The Light Fantastic

Marrakech is like nowhere I've ever been, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. We had spent the week travelling through some quite remote countryside, visiting places and people of simple beauty where the tranquility came very naturally. This was literally . . . a culture shock.

This place is vibrant, frantic, colourful, noisy, fragrant, intimidating at times, and above all, crazy in a good way. You can wander for hours just looking around and listening to the city buzzing around you. The famous souks are a hive of activity, with locals and tourists talking the universal language of bartering, craftsmen and women displaying their goods, and a level of claustrophobia that makes you feel just the right level of excitement. I loved it.

It was the colours in stalls like this that stood out, and this was only enhanced by the sky turning slowly darker. The city absolutely comes alive at night.