A ferry ride took me from southern Europe to northern Africa. In the country where 99% of the people are Muslim, Morocco gave me a great opportunity to get a glimpse of how Muslims live their lives – without seeing through the lens of western media.
#Morocco
@Fes
Jemaa el-Fnaa is a marketplace in Marrakech’s old city. This is where locals do their trades and tourists wander around shopping for souvenirs. I don’t buy souvenirs – My backpack is only big enough for the essentials and I avoid lugging unnecessary things around. I came to Jemaa el-Fnaa to do people watching. One of the famous things at the marketplace is snake charming. As I was told by my local guide, it is free to watch snake charming but taking photos would cost $10 Moroccan Dirham (= $1 USD) – There is no sign indicating the cost, but it is a general practice to pay the performer $10 Dirham after taking pictures.
As the performer saw me approaching, he started charming the snake – No doubt it was fun to watch and he did a great job. So I took my pictures and paid the performer. However, he then put down his snake and refused my $10 Dirham coin. He said he wanted “paper money” (meaning $50 / 100 / 200). I knew how much I was supposed to pay, so I didn’t give in and insisted to pay nothing but the $10 Moroccan coin that I was holding in my hand. I handed him the coin and started walking away, but he didn’t let me go. He kept cursing at me and followed me wherever I went. After some back-and-forth, I told him to stop following me or I would go find my guide (I had none – My tour had ended and my guide was already gone). Surprisingly, it worked! He stopped following me and walked away (cursing); after walking away from the market, I still wanted to see the rest of the place so I circled back to the market. I wanted to see if it was a common practice for snake-charmer to harass tourists for money, so I walked close to another snake-charmer and just stood there and watched – Exact same trick! This other snake-charmer asked for “paper money” after a young female tourist tried to pay him a $10 Dirham coin. The only difference is that the tourist gave in and paid him “paper money” so there was no further harassment.
What did I learn? A few things: 1. The person harassing you generally leaves you alone when you say you are going to find your guide / police / embassy – While trying to scam tourists, these people are running their “business” in the market and don’t want to get kicked out. But of course, I was lucky to be able to get away fairly easily. If this were to happen in the evening, or if the snake charmer had a side-kick to help him handling business, I am not sure if the outcome would be the same. 2. Know your price. If I didn’t know the price I would probably have given in and paid him more. 3. Don’t go to the market alone in the evening, and dress appropriately (ladies) – Morocco is a conservative Muslim country and wearing skirts would definitely attract a lot of unwanted attentions. Conform to local norms.
@Marrakech
@Fes
@Rabat
@Rabat
@Rabat
@Casablanca
@Casablanca
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Marrakech
@Fes
@Fes
@Rabat
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
Jemaa el-Fnaa is a marketplace in Marrakech’s old city. This is where locals do their trades and tourists wander around shopping for souvenirs. I don’t buy souvenirs – My backpack is only big enough for the essentials and I avoid lugging unnecessary things around. I came to Jemaa el-Fnaa to do people watching. One of the famous things at the marketplace is snake charming. As I was told by my local guide, it is free to watch snake charming but taking photos would cost $10 Moroccan Dirham (= $1 USD) – There is no sign indicating the cost, but it is a general practice to pay the performer $10 Dirham after taking pictures.
As the performer saw me approaching, he started charming the snake – No doubt it was fun to watch and he did a great job. So I took my pictures and paid the performer. However, he then put down his snake and refused my $10 Dirham coin. He said he wanted “paper money” (meaning $50 / 100 / 200). I knew how much I was supposed to pay, so I didn’t give in and insisted to pay nothing but the $10 Moroccan coin that I was holding in my hand. I handed him the coin and started walking away, but he didn’t let me go. He kept cursing at me and followed me wherever I went. After some back-and-forth, I told him to stop following me or I would go find my guide (I had none – My tour had ended and my guide was already gone). Surprisingly, it worked! He stopped following me and walked away (cursing); after walking away from the market, I still wanted to see the rest of the place so I circled back to the market. I wanted to see if it was a common practice for snake-charmer to harass tourists for money, so I walked close to another snake-charmer and just stood there and watched – Exact same trick! This other snake-charmer asked for “paper money” after a young female tourist tried to pay him a $10 Dirham coin. The only difference is that the tourist gave in and paid him “paper money” so there was no further harassment.
What did I learn? A few things: 1. The person harassing you generally leaves you alone when you say you are going to find your guide / police / embassy – While trying to scam tourists, these people are running their “business” in the market and don’t want to get kicked out. But of course, I was lucky to be able to get away fairly easily. If this were to happen in the evening, or if the snake charmer had a side-kick to help him handling business, I am not sure if the outcome would be the same. 2. Know your price. If I didn’t know the price I would probably have given in and paid him more. 3. Don’t go to the market alone in the evening, and dress appropriately (ladies) – Morocco is a conservative Muslim country and wearing skirts would definitely attract a lot of unwanted attentions. Conform to local norms.
@Marrakech
@Marrakech
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Fes
@Rabat
@Fes
@Fes
@Marrakech
@Marrakech
@Marrakech
@Fes