After spending time watching marvelous street shows at Marrakech city’s famous Jema El Fna Square, I headed north as advised by a Moroccan friend I met at the hotel where I was staying. Curious about why she recommended the trip, I eagerly followed the directions she gave me on how to get to that place she promised to be “full of surprises”.

It is a good thing that I brought extra money because the surprise waiting for me is the long line of stalls offering different exciting goods. Although I already knew that Marrakech boasts of owning the largest souk market in Morocco, it never occurred to me that seeing it personally will be an overwhelming experience. Examples of the array of stuff on sale are artsy pots, hand-woven hats and bags, wooden crafts with intricate designs, jewelries, carpets, pillows, and the list goes on. The leather makers and sellers fascinated me the most. It is not really hard to find them because the distinct smell of leather will bring you to their whereabouts. I really enjoyed watching them as they did the traditional way of dyeing the leather and drying it under the sun, on the same spot where they sell it.

I had fun shopping at the stalls, but I must say I had a hard time haggling with the vendors just to agree on the price. You don’t have to worry about language barriers because you can communicate with the sellers as they are knowledgeable of basic English as well as French. Misunderstandings will only arise from disagreements about the prices so make sure you perfected the art of being patient before dealing with them. As for my case, I managed to snatch up real good buys to give away to my dear friends and relatives back at home.

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