Destination: Marrakech
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The trick to enjoying Marrakech is not to dash into the confines of a museum; rather you should explore the city by wandering through the medina, looking about you and absorbing its exotic sights, sounds and smells. There are historical sights to relish, including the towering Koutoubia Mosque, but many can be visited only by Muslims. Of those open to Westerners, the Ali ben Youssef Medersa, a Koranic school, is a highlight, and the Palais de la Bahia is also elegant. Jardin Majorelle, owned by Yves Saint Laurent, are filled with exotic plants, and you can stroll the orchards of the Jardin Ménara. All of these are easily reached and well known by local taxi drivers and guides. The absolute must-see of Marrakech, though, is the Place Djemaa el-Fna. It’s the heartbeat of the city, and astonishing at night when it’s filled with the scent of food—spicy sausages, mounds of snails, and boiled sheep’s heads—from the stalls, all illuminated by gaslights strung up overhead. Drums roll. Gnaoua musicians from the country’s south sing in African and Arabic tones, dervish whirls accompanying their hypnotic cymbals. Snake charmers, witch doctors and fortune-tellers convene and evoke a world of medieval magic.
If you stay for more than a few days, you should make at least one day trip out of the city into the desert, to the Atlas Mountains or the coast. On my last trip, I took a one-day trip in the Atlas Mountains, and one to the beach town of Essaouira.
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