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Saturday 13 September, Menara Gardens, Mamounia hotel
Marrakech - part VII
Elisabeth & Teije2006-07-19 19:15:31
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Teije has another one of his good ideas: walking through this weather to the Menara gardens (near the airport), a walk of at least three kilometers. At night we already need the air conditioning, let alone at daytime! At night it is almost impossible to sit on our balcony since the heat accumulates under the low ceiling and it even gets warmer with the recycled air from the air conditioning. In the morning it feels much cooler when we have breakfast, but the sun never shines on this patio.
Okay, let's walk! Well, you can see how I look after an hour walking! Exhausted and thirsty we rest against the walls of the huge Hilton hotel. We are already in sight of the Menara Gardens, a large olive grove (90 hectare). Next time we take a cab!
The Menara Gardens are not really very interesting but when the sky is clear one can see the mountains of the High Atlas. But it is a bit misty, so we see only the outlines of the mountains. From a pavillion we look over a rectangular pool which has been created in the 12th century by a sultan to supply his soldiers with water. Later it became a source of drinking water for the city. To the people here this must be quite extraordinary, such a big pond in the middle of the desert.
On our way back to the city we take a cab, it is too hot to walk too far. We want to have a drink at the Mamounia hotel, one of the most famous hotels in the world, as we have been told. Our cabdriver shows us brochures of other hotels and restaurants he wants to show us, but we are not fooled and keep saying we just want to go to the Mamounia hotel.
We enter another world when we step through the gate, the luxury world of sultans and pasha's. Churchill often stayed here. The main building is a mixture of art-deco and Arabian styles and we wander in admiration through the building, as if we belong here.
Prices for a normal double room start at € 200 a night in low season (obviously
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See photographs from:
Morocco Gallery
