Getting Deliberately Lost in the Souks of Marrakech

Saffron pyramids, brass lanterns, three glasses of mint tea and a rug I definitely did not need. A love letter to the old city.

The medina of Marrakech is not one market. It's dozens, threaded together by alleys so narrow two donkeys have to negotiate who passes first. The trick is to stop trying to find your way out and start following whatever smell interests you most.

Mine was cumin. It led me through the spice square, past the dyers' souk where wool hangs from the rafters in impossible colors, and finally into a tiny courtyard where an old man served me tea and, over ninety patient minutes, sold me a kilim I somehow flew home in a duffel.

Rules I learned: agree on a price before the tea arrives, always look up (the ceilings are half the story), and don't trust Google Maps for the last hundred meters. Ever.