Spring Break (1): Marrakech, Morocco

For the majority of our spring break, Rebecca, Sam, and I booked a 7-day tour with Dunes Line, which included private guides to show us around Marrakech and Fes, as well as a local driver to drive us to the Sahara desert. This trip was nothing short of incredible, and I've never imagined I'd experience such visual stimulation everywhere we went. We stayed in Marrakech for the first two days, took a road trip out to the Sahara Desert for the next three days, and ended our adventure with two days in Fes. I will be dividing the Morocco trip into three posts, with this one highlighting my experience in Marrakech.

When checking into our riad, we had our first taste of Moroccan mint tea, and we ended up drinking this multiple times a day, every day, for the rest of our trip. It was delicious, so I didn't mind! The riad itself was beautiful with intricate carvings, and little did I know, this detailing would be common everywhere we went (as you'll see later on in the photos).

Moroccan mint tea: green tea with soaked mint leaves + optional sugar cubes.

Entrance of the riad.

Roof and balcony of our riad.

THE SOUKS

After settling in, we explored the souks and this is when we realized that we needed to get good at bargaining. One of the managers at our riad gave us a tip to cut the price that they bring up in half, and then go from there.

Both Rebecca and I bought babouche slippers so it would be more comfortable to walk around for the rest of the day. As a rule of thumb, they should range from 80dh-120dh ($8-12).

The souks included a variety of nuts and fruits, as well as lamps, pashminas, wooden camel sculptures, jewelry, leather bags, etc.

I was also amazed by the amount of colorful doors while we were exploring.

Can you spot the cat in this photo?

I was absolutely obsessed with all the doors we walked by. There are also a lot of stray cats in the streets -- more than I've ever seen in one city.

JEMAA EL-FNAA

We ended up getting lunch in Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main plaza in Marrakech.

Cumin and paprika soup (bottom), Mediterranean salad (middle), mint tea (left), tagine and khobz traditional flat bread (top), spices (right).

KNOW-BEFORE-YOU-GO: In the main plaza, people will try to sell aggressively and if you end up taking photos, they will expect money in return (we learned this through the monkeys):

Two locals unexpectedly put monkeys on us while we were trying to find our way back to our riad, then asked for 300dh afterwards.

With no cell-service and the confusing never-ending souks, it felt impossible to find our way back. Luckily, all three of us took french in high-school, so with combined effort of asking around multiple times to multiple people, we eventually found our way back an hour later.

Instead of trying to get to the Royal Mansour on our own, we pulled up the address on google maps using the wifi in our riad, and put one of our phones on airplane mode to follow instead.

ROYAL MANSOUR

Once we got here, it was so amazing that I felt like I was in a dream, and the architecture made me feel immediately at piece. Not only that, but the staff was so friendly in helping us find where we needed to go; I would say that their customer service is the best I've ever experienced.

For even more relaxation, there are spa treatments that can be booked in this room.

We got afternoon tea here after marveling at the architecture, and Rebecca and Sam ordered the British, whereas I ordered the Moroccan selection.