Trying to escape from the cold this Christmas the family and I were taking the plane south-bound to Marrakesh, Morocco.
It was my first time in the country and I do not speak french or Arabic, which has been an issue once or twice. And yes I did get in trouble with the local police, which seems to be a standard for my vacations for now (more information later).
We were taking an early morning flight from Munich leaving us with 4 1/2 days to explore as much of the city and country as we could. One of the first things to realize after leaving the airport is the huge divide of rich and poor in the society. Whilst we were taking a 27-year-old Mercedes C-Class to our hotel we were overtaking teenagers riding horses around town, whilst being overtaken by blacked-out Range Rovers. A difference that in the next days will become a part of my fascination.
To cut myself short I will talk about a few things here but not have a full review of every day;
The City:
The City of Marrakesh is a very Arabic town with very little typical western architecture. The city is very well guarded with policemen at almost every corner and even army personnel at some hot-spots like the train station. Most parts of the city were very clean and very nice. Especially typical touristic destinations. Overall Marrakesh is divide into two parts, the Medina and the „modern“ and western part of the town. The Medina is probably the touristic hot spot with a lot of nice cafe`s and restaurants and a lot of small markets. Some specialized, some general for all kinds of goods. Also notable are the amazing parks and recreation areas the town has to offer like Cyper Park or the Menara Gardens.
The people:
Clearly the civilization of Marrakesh is dependent on the tourism, leading to a lot of people offering you random things, like sunglasses, souvenirs etc. to buy. Personally it did annoy me a little bit over the time, but a simple „no“ will do the trick. Also walking around with headphones on will help. All people have been very polite and very respectful and a lot of them do speak good English. Be aware that as a tourist you will of course be handled different from a local. Especially as a ginger walking around with a camera you will gain some looks and people talking to you. Leaving the tourist hot spots people will still be very nice. I for example was walking around a little outside of town and found locals playing football, which have immediately offered me to join and asked me to take a few photos of the team, which of course I did.
The Photography Situation:
Taking Photos generally is allowed and you wont have any problems mid-day. Flying drones and professional filming is only allowed with permission. Here`s what happened to me: I was taking night-shots of a governmental building (which of course I had no idea of) and was immediately interrupted by the policemen nearby. To my luck these two spoke perfect English, so I was able to introduce and explain myself. I was explained that professional photography is not allowed without permission by the „Ministry of Cinematography“ (Fun-fact: this ministry does not exist). The men were nice enough to allow me to keep the photo and I was not asked to pay a fine or check out the local police station. Be aware; if the policemen don`t understand your language this might be ending somewhere else. From then on I was asking the policemen that were securing the buildings I wanted to take a photo of. Most of them did not speak English but tried to ask me for permission. So I guess if the building is guarded, its forbidden. Buildings of public interest (like the train station) or buildings of the government were secured by the army and/or the police.
How to obtain the authorization:
Write the Ministry Of Communication, seated in Casablanca for example and send them all your plans and the details of your person. They will take care of everything and will need not less than 2 weeks.
Lets stop the talking and see some photos:
