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The Morocco FAQ has been maintained since 1992 by
This FAQ lives in the following locations:-
| Imperial Cities |
"You say you are going to Fez. Now, if you say you are going to Fez, then that means you are not going to Fez. But I happen to know you are going to Fez. Why have you lied to me, you who are my friend?"
The classic North African city; like others in Morocco divided
between a
The whole thing doesn't seem to have changed much since the
Middle Ages or before. The mosques inside the medina are massive,
but are difficult to appreciate since they're hemmed in on all
sides; the other major feature are the
While anyone with a nose to guide them can easily get round the medinas elsewhere in Morocco, the one in Fez really does need a guide, at least for an initial orientation. One big advantage of having a guide is that one is left alone by practically all the other guides - it can be great fun simply making one's way through a thronged soukh amongst all the strange faces and tent-clad women. On the other hand, you can be certain that your guide will make the trip via the carpet store, the clothes store (Mr Bouchta's being the touristically priced favourite), the trinket store, herbalist, leather goods store and the tourist restaurant.
There's a clear choice here (unless one can afford the
This is a large, prosperous and rapidly expanding town, with a
For a taste of what the Djemma El Fnaa was like, in the days before the hustler-crackdown, visit the bus station. Younger hustlers work outside the station, and as soon as they have elicted your destination, will follow you into the station, run to the ticket booth, buy the tickets and demand a large fee. Inside the station, their older brethren stand around performing the same totally unnecessary and unpleasant function. If you intend to travel from the station, walk purposefully inside and ignore the hustle - the station is well organized and it's very easy to find the ticket booths and bus stands with no interference.
Buses run by
The palatial
There are a dozen places around the square; these divide
between the tourist & better-off Moroccan restaurants and
some ultra-cheap simple places. Beware of the musical tastes of
the former - who really wants to sit at the historical market of
the dead deafened by Jean-Michel Jarre or Celine Dion? The ville
nouvelle now boasts a selection of international restaurants to
relieve the tedium of couscous and tajine - however quality
varies: the Le Dragon D'Or has a chef no more Chinese
than any of the Djemaa El Fnaa, rice supplied by Uncle Ben and
meals out of a can; Chinese as your mother would make, if she
weren't Chinese.
This is a little empty of tourists, despite being one of the
Imperial cities and being close to the old Roman city of
The half dozen or so Western style hotels are concentrated in
the Ville Nouvelle, all within a few hundred yards/metres of each
other (and within a similar radius of a squatter camp). Hotel
Transatlantique comes recommended. Few restaurants, some cafés
around the hotels, a cholera epidemic in 1992;
Official royal residence of and administrative capital of the
country - only an hour away by modern railway or highway from
Casa, Morocco's commercial capital. Unlike Casa, it does have
worthwhile historical sites - esp. the old Roman/ early Islamic
Citadel, the tiny old medina with famous gate and café
overlooking the bay, and the massive (now ruined) mosque next to
the terribly tasteless Hassan mausoleum. There's also a large
ville nouvelle with large stores, embassies and a splendidly
friendly and disorganised tourist office. Salè is part of the Rabat conurbation, and
site of the annual
For those with Mediterranean tastes east of the Adriatic, the star of Rabat is Restaurant Saidoune in a small mall diagonally across from the main train station - this could be your only hommous in Morocco, and there's decent falafel, tabouleh and divine babah ganoushj to accompany it.
| Other Cities |
After the original town was destroyed in an earthquake, this package tourist resort was created, in the mould of the Spanish Costa Brava on the Atlanic Coast. Of little interest, except Western cultural relief, for the independent traveller a little overoriented.
The fact that Sam's bar is here but is a recent
addition to a modern hotel sums this place up - more Marseilles
than Marrakech. Being a largely industrial/commercial city it's
attracted many thousands of migrants from the rest of the
country, many of whom live in squatter camps, and some of whom
engage in petty crime and prostitution. Connections are good to
Rabat,
"O Tingis! Tingis! O dementa Tingis, illusa civitas..."
Most people come here from the
The Grand Hotel Villa de France (the one with the Matisse
room) in the medina closed in 1992 for refurbishment, and is now
no longer the faded bargain it once was. The ville nouvelle has
dozens of vanilla 4-star hotels - typically about $25-$30 for a
double (and for Olympic-sized swimming pool substitute
rather cold little foot bath which we occasionally open). For
30s grandeur, the
| Out of the Cities |
Mountain town and winter ski centre. Much cooler and more laid
back than the cities below. Only hustling likely to be mild but
persistent shop invites, although some travellers encountered
mountain guides touting their services and buying bus tickets at
twice the usual price, withholding the change, and soliciting a
tip. The fact that some actually work with some of the
En route from Fez to Azrou is the Poche de France - Ifrane, a ski town and resort for the fashionable and wealthy - it's like a theme park in its fantastical relation to its surroundings.
Your experience of these falls (off the Beni Mellal-Marrakech road) will be one of expaseration at relentless hustlers, anxiety about crime, boredom of club 18-30ers, or a wonderfully relaxing high point of your whole trip - depending on where you choose to stay. Avoid the packaged westerners by avoiding the hotel at the road, avoid the hustle by avoiding the main camping area and head to Tafnat Camp across the river - children will help you cross using planks as bridges for a few dirhams.
Also known as Cefchaouen, this is a small town of whitewashed houses in the Rif mountains, with good hiking and some recommendations from previous net.travellers.
Dusty desert town, renowned for its fossils. A number of 4
star hotels here; Allen Banick recommends the Hotel
Salem. The editor recommends Hotel Tafilalet, with
pool, western satellite TV, bar and grand salon (415DH, 9/99)- a
worthwhile splurge after a few days in the spareness of
Erfoud is the biggest tourist draw for many miles, with both backpackers and tour groups making the long trip here. Consequently, you will receive some hustling, for curio shops, fossils and trips to Merzouga. Unless you have plenty of money to throw around, don't take the trip to the dunes from Erfoud, but take the short trip to Rissani by bus and arrange a taxi from there.
Modern desert town, military out-post, and bus interchange.
Placed on the cross-roads from
Fascinating old Portuguese
Hotel des Ramparts. Faded glory, damp and dingy
rooms, but superb rooftop views, now with changed management and
a basic rooftop café. Minute's walk from main street and
less from the IagoHanging walls, as is its classier neighbour,
Hotel Cap Sim.
Much more upmarket are the Hotel Villa Maroc on
Rue Abdellah Ben Yassin [Tel: 4 473 147. Fax (011-212) 4 472
806], an old mansion with a collection of folk art and the
splendid new Hotel Riad Al Medina (664DH, 9/99).
For olde-worlde setting, Restaurant L'Horloge in an old synagogue by the clock tower. Best value Moroccan food is at Café-Restaurant Essalam on the corner of the Plaza and Main St, which has good value set menus and an ideal vantage point to people-watch in the main square. If you want to drink at either of these places, bring your own bottle (or two) from one of the two stores selling alcohol (beyond the North gate, turn right and then left or right) - but if so, remember that you'll have to sit inside whilst imbibing the devillish brew. Unless you're an easily led package tourist, avoid Restaurant El Khaima, but do try the excellent pizzeria next door, Les Chandeliers, which also has good wine, decent pasta and fine decor.
The most common trip for backpackers and softies alike from
Marrakesh is the conquest by the East Face of Djebel
Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa at 13 and
something thousand feet [4163 m]. Buses and taxis run here (not
from the bus station, but from one of the old gates about a
mile/km south of the new bus station) as far as
Small village in the middle of the High Atlas. Famous for its
spectaular views (there's a poster of Imilchil in every tourist
and airline office) and the
Imlil is a cool, tiny, almost Himalayan style hamlet. There's
a French Alpine Club hut (discounts to Youth Hostellers) which
has bunks, no electricity, few candles, and a young warden who'll
invent taxes on leaving. (The old warden is a friendly soul, he
lives in an old station-wagon next to the hostel). It's a long
walk (6000 feet [1.8 km]) up a steep valley past old
In winter this is a serious challenge; in summer it's simply a fairly long walk. The most difficult part is climbing the scree above the hut - there is a path through this to the left hand side. There's also another way down, which leads to a second cirque (which contains the remains of a passenger aircraft scattered over the rocks) and to the path about a kilometre below the hut. This way down has the advantage of being covered in vast amounts of small loose rocks and super for linked-parallel scree running.
Seaside town north of Rabat and onetime US Navy depot.
This is the place for La bapteme de solatudeor
however the French said it. There's a long bus-ride from
Errachidia along an oasis gorge which goes way out into the
desert - ends (to quote the
There are a string of auberges from Merzouga village back along the piste to Erfoud. Further from Merzouga, nearest the largest of the dunes, is Auberge Lahmada with very basic facilities, but a fridge, decent food, camel rides and a few rooms (30DH pp, 9/99). Auberges will also let you sleep on the roof (with a good sleeping bag, it gets very cold at night) for a couple of $, and in higher season often have large nomad tents. Make sure you climb the dunes - at midnight or before sun-rise for a magnificent experience.
Update:A couple of travellers had an unpleasant experience at Yasmina, paying $50 for the night plus a camel trip which lasted half the time promised. The owner and friends were indulging in much liquor and drugs, and they found the atmosphere intimidating (Sept 2000)
Hey, this is the desert!
Far out into the plains, a mining and apple town (more than you'll wish to see in September and October), and frequent stopping off point in the journey to the Deep South. Basic bus station, with early buses running onto Tinnehir, good connections to Errachida, and buses making the thru journey to Erfoud (46DH pp, tip per bag, 9/99).
Major cross-roads and film studio location south of the Atlas
mountains. From here roads lead out to Marrakesh,
These can fill up very fast; there are some hotels near the bus station which will put people up on the roof if nowhere else; there is also a campsite on the edge of town. Hotel Atlas is basic but clean, central and well run (92DH for shower, no WC; 9/99).
High Atlas village with an old French hunting lodge, the Residence de la Roseraie, now converted into an hotel. Gardens, pool and many walks. (Tel (011-212) 4 432 094, Fax (011-212) 4 432 095)
A town north of Agadir famous for its
Capital of Northern Morocco in the fertile Martil valley.
Buses run from here to Tiznit, but you can also take a night bus to Marrakech (100Dh,9/99), or indeed all the way to Tangier. A grand taxi to Tiznit is 35Dh per place (9/99). There's a choice of buses, including CTM and the local San Balam. The full schedule, correct as of Sept 99, is:
| 6am | Tiznit |
| 7am | Tata via Tiznit (CTM) |
| 8:30am | Casablanca via Tiznit |
| 2pm | Casablanca via Tiznit |
| 3pm | Casablanca via Tiznit |
| 5pm | Casablanca via Tiznit |
| 6pm | Rabat via Agadir (not the Tiznit road) |
| 7pm | Casablanca via Tiznit (CTM) |
Once a quieter, hustle free alternative to Marrakech. Still quiet, enjoyable but now more hustly than the more tightly-controlled big cities. Watch for the tout who hangs at the entrance to the main square by Hotel Taroundannt to follow you to your hotel for a commission. You'll also get multiple invites to be shown around the soukhs; the imprecations are not nearly as tiring as Tangier-quality guides, but then the soukhs are simple to walk around and appreciate.
Taroundannt now boasts a web café, on the main perimeter road near Hotel Tiout at the SE end of the city.
Hotel Taroudannt has basic rooms for 100dh (9/99) with showers but shared toilets. Food is poor, but the wine is better than usual. The hotel has a lovely old atrium filled with large plants, and the bar by the atrium is a great place to meet local Moroccans.
A large walled city, but without the life and sights of Taroudannt. If you do have to stay, the hotel choice is limited, although a new 3-star hotel is very slowly being built. Budget hotels are very basic, with small dusty rooms and squat toilets only, and the current 3-falling-stars Hotel Tiznit (290Dh+16Dh tax, 9/99, credit cards accepted) has exasperatingly loud piped music during the day, loud and mediocre band at night, and functions as a pick-up zone for less than islamically dressed local girls. Hotel Soleil, across the road from the latter, has an English menu that is hilarious enough to warrant a visit. For eating, the unnamed cafeteria on the southern front of the Mechouar will serve you local rather than tourist food, albeit from an arabic menu (15Dh for 5 courses plus meat, 9/99).
Bus to Tafraoute leaves at 3pm from the Mechouar, cost 30dh (9/99).
Magnificent. Short taxi ride from Tinnehir (which is not quite the quiet hustle-free town that older guides suggest, although it does have some interesting kasbahs). An overnight stay in the gorge should be be a mandatory of any trip to the south. Transport is by grand taxis (6Dh per place, plus 2Dh per bag, 9/99) filling up on the main square, and berber taxis (vans or pickups, very cheap, but you must squeeze in amongst the livestock and locals) in the other square behind the main street. The gorge itself achieves sublimity in its combination of great height and narrow width.
There are five auberges (despite what your guidebook may say!) - three at the mouth of the gorge - the original Hotel Mansour, joined 6 years ago by the Etoile des Gorges, and 2 years ago by the bright and friendly La Vallee (70Dh room without shower or wc, 120Dh demi-pension, 9/99), and two within the gorge itself - Les Roches (150DH, wc+shower 9/99) and Yasmina - which have rooms and roofs. The latter is in the style of a French fort and has the best formal meals, served outside in a Berber tent, often to the accompaniment of the staff and several dozen inebriated packaged adventure types with well-organised bottles of wine. If not so lucky the hotel will be full with a stray package tour (yes, they get this far sometimes) of middle aged tourists occasionally daring to sneak away from their courier. On good days it'll be full of backpackers and young Moroccans, drumming and chanting away around a campfire into the wee hours. The gorge is also a good starting point for walks and camion rides further into the Atlas. Best food (and the best couscous for a long way) is at La Vallee, at the mouth of the gorge.
Desert town at the end of the long and spectacular
Highlights were: Skoura, Bou Thrarar and Tansikht - isolated and (so far) unspoiled villages.
There's a large selection of other tours available from Dragoman, Exodus, Africa Overland and others. Be prepared for two things:
There are dozens of ferries and hydrofoils running between
Algeciras or
There is a time difference between Morocco and Spain of 1 or 2 hours (summer/winter time) - it's easy to forget about it and miss the last boat back. Also, a passport man attempts to hold onto passports of everybody who admits to being a day-tripper on arrival at Tangier; this means that the same boat must be used for returning. Algeciras and Tangier are both crime hot-spots, keep a close eye on your baggage and watch for the scams, bearing in mind that day-trippers from Spain are ideal fodder for the fast talkers in Tangier - Rick was guided by a government- approved guide (albeit with the standard carpet shop diversion) yet was handed over by the guide to two men at the dock who initialled passports, obtained boarding passes then demanded 1000 pesetas ($7.25) each for their services (and more to the point, for the return of passports).
In Algeciras is the AL-Mar (Avenue de la Marina 2 y 3, tel +34 956 65 47 90, fax +34 956 65 45 01),has a twin room with TV, phone and bath for 8900 pesetas ($65) plus $5 for access-controlled garage. It's directly across from the port authority gate.
And to cheer you up before going, read ...
At Algericas - A Meditation Upon Death, W B Yeats.
The indigenous
Currency is the
| International Dialing Code | 212 |
| Outgoing International Prefix | 00 |
| Emergency - Police | 19 |
| Emergency - Ambulance, Fire | 15 |
| Directory Enquiries | 16 |
| Operator | 12 |
| International Operator | 12 |
| Amex Emergency No | 00 44 1273 696933 |
| Amex Local Rep, Casablanca | 202 222947 |
| Amex Local Rep, Marrakech | 404 436600 |
| Amex Local Rep, Tangier | 309 933459 |
| Diners Club Emergency No | 202 299 455 |
| VISA Emergency No | 00 1 410 581 9091 |
| Thomas Cook Traveller's Cheque Emergency No | 00 44 1733 318950 |
Warning Moroccan 7 digit telephone numbers received an extra digit as of 13th October 2000, and existing 8 digit numbers were extended to 9 digits. The following table contains the prefix to be added to old 7 digit numbers:
| Casablanca | 2 |
| Rabat, Tangiers, Tetouan | 3 |
| Marrakech, Agadir | 4 |
| Fes, Meknes, Oujda | 5 |
| Cell phones & Pagers | 6 |
| 6 digit numbers beginning 92 | 092 |
| 8 digit 0800 numbers | Replace 0800 with 08000 |
Mobile phones now out-number land-line phones in Morocco (2.7 million by end of 2000, 4.5 million predicted by end of 2001). The network runs on the European 900 Mhz GSM standard. Large hotels and car rental firms will rent out cell phones. Coverage is presently 70% of the country, principally Casablanca,Fez,Marrakech, Meknes,Rabat,Kenitra,Nador,Tangier,Taza and Tetouan.
Moroccan Mobile Operators:In terms of inhabitants, over 25 million. Geographically, some of the important distances:
| Casablanca | ||
|---|---|---|
| Agadir | 511km | |
| Essaouria | 351km | |
| Marrakesh | 238km | |
| Oujda | 632km | |
| Rabat | 91km | |
| Tangier | 369km | |
| Fez | ||
| Agadir | 756km | |
| Casablanca | 289km | |
| Errachidia | 364km | |
| Marrakesh | 483km | |
| Meknes | 60km | |
| Rabat | 198km | |
| Tangier | 303km | |
| Tangier | ||
| Agadir | 880km | |
| Nouadibou | 2753km | |
| Marrakesh | 598km | |
| Meknes | 267km |
Most roads are tarred, albeit on one lane, with wide shoulders for overtaking / getting the helloutatheway of thundering lorries. (It's about 80% tarred for main roads, dropping to 30% of the tertiary ones). Cars may be hired at most major towns (the hardy and once ubiquitous Renault 4, as seen in Romancing the Stone now largely replaced by the Fiat Uno); some hire companies permit vehicles to be dropped off at a different location from the hire point.
Within cities, private cabs (the petit taxi) operate
(with all the usual caveats relating to using cabs anywhere).
Negotiate prices beforehand, and don't be surprised if the driver
picks up more passengers en route. Cabs in Rabat have working
meters, but this is a rarity elsewhere.
Private buses, sometimes with video, reclining seats, and
(occasionally) air-conditioning frequent the most popular routes.
A large, heavily-used, and reasonably reliable network of buses
is organized by the state CTM company. Buses are a great way of
meeting (almost hustle-free) ordinary Moroccan people, of getting
down to the very far south, and the regular frisson of
apprehension as that precious rucksack is handed over to be
stowed below, or tossed on to the roof, to be secured beneath a
rope net, with the odd live
There are at present only two rail lines - north/south from
Tangier to Marrakesh and west/east from Rabat to the Algerian
border - although a third is planned to link Marrakesh with
Agadir and the deep South. Tickets are cheap, and a sleeper
service is available between Marrakesh and Tangier; however, any
journey which involves moving between the two main lines involves
a lengthy and tedious stopover at Sidi Kacem. Always check the
first class fare, which are by Western standards very cheap, and
improve greatly the chances of getting a seat. The State company
is now online at
There's only a small region of the Rif - around Taza and the
Route De L'Unite mountains - where
Out of the cities, into the villages! Get out of the hire-car
and ride some of those desert buses. It's pretty difficult for
the average Moroccan to believe that the dusty weighed down guy
taking a cheap bus ride is really an Imperialist Capitalist
Pig-Eating Infidel. Generally, there are friendly faces, offers
of seats, almonds, chewing gum and lots of questions. Sitting
next to the driver, in the Lotus position above the engine, at
night, riding through the desert, intoning Sophocles can be
pretty OK also. For the net.couch.potato, it's possible to meet
and chat live with net.Moroccans at the
Moroccan society is in a state of flux; most of the population
is under the age of 21, economically rather than religiously
concerned but for the few who are militantly Islamic - some
Moroccan students refer to these as the bearded ones.
The country has never been completely orthodox, and there's far
more
It is worthwhile checking beforehand the
Morocco is not a fundamentalist Islamic state - there's what
people do and what people say and a very large gap between the
two. Large cities -
Rest assured, no one returns missing a hand or with thirty
lashes. It has, however, been an
There are many political parties; the King currently has all executive powers, although there are moves to gradually return to parliamentary democracy (a referendum was held in Sept 92; contrariwise, a political party was raided in Casablanca the same month). Dissent has been strictly curbed; most Moroccans keep their heads down and refuse to be drawn on anything political - the extravagant Hassan II Mosque project being the most likely cause of any complaint.
Further mixed signals were sent in August 1993 when the death
penalty was reinstated, and some political prisoners released
followed by the commutation of 195 capital sentences in March
1994. In October 1998, on the recommendation of the official
human rights council, 28 long term political prisoners were
released by royal amnesty, together with official acknowledgement
of 26 previously killed secretly by the security forces, and 30
who disappeared at the
The occasional politically aware young Moroccan will air his views - probably dismissive of the monarchy and bemoaning the difficulty of reform in a country where so many are illiterate and lack the cognitive powers to question the official view of the country in the (tightly controlled) news media. The government's pro-West, anti-fundie position does, however, concur with prevalent popular attitudes - the West is the idealised escape fantasy of many and the USA is more commonly known for the Great Prince or Madonna than Great Satan.
There are few real bargains to be had here. The exchange rate is managed firmly by the government, and people have enough exposure to tourism and Western entertainment media to know the value of things. Reasons to purchase pan out as the choice offered, and the souvenir value attached to items. The folks there aren't peasants with no idea of the value of things in the West - even the merchant in the smallest hut in the smallest village will have a Visa voucher-imprinter. Friendly Moroccans will often beg tourists not to buy anything unless a Moroccan is present - there is a Moroccan price and a Western price.
Having said that, really tough bargaining (no pity felt) may drive the price down towards the Moroccan level. Note that in the South exchanging goods reaches obsessional proportions (car hirers report attempts to swap Renault 4s for camels) - amongst the desert people this seems to be done for the hell of it, rather than an attempt to swindle tourists; t-shirts with Western slogans, badges, pocket-knives, pop-parephenalia are all in demand, and are as much tokens of exchange of friendship as commodities.
For practical reasons small purchases -
The Medina at
There is not a great deal of variation in the
There are a number of reasons for this: striking up a pen-friendship, possible visa-sponsor, possible accomodation in West, recommendations to other tourists - it's quite common for guides of all hues in the scam-palette to present addresses of satisified customers (or in guide-parlance best friends), and quite often simply having a piece of contact with the outside world, however nebulous that link may be. It's often a difficult call to decide whether to give someone the correct address, no address, a false one, or the address of a personal enemy, depending on the sincerity and intentions of the questioner.
Anything from 110V to 220V - it varies across the country. Plug format is generally the two-pin, continental European, style. Get a local gadget called a prise Americaine to convert American plugs to work with Moroccan sockets.
Unfortunately, not all of us can travel all of the time. Perhaps you plan to go to Morocco in the future, or maybe you've returned from a trip or Peace Corp tour of duty there and look back wistfully on the experience.
For Americans, one excellent way of keeping in touch with the
country is
Friends of Morocco seeks to:
Contact details for FOM are:
Web:
Email:
Another excellent US resource is
There are lots of
"It is important to use fresh mint and to not to remove the leaves from the sprigs. Loose leaves will float and are more likely to clog the teapot. Also, the somewhat compressed wad of mint sprigs help to keep the tea at the bottom, thus eliminating another cause for clogging. Be sure to completely cover the contents with the water. Mint leaves that remain completely submerged are less likely to turn black and are less bitter. Use Chinese green tea. Unlike black (Lipton's) tea, the leaves have not been roasted.
You will need boiling water, a heavy metal teapot that holds about three- fourths of a liter (about 3 cups), a "handful" of green tea (a generous heaping tablespoon, more or less), several chunks of sugar, a large handful of fresh, dark-green mint (rough, curly leaf variety), lots of small tea glasses. Rinse the teapot with boiling water. Add the tea leaves. Pour in a little less than one tea-glass of boiling water to rinse the tea leaves gently and quickly by swirling the pot. Do not stir with a spoon. Pour the water out into a tea glass. (It will be very bitter, and you can play a trick on someone by later indicating that glass as one to drink.) Add lots of mint sprigs (not loose, individual leaves). Add several lumps of sugar (10 small or 4 large ones).
Fill the pot with boiling water, being sure to completely cover the mint. You can stir the contents gently, being careful not to force the tea into suspension. Actually, you should only use the spoon to ensure that everything is underwater. Some people put the pot on the fire just long enough to bring the water back to a boil. Let the tea steep for about 5 minutes. Pour out a tea-glass full of tea and immediately return it to the pot. Repeat four our five times. In this way the liquid in the pot will be properly mixed when you serve the tea. Do not stir the pot with a spoon at this time. Pour a small amount and make a taste test. If the tea is ready, serve your guests. Be sure to pour the tea from high above the glass. This oxygenates the tea and improves the flavor.
Whether or not your tea is a complete success, I hope your guests will be as kind as Hajj M'hamed, taking a second glass and saying:
ladeed! tbaarka llah 'leek (Delicious! God's blessing be upon you.)"
Thanks to
It's possible, with care, to survive as a vegetarian. In fact, the sight of Moroccan butcher shops is enough to make some people at least temporarily vegetarian for the length of their visit! The editor of this FAQ discovered, somewhat paradoxically, that eating veggie was fairly easy in the most out of the way towns, but had a problem explaining it to a waiter in a European style restaurant in Tangiers. As in many countries, vegetarianism is often the unchosen diet of the poor and meat a symbol of status.
Two dishes found at cheap road-side eating places are navy beans, cooked in a soupy, curry-like sauce and maqouda - spicy mashed potato cakes.
Restaurants will also make up a tajine with no meat, and a tajine version of the sept legumes couscous is sometimes available.
The Internet has become ubiquitous over the past 5 years. Whilst access from home is still patchy, web cafés are commonplace and you'll find web addresses printed on your railway tickets and on advertisements.
The public internet provider is
The domain suffix for Morocco is
.ma.
Cybercafes are now a common feature in all main Moroccan towns - in Rabat and Marrakech you will have a wide choice, and will find good providers as far south as Taroundannt. Here are some recommended individual cafes:-
Yes, compared to Europe and North America; unless, of course,
one happens to be a Moroccan dissident, although even that
situation is slowly improving. Violent
The only place where there has been endemic violence, although
is now much calmer, is the disputed territory of the Western
Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in the Deep south. The rebel
Hustling in Morocco has given the country an infamous
reputation, and lost it a whole generation of Western tourists.
However, the serious efforts by the government to tackle the
situation in the past 10 years have made a real difference - in
Even where pervasive hustling remains, it is still a great nuisance, but after a time one begins to cope, to see through the deception and learn how to fob them off when one needs to. It can even be fun, once in a while, to spin along a clever chap, and in the best Perry Mason tradition cross-examine him until his defences crumble. The worst appear to be the head-hustlers (in Rissani look out for head honcho in shades and shining white robes on a moped); these operate between the tourist and the real drivers, often aggressively, and prevent drivers from taking passengers without their commission or below their set price.
There are several major categories of scam, although inventive hustlers are always dreaming up new variations:
The guide (even the official ones) who shows one around town will very likely have a number of agreements with certain merchants - he'll divert his charges into these shops, and the guide can get very persuasive if his cut and his reputation (perhaps even his testicles) are at stake, when some salesman has wasted five mint teas and twenty minutes on a hopeless case. Moroccans have three words for rugs (zerbiya for small, guetifa for large and hanbel for short-pile) - there are many more words for selling them. Your guide may well have diversified from carpets into clothes, antiques, spices, restaurants and leather goods.
This is a real oldie, watch the letter vanish once amongst those rugs.
The interest appears to be in your country's imports and his impending exports.
Yes, they will, but it will usually be for a fraction of the cost. They're not two-bit peasants, they all have visa machines, even in the unlikeliest towns.
Once the mint tea is drunk and trinkets bought, one may be tempted to wonder where the cabbie is - don't.
And we'd call this another carpet shop.
These days a convoy of 4x4s from the desert would be more credible, but the cheesy camel caravan is still being peddled by shopkeepers in the South.
Funnily, there seem to be 31 sets of these monthly markets, and they all look suspiciously like the back of a carpet shop.
Three carpets are rolled out - which do you like best of these? Not quite right, sir, then here are dozens of variations on these, I have plenty of time which I'll fill in with gratuitous mention of their utility for 'horizontal jogging' and lots of English slang - Okey Dokey. Another favourite technique is to unroll dozens of carpets, and then have you reject or accept each single one in Arabic; lots of people feel beholden by the number of carpets rolled out or feel uncomfortable saying no repeatedly.
The salesman's foothold is made with the innocent question of preference, which subtly changes the basis of the negotiation from whether to buy a rug, to which rug one will buy - an inexorable chain begins the instant the victim admits that one rug is better than the other, or avers a preference for red over green; to the salesman this is prima facie intention to buy: guilt or sale being the only two outcomes.
There are certain firms which the guidebooks recommend. However the golden rule for anything is to pay what one thinks it's worth, and bargain hard, don't assume that one has to go up to match every step he takes down. Usually the opening price will be five or even ten times the equivalent price in a fixed price shop. Stand firm, don't get first-world conscience stricken; they won't let themselves take a loss, moreover one may even acquire some respect! If you do wish to buy, please do not give your custom to the shops employing hustlers in the streets to badger you into visiting the shop - there will be other shops owned by sweeter people, offering better prices if you check them out yourself, and you won't be rewarding and encouraging the hustle.
Other tips include: going to the shop in the morning before the guides get out of bed, going guide-less (and hence not having to pay a commission on the sale), not appearing too keen (insert the real object of desire amongst a string of inquries), and reverse their usual start with a ridiculously high price and haggle down to a surprise approach of start with ridiculously low price and bargain up.
Avoid trips anywhere with strangers. A few blocks into the
journey, the first chap becomes a posse, as he meets (oh so
coincidentally) his friends. Exercise discretion with invitations
back for lunch, and the ubiquitous
"You wanna get high?" This happens openly in
Tangier, but offers of good stuff will also happen discreetly in
Marrakech and Essaouria. The offer is
Police are much tougher on kif-smoking foreigners than locals.
The Rif hills are alive with the smell of dope - this is the big
(only) industry around those parts, and everyone knows it, and
the police know that everyone knows it, and are liable to smile
incredulously at the old "I thought they were tomato plants"
line. For more on this read the Hip Guide's
As with the average third-world country the dealers and law-enforcement officers have on-stage roles and off-stage deals; including the eco-scam where the dealer sells fresh-faced Westerner kif, pockets cash, then calls friend in uniform and claims reward (more cash pocketed) for tip off re certain fresh-faced Westerner and recently acquired herbal products, which can then be recycled for the next green tourist.
This is a classic, but just runs and runs. Difficult to believe how anyone can keep a straight face with this old line. Typically given just after some enormous service offered or rendered. The slightest inclination to risk/believe such an offer must be swiftly corrected - take along the Midnight Express soundtrack and play regularly on a Walkman.
Don't be part of the corruption of childhood - reserve your dirham for the clearly needy and respond to the 'une dirham' with an inquisitive 'pourquoi' or 'are you a beggar?'. If you venture off the usual tourist trail, you will find Moroccan children (and usually their older kin), delightful, naturally friendly and demanding of no more than your name and a smile.
If someone says that there's no bus to wherever today, or the last taxi has gone - ask someone else to corroborate. When given directions don't be altogether surprised at ending up in a carpet shop or hotel rather than the intended destination. Possibly the greatest asset the hustler - professional or concerned amateur - possesses is the sheer brazen way in which he does it; often he will have the persistence and hurt expression of someone who is telling the truth and being disbelieved. It is the impeccable synchronisation of dissembling and dissimulation combined with tenacity which beats people into submission - through credulity, embarrassment or frustration.
Most "nice" people don't approach strangers in the street. While it's quite natural to talk to your fellow passengers in a bus or train, or with the merchants or fellow customers, when you go shopping, people who approach you in the street out of the blue, are, more often than not, hustlers. In the case of women I would say that that will always be the case. Moroccan men would never approach a Moroccan woman they respected, if they approach you they are just showing their lack of respect (I actually tested this my last day in Morocco. A man kept asking me if I needed help, as I strolled through the market place in Tangier. I decided to confront him and ask him what made him think I would need any help, and I stated that he would never approach a Moroccan woman that way. He, of course, protested that that was not true. Fortunately for me, two Moroccan women were coming towards us at that point. I demanded that he offer his help to them. He, of course, refused, and explained that he respected them more than he respected me and thus would not approach them).
The best thing to do is ignore them. Pretend they are not there, even when they insist that you are being rude, claim that they are human, or complain that you are in their country. If they were good people they wouldn't bother you. When they got too irksome, I used to tell them, in classical Arabic, as I don't know much Moroccan Arabic,
"I do not speak with men of the street"
La atakallem ma'a rrijalati shshari
I would say that loud enough so that people around us would hear me, and realize that I was behaving properly (Moroccan women are unlikely to speak with men they meet in the street). It generally worked. Often they would say "oh, you are like Moroccan woman", and even when they insisted, it would not be for long. Do not, though, offer more explanations than this. Once a conversation is initiated, they will not allow it to stop, even if they have to follow you everywhere.
That way you can avoid hearing most of the things people say to you, and what you don't know won't bother you. Many Moroccan men are under the impression that you do want their attention, the more things you do to show them that you will not speak with them, the more likely they'll get tired and try somebody else.
Ok, Ok, both are extremely useful for getting along in the country, but insults, come-ons, etc. are much less effective when you cannot understand them. For all I know, half the men in the bazaar where asking me to f... them, but as they said so in French or Moroccan Arabic I could pretend they were not even speaking to me. After all, I have no idea what they said.
Moroccan men are extreme cowards. If you are close to a woman (especially a middle age one) or a couple, they are less likely to say anything to you, as the woman in question could assume it was directed to her and confront them. So it pays to walk with them.
As I said, they are cowards. Often times, I've had men follow me around the markets and the city, even waiting me out, when I stopped at a store. Still, when I decided to confront them, they usually run away. Ther