Morocco

Morocco is the perfect country to travel to if you want to get an “Oriental Flair”. As the men are in a very flirty mode, I guess, that I will be exhausting to travel alone as women. I was only alone in Casablanca and it was sometimes annoying. 16-year old boys blocked my way with their bikes in an attempt to stop you and flirt with you (this happened several times with different boys).

My friends decided due to restricted timelines to skip Casablanca and start their journey instead in Marrakesh. In Casablanca, there is not soo much to see, but due to the book/the movie Casablanca I was interested to see this city as well and arrived a few days earlier in Morocco.

The nicest accommodations in Morocco are the “Riads”. It is like a family-run hostel usually located in the historic centre (the medina) of the cities. In Marrakesh you can, for example, try out Riad Agathe or Riad Fuchsia. The prices are good, and you can choose between a room with a private bathroom or a shared bathroom.

Casablanca

f you make it to Casablanca, you must visit the mosque “Hasan II”. The architecture is stunning. It is also one of the few mosques you can visit as a tourist if you are dressed modestly (knees/shoulders covered). The other attractions are not worth visiting. The market, the souk, the Medina in Marrakesh or Fes are much more impressive. The “place des nations-unies” was under construction and blocked, so I am not sure, how nice it is. If you walk through the city (I had two days to in Casablanca) you will see every now and then a nice building – a mixture of Moorish Style and Art-Deco. The beach in the south of Casablanca presents also a contrasting picture to the beaches I know – the sand is very dark. Getting around in Casablanca is quite easy if you use the trams or Uber. Speaking some French is an advantage, so if you buy something or similar, you at least understand how much it is. In Fes and Marrakesh in the touristic areas, you have a better chance to find someone speaking English.

Casablanca has a nice and structured train station. Buying the ticket to Marrakesh was an easy thing to do and I took the train to Marrakesh. The trains are rather cheap, so I took a first-class ticket, which was just 2/3 Euros more expansive than the regular one. The first class, of course, is not comparable to a first-class train ticket from Deutsche Bahn or the TGV. It is like a usual train, which makes me think that the second class in Marrakesh might be much more uncomfortable. During the train ride, you can enjoy the quickly changing landscape from green with many trees and agriculture to the desert.

One thing which made me angry during the train ride was the ignorance of the other people. An elderly man was sitting in the 6-seat compartment with me and 3 other men and another woman. All of us got out in Marrakesh. The elderly – and very heavy – man had problems to get up from his seat. The others just ignored it. I was the one who helped him to get up – almost falling myself. Even when the others saw me struggling to help the man, they just left… I hate this kind of behaviour. If I am old, I would love others to help me as well, when I am struggling. Or when my parents need help – or grandparents- I, of course, would like someone to help them and it is not asked for too much to help someone to get up from the chair or help with the luggage. If it would have been a sexy lady in a tight and short dress, I bet the three men would have fought with each other about who is allowed to help her. It does not take much to help one another, no money or donations needed, just one minute of your time is often enough to help someone in need.

Unfortunately, I see this kind of behaviour so often. A full bus and a pregnant woman, women with a baby or elderly people are standing in the bus and young/healthy people just remain seated instead of offering the seat to a person more in need of a seat. In case the bus stops abruptly, and a healthy person falls, you might hit your head or break an arm, but if a pregnant woman or a woman with an infant in her arms falls, it is very likely a different story.

Marrakesh – the dream of 1001 nights

In Marrakesh, I finally met my friends from Brazil again. We stayed in hostels in the Medina of Marrakesh. The streets here are so tiny, that no taxi can enter. We were laid off at a parking lot close to our hostel. I already arrived in the afternoon and my taxi driver was so mean / when we arrived at the parking lot, I was not aware that I must get off here/ he spoke Arabic with a young guy standing next to the car the street. Suddenly this guy grabbed my bag from the trunk and just started to walk away very fast. It was already too late when I realized that the taxi driver hired him to bring me to my hostel. I still had to pay the driver and then I tried to catch up with the guy carrying my luggage and we were already at my hostel. I gave him around 2 Euro as a tip and he became really angry and his friend who suddenly showed up too. They demanded 30Euros from me for carrying my back and bringing me to the hostel. I explained that I never asked them to do it, that they just ran away with my luggage without my permission and that 2 Eur is a fair tip for a service I haven`t requested and I did not want. The guys become more aggressive and aggressive and the hostel just did not open the door though I rang the bell several times. Finally, the hostel owner opened and made the two guys go away – it was quite a scary scene for me.

So, my advice. If your taxi driver is suddenly starting to speak with a guy in the streets at the drop if place, ask immediately what this conversation is about and don´t let the driver open the trunk unless you stand next to it and are ready to grab your bag.

My friends arranged a pickup from the airport with the hostel, they were staying in. They were picked up and brought to the same parking lot, I had been dropped off. However, they arrived after midnight and the driver did not care a shit about them finding the hostel. At night the tiny streets do not have any streetlights and you can get lost easily even during the day. So, though they had arranged a pickup with the hostel, they were not brought to the hostel. The next day they told me, that they got quite scared walking around at night in dark streets with all their luggage, while weird men were luring around and trying to sell drugs to them. / It is best to have a good map with all the tiny streets and a good explanation of where to find the hostel. Google Maps did not include all the tiny streets so with Google you get lost very easily in Marrakesh. MAPS ME is the better alternative.

Marrakesh is a beautiful city with lots of attractions / I must admit that I had not done any research in advance and I just followed one of my friends who had worked out a full plan on when to do what. It was like a guided tour for me, just with more flexibility. The must-dos, in my opinion, are besides visiting the different souks – the Palais de la Bahia and the Palais El Badii.

If you like botanical gardens or are interested in Fashion, you should go to the Jardin Majorelle as well. The garden was originally designed by the artist Jacque Majorelle. It contains plants from all over the world and integrates architectural elements, fountains etc. Nowadays the garden is owned by the famous fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner. It is said, that Saint Laurent gets lots of inspiration from the garden for his fashion design. On top of wandering around in a beautiful garden, you can also visit the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, where you find some of his designs and a video about his life. I had the impression, that every tourist wanted to see the garden at the same time (around 9/10 am) – it was very crowded, and we had to stand in the queue for almost one hour. I recommend to either come very early or try it a little bit later.

The market area (the souk) in Marrakesh is huge and you could buy several souvenirs here / from beautiful oriental teacups, Pashmina (scarfs) cloths and all kind of other stuff. However, in my experience, the prices in Fes are better.

Sahara Tour from Marrakesh to Fes

From Marrakesh, we hired a driver & tour to the Sahara with a destination in Fes. So, we started in Marrakesh with our driver, made our way through the higher Atlas Mountains and stopped at placed like Aït-Ben-Haddou. Aït-Ben-Haddou is an ancient town settled by Berbers. It is not only UNESCO World Heritage Site but also a famous setting for movies like James Bond, The Gladiator, The Prince of Persia and even Games of Thrones. On top of enjoying the architecture, you can also visit a private household *tiny tip expected / to see how the people are living here or you can see learn more about the local artists using Safran to paint their pictures. We also passed by Quezazate, where the Moroccan film studios are located. We stayed the night in a small town called Dades with a beautiful view of the valley. The next day we continued our tour to the Sahara – or rather to the city Merzouga on the edge of the Sahara.

The tour included a night in the Sahara. So, each of us got a camel and we started the journey to get further into the Sahara, watching the sunset in the middle of the dunes. The sunset in the Sahara is just amazing. After that went to our camp and I was impressed. It was like a 4-star hotel, nice beds, carpets in the tent and on the way to the dining room to ensure you don’t need to walk in the sand. The shower having both warm and cold water and a water closet. I usually do not have so much luxury when I travel, and then in the Sahara, you find this. After dinner, we gathered at the bonfire and listened to the drums of the Berbers. We also tried to drum, but I must admit, I am horrible at it. You must hit the drum quite hard and exactly on the right spot to make the right sound. My hands started hurting very quickly. ‚

The next morning, we were riding back to the city and started our tour through the local population there. We first went to a tribe with Sudanese ancestry / again famous for their music and drums. Then we went again a little bit through the dessert to visit a nomad family. The kids, of course, do only attend the “school of life” here. Usually, the men in nomad families have around 3 wives and they have quite a lot of kids. The kids are born in the dessert – with some luck the nomad midwife can make it to the birth but yeah formal training or access to medicines or medical equipment is extremely restricted.

Here I honestly got mad again/ this time our driver acted like a complete idiot. One of the women as serving us tea and bread. The kids were, of course, interested in us – the foreigners. A three-year-old boy was standing in front of our driver when he suddenly grabbed the penis of the little boy. The boy changed his expression in his face immediately and put both his hands in front of his private area. he felt very uncomfortable. I felt so sorry for this little boy and confronted our driver later. His response was just “I was just making fun”. I explained to him that it is not fun to touch someone without consent especially vulnerable people who cannot defend themselves like a little boy, but he did not get it, so I wrote to the owner of the tour agency and told him what happened. The response was “I spoke with him and he promised, that he will never speak to children again” Which completely missed the point I was trying to make.  

From Merzouga to Fes

The next day we started our ride to Fes. Just 10mins out of town, our car broke. The good think is, Moroccans are very helpful. two cars immediately stopped to supply us with water and help us to fix the problem. However, we had to wait for another car to bring us to Fes. I was honestly quite glad as we also got another driver. a driver who actually passed the exam as tour guide / but he could not find a job as tour guide / the good thing for us about this was that we finally did not only have a driver, but someone who knew the country and who could explain things to us and answer all our question we had about the culture and the history.

We made a stop in Ifrane. This town is known for being quite European when it comes to buildings and houses. As the town is quite high in the Atlas Mountains, it is also the place for the Olympian Team to train (e.g. Skiing) and the king also has a „vacation residence” here. Another stop was in the national park Ifrane, where you can usually see lots of monkeys and even feed them with peanuts or in our case a whole apple – greedy little monkeys not willing to share the food.

Fes – the oldest city in Morocco and its surroundings

We hired the driver for the next day to bring us to the old Roman site Volubilis and the city of Megnes. 

In Fes itself, there are also a lot of things to do. You can visit the tanner’s quarter and learn more about how leather is made, and you can buy nice stuff made from leather from shoes, jackets to purses and seat cushions (poef). Just before we entered a man gave us mint and I was confused why we were just given mint for free – a minute later I realized why. The smell is so intense and disgusting that I stacked the mint in my nose in order to smell mint and not the smell of decay and faeces. Here you can watch all steps of producing leather – from cleaning the skin and removing flesh and hair, cleaning the skin, colouring it with Safran and Indigo, the stretching and finally the production of the end products.

The prices for Pashmina (at least our experience) are better than in Marrakesh, so Fes is the perfect place to make your souvenir shopping from spices, clothes and typical souvenirs. 

If you like to enjoy a nice view of the city you can walk to the Marinid Tombs – some ruins on a hill. It is an easy climb leading through a cemetery. At first, I found it quite gross to walk over a cemetery like this, but it seems that this is the official way. Locals were using it with their horses and donkeys.

One of the most famous points for orientation in the old part of Fes (Old Medina of Fes) is the Blue Gate (Bab Bou Jeloud). From the Blue Gate, you can go to the Bab Chorfa – another beautiful gate and the garden „Jnan sbil”, where you can just sit down and relax for a while.

I am really into architecture and the Moroccan / oriental style is just amazing. The highlight of the whole vacation from an architectural perspective was the „Medersa Atterine”. It is a former Quran school with stunning architecture. The details on the facade are just incredible.

On the second day in Fes, we decided to take some time to completely relax attending a Spa and getting a traditional Hammam treatment. To be honest, until this day, I was not 100% sure what Hammam is exactly about. No, I know it. it is about cleaning your outer body, which means you get a very intensive body scrub all over your body – my skin never felt so soft in my whole life, after this I added a 30minutes massage to complete the SPA afternoon.  We went to the Hammam Mernisse & Spa close to the Blue Gate, but there are several SPAs and Hammams around town.

If you are not yet tired, you can visit the Presidential palace, more Babs or Palais around the city.

Chefchaouen – The blue pearl of Morocco

From Fes, we took the bus to Chefchaouen. Chefchaouen is called the blue pearl as many housed are painted in blue. Chefchaouen is a very touristic city (at least the centre) and you will find lots of nice spots for the perfect Instagram picture. In the centre, you might even queue up to take a picture in a certain spot. In Chefchaouen there are many beautiful places, it is best just to wonder around and enjoy the beauty of the city. The perfect photo spots will show up automatically. It seems that Chefchaouen is also the Moroccan capital for Marihuana. Quite often I had the smell of Marihuana in my nose. Funnily, though I was walking around with me friends, the drug dealers always approached them – not me…. The marketing is always the same – every dealer has the best quality in town and the best price… of course 😛

Tanger

Our last stop was Tanger. We went to Tanger by bus from Chefchaouen. Tanger is in the North of Morocco on the coast. You can either get flights to/from Spain or you can take the ferry. The did not have that much time and just walked around for about 2h in the Medina of Tanger. Again, you will find some nice buildings here, but by far not as impressive as Fes. However, the taxi drive through the city made us think, that we should have stayed a day here as well. The modern part of the city looks nice especially the beach promenade – maybe next time 😊

Getting around in Morocco

From Casablanca to Marrakesh or vice versa the best way is to take the train and buy the ticket at the train station. Buying tickets online can get quite cumbersome as many companies (also bus companies) require you to have a Moroccan Credit Card to make the booking. So, I bought my ticket a day in advance at the train station. We bought the bus tickets from Fes to Chefchaouen in Marrakesh at the CTM office to ensure we get the bus we want. Once we arrived in Chefchaouen we again bought our tickets at the terminal to go to Tanger.

On the CTM website, you can check the bus schedule, but yes for a reservation, you would need a Moroccan Credit Card (at least as of today). During my search, I also found a website called „marrakechtickets.co.uk”. They are offering to buy the tickets for you and to send it to you via mail or to your hostel in Marrakesh. As I haven’t used their service, I cannot tell you, whether you will finally get the ticket you wanted or whether they provide a poor service buying wrong tickets or not sending you any tickets at all.

Photos will follow soon !