Jama' El Fna At Night

Jama' El Fna At Night

Marrakech, Morroco

Known by tourists as the "Main Square", the Jama' El Fna of Marrakech is a true Jekyll and Hyde.  By day it's littered with snake charmers, acrobats, and tourists.  By night the square transforms into a fable, of myth and mystery.  

I'd spent the morning at the square with my mother, and most of the day I was terrified some snake charmer would sneak up and put a snake around my neck, insist I take a picture, and then charge me 20 dirham.  The square, full of  tourists looking for a great deal on a knock off purse, is interesting.  But not what I'd call drop dead amazing.  It's where a pivotal scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much" was shot, which delighted the film buff in me.  But sadly, the square felt like a scam.  

I knew we'd be going back in the evening, for what our guide said was "... Not to be missed."  But how excited can you get over seeing something you already saw... with less light?  If I'm looking to buy a new car and I don't like it, am I supposed to like it when the lights get turned off?

We took the bus into town and got within three blocks of the square.  Truth be told, on the bus I sort of zoned off into my own world.  This was one of the last nights of the trip and I had a lot on my mind.  So when the bus stopped I was caught off guard.  I started walking to the front of the bus and peered out the windows.  The streets were FULL of people.  Not full like lunch hour in New York.  Not even full like shopping malls on "Black Friday."  No, these streets were filled like New York, Chicago, and L.A. combined on New Years Eve.  Marrakech has a population of 1,035,000 and they were ALL in the square.

The Square changes.  What was a wide open area filled with fortune tellers and snake charmers turns into row after row of food stalls.  It's like a nightly "Taste of Chicago".  I mean literally hundreds of little restaurants, with the smoke of freshly cooked chicken and veggies rising through the air.  Every one of your senses becomes aroused.  

We walked to our guides favorite food stall and sat down for dinner, consisting of a goats head, shish kabobs, and french fries.  Sitting there it was easy to be overwhelmed by the people walking by, occasionally projecting upward and thinking of myself as an ant in an ant farm.  You feel your true place in the world when your surrounded by a million people.

After dinner we walked around the square.  We listened to Berber storytellers spin there desert tales only to reach the climax, take a collection, and then promise to finish on the following evening.  A never ending cycle to keep your audience.  We saw magicians dazzle us with their sleight of hand.  But the most impressive magic to me, was how over the course of the day, just how much this place changes.  It's ironic to me that in some translations Jama' El Fna means Assembly of the Dead, because to me its filled with life.

Greg Inda

World Class Traveler

-This photo was taken at ISO 1600 f/10 at 1/80 through a 35mm lens.

-For more information on visiting Marrakech and other Moroccan cities, visit www.oattravel.com and tell them Greg Inda sent you for a discount.

-To see more of Greg Inda's photography visit www.flickr.com/photos/trefrog66