We get on the overnight train to Marrakech. Our “couchette” cabin consists of two bunk beds and a window. Steve and I are on the top bunks and an Arabic boy named “Ali” and his mother occupy the bottom bunks. Ali is very entertaining, maybe 4 years old with a big smile eating a happy meal. A man comes around with a sheet, blanket, and pillow for each passenger. I prophylactically pop a gravol and tuck myself in, Steve is asleep in no time...I only wake up a couple times through the night- overall a restful sleep! :) A restful night is exactly what you need before getting to Marrakech.

We arrive the next morning in Marrakech. We have joined forces with the two American girls we met in the train station-Jana and Rayna. We catch a cab to the medina, the girls have reserved a hostel room near the Medina, Steve and I have no reservations so we follow them to their hostel to see if we can get a room too. After winding our way some distance through dark and narrow medina streets we find the hostel and enter. The owner is behind the counter but laying in bed in a cubby hole. He opens his curtain and indicates the rooms aren’t ready and says to come back in an hour or two. He lets us leave our packs on the floor of his office/bedroom. We walk all the way back out to the center of the medina and start to wander around the streets. We meet a british guy at the bank machine- and he eventually joins up with us for the day. After meeting the hostel keeper, having a glimpse of the place, and walking the long dark alley-like street to its location, we begin to reconsider staying there. We check out some other places and find a hotel that is slightly more expensive, but centrally located and pretty clean- with private bathrooms. We all agree it is a better place and decide to stay there. We make our way back to the hostel and pick up our packs with no problems- phew. By this point we are all a little hungry. We go to a cafe for some omlettes and toast- and our first moroccan tea. The tea is delicious. I don’t know exactly what is in it, but it is more viscous than water- but not as thick as honey. It is full of large mint leaves and very sweet. We spend some time wandering the market stalls and quickly learn how aggressive the vendors are. “Excuse me, Madame, come in my store, excuse me, sorry, just look etc”. There is no such thing as browsing here. You look you buy- or at least that is the impression you give! If you look at something they say “I give you good price” but we have heard how overpriced things are here. Eventually I see a canvas painting I like- I simply enter the store and the negotiations begin. I should also mention that while looking in the store I knock over a porcelain dish displaying small canvasses, it hits the floor with a ‘thunk’ and I think I broke it...shit oh shitballs- now I feel obliged to buy something! Steve helps me negotiate- actually he takes the lead because we both know I’m too weak. The canvas price starts at 440 dirham, after ten minutes of negotiations and leaving the store twice, we pay 150 dirham...Steve later tells me the dish I knocked over was already broken. 

The medina square is full of entertainers/con-men, food vendors, and orange juice stands. The food vendors are selling beautiful apricots, dates, figs, olives, and nuts. The orange juice is freshly squeezed and costs only 3 dirham (approx 50 cents) for a tall glass. The con-men are charging 100 dirham to charm a cobra snake out of a basket while having your photo taken. Steve got scammed with that! There are men with monkey’s on leashes but we have seen enough of them and steer clear. There are many musicians and henna artists. The square is busy but we find out later its not rush hour yet! The majority of women are wearing head scarves which makes Steve all anxious about me getting one and wearing it :) I can’t find one I like but I finally spot a huge pile of scarves spread out on plastic on the street- locals are digging through the pile so I join in on the action. I find the perfect one! Only 20 dirhams and its all mine!

That night we go to the square and it is packed with even more food, entertainers, locals, and tourists. We browse by the food stands they have set up to see what is for dinner. I take one look at the roasted sheep heads with the tongues hanging out and loose my appetite. We are being yelled at “eat here!” “I’m the best!” “Free drink here!” Its packed and chaotic. There is thick smoke from the cooking and bright light bulbs dangling everywhere. It smells and is loud. We escape the craziness and head for a cafe on the side of the square. I have moroccan soup- which is fabulous! Similar to tomato vegetable soup with chickpeas and other unidentifiable goodies in it. Steve has his first Tajine. Tajine is a moroccan dish (obviously) containing a meat and vegetables cooked in a tajine dish- ah...here is a link! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine

We head back to the square and observe the action some more. We try some ginger cake and ginger tea from a desert stall, it is spicy and like nothing I’ve ever had before! The night sky is clear and Jana gives us a great little lesson on astronomy and constellations (she is in that field). We are tired. We say our goodnights and head to bed. 

The next day’s mission is to find a tour to take us into the Sahara and then on to the city of Fes. There are several tour companies around the medina and takes only one stop to sign up for one. We will leave the next day...we have the most delicious bannock type break with honey for breakfast with the american girls and say our goodbyes (they are leaving that morning by train). We spend a few hours wandering through the residential area of the medina where we see artisans hard at work and people shopping at local vegetable stalls. Overall, we found Marrakech to be somewhat chaotic and crazy but a good time. Although the hassle by merchants was way too extreme, we felt safe there.