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Stimulate The Senses In Colorful Marrakech

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

MARRAKECH, Morocco - The best way to explore Marrakech's central, circuslike market square of Djemaa el-Fna is to listen. Snake charmers' flutes permeate the maze of medina shops behind every dark turn past mounds of nuts and spices offered by the gram.

The metallic clash of the Gnaoui musicians' cymbals is startling as they swirl their heads to get the tassels atop their hats dancing to the beat. Drums from a traveling group of musicians draw a crowd, as do the storytellers.

Occasionally, gymnasts tumble and flip into the air. For a tip, you can get your picture taken with a leashed monkey (while wishing to set it free), or you also can have a tooth extracted right in the open air or buy a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice from carts lining the square.

It's a place like no other. Djemaa el-Fna is one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites, and with the cacophony of sounds, sights and smells, it is no wonder.

With more than a million people living within its boundaries, Marrakech is a mix of big city and ancient ways. Donkey-pulled carts share the road with tourists' rental cars, dodging pedestrians like scenes out of video games. It is worth a $3 taxi ride into the medina for the sheer terror and cheap thrills of the ride itself. You'll get a close-up tour and one you'll never forget.

Marrakech is an excellent introduction to Morocco. It is everything you picture the North African country to be. Take a few days to check out the palaces and the Museum of Moroccan Arts housed inside Dar Si Said, get your picture taken in one of the rooms in the Ali ben Youssef Mosque and Medersa, have tea on the terrace of Les Terrasses de L'Alhambra while listening to the nearly simultaneous calls to prayer from the nearby mosques.

Stay in any number of remodeled guesthouses, called riads, in the medina; however, my favorite - and starting at less than $40 a night for a beautiful room on a quiet street off the medina - is Jnane Mogador Hotel. Breakfast on the rooftop among the bougainvillea and skyline views is a spiritual way to start the day.

Save your pennies for a lavish dinner at Dar Moha or the infamous Dar Yacout, where a multiple-course meal introduces you to practically every savory dish for which Morocco is known. You'll leave hurting, but it will have been worth the culinary and cultural investment of about $100.

Compared with the solitude of Essaouira, Marrakech is a swirl for the senses bettered experienced first, leaving seaside Essaouira for winding down. Plus, it has an airport, so it makes starting here an easy decision.

Marrakech is, bar none, one of those life-list places to experience.

IF YOU GO

RESTAURANTS:

•Dar Yacout, (024) 382929; 79 Sidi Ahmed Soussi; set meals start at about $100

•Dar Moha, (024) 386400; 81 Rue Dar el-Bacha; set meals start at about $60

HOTEL:

•Jnane Mogador Hotel, (024) 426323; 116 Riad Zitoun el-Qedim; www.jnanemogador.com; rooms range from singles for about $40 to suites for $75

SIGHTS:

•Dar Si Said, (024) 389564; Riad Zitoun el-Jedid; houses the Museum of Moroccan Arts; admission $3

•Ali ben Youssef Medersa, (024) 441893; Place ben Youssef; admission $6

Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 835-2114 or jpilarczyk@tampatrib.com.

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