The Medina Walls Of Marrakesh
April 6, 2010 by Anil P.
Filed under Pictures and Video
The old city of Marrakesh, or “medina” is separated from the rest of the city (the Gueliz) by this brick wall that spans about 20 kilometers and has 14 entrances. It was a fairly common setup for Arab cities at the time and provided protection much like the castles did for villages in Europe. It’s still where the action is in Marrakesh and the pace inside the walls is intense. There are vendors, shops, cafes, snake charmers, and people everywhere in the hectic medina.
Around 4pm you’ll see the empty market square begin to fill up with barbecue stands. The food is wonderful and cheap (about $3.60 for a meal). Make sure to eat where the locals are (stand #31 is one of those) and get used to hearing all sorts of hooks to get you to eat. The barbecue guys are the most aggressive (yet creative) of the medina.
See More Of Marrakesh
I was staying at the Riad Ghallia inside the medina and was surprised to see the sudden calm right outside of the city walls. The Gueliz actually comes across as bland in comparison to the medina, which rarely slows down. You can see some more of my pictures from around Marrakesh here and if you’re headed there brush up on these 4 common scams of Marrakesh so you can avoid them.
The Best City To Visit Travel Tournament 2010 Winner Is Zermatt, Switzerland
Two weeks ago it was Istanbul pulling a last minute comeback to eliminate Paris in the Final Four but Istanbul couldn’t hold out against underdog Zermatt in the championship last week. Thanks Deniz for giving us a dramatic finish and congratulations Jen on making Zermatt, Switzerland this year’s winner. Jen, who writes the travel blog Two Kids And A Map will receive $50 for winning the contest and $50 more for being a subscriber throughout the tournament.
Contest Recap
It started with 56 teams and over the past 5 weeks your votes decided which cities would advance and which ones would be left behind. Zermatt was definitely the underdog from the beginning round when it squeaked by with a single vote. It was an exciting contest with many twists and turns, thank you everyone for participating, expect another travel tournament in 2011 at the same time of year.
- Zermatt is a small ski-resort town in the German-speaking section of the Switzerland located in the Alps.
- Last year’s winner was Sydney, Australia.
- Here’s a look at the entire tournament bracket.
The Best City To Visit Travel Tournament 2010 - Final: Istanbul vs. Zermatt
- Zermatt, Switzerland (Jen) (55%, 58 Votes)
- Istanbul, Turkey (Deniz) (45%, 47 Votes)
Total Voters: 105
Loading ...Above are the final results. Most of the votes for both cities came in during the last 15 minutes of voting, it was fun to watch, thanks again everyone who participated!
My Next Contest
I announced it to my bi-monthly newsletter subscribers recently that the prize for my next contest (coming this summer) would be a trip. I’ll be writing a bit more about it in the coming weeks and give more details. I hope you enjoyed the tournament and if you have any suggestions for upcoming contests I’d be happy to hear them.
[photo by: zizzybaloobah]
Reading The Underground Guide To International Volunteering
Kirsty Henderson has volunteered around the world and written The Underground Guide To International Volunteering to help you learn how to do the same. You can make volunteering a small part of your next vacation or plan an entire trip around it and her eBook shows you how. Kirsty is donating 50% of the proceeds to Hands On Disaster Response and I’ll buy a copy for the first person to comment here.
The path to volunteering abroad as part of your travels can be a daunting one to start out on. There are plenty of opportunities, but the Internet is full of options from disaster assistance to fee-based programs and it can all be confusing enough to discourage most people from trying it. The Underground Guide To International Volunteering, written by Kirsty Henderson, is an eBook that efficiently breaks down the major areas of volunteering abroad.
Who Is This eBook For?
The Underground Guide To International Volunteering is a great eBook if you want to spend some time abroad or part of your next trip volunteering but have no clue where to start. Kirsty has participated in volunteer work in China, Bangladesh, and Haiti (among other places) and complied the 63-page guide based on her experience. Also in the eBook are interviews with other people who’ve volunteered through various programs to cover the ones she’s not as familiar with.
You Can Volunteer Abroad
For most people, the idea of volunteering abroad is appealing, but one that seems to require a great deal of effort, and many weeks off from work in terrible conditions. One point that The Underground Guide To International Volunteering drives home is that there is a volunteer program for everyone who wants to give back on their next trip. The book doesn’t dwell too long on any one topic but points you to the right resources to started.
- You’ll end up not only saving time doing extensive Google searches by reading The Underground Guide To International Volunteering, but learn how to discern disreputable organizations and ask the right questions.
The Underground Guide To International Volunteering also covers some other basic questions like why some programs require you to pay to volunteer, what kind of work to expect, and some of the common visa requirements.
Purchasing The Underground Guide To International Volunteering
Kirsty has also written 9 reasons to volunteer on your next trip and The Underground Guide To International Volunteering will get you well on your way. It’s a very useful read if you’re at all interested in making volunteering a part of your travels.
The eBook costs $14 with 50% ($7) going to Kirsty’s favorite volunteering organization Hands On Disaster Response. You can purchase The Underground Guide To International Volunteering here or find out more information on Kirsty’s website, Nerdy Nomad.
How To Keep Mesofacts From Screwing Up Your Next Vacation
The Internet is a wonderful resource for quick facts and information, lists (here are a few of mine), and tidbits of knowledge you can easily absorb when planning your next trip or vacation. The problem is that facts and information change – but you knew and accept that. Human beings are very good at noticing and remembering sudden change (think Iceland’s economic collapse or protests in Bangkok) but much less adept at realizing slow change (think Iceland’s economic recovery or South Africa’s improving crime rate).
You all know to brush up on the ‘free stuff to do in Sydney‘ when researching for your next trip but you should brush up on the subtle “mesofacts” to ensure you stay on budget and consider all of the places you didn’t because they were too dangerous, expensive, isolated, or whatever.
What Is A Mesofact?
According to Samuel Arbesman a mesofact is something that doesn’t change too quickly or slowly, but is in the “meso” or middle and may be causing your reality to be out of date.
How They Mess With Your Travel Plans
You read that there is a terrorist bombing in Mumbai or that there is a conflict in Lebanon and they’re off your plate. It ends up as the basis of so many of those “up and coming places” lists or articles about how Syria is “suddenly” a safe place to travel. It’s news to you but in reality the change has been happening all along, you just haven’t noticed.
- From there you can go either of two ways; reject the new information or be impressed at “how quickly” things can change.
Most times though, people don’t bother to update the knowledge they’ve learned some time ago. You can talk about what a bargain Istanbul is and book a trip there only to go seriously over budget or never book that trip to Panama because you haven’t heard of anyone else going there.
Updating Your Reality
In the planning stages before any vacation or trip make a list of all the places you don’t want to go see. Countries you feel aren’t safe, interesting, or simply never crossed you mind. You might even have to break out that trusty globe to find a destinations and put them on paper if you don’t know where to go.
- Get Online and Check The Dates – When you do a Google search about a place odds are you’ll get older information rather than newer. You might happen on someone’s old travel blog posts that haven’t been updated in a while or tourism sites. During your search to update your reality make sure to check the dates of the articles you’re reading or do a Google news search for the latest information.
- Twitter – You don’t need a Twitter account to do a search for information. Go to http://search.twitter.com and look up anything you want to know about a given locale, political situation, or simply get firsthand advice from people who’ve already traveled there.
- Use These Online Budgeting Tools – There are a number of good online tools that can help give you an idea of what you’ll need to save up and set aside for your simple travel budget.
- Budget Your Trip – Gives you cost estimates for cities around the world based on other travelers’ experience.
- cost4travel – A similar budgeting tool with an emphasis on social networking.
- Economist’s Foreign Exchange Map – See how any two currencies are moving against each other on a daily, weekly, or annual basis.
- Ask Travel Bloggers – There are people blogging right now from most everywhere in the world and are an excellent up-to-date local resource. You can look under my local blogs section to find some, email some of these RTW bloggers, or get in touch with me and I’ll try to help or at least point you in the right direction.
How Current Is Your Travel World?
You can stay on top of the slooowly changing world by being one step ahead of it. You can visit places before they become expensive tourist hot spots by noticing the warning signs of losing that cheap destination or figuring out the best places to travel on a weak dollar. Another way to see all of the places you aren’t considering is to realize you make your own reality and you can really visit most anywhere on Earth with proper planning. It’s the safest time in human history and despite the rising and collapsing economies you see on the news, the change is subtle enough for you to afford.
[photos by: jenpilot (baby turtle), shoothead (screws), rachellake (girl studying)]
