#5388 Being Charmed by Place Djemaa el Fna in Marrakech, Morocco

The name Place Djemaa el Fna can be translated as “assembly of the dead,” but in reality the square is the beating heart of a genuinely exotic Marrakech. Tourists and locals alike jostle for space with the street life here. Acrobats leap and tumble, and orange juice vendors sweet talk you into supping their succulent juices. Garishly robed storytellers hold their audience spellbound, while wizened herbalists peddle a different sort of magic. As the sun goes down, rows of smoking food stalls materialise from nowhere—this collaborative sleight of hand perfuming the air with a heady aroma of meat and spices. Just make sure to avoid the snake charmers: at the slightest eye contact, these scaly predators will whip a snake around your neck faster than a serpent can strike. The photos are for free; it’s just removing the snake that costs money!