Richard Ayoade Explores The Weird And Wonderful Marrakech | Travel Man | Absolute Jokes

hello I'm Richard iiwadi and while I've secured an eternal place in history as a blank face technological sociopath called gadgetman I've decided to widen my brief yet further by flinging myself wantingly and thoroughly into the ungoverned nonsense you people called travel despite having a Howard hughesian approach to leaving my home I too can yearn to quit these Shores and head to cheerier climbs and now I'm going to build this dream of Escape as I jet off within a commercial aircraft to some of the most exotic yet near to my house destinations on this Earth to demonstrate how to enjoy one cherished weekend away with the smallest outlay of coin minitage and fat a whirlwind Weekend In the Heat of Marrakesh I'm hitting Africa with Actor Stephen the face Mangan hello ladies who will act as a kind of straight man while we relentlessly experience the sights I came here for a party in the sky sounds and smells where symptoms burnt out of what is very much a place that face tells me you made the wrong decision as we attempt to lead you through an optimal 48 hours in Marrakech we're here but should we have come you're gonna regret that jumper [Music] Marrakesh can be reached by mule Trek from the Atlas Mountains or if time is of no immense value to you you could very well just drive to Barcelona and catch a ferry but because I have a fetish for Heights I insisted on the relative speed of a three and a half hour flight AS did Stephen Mangan with whom I wait for a lift to our Flop House we've really flown four hours to stand in front of a sign in the middle of a dual carriageway you needed the geography here it comes here's our Wheels really yeah whoa whoa whoa whoa why do we need those Wheels we need traction where are we going up the Atlas Mountains ish after you to Marrakech why well I have some very good reasons tell me first things first despite being an insultingly short three and a half hour flight away we're in a different continent and on the cusp of the Sahara Desert and as if that shiz wasn't enough Morocco is the world's largest exporter of tin sardines to unveil we're down we shall flop tourists off Kip in the city's bustle but in a bid to evade other people I've plumped for a quiet Desert Oasis just a short drive from town thank you sir Richard where are you taking me we're going to a hotel that has no electricity it's candles Gaslight it's adventurous it's the kind of thing I thought you'd like I do but I just feel that there's a shallow grave waiting for me yes at the end of this we're going to see Gwyn and Tom's road head in the Box yeah lapels cannily combined luxury with absolute silence what have you got in that by the way just my hair dryer because it's not a change of clothes is it there's 15 more of these soups in this all right I change every two hours because I sweat so badly it's almost as if everyone who was here died there's no one around no this looks like where a cooler Shaker come to find the new sound apparently Prince came here once right I often think that if you and I had a child it would look like Prince I think that would be the least of its problems should we see if there's any Wi-Fi sure with our bags duly dropped an evening fast approaching our bellies ache for appeasement Rakesh is famous for its mesmerizing array of street food and the best stalls are located in the city's ancient main Square so we return to the urban hubbub and last nearly 12 seconds before the Warren of 11th century streets renders us hopelessly lost do you know where we are no sweet Mercy has provided me with a digital compass and map I'm on campus Duty my map says that way that my heart says that way let's go with the map rather than your Ross and heart what they should do is they should Mark the floor like they do in Ikea with Footprints yeah so that you know exactly where you're going but if it's anything like Ikea we'd visit every single Street in the city before getting to where we wanted to go yes but at least you'd only visit it once rather than several times which is what we've done as we flap about like cider soap to wasps let's go this way why go that way we just come from all right let's go well we're lost what difference did this Democrats go down I can only hope that editing spares you the pain of watching this in its entirety they say it's better to travel than to arrive but I think in this case they're wrong yes we finally arrive as the sunset with all sense of time and perspective in tatters great all right if that's where we're meant to end up yeah okay pretty good huh this Square called the Jamar elfna is the epicenter of Marrakech where locals and tourists come to eat this is a thousand years older Square we're trying to keep going until we have a panic attack and then we'll just rest in that area snail broth spicy lamb sausage and stuffed camel spleen are all available for the chomp but then Steven's eyes meet the eyes of a sheep sheep's brain you deep brain yeah let's eat some bread right here we go we'd like some heads please some tongue brain do you have a face I might ask for the uh salad you'll eat rough with a cow I won't eat rats him though here we go good nice wow am I interested in some eyelid right what's this bit around here shoulder okay exactly the shoulder okay I've got a bit of uh brain here let me know how that is Bon Appetit that face tells me you made the wrong decision it is slightly disconcerting that the mouth is open it's as if the mouth of this sheep is going oh come on yeah tell me what you've gained from this experience an anecdote I've got an anecdote I was with someone stupid enough to eat sheep's brain that's my anecdote look the eye is still in it this is basically just an autopsy don't eat that okay I get the brain you eat the ice I'm not subject to some kind of weird television law of bullying where Jessica's Declan has eaten the brain the ant has to eat the eye no oh my God good grief it's black inside why are you doing this why are you doing why did you do that it's delicious it's not it is should I get a burger yeah let's get a camel Burger dinner defeats us the night and our first day is over we retired to the pitch black of our desert abode day two begins in the middle of day one's night but the pain of a 4am alarm will be offset by the igasm that awaits us just a one hour drive out of town we're getting in a hot air balloon wow in the name of efficiency because once we're up there we can see the whole of Marrakesh mountains oh right the city how will we go where we want to go wind will govern us pilot Maurice insists on an early start as the calm morning air should ensure a safe flight how long have you been piloting hot air balloons it's the first time today a Crown Prince of deadpan Maurice also Moonlight says Morocco's second best terram stamp look alike [Music] I do now know for certain that I am a vertigo sufferer rice what I'm enjoying is the Tranquility the really freaky silence and then the quite violent uh flame throwing that's going on just inches above our head wow look genuinely see everything I wish I had a similar device to this in normal conversations to provide thinking time it's admittedly very beautiful to look at Maurice I'm trying to have a joycian Epiphany here but the beauty is largely offset by fear okay although that is the sound of us not falling so I welcome that sound right okay you must be able to see almost all of Morocco from up here with only wicker between us and certain deaths literally but now that we've got all of this perspective how are we going to Zone in on the detail how are we Richard with this puppy the Panasonic Lumix 60 times optical zoom oh I mean it's an absolute pleasure look at that oh look at the zoom on that oh well that's a deep Barrel that is an early morning Barrel right there awkward now having to stand as close to each other after that I thought you built a mingle in one of these things and walk around and chat but we're actually hemmed in it's like a function you thought you came up here to network I came here for a party in the sky well it's more like a confessional booth in the sky would our memories committed to data Maurice let the balloon Nestle down a little more and more relieved as we get near the ground I'm feeling kind of almost smug and this Eerie experience ends without injury great for impact oh I I am enjoying my feet touching land oh but wasn't it magical being up in the sky and so quiet and floating it was periodically quiet I was between Bunsen burner blasts yeah that was quite noisy here we go the balloon massively fulfilled its brief of allowing us to see a good deal and all before any such thing as breakfast [Music] Actor Stephen Mangan and me a loose string of unrelated vows Richard ayawada are showing you how to power slam through 48 hours in Marrakesh our Voyage has so far seen us fly wow look throw food into our mouths why are you doing this but now we must wrestle with local culture folklore and narrative so he can feel worthy rather than the trivial consumers we are [Music] storytelling is a crucial part of marrakech's History passing on wisdom and moral guidance to new generations in the 11th century tellers would perform in the main square but now a new breed perform in City Center cafes like this who doesn't like a story well it's essentially what you and I do for a living isn't it don't dignify what we do yeah good point yeah wood puts on free performances for tourists in his spare time hello hello I'm Richard hello how are you nice to meet you so I should say I have no facial expressions he does virtually none it's like a medical so you won't be able to tell anything from looking at me because I'm emotionally cut off yeah almost and completely dead I'll try and make up for it with my Steven's more anime with warm eyes also I'm bad with eye contacts so yeah just bear that in mind so once upon a time there was a child his father died and left him alone this particular story follows Jaffa a lazy son of a butcher whose mother encourages him to seek out his own life you fool you always lose your money throughout the tale jedward skips between roles like a modern day Danny Dyer flitting from dog go away you stupid the old man give me give me story has more twists and turns than an episode of come dine with me and guess what he found dead Queen not The Sopranos with new characters constantly appearing he found a white-bearded wizard holding a candle and his spell book in his hands but like Oliver Stone before him Jared is Keen to explore what moral lessons we've gained from his story what did you learn from this story so the moral of the story is always find a tiny wizard to take the punishment for you yeah and I suppose in a Bruno vesselheim way it's really about integrating various aspects of the ego to create a whole and that's what I took away I have no idea what this means I didn't really I just read it supplement our moral compasses clearly need adjustment but as that will not happen within our lifetimes it's an issue that is best ignored for the moment right now I urgently wish to explore marrakesh's top tourist attractions how about the 16th century sardian tombs this is where members of the sardian dynasty that once ruled Morocco are buried and is a great way to feel close to death for half an hour okay sardian tomb right very tranquil very pretty and their solution to what do you do with the rich dead you tile them in you get a lot of tiles and a job lot of grout [Music] no one really knew that these were the tombs until they were discovered in 1917 by a French surveyor effectively an aerial survey so it's quite an extraordinary Discovery I guess [Music] have you got any particular burial plans I want to go in the brown recycling bin I've said this for a long time knowing my luck I'd end up in the wrong bin and they wouldn't really refuse to pick me up our 48 hours are nearly up like Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte before us we can't waste them by over reflecting on the fleeting nature of life no we need to investigate the production of high quality leather goods something Marrakech is world famous for so our next stop is the thousand year old Tannery on the edge of the old town where we'll learn how some of the finest leather on Earth is created well this is the Tannery okay where leather goods are prepared start on the walls that's Excellence excrements yeah right I once lived in a block of flats in southfields that had a very similar stairwell to this yeah sorry about that yeah it wasn't ideal oh it's an intense with how intense isn't the word my symptoms burnt out the Tanners here use medieval techniques which have been passed down through generations the first stage of the process is to soak the goat camel or cow skins in Lime to loosen the hair wow the hair is just gliding off like soaking a casserole dish no matter before long it'll be a hoxton man bag The Spits of my body that could do without treatment yeah the next days now where they dip the skin in Pigeon feces right to remove the lime and that is a ramp up anoda oh hello the last time I smelled something like this I was in the toilets of an unmanned railway station in the Midlands after they are washed the Skins are soaked again left to dry and finally scraped before having color applied the smell's still horrific but there's more leather within it Bonnie will be able to get a pair of trousers made out of these yeah in order to see the leather in its final State we make haste to the sprawling City Center markets well really get more lever if only Paul Hogan were here he could really stock up men in cluding the man Leonardo DiCaprio pay locals to sift through it for them but I'm not Leonardo Dicaprio and if anyone's going to sift through man bags it's going to be me okay this this makes me feel like it's a 70s doctor which I like this is good and how much is this yes this one is only 650 you know 650. let me get my app out and see how much that is 46 Pounds give me your best offer how much if you just let me get to 375 to make it look like I'm good at haggling I'll give you 500. okay 500. oh great I'm not even sure I want the bag well Stephen if you could pay up right yeah I work for him [Music] he's very cruel and if I do things wrong he hits me with the piece of Marrakesh now strapped to my torso we need to ponder our enormous achievements in a suitably evocative environment so we've traveled back to the Agape desert where we can test one last experience how are you feeling about our way out hello ladies yeah wow look at you look at the eyelashes on that one yeah beautiful well just for filtering out dust rather than Aesthetics but I'm sure they'll appreciate the compliment it's working for me when we Mount up and mount up we will we're going to be high off the ground yeah so I don't uh leave a face like yours in danger of hitting the deck how are you going to protect my face the pro hit air vest really well go around your body your face actually still might get mangled horse riders wear this when you fall off it inflates thus buffering you we're gonna get on all right Mount up here we go hey this one mine's half up way and now but his face is caught in here oh look at this get up I'm just like a big nap to this camel camel rise camel camel light up you get here we go there we go here we go hello hello you ready it's hot it's a long way up oh dear there we go oh yeah you see how do you feel now you're mounted up well I think this is the closest I'm ever going to get it to being in a western yeah I mean I feel pretty good about this actually yeah I feel less bad than I normally do which for me is a ringing endorsement I wonder how recently they're the drunk you know one of these puppies can fit in 200 liters 200 liters it's gonna net that in three mins three mins three mins camels are so vital to Moroccans that there's an annual camel Festival celebrating their importance as a means of transport and source of food mentally though we dare not admit it to one another Mangan and I are already working out how to bring this event to Britain and whether we could get cooler Shaker to reform and lay down some sweet beets I feel of all the things we've done this is one of the least terrifying that's really weird to hear you say that less terrifying than the Storyteller no that was okay less terrifying than walking through a Medina yes less terrifying than buying a leather bag that was medium it's good to know how the charts are look at it look at that look at that it's the only glad you're not sitting in your living room now and you're out here in the desert on a camel what I'm glad about is the image of you looking like an off-duty member of the Metropolitan Police hey on the back of a camel camel division [Music] afford the Frugal traveler with a whole today for a mere cup of coin it may not have been entirely Pleasant oh God hence with but we enjoyed a hot air balloon well a high quality Leather Man bag I'm not even sure I want the bag and a whole sheep's head oh yeah the brain you eat the eye no eat it no eat the eyes eat the eye so you're a man who wherever you go clutches life lessons dearly to his chest which one have you plucked this time we think we've seen it all because you've watched it on telly you've seen documentaries but not until you get out there see with your own two eyes can you really appreciate what's going on in the world what about you I've learned that it's very frustrating to be without Wi-Fi signal [Music]

Channel: Absolute Jokes

Views: 16,733

Keywords: 48-hour challenge, Absolute Jokes, British entertainment, British television, British travel series, Exotic cuisine, Hilarious travel mishaps, Laugh-out-loud travels, Marrakech sights, Mediterranean travels, TV funny travels, Travel escapade, camel riding, chuckle fest, food adventures, iconic landmarks, laugh out loud, laughter and fun, memorable escapade, tourism exploration, tourist attractions

Id: pYmC__jHgr0

Length: 22min 41sec (1361 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 19 2023