Our next Moroccan city to visit was Marrakech. The area has been inhabited by Berber farmers since Neolithic times. The city was founded in 1070 as the capital of the Almoravid Empire. Much of the construction uses red sandstone and the city nickname is sometimes the “Red City.” The city has a long history going both up and down over the centuries. Today it’s a major African economic center and a major tourist destination.

We arrived in Marrakech after dark. Every other time on this trip, we arrived at our hotel and were right in front of it, be it a hotel, a tent, or a raised platform. Not in Marrakech. Our housing was a Riad, which is a large traditional house built around a central courtyard and often converted into a hotel. As such, they are not often located where you might find a hotel.

The first photo was the street where our bus dropped us off. That is, the bus dropped us off at a main street, and this was a side street off the main street.

After a walk of more than a hundred yards, we turned left onto this street. It seemed nice since it was neat and clean.

Then we turned left again on this next street, which was even narrower. We started to wonder how many more street turns we were facing.

Next came a right turn onto yet an even narrower street. Our guide said we were almost there.

The last photo is the front door to our riad. We were lucky as it was the only green door on this street