Morocco, part 6: Marrakech

Back to our Morocco travelogue. Back on March 17, we left Aït Benhaddou and drove over the Atlas mountains to Marrakech. The road was curvy.



And snowy.



And beautiful.



Like Fes, Marrakech is full of tiny alleyways, most packed with people, but there are some quiet ones as well.



Some are dedicated to particular types of goods, like slippers (babouches) or jewelry. This is the wool-dyers' alley.



Marrakech is great for people-watching.







Guess which of these people is local.



Much activity centers around Djemaa el-Fna, the main square, known as "La Place." There you can find not very charming snake charmers



who drape snakes around unsuspecting tourists' necks and then demand money.



There are also colorful tea carts



as well as vendors of all kinds. (Those are dried fruits and nuts for sale in the foreground. We got dates and almonds -- yum.)



Behind the man in the photo below, you can see the Argana Restaurant, where we had dinner one night on the balcony. A bit over a month later, on April 28, the restaurant was bombed and destroyed, killing both locals and tourists.