It’s been a week in Marrakesh.

The fortified ancient city of the Medina is extraordinary, amazing. It's chaos, history, culture, colours and spices baked under the unrelenting desert sun. The people in the Riads are kind and helpful, and they make you feel at ease and welcome.

Riad Sijane

It’s on the streets that you get approached and harassed (by younger men mostly) - some just call out, some will follow you. You can see them scoping out travellers. It happens almost every time I walk in the Medina, a few times a day. 

Sunset in Marrakech

“Hey Taiwan!”

“Hey Korea!”

“Hey Jet Li!” (haha nice...)

“It is closed.”

“This way is closed.”

“You cannot go this way”

“The square is that way.”

“Where are you going?”

“No, you cannot go”

“Google no working here”

“Hashish?”

“You want to get high?”

“No photos here” (when I'm shooting a video as I walk pass)

Sunlight in the alley

At the Souk

These are all to get you to engage, and the moment you do, they’ll start getting pushy - "asking" you (semi-demanding) where you’re going, to follow them, and you’ll likely end up having to pay or buy something somewhere. This happens elsewhere too of course - I remember the friendship band scam in front of Monastiraki station in Athens, and the constant calls of “You want Tuk Tuk? Massage? Lady? Weed?” in Siem Reap.

A quiet corner away from the crowd, the sun, the bikes and the donkeys

The difference here is there seems to be an underlying aggression conveyed in the way they approach you, talk to you and step into your personal space, up close. It’s almost like intentionally putting you in a weird and uneasy situation so you’ll pay to get out of it. 

I don’t know. But it’s something new, something that can be unpleasant at times, and something to be smart about. 

Walking the alleys in the Medina

I haven’t experienced incidences of snatch theft and pick-pocketing so far though (although it is something warned about in online guides, especially at the Jemaa El Fna square) - no tourists saying they lost something on the chaotic streets and lanes, no one looking distraught or crying in the chaos, and that’s a good sign.

Yeah, not through here for sure

It seems to be just an air of intimidation, with no real harm. Maybe it’s cultural, like the way some cultures tend to talk louder than others. Maybe that's how it works to squeeze some easy money from visitors, and it's normalised.

It is what it is, and this city is still an almost surreal experience that shouldn't be missed.

But it still takes away a little of the magic.

Riad Sijane, 

Marrakesh, Morocco.

7 July 2025.