Horse harness: part of the system that keeps Marrakesh spic and span.

Is it French influence? Is it at the heart of Islam? Something inherently part of the Magreb soul?

We don’t know the source, we only know the truth:

Marrakesh is orderly, polite, and clean.

When compared to some other places we’ve visited:

• Marrakeshi drivers stop at their own stop lights (Mostly. Bicycles are least predictable.)
• The city’s buildings are a fresh-looking, near uniform shade of pinkish clay.
• “No, thank you ,” when said in Arabic, is an answer that most people respect. (Phonetically, that’s la shyukran, if you ever need it.)
• Nearly no advertising distracts the eye.
• No buildings can approach the height of the mosques, so the city feels open to the sky, which is free of clouds, morning, noon, and night.
• These horses? Catch bags are part of the harness, so none of their droppings litter the street.
• Nearly everyone is responsible for sweeping. Shop keepers. Municipal employees. Children.
• Trash disappears. Consistently.

On the edge of the Sarah,

Chris