Monday 20 January 2014

Marrakesh






Writers don’t go on holiday, they research a setting for a book, get inspiration or go on a fact finding mission, well that’s my excuse at least for the employment office. It’s true in a way, as I’m trying to see this place through the eyes of Cameron and what he would make of the place and I'm writing this blog.



Marrakesh is certainly a culture shock; you know you’re not in Europe anymore. Not just because the sight of Camels and the typical Moroccan architecture but because the chaos around you. Not only do you have to avoid Taxis, cars and scooters while crossing the road, now you have to avoid horse drawn carriages and donkey carts too.

Then there is the poverty, according to one statistic I saw, 40% of the population in Morocco lives below the poverty line. This contrasts sharply with the number of extremely luxurious Hotels you can find in this city. You have to keep this in mind when you walk about and you get accosted every 5 seconds. Taxis, trinket sellers, snake charmers; everybody wants a piece of you. Small wonder, it’s easy to forget how good we westerners have it.


Would I send Cameron here? I can’t imagine him liking the place, the amount of stray dogs is more than offset by the amount of stray cats; they would hound him out of town. It is warm and sunny for 10 months out of the year, but I think a vampire would struggle to find a dark and quiet spot here during the day. I do think he would like all the clubs and the amount of tourists to prey on…..I have a few more days here to let the millions of impressions sink in more and then we will see if a trip to Morocco is an option. One thing is for sure; Marrakesh is an inspiring place and it will take me a while to process all these impressions.   

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