Street Life

Morocco is a popular destination for the French, who call it "Le Maroc." It's a 3-hour flight from Paris, and French is spoken as a second language. Morocco was a "protectorate" of France from 1912 to 1956, and is now a royalty, with Mohammed VI as king.

But the ease of getting there and comfort of speaking the language are hardly preparation for the scene we step into when we get out of the van upon our arrival in Marrakech.

Our "riad," or bed & breakfast, (see where we stayed) is a few minutes walk inside the ancient medina, or walled city, near the gate in the ramparts called Bab Ailene. We drive through the gate a short distance to a small square, and stop there, because the passageways that lead off the square are too narrow for a car. It's like time travel -- back to the 16th century -- with the exception of a few electric lights, motorcycles and bicycles. (see what the ramparts look like)

It is well after dark but the "derbs," or small streets, are bustling and crowded. Many of the men wear full-length robes, called "djellaba." Some have pointed hoods, and when the hood is up, the look is decidedly Dark Ages. Most of the women are in traditional dress with no hair showing. Little boys run up, asking for money. The street looks as though it has hardly changed -- or been improved -- in 500 years. There are small stores, stalls really, that sell groceries, and people displaying anything they have to sell off of rugs or tarps on the ground along the sides. Motorcycles and bikes rush through the crowd. We turn into darkness, pass under a low arch, and then turn onto a small alley, about 5 feet wide. This is the "street" our riad is on.

These riads, sometimes called dars, are a curiosity of this North African cityscape and climate. The streets are noisy and smelly, contained by continuous walls that have few windows -- the only openings are doors, and the stalls that serve as stores. The only clue to what may lie behind a wall is the quality of the door. When we step through the carved wooden door at Dar Kaotar, we find a tiled courtyard that is open to the sky. The rooms are arranged in a square around the courtyard. The house is built into the ground (you step down to enter). So there is natural cooling without exposure to the street. When it rains, the courtyard fills with water that has to be swept into a drain with a broom-like squeegee. But rain is welcome here. In summer, the temperature goes up to 120F.