In some ways, we wished we had more time in Marrakesh…but on the other hand, we were pretty happy to leave–it’s not that Marrakesh is a problem, but I think we were just weary from Fez and from a series of events which made us distrustful. On the first day, our driver (who was very nice) got in a heated argument with a local Marrakeshi and as he showed us to our riad, he warned us not to trust “anyone here.” Later, our guide proved to be a bit sexist and made constant sexist jokes, which I have learned to just ignore and plaster a false smile. Then later, at the food stalls we watched two young Spanish girls being ripped off by the waiters. They fought and fought, and finally got their money back. When the waiters tried to pull that shit on us, we flat out refused and they gave us our money back.
There’s a big culture of tipping here (well, in Fez and Marrakesh at least), which I’m not sure is indigenous or learned from the tourists–but what is expected is far more than I even tip in the U.S. And sometimes when you do tip, you’re given a withering look or a, “that’s all, my friend?”
Needless to say, by dinner the next night we just wanted to hide in our riad and not leave. =P Luckily, we had a cooking class and a spa so much of the day was filled with activities (which will be written about in another entry), but for dinner we didn’t want to chance it with the unknown restaurants that charge $10 for a bad sandwich or bland pizza or bland tajine.
Our last dinner in Marrakesh? KFC. And you know what? It was more delicious and cheaper than the crappy food stalls that tried to scam us. Oh…and the KFC had guards at the doors! ;P
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