After checking out of our hotel in Casablanca, we headed to the train station and booked it for Marrakech faster than the speed of light. While we enjoyed our time inside the hotel in Casablanca, we did not find the busy, polluted, and sometimes dangerous streets as endearing. The train ride felt longer than three hours and we noticed the increase in temperature two hours into the ride. Stepping out of the train and into the city of Marrakech was a pleasant surprise. While it was scorching hot (40 degrees), it was very beautiful and tropical. Palm trees everywhere, colourful buildings and well kept lawns was a nice change in scenery from the industrial streets of Casablanca. We took a taxi to our hostel and as soon as we got there, we were welcomed with open arms by the friendly staff. Upon entering, Anya and myself were greeted with Moroccan mint tea which was absolutely delicious. Mohammed, one of the kind hostel staff presented us with a map and showed us all the places to check out in the town. After settling in, we adventured out and walked through the busy souks, which eventually lead us to the famous square. The square was anything but ordinary. Snake charmers, fresh orange juice stands, snack vendors, men with monkeys, and an immense amount of women forcing henna tattoos on poor tourists were just a few of the squares many different sites. We were also overwhelmed by the number of inconsiderate motor bike drivers that filled the square (Anya almost got run over, twice). We saw the cute monkeys and couldn't help but want to pet them but as soon as we moved towards them, their trainers piled the monkeys on us and made us take pictures with them. We had a good laugh, snapped a few pictures and then all hell broke loose. The men started hounding us asking for ridiculous amounts of money and went as far as to make us pay them separately. We were extremely frazzled and gave them the money and headed the opposite direction. After that unusual encounter, we had dinner at a restaurant nearby and tried tajine for the first time. A stew-like dish containing vegetables and meat that's cooked in a clay pot; we were more than pleased by our first taste of Moroccan cuisine. Our night ended at the hostel, meeting fellow travellers (who are hilarious), playing a game or two of chess and enjoying some more Moroccan mint tea.
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