Falling In Love With Marrakech

We landed in Morocco late on a Friday and I was back home by Sunday evening; its diverse culture, vibrant characters and rich history quickly made an impact on me. The red city of Marrakech was all-consuming; from stunning, ornate palaces and riads, all handmade piece-by-piece, to the market traders working in cramped conditions, jostling for a few Dirham with willing tourists.

Marrakech truly felt like a land of opposites - from one extreme to another, rich and poor. It became clear that this beautiful city has always operated this way, and we do so for the near future. It seems to work. With everything corner you take you feel the city living around you. This is the way the city's heart keeps beating, its infrastructure is its people. Its characters.

Rich and poor fall doesn't fall from from the tree. I found myself in the middle of a city which works to live, trades to feed its families. If you don't keep moving you simply won't keep up. Boy, this was a culture shock.

I was invited to experience Marrakech with the Moroccan Tourism Board, and along with Clare, Hannah and Kit, we explored the Medina and surrounding districts with all of our senses engaged. Our noses leading the way, and not a map in sight it's fair to says we got lost. But this was all apart of the experience. We found ourselves getting deeper within the infamous maze. Not even my vast collection of Tintin adventures could help us. The concept of time went straight out of the window - my fitness tracking watch was mearly there to count my steps.

I'd seen Marrakech on TV a few times (most memorably with Karl Pilkington, and Richard Ayoade), but you can't really prepare for how the city makes you feels. It's impossible to replicate on a 24 inch screen. There were things that stopped me in my tracks, and moments that even made me slightly sad, but as soon as you understand that people do things to survive and feed their families the reality quickly sinks in.

Not always pretty, but its beauty runs on a much higher level, Marrakech was my first step onto African soil. It won't be the last. I'm ready to go back already!

I was a guest at Naoura-Barriere Hotel, on behalf on the Moroccan Tourist Board.

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