Travel to Morocco: Taroudant city and Palais Salam restaurant inside the city wall + TRAVEL PHOTOS!

OHMYGOSSIP – This post is for those travellers who like the country’s genuine character and the real life of the inhabitants best. Taroudant is a city in Morocco where the tourism business has not had a rooted clutch and thus offers an opportunity to see the genuine everyday life of Morocco.

Taroudant is a city in southern Morocco, about 80 km from Agadir. The bus trip from Agadir took ca 1.5 h and the greatest sightseeing objects on the Agadir-Taroudant route are the banana planations. Taroudant city is also known by the name „Grandmother of Marrakesh”. There is a large defence wall built around the entire town, and most of the local life is concentrated within the city walls. The wall is nearly 6 km long and all nine of the city wall gates are in use also nowadays. Taroudant was for a while employed as the capital city back in the 16th century. Today about 35 000 people live in this town. Taroudant is mostly known by its market place, that is located on an important trade route. The town is famous for trading handicraft, adornments, carpets, and also for Agadir Ibn Zohr University, which is located outside the city walls.

There are two markets in the town, the Berber market and the Arabic market. At the Berber market, also known as the Jnane al-Jaam, spices, dried fruit, clothes and domestic goods are being sold. The Arabic market is for handicraft, forging, ceramics, leather, adornments and carpets.

14x Taroudant city. Photos: OHMYGOSSIP/ Helena-Reet Ennet

A day in Taroudant city is memorable in many ways – first, it is a great contrast to what we experienced in the Agadir luxury hotel. The golden carved ceilings were now replaced by the slum and the day got even gloomier now that it started raining and the weather got colder. Yet I liked the town and in retrospects there are even more emotions involved – I like to see also the real life and versatility. In fact I really love wandering around in such places, yet I was a bit inhibited by us having had in mind the previous day’s memory when dressing too lightly, so most of the time we were completely cold. Yes, precisely – though it rarely happens in Morocco. Most of the time it is warm and sunny in Morocco!

From Taroudant town I remember especially well the male citizens having tea in front of the cafes and also the gatherings at the market place. Men were gathering in circles in the midst of which they commented on boxing or they themselves were boxing or preaching the truth, I couldn’t even understand everything. Also I saw homes made from cardboard boxes, and I felt the town’s historic flavor. Distinct from Europe, Morocco stands out regarding the people’s clothing, especially what concerns the middle-aged people and seniors. Long coats are popular – these definitely have some special name which I do not know. But they are not traditional kaftans, it seemed they are a bit different. Women mostly had their hair covered, and I saw just one woman that was completely covered. Also, many women walked without male company (unlike many of the Arabic countries).

Palais Salam restaurant in Taroudant city (Avenue Moulay Ismail, Taroudant, Morocco)

We had dinner in Palais Salam restaurant in Taroudant city. Palais Salam, Taroudant, Morocco is actually a hotel complex with original gardens, halls and the restaurant.

The most vivid of the restaurant memory was that of an older gentleman serving our table – he was absolutely friendly and nice. This, by the way, was the impression of most people in Morocco.

The restaurant’s milieu was a bit worn out and it seemed like not many people visited the place, yet the impression I got from there was powerful and our visit occured during low season. I really like sincere people – sincere at the heart – instead of a five star fancy I often enjoy a home made omelette and honest, straightforward people. However, be it this way – a home made omelette was actually not served, although the place left a homely feeling. The gentleman reminded us many times that the food is not to be wasted and everything must be eaten up. On the first round we followed this guideline, but since already the appetizers had us completely full, and the main course was accompanied by 10 kg of rice, then we felt sorry for ourselves as well as the waiter. It is simply impossible to consume these amounts of food, even if you so wish. Yet such loads of food were served in most of the restaurants and deep down I was hoping that the food that remained untouched might go on a second round in some way or other. After witnessing some people live in a cardboard box, you wish from the heart that each grain of rice, piece of meat or portion of salad served for tourists, would reach a needy person and not end up untouched, in the garbage bin, after being on the dinner table of an irritable tourist.

Palais Salam also excelled for beautiful gardens and garden corners. There was a lot to please the eye and a nice vibe came from the visit to the restaurant. Here are a few photos from Palais Salam. Aren’t these just like pictures from a fairy tale?! An amazing place, I should say!

15x Palais Salam Taroudant. Photos: OHMYGOSSIP/ Helena-Reet Ennet

In the next Morocco blog I will write more about local markets!

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