Morocco – The Red Door to Marrakesh

Marrakesh is known as the ‘Red City’. Everything that was surrounding us was red, the buildings, the sand, the mountains, etc…. I remember when landing in Marrakesh, I was so astonished by the colour and how old the city looked; it was like going back in time. Like a little child, I had my hands against the window and was staring with my mouth wide open.

Tim cracked a joke that if anyone would ask for the location of our hotel, we should say it’s the red hotel next to the red building which is right opposite the other red building. But we had no issues, we always managed to spot our hotel. Actually we stayed in a Riad, in a place called ‘Maison bel Baraka’; which translates to House of Blessings. Riad is a large cultural house being used as a hotel. The owners of the Riad, were an interracial couple. Rashid a Moroccan man and Charlotte a Greek lady who met in Marrakesh and fell in love.

With houses being only coloured red, you can distinguish the difference by the doors because of the variety of colours and designs. I kept pestering Tim about taking photos of the doors.

There is an Arabic saying by Hayat AlYaqout:

أن الباب هو كل شيء . إذا اخترت الباب الصحيح ، فقداخترت الدرب الصحيح

(Ina-Al Bab Huwa Kul Shai. Etha Ekhtarta Al Bab Al Saheeh Faqad Ekhtart Al Darb Al Saheeh)

Which translates to …

“That the door is everything. If you choose the right door, you have chosen the right path.”

I took lots of pictures of closed doors and not knowing what is behind it but I’ll say Marrakesh was my door, my colourful red door; the door that opened great opportunities, the path that led me to adventures to a world resembling Never Land where Tim’s Peter and I’m Wendy.