This Little Girl Lost In Marrakech: Atlas Mountains, Hammam's & Riad's

My Marrakech travel diary continues with our fourth day of the trip where we left the city and travelled into the nearby Atlas mountains for some much needed fresh air and exercise. 

Whilst there we visited a traditional Berber village, pulled over to make friends with some very grumpy looking camels, and had lunch in a river bed, before climbing up to the cascades. Hiking up to the cascades was well worth the effort for the amazing view at the top, but not entirely practical in my Primark loafers (take appropriate footwear if you ever do this trip) as I struggled the whole way up, and slid half the journey down. 

So it was with great relief that I decided to spend the fifth and last full day of the holiday relaxing in the Les Bains de L'alhambra, a traditional Moroccan bathhouse. Whilst I couldn't take any pictures inside, I do have one image of the end result - my pedicure below - but the real treats were the more traditional treatments I had, such as the Hammam and facial. 

The Hammam set me back 250 dirhams (about £18) and lasted 45 minutes, whilst the facial was 350 dhr (£26) and lasted a full hour. My hammam was a completely new experience which I'd gladly repeat as I left with the softest feeling skin ever. This was thanks to the black soap used, followed by an exfoliation treatment (ten layers of skin must have been buffed away by my vigorous technician) before I was covered head to toe in clay and my feet dipped in a rose petal bath. After a luxurious foot massage I was taken up to another room for a facial using Moroccan beauty treatments - one layer for peeling, another nourishing mask and a final layer of moisturiser - with head, hand, and another foot massage all thrown in. What turned out to be a last-minute end of holiday treat turned into the best 'authentic Moroccan' experience of my whole trip and well worth the money.

Here I am wearing my impractical Primark pumps, trousers from River Island, vest top and sunglasses from Topshop, Messenger bag from Zara and indigo to purple dip-dye 'Foreshores' scarf from EMU Australia which was beautiful and practical as it kept the back of my neck from burning. 

the cascades and an ingenious water cooling system

After visiting the Hamman

After the Hamman we went for dinner before soaking up a last few hours of sun on our roof terrace. I'm wearing dress from River Island, sunglasses from Topshop, sandals from Primark, and fringed bag made especially by Barbara Boner for a press day. My necklace is a traditional Moroccan design I picked up in the souk for 30 dirhams whilst by bracelets are luxury charm and luxury spun designs lent to me by Shimla Jewellery. Jewellery on the other hand from Topshop (ring) and Accessorize (bracelet). 

See more after the jump

the Riad's plunge pool and chill out area

the Riad's rooms and roof terrace

We stayed in the Riad Jonan for all four nights during our trip to Marrakesh. Whilst our room wasn't ideal (we were on the ground floor right next to the entrance and dining area) the Riad itself was more than welcoming and the roof terrace was a quiet haven in the afternoon for sunbathing and for taking peppermint tea in the evenings. For more info and bookings visit the website.