Driving around Marrakech and passing through the other Moroccan cities, you would think the shopping might be very similar to home. 

However, outside of these big cities, shopping is a lot different.

Moroccans do their shopping in their local médina or souq.
Most dictionaries define a médina as the old walled part of a North African town. 
A souq is defined as an open air market found in Asian and North African towns. 
As part of our tour, we had time to visit the médina's of Rabat, Fes and Marrakech. Each were interesting, busy and very loud!
While initially it seems chaotic, médinas usually have sections: meat, breads, spices, fruit/veg, clothes, furniture, household items. Local people know exactly where to go to get their fresh produce for their cooking. Look closely at the photographs to identify fruit and vegetables we find on our supermarket shelves which originate in Morocco. 

The médina passageways are really narrow and you can only imagine how hard it must be for the shop owners to bring their produce through.  Donkeys, hand carts and motorbikes are used. There doesn't seem to be any restrictions on motorised vehicles -once it fits, it's allowed to go through!

There were many craft areas/workshops at the edges of the médina. In Fes and Marrakech we visited the leather souq, the furniture souq, the carpet souq and the ceramic souq. Craftsmen work on their products in their workshops. Nowadays, a display or show for tourists is ready for viewing. Usually the owner or manager with fluent English will lead tourists around the workshop explaining the process and finish in the shop where the tourists are encouraged to buy souvenirs.

As part of our tour of the Medina of Fez, we visited a tannery. Unfortunately the tannery was just after a clean and refurbishment so we could only imagine the process of a working tannery and browse the shop.

A few weeks later in the Médina of Marrakech when I lost my way (again!) a "helpful" man offered to show me back to the main square....via a tannery! While the pop-up tour was a bit annoying, it was a working tannery and it was very interesting. 
The first impression as you walk closer to the tannery or leather souq is the smell. It is horrendous.
My guide gave me a bunch of mint leaves and told me to keep smelling the mint when I got inside. 
In Marrakech there was no balcony for tourist viewing, I was brought into the floor of the "factory". This process hasn't changed much in 900 years.

Yes, that's a donkey and cart!

Watch this video to get an idea of the leather making process.

Most of the leather is from sheep or goat hide. Many of the shops claimed to be selling camel leather but in reality most of the leather was sheep or goat!
As Abdel explained in the clip above the process starts with
​1. Washing the skin
2. Cutting the skin so it can lie flat.
3. Limestone is then put on the skin and after 4/5 hours the wool is taken off. 
4. Wool is put on the terrace to dry and the skin is taken to the white lime pool and left there for 15 days. The water and lime is changed every 5 days.  This part of the process removes all stains from the skin.
5. The skin is then taken to the wheel to wash for 1 or 2 hours.
6. The skin is put into a pool of water and pigeon poo. The pigeon poo is high in ammonia and softens the skin.
7. The skin is taken to the wheel again for a wash.
8. Time for the dyeing pool. As Abdel explained above, the tannery only uses natural dyes. 
9. The skin is then dried and ready to be used to make shoes, clothing, handbags or furniture. 

The use of the pigeon poo gives Moroccan leather the edge on other leathers. Thankfully the finished products don't carry the awful smell! Apparently people keep pigeons in Morocco to sell their excrement to the leather souqs. Who knew this common bird could be so useful!
Working in a tannery as you can see from the photos is not an easy job. The men wear very little protective equipment, have uncovered feet and wear no masks or safety goggles. Added to this is 40 degree heat and dangerous fumes. 
So what did Ms Treacy purchase you might ask!
Well...eventhough my Marrakech tannery tour was more or less forced on me, I couldn't leave the leather shop behind without making a few purchases. One of these was this pink purse. Goat leather I was told!

I splashed out in the factory shop in Fez and got myself this beautiful Camel leather pouffe.  I like to rest my feet on it in front of the fire and remember the same heat from the Moroccan sun!

This man was photographed in Marrakech  but water sellers or water men can be found throughout Morocco. As bottles of water can be bought quite easily nowadays, these water sellers are more of a tourist attraction and the subject of many holiday snaps and add to the atmosphere of the medinas. In fact, the water sellers of Marrakech have a licence to wander around Jemma el Fna among the traders and street performers.  If you take a picture of the water seller, you have to tip/make a donation. About 10 Dirhams or one Euro each time.  I have a feeling these water sellers are making a bit more money from the tourists than they did long ago drawing water!

So how exactly did a water seller operate?
Look closely at his outfit for some clues:

First of all we see the brass and tin cups. These were used by the customers to drink from.  Long before "Reduce, reuse, recycle" these water-sellers were 100% eco-friendly.





The water-seller carried water from cisterns in the outskirts of the city to the busy market areas. 
How did he carry the water?

Working outside in the relentless Moroccan heat needs sun protection.  This traditional Berber hat is eye-catching but it also provides good shade. 

Finally, the water-seller has to make himself known to the medina.  He uses rings his bell, toots his horn, sings, chants and sometimes dances. 


All around Morocco I encountered these entertainers. They were always brightly coloured, in traditional dress.  Some don't wear the cups and bells anymore and focus more on their entertaining.
Below is a very short video of one in Fez who knew a lot of English pop songs!

My first thought when I walked off the plane was of course - It's roasting! Morocco is actually an hour behind Ireland until the clocks change on the 19th of July for daylight saving.  It is currently 10:30pm and it is a whopping 29° Celsius!
My next impression was the driving.  I had arranged an airport pickup with my hotel and there he was waiting for me in arrivals. We hit off for the short spin to the hotel on the crazy Moroccan highways. There are probably more scooters than cars,  each scooter carrying at least one passenger. The general rules of these roads are :
If there's a space - go for it
2 lanes means an automatic road race
Indicator lights are unnecessary decorations

It isn't quite India but it's best to focus on the scenery and not think about the other vehicles!

Marrakesh from the (fast) moving car is very orange and sandy.  All the buildings seem to be an orangey pink colour.  Maybe it's the easiest to maintain with all the sand.  We were driving in the suburbs and
Ryad Dar Ouladna is in a newer area of the city. The buildings are spread apart and I only saw two people walking and they were tourists.
It was about 8pm when I arrived at
Ryad Dar Ouladna and the manager offered to drive me into the city if I wanted to eat. The restaurant was closed as it is Ramadan and the staff have their time off at that hour of the evening to eat and relax. Luckily I was not hungry and ready for bed. Due to Ramadan tourists are few.  In fact,  I am the only guest!
The upside of this was my beautiful suite with a bathroom not much short of a leisure centre!

The indoor dining / bar area

The upstairs with carved wooden doors leading to each suite.

The ensuite bathroom

The suite complete with flat screen TV and balcony.

And my breakfast table this morning beside the pool.
Breakfast was carb heavy,  full of tasty sweet breads and pancakes. ( More about food in a later post.)
Luckily the afternoon is too hot to eat and I followed local custom by eating dinner late in the evening.
Overall,  great first impressions :
It's hot
Driving is pure entertainment and at times terrifying
Sweet cakes and pastries for breakfast
The accommodation is amazing and I've gotten a taste of the Ryad/Medina style.  It's beautiful.
I'm sorry I can't speak French.  English is useless here.
Couscous will probably be my dinner every night.
It's roasting!