Whoever thought up the definition for the word labyrinth must have lived in Marrakech a very long time.  Ever wanted to know what mice feel like when you put them in one of those mazes where they have to find the cheese?  That’s what the old quarter feels like every minute of every day.

We discovered this in our first hour when our cab driver dropped us at a fairly busy street and handed us over to a guy pulling a wooden cart with balding car tires mounted on either side.  Our driver slipped the man a few Dirhm and sent us on our way.  We followed him down increasingly narrow alleys until the they became too small for his cart, at which point the man lifted our packs and carried them the rest of the way.

“How are we ever going to find our way back here tomorrow?” I thought as I tried to keep track of the landmarks.  It was impossible, we realized.  Every turn looked exactly the same.

We knocked on an ornate door, which swung open to reveal a serene courtyard filled with incense smoke and candlelight.  This is the juxtaposition Marrakech has to offer. It is a human maze, dotted sporadically with silent Riads (multi-story B&B’s surrounding a courtyard).

The biggest landmark in Marrakech is the Jemaa-el-Fna square full of snake charmers, drum circles, food vendors selling grilling lamb and freshly squeezed orange juice, and lots of throbbing noise.  To get there we had to memorize the path: go out the door, turn left at the #80 written on the wall, keep the wall on our right, go down three stairs, turn left, and then left again.   Deviate from this sequence and you’ll find yourself hopelessly lost.

But that’s part of the fun.  Getting lost is as much a part of the Marrakech experience as tagine dinners and haggling for souvenirs.  Hutongs in Beijing and the narrow streets in Venice come close, but I’ve never seen anything like the endless shady corridors that pack this city.

Donkeys pull wagons full of watermelon, scooters and bicycles zoom past, a guy carves cedar honey dippers with his feet, a shop owner is asleep among his racks of dried fruit.  And everywhere you turn, there are alleys filled with the most wonderful handicrafts you’ve ever seen: pillows, tea pots, rugs, jewelry, leather bags, lamps, clothing… the list goes on and on.  As do the streets you find them in.

Turn left, then left again, then right and follow your nose until you get lost.  You won’t necessarily get where you want to go, but wandering around Marrakech is the whole point of going in the first place.

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