Morocco

[ignatius]

Will be going to several Moroccan cities via Spain around the New Year.  Anyone been recently?  We are a bit wary but have done some pretty intense trips (as travelers, not tourists) on chicken buses through S Mexico to Belize and Guatemala, ending up in some intense situations.  Morocco will be a very different world, so still wary not having any idea what to expect.  Any experiences to share would be great to hear.

[ignatius]

I posted this on another thread but they belong here...

here are a few pics i took of a family we visited at the foothills of the atlas mountains outside marrakech.  they served us a wonderful bread similar to naan with a sweet dipping sauce, a pungent aged butter, olive oil, along with crazy sweet mint tea.  moroccans are addicted to sugar and have serious issues with diabetes, which they ignore.  the guy in the middle of second pic was our guide, abdul.  there are no words to describe this experience.  i feared our presence as observers and gawkers would have cheapened them to an animal zoo but it wasn't that at all.

[ignatius]

this is claimed to be the oldest tannery in the world in the medina of Fes where they make leather and dye in vats, and we were told cured in pigeon shit supposedly.  the smell was quite awful and they handed us a sprig of mint to keep up to the nose.  one of the hilights of morocco for me.

[IraGlacialis]

Great set. It is always worth going into the rural areas to experience a nation's culture. I trust you used at least a few basic Arabic phrases for the sake of manners.

More along to the idea of big landmarks, did you ever get to visit the King Hassan II Mosque?

[ignatius]

We learned a few Arabic words (hello, thank you, good morning) but I've already forgotten them.  All Moroccans learn French and I know enough base words for travelling, which worked out OK.  The French influence was much stronger there than I previously thought, which perhaps contributes to M being a very moderate Muslim country.  Our guide was drinking wine/beer with us at hotel. 

We went by the King Hassan mosque in Casablanca.  Non-Muslims are not allowed in mosques but we did visit an unused one, outside of Fes if I recall.  Still had to take shoes off to go in.

Managed to bring back Moroccan spices, including good quality saffron. 

[IraGlacialis]

We learned a few Arabic words (hello, thank you, good morning) but I've already forgotten them.  All Moroccans learn French and I know enough base words for travelling, which worked out OK.  The French influence was much stronger there than I previously thought, which perhaps contributes to M being a very moderate Muslim country.  Our guide was drinking wine/beer with us at hotel. 
...
Managed to bring back Moroccan spices, including good quality saffron. 

Ah, forgot that French is still used predominantly. The key is that you spoke at least basically like the locals.
I'd say the royal family is an even bigger factor in the moderate nature of the country.
Nice snag on the saffron.

[ignatius]

The royal family were partly educated in France (and other western education) from what I understand.  I do like the approach they take to a more open monarchy.  I guess when you have a king who reasonably takes care of the people while positioning them to take care of themselves, monarchy with a dash of democracy can perhaps work.  They take education seriously now, even the lowest 'class' or whatever they might be. For a country in bottom third for literacy, they now are required to learn at least 3 languages.  A much higher % of upper grade students go into engineering than in the US, or so the guide claimed.  But literacy is still an issue in rural areas and especially females unfortunately.  They are at least trying to improve. The unusually strong French influence keeps them on their toes about being open to the rest of the world and they allow themselves to explore it.  Unlike most other Arab countries, internet access is basically unrestricted.

The Muslim aspect was curious too as many don't seem to live as deeply into it as I'd perceive other Arab countries to.  Is hard to say because I was exposed mostly to those who intentionally surround themselves to outsiders and I've never been to another Arab country.  But it might be a valid perspective to say that some Moroccan Muslims are more like pedestrian Catholics in the US.

Casablanca was a big disappointment.  It took off partly due to the movie, which wasn't even filmed there.  It feels like a 1950s city that had its day and not really a part of Morocco.  Most of the Euro/Asian countries that have operations in M, setup in Casablanca.  Even the 'medina' in C was just sad, filled with cheap made junk from China.  Is just a place to exist.

I was expecting Tangier to be a low brow tourist trap like Tijuana but it was better than I thought it would be.  There is a high point on W edge where you can see the Mediterranean meet the Atlantic and Spain across the way.  The housing stock in the area was unusually modern bizarre.  I dug it.  Most tourists just visit Tangier as a quick day hop from Spain.  But T is not quite the real Morocco.  You have to go inland.

Fes was just amazing as far as the cities go.  I overuse superlatives a little too often but in this case, I can't find one to fit.  

Marrakech had its moments too.  There is massive square in center of town, the largest in Africa, where locals gather for all kinds of actives, just huge.  Is hard to describe this. At night, over 10K people congregate and eat at these food stands in the middle of the square, hundreds of them.  The commotion was astounding and they do this _every_ night.  We also visited in day, there were snake charmers I was trying to get a picture of, which was not a good idea.  A couple guys with snakes came after me and put a snake around my neck, telling friend to take picture, meanwhile another trying to pickpocket me.  Pickpockets are the only issue in Morocco, there is otherwise far less crime than any mid-size Euro city and certainly US city.

Was also cool to take the ferry from Spain to M near Gibraltar.  On the way to M, we hit very bumpy swells, about 1 in 10 on ferry threw up.  Took 3 times longer to get there than it should have.  Was slick to see Africa looking one direction and Europe in the other.

I could keep going but better stop. for now. I highly recommend a visit to Morocco but also recommend getting a guide, especially when it comes to the labyrinth of medinas, where you will certainly get lost.

[jbkc]

I spent about a week in Morocco (along with another in Spain/Portugal) a few years ago with some friends.  We took http://cosmos.com/product.aspx?content=itin&trip=16830 (even though Europe would have been fine on our own) b/c we were 3 girls in our 20s. 

No matter what age, gender, race I would definitely suggest an organized tour in Morocco.  We had a Spanish guide for the entire 2 week trip, but added a Moroccan guide for that portion to deal with the eccentricities of the country.  They wouldn't let anyone out of their sight the entire trip (where in Europe we got about 1/2 the time free to ourselves).  They helped get us through customs, deal with any transportation issues (the ferries don't always run according to schedule, buses will get stopped on the roads to pay off cops, etc), got us through the medina's without getting lost, robbed or taken advantage of.  They even scheduled dinners for us every night b/c they didn't want anyone out on their own.  When we were out, I hardly ever saw a Moroccan woman in public (outside of the medina).  We weren't allowed an overnight stop in Casablanca because of the crime.  We stayed in Fez, Marrakech & Rabat. 

That being said, it was one of the most amazing places I've ever been.  Very different to any westernized country.  I would highly recommend a visit there, but strongly recommend picking a European tour company to take you there.

[ignatius]

Yea, Casablanca has the highest crime for M but I wonder if it's any higher than say Madrid or London - certainly not higher than say KC or STL.  Either way, I would've rather stayed a night in Rabat than Casablanca - C was just not a very appealing no matter how you slice it.

We saw women out pretty much everywhere all day long and a good many of them in western clothes, even in smaller towns, though not many out at night.  We saw couple girls with red leather tights and crazy highheel boots with hollywood sunglasses - in Marrakech where there are some very wealthy families - I suspected French fashion influence.

Did you make it to the major square in Marrakech both day and night?  Did you get to the tannery in Fes?

And did your Moroccan guide take you to a carpet shop in one of the towns?  I was kinda pissed that ours did at the end of the Fes medina.  They tried to sell me a 100 year old berber made carpet for 18K euro and after lots of attempts of hard selling, they went down to 1K, which I didn't buy.  Others were getting ripped, starting at 8K and buying at 4K.  The guide was clearly getting a cut.

[jbkc]

It was around 2005 when we went, so not sure if that makes a difference. We did go to the tannery, I have a lot of similar pictures as you   I'm pretty sure we only went to the squares during the day, I remember going to traditional Moroccan dinners at night (complete with belly dancing and music shows).  And I agree about the tour guide being a bit sketchy!  As much as he took care of us, I know he was being paid off by the shops he took us too and basically forced everyone at the end of the trip to tip him (vs our Spanish tour guide who was the most honest, nicest guy I've met).  But, I'd still have rather been with him vs on my own!  We also did a trip into the Ourika (sp?) valley and visited locals homes and had sweet tea.