Morocco. Been there ?

Sancho the Fat

Sancho the Fat

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Nov 12, 2006
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Morocco. Been there ?

I shall shortly be visiting Morocco for a few days, and I wondered if anybody might know it and have some advice - things/places to see, what not to eat, how to deal with the natives, etc. Itinerary as follows:

Fly to Marrakesh.

Four days at Essaouira:

Four days at Sidi Ifni:

Three days at Taroudannt:

Then to Marrakesh again for a day and back here.

I'll have a car, and as you can see I'll have enough time to get out if I want and go somewhere else for a day, such as Tiznit or Tata or Tantan.
 
My neighbour has suggested that I accompany him and his family to Morocco in August, and I'm thinking about it. We'd take two cars, from Livorno I think, three day crossing (?) so I'd see wonderful hospitality and then could take off into the desert if I fancied it.

Meanwhile, I'm reading Michael Palin's book 'Sahara', and his description of Fez is quite alluring, and the ancient centre of Marrakesh sounds sort of okay. Seems though that there is a lot of modern globalised crap in every outskirt - so maybe you have to travel into the hinterland to escape that stuff.

Maybe it is a bit late to visit Morocco if you want squalor. Dunno!
 
Re: Morocco. Been there ?

Sancho the Fat said:
I shall shortly be visiting Morocco for a few days, and I wondered if anybody might know it and have some advice - things/places to see, what not to eat, how to deal with the natives, etc. Itinerary as follows:

Fly to Marrakesh.

Four days at Essaouira:

Four days at Sidi Ifni:

Three days at Taroudannt:

Then to Marrakesh again for a day and back here.

I'll have a car, and as you can see I'll have enough time to get out if I want and go somewhere else for a day, such as Tiznit or Tata or Tantan.
Click to expand...


So how did the trip go Sancho?

Anyone else been to Morocco? I'm Particularly interested in type of food?
 
Re: Morocco. Been there ?

Honestly, I've never been to Morrocco and it's not a place I've considered going. You know, my mind goes to an old movie from the United States -- The Road to Morrocco. It does sound like you've got a great itinerary set up. I hope it's a joy!
 
Re: Morocco. Been there ?

The trip went fairly well. I'm glad I went at any rate.

Morocco turned out less exotic than I expected, partly I suppose because I remembered it from a time (1973 - immediately after the Yom Kippur war, when I'd been in the Algerian Sahara), when I was more prone than now to be struck by how exotic a place was, partly because it really is less exotic now than it was (I saw two camels in all the time I was there), and partly because we in Europe are more used to Moroccans now than we were then. By the same token, I imagine Moroccans are more used to Europeans than they used to be - they see them every day, or they see them on their televisions, etc. Psychologically, the civilisations seem to have moved closer together - seem I say.

I liked Essaouira a lot - the ramparts, etc appealed to my romantic streak - but I suspect I'd like it much less in summer, when it's probably packed with bloody tourists. The place where Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens and the rest all slept isn't anything to write home about. Sidi Ifni was a disappointment. I'd been looking forward to a decayed outpost of old colonial Spain, haunted by remittance men and adventurers. In fact it's a rather sad, bleak little place. Taroudannt is wonderful - the friendliest people I met anywhere, hassle-free, sure of itself, with a ring of ancient, high, red ramparts that you can get a caleche round. I hated the crowds and the narrow alleys in the market and getting lost every time I went out in Marrakesh.

Two lessons I learnt. 1. Morocco's colder than you'd imagine in December - make sure any hotel has heating before you book a room. 2. If you think the alcohol situation is going to be like in Istanbul, you're wrong - it really is pretty hard to find. And they don't smoke kif like they used to.

P.S. Food-wise, there're aren't any little boys in the streets at breakfast time hawking rings of freshly baked bread hung on circles of grass any more, and you get bored with tajine after a while.
 
Re: Morocco. Been there ?

Thank you for sharing your trip with us. I imagine that many places that were once more in awe of visitors no longer are because of all the traveling that is done nowadays. It's a shame in a sense.
 
Re: Morocco. Been there ?

Thanks for the info Sancho. Hotels without heating! Emm.....
I think the second visit to any place is never the same as the first. Still, after watching the videos that you posted, i'd like to visit morrocco. Perhaps spring is the best time before it gets too hot.
 
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