Tannery

While in Marrakesh, we were walking down the street inside the Medina with no particular destination to go to. We stopped for a minute to open our paper map to figure out where we were, and within 10 seconds, a guy stopped by and asked us if we spoke english. When we replied with "yes" because he seemed nice, he showed us on our map where we were, then he told us that if we turn the corner behind us that it would lead to the tannery.

We thought his suggestion was genuine and we had heard about the tanneries in Morocco as something to see, so we decided to take his suggestion. As soon as we turned the corner and started walking in the direction we had been directed, the guy who had "helped" us came out and told us it's straight ahead and to follow the guy in front of us because he would show us there. That's when it started feeling weird. We discussed it to ourselves but decided that it would be ok as long as we were walking on a street with people on it.

So we walked forward. We weren't following the guy but I'm sure he would have liked to have thought that we were. We were just walking in a single direction looking for something that looked like a tannery.

About a minute walk later, a man came out from the side street and motioned for us. He said the tannery was his way and that he would show it to us. We followed cautiously and slowly. I was looking around in different directions as we walked and I'm sure Yan was doing the same. I wasn't planning to go into the side street very far but it just so happened that the place was right on the corner, so we conveniently stopped there.

We could see one of the tannery pits and smell the nasty flesh smell, so we trusted him a little and slowly followed him around while he explained what was going on and the process in which the leather is cleaned and dyed.

We took some pictures, listened to his spiel, tried to learn something, and followed him out. We were cautious the entire time, but once I saw all the pits I could tell he wasn't bullshitting anymore. It was genuine. He spoke as fast as he could in broken english and french. It was obvious to me that he does this too many times a day. At that point forward I knew that all I had to worry about was him scamming me of my money, and not about our safety.

He told us about how they hand clean everything and use the pits to soak them, and for color they use mint and henna and other natural ingredients.

He walked us back onto the bigger street to a storefront where they sold the finished products. I knew that's where we were going because I had already run into this situation several times in Egypt, with oils, rugs, alabaster, and papyrus art. The process they use is to show the customer how it's handmade and then sell them in the showroom.

He showed us inside, let us take pictures, talked us into sitting down for 2 minutes to look around and listen to man #2 do his spiel, and then we decided to leave so we stepped outside.

As soon as we stepped outside the first guy was there asking us if we enjoyed the tour. I said yes and we kept walking back toward the center of the medina. The man asked us for tip for the tour he gave us. I had seen that one coming. I gave him 20 cents and told him we're poor, thanked him, and kept walking. We got out of there safely and it worked out well in the end. We got to see a Moroccan tannery for minimum hassle.