The idea of finding a home away from home when on the road is every traveller’s dream and nowhere has this been sentiment felt truer than on my Morocco trip.
The high, winding red streets of Marrakech Medina are easy to become lost in but following the directions very carefully I eventually managed to find the little red door to Hostel Riad Rouge.
(Pics all mine)
Many of the buildings in Marrakesh’s old city are riads – tall buildings with an small internal courtyard. This means they stay nice and cool in the summer but as I mentioned in my previous post this wasn’t the case for my Morocco trip.
Marrakesh is often used as a stop on the route into the Sahara, however, with torrential rain washing away the roads through the Atlas mountains many people found themselves stuck in the city waiting for a break in the weather.
This meant the hostel was packed with people, but their policy of never turning someone away means they where creating beds all over the building. It made the hostel an amazing mixing pot of people from all over the world ready to make friends.
If you’re the type of person who likes a private room and your own bathroom, this place isn’t for you. But if you’re the type of traveller for whom meeting new people along the adventure is one of the most important parts then this is one of the best hostels you can stay in.
The weather meant many of us where stuck inside talking and sharing travel stories. Some of us even made a trip to the only supermarket selling alcohol and later that night went up to the roof to smoke some hash.
The experience of everyone from all corners of the world crammed into our hard little beds in the cold wet evenings will always be a happy memory but what really made this place special was as I was leaving.
I explained to the staff I was heading to Fez for a couple of days but was hoping to stay in the hostel again on my way back through Marrakech.
The staff told me: “While you’re in Morocco this is your home. You do not need to ask to come home.”
It just goes to show that, for me anyway, caring people, a friendly cat and homemade breakfast for can beat fresh towels and five-star service any day.
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You can find my previous posts here:
Rain in the desert - My Morocco travel diary #1
An ancient Greek historian and a hangover made me go to a deserted island
Introducing myself: Your local drunk Irish writer