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parallel belief in everyday magic, a Medina organised around craft guilds and medieval methods,
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doggedly independent mountain tribesmen and ancient urban cultures, Marrakech is the shortest distance you can travel from Europe
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stunning interior and fine vtews of the palace quarter from its roof terrace. For
fiith its deep lslamic faith but
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and wind up somewhere genuinely different. lt's the place where all the clich6s come true: where the beggars are blind and snakes are charmed, where mounds of food are delivered on platters as bare-navelled bellydancers shrmmy by the table, where herbalists in the souk selljars of scorpions and exorcists with wildly darting eyes know what to do with them. lt's a place where the fantasy of Oriental life can be indulged to the full, even for just a weekend, and you can still be back in the office by mid-morning Monday. It is not, though, a city of great monuments. ln total, there are barely half a dozen mosques, palaces or museums. The chief landmark is the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque, which is to the city what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris and the Empire State is to New York. It also flags the Iocation of the neighbouring Jemaa El Fna. This is the city's main open space, buL to call it a public squareis misleading. lt's as irregular in shape as an accident of nature, and thronged day and night with a
a break from tagines, style mag-f riendly Foundouk (55 rue du Souk des Fassi, 044
37 81 90) offers French-Continental cooking in surrounds that are part Tim Burton, part Philippe Starck. But the venue of the moment is Comptoir (avenue Echouada,044 43 77 02) with Its sultry exotic-East-meets-moneyedWest stylinqs. The food is hit and miss but it's a hoot all the same. Be there at I I pm tr clay or Saturday for the grand entrance of the bellydancers.
carnival of local life; it's totally at odds with its name, which roughly translates as 'Assembly of the Dead'. To
the north are the souks
(markets), with alleyway upon alleyway of tiny closet-sized emporia - 100 of them in '100 metres. ln the midst of the haggle and barter, serenity comes in the form of the Ben Youssef Mederssa (Place Ben Youssef, O44 39 09 1 1/2), a gorgeous old theological college resplendent with polychromic tiling and lacey plasterwork that threatened to upstage Kate Winslet in the 1998 film vers,on of Hioeous Krnky. For the total tourist
in Manakech are desirable destinations in themselves. Most visitors choose to stay in a cool and stylish riad (a townhouse with a central garden courtyard) in the teeming alteyways of tne Old Ci§. Most eye-oooo ^g of the lot is Riad Enrla (9 Derb Mesfioui, 044 44 09 26, wrwv.rradenija.com) where any guests lacking the pose and hauteur of a catwalk diva risk beinq made to look shabby by the drop dead gorgeousness of the rooms. Dar Doukkala (83 Derb Arset Aouzal. 044 3834 44, wwwdardoukkala.com) is a '1940s English strange but appealing mix of
trip, climb into
a horse-drawn caleche beside the Koutoubia for a six-mile circuit of the Old City walls: it lasts about one hour and costs approximately f4. Beyond the city walls are the Majorelle Gardens (Avenue Yacoub El Mansour, Gu6liz) established by a French Orientalist painter and now owned and maintained by Yves Saint Laurent. who has a villa next door.
country mansion and Moroccan riad. A rambling maze of a residence, Riad El Cadi (87 Derb Moulay Abdelkader, 044 37 86 55,
www.riyadelcadi.com) comprises eight interconnected houses; bedrooms, as well as the various salons, corridors and landings, double as gallery space {or an outstanding collection of local art and artefacts. Tchaikana (25 Derb El Ferrane,
044 38 51 50, www.tchaikana.com) is lust four rooms small; however, they're all enormous and beautiful. Riad Magi (79 Derb Moulay Abdelkader, 044 42 66 88) is petite, unpretentrous and homely with six colour-coordinated rooms tiered in
The only real option for getting to grips with the Old City is to go at it on foot. lt looks daunting on the map, but the area within the walls isn't really that larqe. And in any case, many of the streets are too narrow to accommodate cars, hence the swarms of
motorcycles, scooters and pushbikes that
mäke negotiating the city so lethal to pedestrians. .Just occasronally, a taxi might Marrakech typically feature sumptuous
food stalls that set up in tightiy drawn rows with benches for the diners and masses of
food banked up in the middle
beside
smoke-wreathed open grilis. Each stall specialises: palatability runs from the safe and familiar (boiled eggs, soup and kebabs) to the outriqht revolting (boiled sheep heads brains). Restaurants in
and
visual feasts of tiling and stucco, courtyards open to starry skies, with rich fabrics and lantern lighting ior texture and colour. Tops for quality cooking is Dar Moha (81 rue Dar
El Bacha, 044 38 64
00,
be necessary, but more for navigation purposes than for anything else; some restaurants and hotels are so well hidden
that the only way to find them
is
to
be
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chauffeured by a native.
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Flight time 3hrs 40mins-4hrs 35mlns. Served by British Airuvays, operated by GB Airuvays, from Gatwick and Heathrow Check wr,lw.ba.com
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for
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cleLails.
Airport
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Frcm luggage caro,sel al Marrakec^ s i-rernatrona. airpo't to city centre takes less than ten mrnutes by car. Taxis wa t outside the arrivals ouildinq. The farr to r1e o d City s about f3. Most taxr d|vers p cking Lp at tl'e airpo'r wil acceot dolla's, eros o" pounds.
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Moroccan fusion cuisine. Ksar Es Saoussan (3 Derb El Messaoudyenne. 044 44 OG 32) has spades of old world charm and a choice
oi reasonably pr,ced ser menus. f Mirrouna (47 place des Ferblantiers, 044 38 68 68, a
Why go? Because the current passion for ethnicity and colour has conspired to make Marrakech the A-list destination du jour. Don't miss The carnival of local entertainment each night on lemaa El Fna.
What to buy Everyth ng for
a
Moroccan makeover of the pad back home.
What's weird lsn't that Sting in the corner? And wasn't that Jean Paul Gau tier in the kaftan? How did a small, provincral c ty in North Africa get to be so damn fashionable? level. At its highest point, the road is overlooked by the dramatic ruins of the Kasbah Telouet, former power base of the rulers of the Atlas. Continuing south on the
same road is Ait Benhaddou, another rambling fortress eyrie and a favourite location for frlm-makers: the kasbah has featured in more than 20 movies includrng David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia and Ridley Scott's Gladiator. Ouarzazale, the regional capital at the southern end of the Trzi n Tichka road has close lrnks to the film rndustry including a couple of large studio complexes, but otherwise is just a pit stop for visitors heading on down into the desert and the sand dunes of Zagora.
Net access Cyber Club, Avenue Mohammed V, next to Cafe Koutoubia.
Police station
Brigade Touristique (Tourist Police), Jemaa Fna (044 38 46 0 1 ).
Post office
rue Moulay lsmael, just off Jemaa El Fna.
Taxis Flag them down on the street; they're all yellow and stencilled 'petit taxi'.
Office National Marocain du Tourisme, place
Abdel Moumen, Gu1liz(044 43 61 31).
Less
El
Tourist office
www.darmoha.ma), which specralrses in
wwwrestaurant-lmimouna.com) boasts
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PLANE
Less lodqrngs than Iifestyle locations, hotels
three levels around its central oranqe-tree shaded courtyard. When in town, English owner Maggie Perry holds court from her corner table, organising guests' affairs and spinning stories of local absurdity.
As the sun sets on Jemaa El Fna, street entertainers shift thetr pitches to accommodate the arrival of around 100
ßt
than an hour's drive south of
Marrakech äre the Atlas Mountarns, lofty, often snow-capped peaks traversed by a series of passes. Most spectacular o{ these high altitude routes is the Tizi n Tichka, which snakes up to 2,260 metres above sea
Websites www.tourism-in-morocco.com wwu.morocco-today.inf
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Code to dial from the UK: 00 212, then drop the initial 0
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