8 days in Morocco

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In March 2005 I took an amazing trip to Morocco with my boyfriend Barry. We had never been to a Muslim country nor to Africa and found that we enjoyed the new experiences and had one of our best ever holidays.

We started off by flying into Gibraltar. This is a small area of land that actually belongs to the UK but is on the south coast of Spain. A very quirky place, with cheap alcohol, British shops but definitely a Spanish feel (particularly in the accents and mix of languages). We spent some time exploring Gibraltar, taking in 'the Rock' and some traditional fish and chips, before heading across the border into Spain to take a bus to Tarifa. This lovely coastal town is home to some very good wind surfing, some incredibly cool surf shops but also ferries which take people across to Tangier, Morocco. We spent an enjoyable evening in Tarifa, with pizza, wine and beer (we figured we could have plenty of alcohol as we were about to be 'dry' for a week!).

The following morning we were up early to head to the port and get a ferry to Tangier. The ferry journey was fine, with plenty of friendly people and not too much bureacracy. When we got to the other line we used our Lonely Planet to the letter - say "no" to everything and anyone. Even better, say "la shukran" ("no thank you" in Arabic). We did this and managed to get some Moroccan money instead of our euros all with the ease of seasoned travellers.

However, once we had left the port we were a little unsure as to which way to go and so got out our map. A local came up to us and offered to show us the way to the museum in the kasbah we wanted to see. We were stupid enough to follow him (Do NOT ever do this!) and he led us up through many various winding streets to the museum. He stayed around whilst we looked around and then latched onto us again as we left. It was absolutely tipping down with rain at this point and as we really didn't have a clue where we were so we followed him again. On the way he took us into shops belonging to his friends but we were firm enough to not buy anything (even when my rucksack hit a shelf of bottles and sent them flying!). Eventually he took us back to a place from where he ponited us back in the direction of the port. It was at this point that he asked us how much we were going to pay him for his showing us around. Grrr, we were so stupid! Well after much arguing, which got quite intimidating by the end, we paid him something like the equivalent of 10 euros and legged it. After getting a bit of space between us and him, we turned round and saw him smiling and waving at us. We had well and truly been had...

We made our way back to the port and hailed a taxi. The driver didn't seem to understand our attempt at 'train station' in French and then Arabic, but eventually he nodded and got us there. And he didn't overcharge us - hooray!

At the station we easily managed to work out what to do and got 1st class tickets to Fes. The trains in Morocco are all in carriages. It made us feel like we were in an old Hitchcock movie. All we needed was a murder or a spy. However, it wasn't to be and instead we had some very interesting conversations with various people in our carriage. One man was originally from the Western Sahara. This is a disputed region, which some people want to be autonomous from Morocco. The man was fairly reasonable about it all, and seemed happy to explain the history to us. Another man was asking about our holiday and our plans. When we said we were going to Fes, he was keen to suggest that we meet with his cousin Mohammed who would show us around the city for a very reasonable price. This man was very difficult to say no to, and so we agreed to meet his cousin the following day. When this guy left the carriage for a few minutes, our Western Sahara friend told us he was not to be trusted and we would best avoid Mohammed. I had already guessed this but our friend only helped confirm our feelings. We therefore studiously avoided anyone called Mohammed and the area where we were meant to be meeting him in Fes!

On arriving at Fes in the afternoon it was raining. Luckily our hotel (the Ibis) was almost next door to the station, so a quick dash got us there. We checked in (I was asked if I was sure I wanted to share a room with a man I was not related to!) and enjoyed a little rest in our lovely room. We wouldn't normally stay somewhere as posh as an Ibis, but fear of the foreign Morocco and a need to book our 1st night's accommodation led us here. It was a very nice place and much cheaper than hotels in Europe, but still far more expensive than anywhere else we stayed at on our trip. As this was early Spring, the 6 nations rugby tournament was on and Barry was very happy to discover that he could watch Ireland vs France on the tv in our room (oh dear..!). Still it gave me a chance to relax and dry off before heading out. In the evening we decided to just explore the new town (and buy an umbrella). We wandered the streets and enjoyed listening to the call to prayer, whilst getting used to looking different to everyone else and being stared at!

We were approached by a friendly man wearing traditional Moroccan clothes but speaking very good English. After he found out we were from the UK/Ireland he told us that he had studied in the UK and liked it alot. However, he was keen to point out that he did not like Oscar Wilde due to his homosexuality. He offered (as so many people did!) to give us a guided tour of Fes the following day and showed us his official guides badge. He seemed genuine but we were unsure. He said that his name was Salim and if we wanted him we could find him in a particular cafe the following morning.

The next day we got up early and after some discussion decided that the best idea was to go to the Tourist Office for a guide. That way we would be certain that they were genuine. When we got there the guy said "wait 2 minutes" and 2 minutes later he turned up with Salim!! Oh well, he had been telling the truth after all. Anyway, soon we were on our way in a taxi to head out of town and up a hill (Borj Sud). This led to a great spot with views looking out over the city of Fes. We could see down into the medina as well as over to the Ville Nouvelle and then out to the fields and hills beyond. After plenty of photos, we got back into the taxi which took us to the farthest entrance to the medina.

As it had been raining it was all a bit squishy underfoot, with mud sliding everywhere! But we made the best of it and carried on. Salim took us to a local 'bakery' where we had a very yummy local doughnut type of thing, attached to a piece of grass. Very tasty and a great way to start our day. We were taken to lots of local workshops, where people were producing wood carvings, metal objects and tiles. It was amazing to see people working with their hands like that, although sometimes did feel slightly awkward to be staring at them. Salim also took us to a traditional carpet makers house. Here we were treated to a great view from the roof, as well as seeing a ridiculous number of carpets laid out in front of us. We had heard and read that this sort of thing happens all of the time in Fes, but had hoped that we would be able to avoid it - no such luck! However, we explained to the nice carpet man that were poor students and could not afford his carpets, but they were very nice. He was (surprisingly?!) happy with this and said 'no problem' and led us back to our guide. As soon as we were back on the street we made it very clear to Salim that we didn't want to be taken to any more shops, and he said 'fair enough' and we carried on our way.

Salim took us to see what is one of the most famous sights in Fes, the tanneries. In these places, local leather is dyed in huge vats. Each of the vats is a different colour. You can climb on top of surrounding buildings (lots of them are leather shops) to look over the tanneries. This allows you to see men standing in the vats of dye, with no protection, which apparently is not at all good for their skin. In addition, the smell is fairly strong - as lovely ingredients such as pigeon droppings are used in the colouring. Mmm!! We were there in March but apparently the smell gets a lot worse in summer with scorching heat and no wind.

Our guide took us around many streets, and we were able to see the huge Kairaouine mosque from various angles. We also visited the Medersa Bou Inania, one of the most famous of the many medersas in Fes. We also saw the Zaouia Moulay Idriss 2nd. This is the mausoleum of the son of the founder of the first dynasty in Fes). This is one of the holiest places in the city and closed to non-muslims. However, we were able to look through the arches and doorways and get an idea of what it was like. Many locals come here to pray and leave small ornaments to rid them of their problems.

Salim finally left us off at the big museum on Place an-Nejjarine in the medina. Outside the museum with its amazing entrance doorway is a very nice fountain. The museum itself (a former funduq) houses plenty of Islamic art and artefacts. However, the most impressive aspect of the museum is the building itself (as is often the case in Morocco). It also has a lovely roof-top cafe where we later enjoyed a mint tea. By this time it was nearly mid-afternoon and we hadn't yet had lunch, so we headed off in search of a good, but cheap restaurant. We ended up in a great place right next to the Bab Bou Jeloud, the lovely main gate at the entrance to the medina. The restaurant was mostly full of French tourists but we still enjoyed good Moroccan food at very reasonable prices. The food in Morocco consists of plenty of couscous and tagines. All very tasty, although after a while you will be begging for pizza!

After lunch we wandered the streets a bit more - taking in the many souks as well as the Dar Batha museum. This place took a bit of searching, but we were very happy to get there. It is a great little place, with lovely architecture and tiling. It was also very quiet, with very few visitors. After some more medina exploring, we left this area and went to the '3rd' part of Fes. It lies in between the medina and the ville nouvelle and is called Fes el-Jdid. This is not the most fascinating area of Fes (especially after the medina). However, it does contain the Royal Palace. This is an impressive (and well-guarded) building, which you can only see from the outside. This area also houses the old Jewish quarter. There is not much particularly Jewish stuff to see, but it is still interesting to wander around.

That evening we spent a relaxing time at a French restaurant in our hotel (not the Ibis - we had changed by this time, to avoid being traced by the man from the train!). And we even managed to enjoy some Moroccan wine. yum.

The following day we left Fes and headed west. First stop was Meknes. We were only staying in Meknes for a few hours as we had decided to stay in Rabat that night. Our plan had been to stay for most of the day but we couldn't find an open left luggage place and so had to haul all of our rucksacks around with us. This is particularly tough in souks and medinas and unfortunatley meant that we only got to experience a small amount of what Meknes has to offer. We started and finished at the Bab El-Mansour. This impressive gate at the entrance to the Old City is situated on one side of a large open square, with some lovely surrounding architecture.

We went in to explore the medina (with our big bags hitting everything and everyone in sight). We visited the Medersa Bou Inania (built in the 14th century). Very nice with gorgeous stone carvings on the wall. It was once lived in by young Islamic students, but is no longer occupied. The views from the roof here are very impressive, looking out over the medina. From here you can see the Great Mosque. The mosque is still in use and so as non-Muslims we couldn't go inside. However, it is still lovely to look at from the outside. On our way back to the main square of Meknes we went to have a look at a covered market. We couldn't go too far in because of our bags, but were still able to enjoy the sights and smells. These Moroccans really do know good food!

It would have been lovely to stay longer in Meknes, but we had to keep going and so hopped on a train to Rabat. This is a very 'western' city, with wide French-style wide boulevards. It is the capital of Morocco and so has that municipal feel to it, whilst still definitely being Moroccan. In our few days there we were able to explore the main sights easily. It is a lovely place, but apparently often overlooked by tourists. I would actually recommend it as a great place to start a visit to Morocco, as it is not quite as 'in your face' as somewhere like Fes.

We headed out to see the Kasbah, a lovely part of Rabat. It is enclosed in its own walls outside of the medina and contains loads of blue and white painted houses with pretty doors. It is a lovely place to just wander through coming across pretty alleyways. We also went out to the edge of the kasbah where there is a big platform with great views out to sea and across the estuary to Sale. Whilst up there we decided to go to a lovely little cafe (Maure) looking out over the sea, where I enjoyed a very tasty (and cheap!) mint tea. After that we wandered through the Andalusian gardens next door, which are in the grounds of a small museum.

One of Rabat's most famous sites is the Tour Hassan, which has been around in some form for the last 800 years. In front of the tower are loads of pillars for a mosque, but this is all that remains. Just opposite the Tour Hassan in the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, one of Morocco's Kings. We were able to go inside as non-Muslims and it was an amazing sight. You stand on a balcony looking down into a chamber with loads of decoration. The king's body is in there along with a religious guy (was he a mullah?) reading from the koran. On our way out we tried taking a photo from the outside of one of the guards. When we had done that he put out his hand in a way meaning 'give me money'. We thought it was quite funny, as the blokes in the tall hats outside Buckingham Palace would never do that! But we were about to give him a few dirham when his boss came over and could see what was happening. He started telling the guy off for taking money from us and we found our moment to run away!

The Chellah, on the outskirts of Rabat is a great place to visit. It holds the remains of an old Roman settlement, but also a (now unused and half knocked down) palace/fort type complex built by Muslims in the 13th century, and so it contains an intersting old mosque. On our way back into Rabat we went via the palace grounds. In here lie many impressive buildings including the Royal Palace and a huge mosque. However, we were a bit wary of taking too many photos and men carrying guns always make me a bit nervous! Despite this I would say that Rabat is generally a great place to wander around without much hassle. The medina is quite small and accessible, and also offers much cheaper goods than lots of the more touristy places in Fes or Marrakech.

Talking of Marrackech, this was our next stop after Rabat. And wow, what a place! We spent an amazing couple of days exploring - a must-see on any visit to Morocco. It has a real buzz to it, but with all the history and culture you could want as well. The main place of action in Marrakech is the Djemma el Fna. This is a massive square (see picture!) just at the entrance to the medina. It is always full of food stalls selling plenty of Moroccan fare as well as loads of street performers. I must admit though that I found some of the street performers a bit scary as they were carrying around snakes and putting them around people's necks. Ugh! However I managed to stay away from them. When Barry tried to take a photo of a snake charmer one of the guy's friends came towards us and asked us for money. He had one hand behind him and we knew that in his hand he had a snake. Eek. I was so scared! So Barry threw some money at the guy and we ran away through the crowds. All to get a silly photo of a snake! If you don't want to get quite this close to the action, there are a number of rooftop cafes surrounding the Djemma where you can relax with a drink or ice-cream and watch the action below.

We spent a good bit of time exploring the massive Marrakech medina. This place is amazing with loads of souks for different products (leather, silver, wood, etc). Inside the medina you can visit a number of interesting sites, often on the same ticket. We visited the Marrakech museum, a number of medersas and an archaeological site that has been re-discovered but was once the place where people would wash before praying at the mosque. The medina is so huge and varied that it is easy to wander there for hours just taking in the sights and smells. It is also a slightly (!) cleaner medina than Fes, and you are a bit less likely to walk into a donkey in the street here (though it is far from impossible).

We also went to see the El badi palace in Marrakech. This is an amazing place - completely disused now and in a similar state to a lot of castles in the UK. i.e. the walls are still there but most of the roof has gone! There are also loads of holes in the wall, which are now used by various birds for their nests. Another lovely place to visit is the Majorelle gardens. These are owned by somebody famous (can't remember who - maybe Yves Saint-Laurent?). They are gorgeous- very well designed with lovely birght colours. However, you do get a feeling that they are almost too perfect, and almost that they are satirising the 'Moroccan' garden. They are very much constructing an ideal that does not actually exist in Morocco. However, they are still very pretty and nice to wander through!

The next day we headed for the bus station. After a rather bumpy bus ride, with bits of the road missing due to the recent rains we made it to Essaouira. It was very nice to get to the sea again. When we arrived in Essaouira we were first hounded by various people offering us rooms, taxis, gifts, etc. We managed to push through and headed towards the old town walls and the medina. We were to spend just over a day here (with a night at the very cool Hotel Smara) before heading back to Marrakech. As soon as we entered the Medina we headed in the direction of the hotel as we were a but scared it might get full up from all of the people on the bus. It was a little difficult to find at first as we were unsure of our way around. However, eventually we got there, having managed to shrug off the annoying touts who told us that our hotel was full! When we got there we were able to get a small and basic room (for about 9 euro - not bad). And dumped our stuff ready to go out exploring.

Essaouira is a lovely town, and apparently very popular with surfers. It's not hard to see why - great beaches, wind and waves! It has also been popular with numerous historical figures - including Winston Churchill and Jimi Hendrix. It is a relaxed place, and apparently fairly easy going when it comes to things like clothing and social attitudes. However, when we were there the wind was blowing and it never got hot enough to even contemplate shorts and t-shirt!

We wandered up around lots of the ramparts that stand looking out over the sea. The Skala du Port (down by the port obviously) has a small entrance charge, but is a great place to climb around, with lots of views in every direction. It also has lots of cannons along it, but they looked like they hadn't been fired for many years. Very near to our hotel was the Skala de la Ville. This is a bit quieter than the stuff down at the port (and free!). You will also see lots of artists around selling their wares. I got a nice little painted stone for my Mum and would have bought more if I could find the space to carry it in my bag! When we tried shopping for babouches in a shop in the centre of the old town we were probably bargaining a bit too hard and the guy said we "wanted to buy a camel but pay for a donkey"!!

We found a cool little cafe on Place Hassan very near the sea where we could sit outside but sheltered from the wind and enjoy a game of cards. On our one evening in Essaouira we decided to splash out and enjoy a slap up meal in a little place next to our hotel. At 'Les Alizes' we enjoyed a 3 course meal (harira soup, brochettes or couscous and then yoghurt of fruit) with a bottle of Moroccan wine and mint tea to finish it off. For 28 euro between us, we really couldn't complain. The food and service were excellent and I would definitely go back again!

On our last morning we went for a very nice walk along the beach just outside the old town. It is always lovely to be by the sea and despite the strnog winds, it wasn't too cold as the sun came out. There were people offering us camel rides which we decided against, but otherwise it was all fairly quiet. We were even able to hold hands which is something we hadn't been able to do comfortably on the rest of our trip!

After enjoying an all-to-brief visit to this lovely seaside town hea headed back to Marrakech. We spent our last night there enjoying the Djemma-el-Fna before doing a final bit of shopping the next morning. I managed to get babouches (leather slippers) for my Dad after a very hard bargain as well as a mint tea set and some yummy food for the trip home.

I would recommend Morocco to anyone. If you go there with an open mind you cannot fail to enjoy it. We certainly did and I am sure we will return again.

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Photos

Tangier guide
Never ever say yes to this man..! (I mean the guide of course, not Barry)

A wet Barry
It really was raining heavily that day!

Tangier guide again
Why didn't we run away?!!

Salim
I would definitely recommend hiring a guide for your first morning in Fes - what a confusing medina!

Chicken sellers in Fes
Yummy!

Workshop in Fes
This man was making incredibly intricate tiles, and even gave me one as a present!

Me in a carpet
At one point I honestly thought I would never get out of this place!

The tanneries in Fes
I cannot imagine what it would be like to work here.

Bab bou jeloud
Entrance to Fes medina

Fes museum
At the Dar Bhata museum.

Meknes
Me (looking happy?!) at the Bab el Mansour in Meknes

Medersa in Meknes
Such beautiful buildings

Columns at the Tour Hassan in Rabat
Part of the old mosque

Rabat streets
I love that blue!

Rabat
More blue and white buildings

Prayer time in a Marrakech street
No room in the mosque...

Lunch in Essaouira
Yummy, more couscous!

On the beach at Essaouira
A bit wind-swept but lovely to be by the sea!

A view over Essaouira
So many boats...

Looking over the Djemma-el-Fna
Marrakech is definitely the best place we went shopping!

Comments

[marjan]

bravo ruth
hi Ruth, your text and pictures are excelent. tomorow evening I will go to Moroco and your guide halp me a lot.

[Najat Sinclair]

Yes, you can hold hands while visiting Morocco. Apperently, you did have the wrong idea about Morocco in the first place. Despite the fact that Morocco is a muslim country, there is freedom after all. You should have visited other big cities like casablanca and Agadir in order to understand that this country is not living in the middle ages. Morocco combines both modernism and the old in order to go towards a brighter future.

[omar el aber]

vrémnt si trés jolie les tof je te swéte ben continiation

[Kane]

morooco
I agree 100%, Morocco is a must see destination for any traveller, a rich country with a very rich culture.