This Guy Has No Teeth but Speaks Four Languages

Day 233- 235

From Oualidia we continued heading south along a scenic, yet slightly dodgy coastal road in the direction of Safi. Although Safi is a heavy industrial town, it is quite renowned for it's surf so we stopped to check what all the fuss was about.

Unfortunately we caught Safi on a very flat day and there was not a wave in sight. Although the beach was quite pleasant, being smack bang next to a phosphorus plant wasn't the most ideal location so we decided to head inland for the first time towards Marrakech.

Although the road from Safi to Marrakech was only single lane, it was a decent piece of bitumen and we arrived into town a couple of hours before sundown.

The following pictures depict our drive from Oualidia down to Safi and our stay in Marrakech. In the end we stayed 3 nights in Marrakech, which is just about enough as one can take of this chaotic, yet fascinating city.

A mosque perched right on the waters edge a couple of kilometres down the road from Oualidia.

The road between Safi and Marrakech was a huge expanse of flat farming lands, with many Berbers tending to their goats or sheep. The man above is wearing the traditional Berber dress called the Djellaba, which is essentially a massive one piece hoody.

They don't mess around when loading their trucks in Morocco. If you think the truck is full, there is always a little bit more you can stack on!

The Jemaa el Fnaa square is the focal point of Marrakech, where all sorts of weird and wonderful people come to sell their wares or entertain. Many years ago the square was used for public executions and it's name apparently translates to 'assembly of death'. Handy to know when you're only half a metre from a snake.

Within 5 minutes of entering the square, we were set upon by the snake charmers who decided to drape a small snake around Luke's neck and have us pose centimetres from this hissing cobra.

Despite the incessant noise from the snake charmers recorder, he couldn't seem to rouse these fellers.

Luke initially thought he had a rubber snake draped around his neck by the snake charmer because it was so lifeless. Turns out it was a real snake - just a little sleepy.

Wandering through the endless lanes of market stalls (souks) within the Marrakech medina. The shop owners were actually quite well mannered and didn't pressure you too much to come into their store. The real pests turned out to be the teenage kids who continually wanted to take you on an unofficial tour of the medina - at a cost of course.

Apparently many stores close early on a Friday, so it's the best time for the locals to have the 6hr cous-cous dish. These young guys had a huge plate of it to share and ran from miles away to get a spoonful.

They also quickly told me to 'Fuck Off' when they saw me taking a photo of them eating like animals.

Moroccos best dish by far - the Tagine.

If only you knew what these rugs would look like in your house - you might actually consider buying one.

The medina was naturally split into different vendor sections - i.e handbags here, rugs there, spices down there. This one was obviously the olive mongers and I don't know how they made any money as olives were dirt cheap. We grabbed about 300g of marinated olives for roughly 28 pence.

Parked up in our Marrakech campsite, we came across a number of rather large campervans - mostly owned by Germans and used for going deep into the desert. That's the only place I could imagine you could park the thing as well.

No need for the huge Truck-O-Saurus above when you can tackle the Moroccan desert with an old school Citreon at a fraction of the price.

Claire relaxing by the pool. Despite the constant sunny skies, temperatures got down close to zero overnight in Marrakech. The pool temperature didn't seem to move far about zero either.

The Bahia Palace in Marrakech. How this place can be referred to as a palace is beyond me as I've seen better decorated toilets in McDonalds.

Having our first sample of Moroccan mint tea. With the country being Muslim they don't drink a lot of alcohol (so they say) but drink this stuff by the bucket load and with a heap of sugar.

View over the medina over Marrakech with the Atlas mountains in the background. After constantly being hassled by teenage kids, you need to take a little time out to avoid 'medina-rage'.

Avenue of Mohammed V and the Koutoubia Mosque in the background. A lot of streets in Moroccan towns are named after Mohammed V as he was the sultan who successfully negotiated independence from France.

As the sun sets in the Jemaa el Fnaa square, many vendors setup different stalls to pilfer your money. This one is basically fishing for soft drink.

You're given a long pole with a bit of string and a circle at the end and the object is to get the circle around the top of the soft drink bottle so you can lift it up and put it in the middle.

The kids loved it.

Each night around sundown, hundreds of chefs setup tables and chairs and start cooking up a feast. Again you are hassled by numerous young Moroccan teens to eat at their stall until you finally give in and take a seat.

Luckily the pestering stops there and you are treated to some amazing food. Claire and I had the traditional Moroccan salad, olives, calamari and mixed brochette for just over £8.

The smoked filled square of Jemaa el Fnaa at night. All sorts of characters come down to perform at night, regardless of their talent. We were quite entertained by an elderly couple who were playing traditional music, mixed with the coughing and spluttering of the husband throughout the song.