The souks of Marrakech were much easier to navigate than those of Fes. The Rough Guide to Morocco provided an excellent guide to accessing them, and once inside, it's quite easy to find your way. It's also a great place to get acclimated to the noise, smells, and life of the country.

The places closest to the Djemaa el Fnaa are more aimed for tourists. The quality of products was not very good, and the prices were very high. You will have to make your way into the heart of the souks to find items of good quality.

I highly recommend the cloth found in Marrakech. The weave is well done, and the colors and patterns are quite captivating. One of my group members bought a beautiful piece woven of cotton, silk, and cashmere in gorgeous sunset colors that I have not seen elsewhere.

I would not, however, recommend buying many things here if you have a chance to travel to other parts of Morocco. I was able to find things, such as wood, carpets, and pottery, that were of much better quality and price when visiting some of the other cities. The merchants are very good bargainers and start out at often outrageous prices. Even though I already had an idea of the prices being charged in other places, it was very difficult to find a good deal.

We walked down the Rue Souq as-Smarrine off the northern side of Djemaa el-Fna into the labyrinth of eerie alleyways that weave themselves into the totality that is Marrakech’s Souk. There’s a cacophony of smells and noise as you progress through this colourful area, but you will have to lay to rest some of your western standards if you are not to be overly critical or indeed saddened by what you’ll see. There are young children working hard on mundane tasks, being taught the trade by family members, or holding their hand out with their soulful eyes piercing deep into your emotions. There are more signs here of poverty and grime than wealth and comfort. The noise of hammer on metal echoes round the confined spaces and excitable voices try to catch your attention to entice you to spend at their stall.

Despite all of that, it is still somehow an environment that demands you recognise the positives. It is an area where commerce thrives and the industrious succeed; where business deals are struck; where the locals socialise over a cup of tea; where individuals pray to their god; and where children are trained as apprentices in the family business. You get a real sense of social cohesiveness, and despite the dark and dusty alleys, it is neither a threatening nor a sinister environment. We saw locals playing checkers, guys shaving, and youngsters skipping down the alleys.

As you progress through the aisles, sometimes they are so narrow that you can touch both sides from the centre. It will be obvious that specialist areas have been allocated for the different crafts, and we occasionally wondered where the market was for so many copper light holders. We saw every product imaginable, ranging from decorated and carved wooden figures, finely polished wooden boxes, enamelled metal work, delicately engraved silverware, fretted copper, to brightly coloured textiles. We toyed with the idea of buying some of the highly decorated plates and treating ourselves to an elaborately designed tajine. We resisted the large choice of leather items, but were very tempted to buy an exquisitely tooled leather pouf. There were large selections of herbs and spices, many I’d ever even heard of.

Within this area, you’ll be able to call in at an apothecary and be spoken to about the wonders of natural medication. They’ll try to sell you cures for all ailments, obesity, and maintaining the body’s equilibrium. As a cold sore sufferer, I bought an ointment to relieve pain and speed up recovery–wish I’d been less cynical and bought more, as this application really works.

At the bottom end of Souq as-Smarrine is the tourist area selling rug, blankets, tourist trinkets, and souvenirs.

Wherever you are in the Souk, fight the fear that you’ll get lost–all alleys will eventually lead back to the main road and you’ll have a great time exploring. Never give the asking price and enjoy your haggling–I’m convinced that they do!

Entrance to the Souk of Marresh starts at the north of Djeema el-Fna. Make sure that you have no false guide while you are entering the souks because if you do so, he will get commission from everything you buy!

There may be some locals chasing you to hire them at the entrance, but once in the souks, you should be left alone.

There are carpet souks, carpenters, dyers souks, spice souks where you can also see very unusual material which locals still use in witchcraft and mostly illegal in many countries (teeth, and parts of rare animals), babush (colorful slippers) souks can all be visited. You should have the courage to negotiate in souks. Even though I was told to pay half of the first told price, you may get in touch with reasonable sellers sometimes who tell you a good price at once. But once I could not find the appropriate price for a teapot. The prices I was told were mainly European prices. Fortunately, there is a big retailer in Morocco called Marjane, so I have found my teapot against affordable prices. So you can keep it as the last option in case souks are not for you but you’d still like to take something with you of this country.

Armed with a minimalist map of the city that shows the main boulevards, the outline of the medina, and the names of general regions within the old city, we enter the main medina square, where the scene hasn’t changed much in a thousand years or more. Row upon row of oranges are stacked up on lengthy tables that are lined up in the center of the market area. The stall owners furiously squeeze and yell out the prices for a cup of juice. Water carriers with their silver cups hung over their shoulders and their bright red tunics and turbans approach every foreigner who looks thirsty. Snake charmers with their drugged-looking serpents try to lure us to watch them kiss the cobra. A few dozen men are gathered in a tight circle, within which two of them are playing some sort of card game and the rest are taking bets. Rows of "petits taxis" are lined up on one side of the square and, on the other, rows of yellow Mercedes taxis. A tour bus improbably enters the fray, drives around the perimeter, and disappears. The number of women in the medina is minimal; most are tourists, of which there are few as well.

We wander into the labyrinth of the souks for a bit. There’s a certain organization to the souks, with most of the inlaid wood shops, all the silver shops, all the jewelry shops, all the leather slipper shops, and all the spice shops grouped together, but it’s not that simple--nothing in Morocco is. There is lattice over the alleyways of the souks, to keep the heat down in the summer months, but in November, and at the end of this afternoon just before sundown, it makes navigating within their shadows even more difficult than usual.

Marrakesh is not a center for dyeing wool like, say, Fez, but nonetheless there are plenty of sheep in neighboring communities, and djellabas and rugs must be made, so periodically we come upon a wool store with its brilliant offerings. There’s pottery galore, and admirable marquetry work in which cypress and lemonwood feature prominently. There's even a television souk--a new development since my last visit.

But what P and I are really after is spices, herbs, and potions. We find them at the Berber pharmacist’s shop.

It's impossible to recommend one particular stall or shop as there are so many providing everything you could possibly imagine.

They range from cheap tat through to high end antiques, rugs & furniture. I would say the first time you go preferably go with a guide so you can get orientated.

Feel free to barter - cash is usually a better bet for bargains than credit cards - although even some of the smallest places accept credit cards.

Also be warned shipping seems to be very expensive & complicated - plan to hand carry your new souvenirs if possible - the souks (& even some of the better shops) don't seem to handle the concept of shipping very well & will instantly put your hard bargained price back up & over if you even suggest it!

Also regarding excess baggage: the Moroccan airlines charge by number of items rather than weight - so if you are taking things back & want to check them in - get the shop to wrap them in one big parcel - we didn't do this & it cost a small fortune - so be warned.