| p>It could be said that the high-risk sport most | | | | With these prices, it is hard not to ask oneself if it is |
| commonly practised by tourists in Marrakech is | | | | not the tourists who swindle the Moroccan taxi drivers, |
| "taxing". Even if you are a cautious kind of person, I | | | | even if the law is on their side. |
| must warn you that you will not be able to avoid | | | | From the airport to the city centre fares are different: |
| venturing into Marrakech's traffic, since buses and | | | | 50 dirhams per person. From the city centre to the |
| citizens driving their own private cars are equally | | | | airport, however, you can ask for the taximeter. |
| reckless. So you either you choose to go on foot | | | | Do not hesitate to ask the driver to stop the vehicle if |
| through the hot streets of Marrakech or you just stay | | | | he refuses to start the taximeter once you are on the |
| in your hotel leafing through a magazine. | | | | move, and do not get surprised during the journey if |
| In any case, taxis are a part of the city that, in my | | | | the driver stops several times to buy cigarettes, pick |
| opinion, no one truly interested in known the true spirit | | | | up something from his place, fill the tank with petrol or |
| of Marrakech should miss. Their world is a kind of | | | | simply start chatting with a colleague. Remember that |
| parallel universe; they are mobile spaces in which, | | | | this is Morocco: if you are not a millionaire you must |
| when you enter, you cannot help asking yourself: "Will I | | | | share everything, taxis included. It is also perfectly |
| get out?"; where, when suffering the impact produced | | | | normal to stop along the way to pick up another user |
| after the brakes are slammed, you think: "Will I die?"; | | | | and, thus, a fellow traveller. |
| where, with every second marked on our watches, | | | | It is cheaper to stop taxis in the street tan to take |
| we wonder "Will I get to visit the Koutoubia?"... | | | | them at a taxi rank or stand, especially if these are |
| There are two types of taxis in Marrakech, namely | | | | located near tourist sites, where taxi drivers can |
| "grand" or large taxis, and "petit" or small taxis. "Grand" | | | | refuse to put the meter on and can ask you an |
| taxis are usually old Mercedes with permission (but not | | | | amount three times higher than that of a regular |
| necessarily with capacity) to carry up to 6 or 7 people. | | | | journey. Whenever you want to stop a taxi, raise your |
| They have no taximeter, so you need to negotiate the | | | | arm and point with your index finger towards the |
| price of the ride before entering, and this is why many | | | | direction you want to go to, so that the driver will know |
| people do not recommend their use, since taxis drivers | | | | if it is the same direction where the users he is |
| in the Ochre City have a reputation for being | | | | carrying are heading to. |
| tourist-swindlers. Probably the best option is to take | | | | Once you are inside the taxi, breathe deeply, enjoy the |
| what are called "petit" taxis, usually Seat Panda, Fiat | | | | adventure and remember that things such as working |
| Punto or Peugeot 205, which can carry 3 people; and | | | | seat belts, windows that open or the possibility of |
| they do have taximeters. Meter starts at 1,6 dirhams | | | | installing a baby car seat are rather impossible utopias |
| (0,15 EUR approx.) and at 2,40 Dh. (0,25 EUR approx.) | | | | in Marrakech. |
| during the night.Minimum fare is 6 dirhams (0,60 EUR). | | | | |