Marrakech March 2014

Seven months after I last left the country it was that time again for further exploration of this wonderful world we live in. I wanted to go somewhere hot, cheap but close and Marrakech seemed like the perfect place in addition to the fact that I had wanted to go there for so long. So I roped a friend (Hannah) into my little break this time and jetted off. 

Marrakech has become very popular in the last few years for the reasons mentioned above. It's very accessible from London, budget airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair fly there regularly in addition to British Airways. We decided to go for a few days and bought the trip via Expedia and flew EasyJet. 

For 4 nights flights and hotel start from about £200/€240/$332 per person. We paid around £280/€335/$465 for ours. There is a combination of riads (large houses which are now used for accommodation), hostels and hotels to choose from in Marrakech. We opted for the hotel route in the Hivernage part of the city which is quite modern and outside of the medina/main square area which is better for me as I preferred to be slightly out of the chaotic madness of the medina. 

We left London and boarded a 3hr 25minute flight to North Africa. After landing I was mildly surprised to learn that time difference doesn't change as I feel like I am a world away from London with the Arabic words everywhere, hijabs and sweltering heat. After about a 45 minute minute wait we got through customs, grabbed my luggage, changed our money and looked for our airport pick up via the hotel which decided not to arrive. So we had to get a taxi to our hotel, the Sofitel Marrakech Lounge & Spa. 

The hotel is pretty amazing from the outside, upon arrival the bell men took our luggage and directed us to check in. After checkin the bell man showed us to our room, on the way viewing several other beautiful parts of the hotel. The room was lovely, two twin beds, plasma tv, the usual amenities and a balcony. 

After unpacking some of our clothes and a quick change of clothes we ventured out to the Jemaa El Fna (main square) it's about a 15 minute walk from our hotel but we decided to get a taxi which was 40 dirhams/£3/€3.55/$5. The square was very busy with a combination of locals and tourists. As well as lots of stalls selling goods such as orange juice, argan oil, henna tattoos and street food. We had been in the square two minutes and one guy started talking to us in English about TOWIE, Made in Chelsea and using all types of rhyming slang. It was hilarious so we ended up eating at his place. Street food is very cheap, dishes start at around 20 dirhams/£1.50/€1.77/$2.50. We had grilled prawns, calamari and chips for 80 dirhams/£6/€7.10/$10. 

After dinner we ventured into the souks which was an experience to say the least.  Maybe because we were two young girls walking around the souks without men or perhaps we were way more beautiful than we thought but the amount of heckling of 'you're so beautiful, nice, you look like Shakira, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, I'll give you 300 camels for her, will you marry me?' was trite, overwhelming, unexpected and hilarious simultaneously. After wandering around the souks aimlessly and getting lost a few times we managed to find our way back to the main square and haggled for 25 dirhams/£1.85/€2.20/$3.10 for a taxi back to the hotel for some well needed rest. 
Location: Hivernage Gueliz

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