Morocco, at the end of summer, is indeed a nice place to visit. No oppressive heat, not too many tourists; I was told that the high season for tourists starts mid-September or so. If one chooses to visit Medina in Marrakech in the morning, for example, one can get quite a good couple of hours shooting the shops (some closed at that time), locals going about their morning’s business, and generally not much of that hustle and bustle one gets around 10.00 – ish or so. All in all, a good time to visit and take in Marrakech without the touristic humdrum.
As my hotel was at quite a distance from the Medina, I chose to get there by taxi. Quite inexpensive, although the distance is some respectable 3 or so kilometres; at 2.50 euro, this is indeed cheap. At that time of day, traffic is not the horrendous affair which becomes later in the morning. I got lost in the myriads of colours, scents and the exotic scenery which is the city of Marrakech; everything was new to me, and my eyes and mind tried their best to see and understand.
At some point, the driver calls my attention to a fellow who was more jogging than running, inside a main roundabout, among the vehicles. Without a shirt, and half smiling, he looked sort of surreal. I watch his demeanour which wasn’t aggressive, more of a matter-of-fact thing. I asked my driver if this is something related to a protest, or if the man is having issues. The driver told me that this guy has a certain hour of the day he is doing the same thing, every day. The only time he is not doing it is when the mosque is calling the daily prayers. Why, I asked? I meant why is he doing this, for it is somewhat a strange habit, and a dangerous one at that. The answer was a shrug; I was told that no human knows what the Lord above decides.
Oh, all right then. I took a shot of him nearing the taxi I was in, and I tried to follow him with my eyes while the taxi was completing the circle and heading to our destination. The man was continuing his jogging inside the circle, half smiling still. Good thing that every vehicle gave him priority when turning in the circle.
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