Marrakesh Morocco
Yes, the sun really was that hot. It was cooler to wear long sleeves and pants than get fried by the mid-day sun. Over 40 deg C during a lot of the summer (that’s 98 deg F). I was only in Marrakech one afternoon, so I didn’t see a lot of the sights. The best site is the Bahia Palace. There are two photos of the world famous Jamaa el-Fna square, where you see the people on The Travel Channel tasting all the food.
These photos were taken in 2002.
You can see that on a weekday afternoon, the Jamaa el-Fna isn’t quite so crazy as on TV. There is more activity at night (when it cools down), although there were still a few dancers, snake charmers, food carts, etc. out during the day. In the background of the square, you can see the Koutoubia Mosque, originally completed in 1199. One of the stops we made was at the “pool” that is a popular place for Moroccans and tourists called the Menara gardens, just outside of the downtown area. The protected souk (suuq, or market) is like a small museum of its own at times.