here, as a foreigner, and I was reluctant to state that I was looking for Jewish sites - especially after noticing a swastika painted on one of the alley walls near the synagogue.

But I made my way over there, and found it to be a beautiful and peaceful place. Here are some of the older burial stones:



And some newer ones:



That morning I also saw the Palais de Bahia, which is near where we are staying. Beautifully carved and painted doorways abound:



( More lovely carvings and tiles and textiles herein... )

Hammam luxury

Yesterday I experienced a Hammam for the first time... Oh, it's wonderful. There's a custom here of public baths, separated by gender, which are a social and communal space as much as they are a space for cleanliness.

You go in and change into a spare pair of underwear, and wrap up in a sarong-like cloth. The attendant who led me in spoke mostly French, and I only speak a bit of French, and so we shared lots of giggles as she pantomimed what I should do (which I repeatedly got wrong). She was very patient with me. Then she led me into the bathing area, which is surreal... Soothing white tile and marble, so filled with steam that it seems almost otherworldly... It is hard to even see the other side of the room.

There are several rooms, connected in a little maze. First stop is the steam room, where the attendant pours bowlfuls of warm water from a basin over you, and then soaps you with a scoop of soft brown soap (now I know what those containers of dark caramel looking gel were in the marketplace!) Once rinsed, you are led to sit in front of the steam vents for 20min.

Then you are rinsed again, and helped onto a long table to be scrubbed. The scrubbing is done with a mitt that feels like a cat's tongue, and is quite luxurious. After that comes a long rinsing, with gloriously warm bowls of water poured on you, over and over.

For an extra fee you can have a massage, and I did... You are rubbed head to toe with oil, and massaged for a half hour, by very skilled attendants. A thorough shampooing of the hair follows, and then you are whisked into a warm shower to rinse again. Once you dress (and lavishly tip your multitude of attendants), there is a richly decorated room where you can sit and sip mint leaf tea, before heading out into your day recharged.

Jay said that I was positively glowing when I returned :)

So luxurious, and not at all expensive. I went to one of the mid-range Hammams, and my entire experience cost about $35, including the lavish tip. Without the massage and tip, it would have been about $15. But if you go to one of the more basic hammams (which I want to try sometime, now that I am familiarized more with the experience), you can have the soaping and scrubbing and steaming experience for a mere $2.

Definitely want to go again :)