Morocco Travel Tips
I love Morocco for being
some of the most unique, modern yet authentic countries in the world. I’m
highly fond of Moroccoan culture, the language, the cuisine and the Islamic art
and religion. I’ve been to Morocco several times and that brought me to the
decision to finally put some of my travel tips and advices on paper for y’all.
Universal advice: try to make friends in Morocco before you get there.
This is more important as it
looks, I know but if you really want to get to know the best side of Morocco,
you just cannot miss out on meeting locals and taking part in family occasions,
especially family meals. Morocco is world famous for its cuisine, but if it’s
not made at home, it seriously has only half of its real potential. Moroccan
people are great and friendly, both men and women. So get online and look for
some friendship forums where you can get to make friends. As an extra, there is
no greater way to visit a country then the reason of visiting a local friend
(or more J).
For Ladies:
Morocco is a modern country
but it is still a predominantly Arabic and Muslim country where women simply
should not be alone. Travel with a friend at least because you alone would be
way too vulnerable and ultimately you would end up being left on the goodwill
of a friendly stranger who will rather sooner than later will befriend you and
if it’s not a good man, then you may end up with pretty bad memories of the
country. This is not supposed to be a threatening article. But after all
Morocco is part of the Middle East and caucasian women walking alone ( and they
are younger than 60 ) mean an open invitation ( and a potential visa) for lots
of local men.
- If you are girls travelling
Make sure you always stick
together and do not let any locals try to divide or distance you or you may end
up in serious trouble. And AGAIN befriend a local well before travelling, so
that you know if he is a con man or not. Morocco as a Muslim country is a men’s
world.
Ok, so we are not talking
about a VERY Muslim country over here. Morocco is a country where solid
European styles are well worn by the local women too, but initially we would
not advise you to wear the following while out on the street:
- Short shorts
- Anything sleeveless, unless you have a big scarf to cover your
shoulders with
- Bathing suit
- Any strechy clothes
- Miniskirts
- Minidresses
- Any shirts or T-shirts with big decolleté
You ought to respect the
local culture or you may find yourself in unpleasant situations.
I would advise you to fully
avoid travelling to Morocco during the time of the Ramadan. That’s a holy
period when Muslims ( the great majority of people) have their 40 day long
fasting, which is only broken late in the evening hours. This means most of the
shops, restaurants and food selling places are in fact closed during the day.
This is a holy period for the locals, when people like to spend time alone,
praying in mosques or spend time with their family members. Respect thjis period
and travel before or after it.
Fortunately or unfortunately
haggling is going out of trend in Morocco, especially for tourists. It is hard
to haggle and even if you do is most probably waisting your more treasured time
to get a tiny bargain. Instead try to get familiar with the general prices and
make sure you look for a good money exchange too.
The local money is the
Moroccan Dirham and it’s exchanged generally 1-10 to USD: this means 10 USD is
roughly around 100 Dirhams. You can get to buy several stuff out of that money,
if you know where to look for them. Get familiar with the prices ask the people
working at the reception of your hotel so that you won’t get scammed to pay
high prices, being a tourist.
Your local friend can help
you tons as the cheapest shops are always those where you, as a foreigner would
generally not go. If you look for a super or hypermarket Morocco has two big
chains, one being the French Carrefour and the very similar Moroccan Marjane.
You can get all sorts of things in these similarly to a Tesco or a Walmart but
take great care: the prices are often not that cheap as they may seem. Look for
sales and bargains in these places tho.
- Always have the address where you are
staying written down and with you
- Moroccan cabs are not like European /
American cabs
You may have gotten used to
exclusivity when travelling with a cab almost anywhere in the world but in
Morocco, cabs function a bit like taxis. Generally using big old Mercedes cars,
which can even house up to 6 people at times, these cabs will go a long way to
get you to your destination but in return they cost only a few coins. Make sure
the driver fully understands the address or place where you want to go AND this
method is not suggested for females, especially those travelling alone.
Moroccans are normally nice
and kind people but they are also often very poor people and due to the
overally lack of normal working possibility, some of them try with the good old
scams and who are better to stam then the tourists? So anyone who is too nice
and wants to really really help you do more often then not have something more
on their mind: money or money AND sex ( see above when I m talking about
females travelling alone) Anyone who offers to be your personal tour guide will
charge you a lot of money too. This also goes for lots of people offering extra
services such as couches or even goods. That’s also why is important to
befriend a good hearted local in advance. If they see you are with a local,
they will leave you alone.
- Don’t sit in cafes where you only see
men sitting
These are unwritten rules
but there are cafés ( in fact most ) stricktly for men and there are cafés
where families with kids are welcomed. If you choose to sit in a café where
only men sit, if you are a woman alone
or a woman travelling with other women, they may take you for being a
prostitute.
- Don’t miss out on Hamams but make
sure you use the right segment of it
Hamams are getting absolute
trendy all over the world these past years, however traditional hamams are
simple places with lots of scrubs, hot water and very humid air. Take care of
your belongings. Prepare to be stared at. IF you have a Moroccan friend, rather
come with the members of the family ( male or female depending on your sex)
Hamams have separate entrances for men and for women and kids. Make sure you
use the right one.
- Don’t try to sneak peak or enter in
Mosques
It is a generally accepted
rule, that unless it is written out that a mosque has guided tours for tourists
( which they generally don’t unless we talk about BIG BIG mosques) it is
considered very rude to peek in a mosque, especially if there is a female
companion with you. Avoid mosques and
only take photos from the outside ( unless you are a Muslim of course, but that
would bring us away from our initiial topic)
- Be careful with taking photos
Some Muslims still reject
the idea of photo and take it as a „ Haram” = a BIG NO in Muslim religion.
Therefore especially when it comes to taking picture of people ( men or women )
dressed in traditional Muslim dresses, either take a hidden pic or ask them.
The latter may have the consequence of you giving out some bakshish ( literally
money but also meant as tip or begging money ).
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