Summary
I had a really good time in Morocco when I wasn’t in a city and an okay time when in a city. The mosaic, ceramic, rug art was really enjoyable and everywhere. Driving was mostly fine. Being a foreign tourist was, at times, taxing. However, the adventure climbing and canyoning potential was super amazing a huge highlight. I would definitely go back, with adventure partners.
Some Basics
Arab and Berber are the primary local languages and French was commonly used as well. It wasn’t uncommon for people to know a few English words but a detailed conversation was rare. I was surprised to learn that Moroccans are pretty friendly towards the US. You shouldn’t drink the tap water but I got on fine with buying a couple bottles of water and then treating their tap refills with my Steripen. Dinner typically costs 80-160 Dhm ($9-17 USD). I always got hot water out of the shower, but often it was short outside a city. It is a cash culture and a card was rarely accepted anywhere. Olives, mint tea, Tangine, couscous, bread, egg, honey, almond butter and something resembling paratha were stables.
Respecting the Culture
The conservative culture of desert Muslim societies is attractively interesting with its hospitality, customs, art and architecture. However, as a pretty open Californian, it could feel kinda stifling as well with its strict gender interaction rules, modesty norms and behavioral expectations. Yes, foreigners kinda get a pass on things, but all local men and women are wearing loose clothing covering their whole body. So I felt a bit uncomfortable even going on a run in leggings and wouldn’t show any skin past a T-shirt (even exercising) in public. Yes, some people wore shorts or even tank tops or above the knee dresses, but that felt to me pretty disrespectful of the modest society.
Similarly, I was careful about avoiding interactions with women, outwardly enjoying music in my headphones in public, trying to only interact with people using my right hand, not visibly eating/drinking in the daylight during Ramadan, etc. As a person who thinks we write our own rules, following strict norms out of respect can feel awkward. In my culture, I feel I can push boundaries but in another I am more deferential so to be a respectful guest.
The Great: Hospitality
People were in general really friendly and welcoming in Morocco. I was able to have good interactions with staff at the places I stayed. Was invited for tea or Iftar (meal after breaking Ramadan fast) with a few people. Despite not speaking either local or colonial languages, people were patient. I was very welcomed and people tried to include me. I think given the gendered cultural norms in the conservative society, being a man helped a lot with this.
The Mixed: Driving in Morocco
I actually loved driving in Southern Morocco. Sure the roads sometimes went down to 1.5 paved lanes but there was little traffic and it was less potholed than Tahoe. The road felt like it had no real rules and driving more organic with everybody and everything on the road just trying to get by.
Driving on the more populous / touristy Northern side of the Atlas Mountains got a bit taxing mainly because there were more traffic police and they were really intent on collecting citations. These police are stationed at 50% of roundabouts (pretty much the only intersection type) and I could pass like 10 speed traps in a day. Enforcement is arbitrary and super meticulous compared to the more intuitive driving behavior outside of these checkpoints. The one time I got off a citation was when the officer saw I had already been cited that day and then let me go. This was after trying SO HARD not to exceed the rapidly changing speed limits every 1-2 minutes…or several times in 20 seconds. It made driving more dangerous because it added more things to pay attention to outside of the more important navigation of pedestrians, motorbikes, a diversity of vehicles and speeds, parked cars in the right lane, dogs, directions, etc.
The heavy enforcement I experienced at the end of my trip in the Central-North really made me miss the open road of Southern Morocco. Citations are not expensive (typically 150 Dhms), but like how many citations can I get before I’m in bigger trouble? The only upside is the traffic officers typically wore snappy white uniforms and were always friendly.
The Challenging: Foreigners are a source of income
While the hospitality was genuine from most people. (People can be both be genuinely friendly and desire to do business with you!) I did get pretty tired of so many people trying to get some Dihrams from me. Everyone is just going about their day on the street until a person sees I’m a foreigner and now he is asking for money, repeatedly.
I had to be more assertive than normal getting people to leave me alone. I had the worst time in Fez where people will help you park, wash your window, push the button for the parking area, give directions, be a tour guide, all with the expectation you will give the some money afterward… Are you lost? No, I am just taking a moment to reorient or enjoy a view.
One guy literally stared at my money from a couple feet away as a store worker was counting it (ten feet inside his shop) in payment of something of good quality (so kinda expensive) and frantically insisted I walk out of that shop to his shop to buy things from him. Following along with me for a while. I mean, common… we all know that is rude. The constant bombardment made me more avoidant of people and sometimes to want to not leave my room.
The Tragic: Street Dogs
There are a lot of stray cats on the streets, in restaurants, cafes, sleeping on motorbikes and generally they look in okay shape (except a few small kittens) and sometimes are even fed little kibble. However, the street dog situation is a different story and they often look in pretty bad shape, often very scared / cowed and only occasionally aggressive as guard dogs.
It’s hard to hear the yelping at sunset as the dogs sort things out and see cute puppies be completely ignored and dirty. Dogs are not viewed positively or really to be touched in most Islamic cultures. I’m kinda surprised they were allowed to exist for this reason, but I guess I did see them sometimes used by shepherds or as guard dogs. It was just kinda tragic to see animals desiring interaction but being ignored and in a bad way. There are street dogs all over the world but there is a huge variety in how they are treated in each place.
Perspective of the Places
Marrakech
I was kinda overwhelmed in Marrakech, I got into the souks the first day and it took me an hour to get out of its slow moving traffic with constant motorbikes or other traffic pushing through. The Bahia Palace was very beautiful, but everyone is taking “that one selfie” in it, so was kinda annoying / intrusive… People really wanted your business, especially at the popular Jemma El-Fna plaza / Medina which felt overly tourist-oriented. All this busyness and foreigner attention often made me not want to leave my Riad.
Fez
It might have been because it was Ramadan when I was in Fez, but I was relieved to feel like the souks were less busy, with way less motorbike traffic and I didn’t feel as compressed as in Marrakech. Fez is famous for my favorite Moroccan dish (Chicken Pastilla) and its tanneries. I felt similar to this person about the tannery viewings being interesting, but strange to feel like observing someone working in difficult working conditions is ‘an attraction’. I did think the leather goods here were pretty impressive. I found the fortress walls cool, but locals in the tourist district much more assertive to “help you” for money, so I again felt I overstayed in a city.
I stayed in the Anti Atlas Mountains the longest and it was also my favorite section of the trip with the most adventures climbing and canyoneering. The small town had a relaxed feel with a familiar daily rhythm. I felt less an observed tourist here than anywhere else. I would definitely go back for two weeks if I had adventure partners.
I figured with all the hype and the UNESCO status this place would be a striking Ksar, but while visually interesting, I found it mostly a tourist bus stop because a scene from Game of Thrones was filmed here. That said, I did have a once in a lifetime accommodation at a 400 year old, candlelit Kasbah within that UNESCO heritage site and the local ‘art gallery’ had really high quality (if expensive) rugs.
As an add-on, it was cool to visit nearby Ouarzazate to tour Anti-Atlas Studios to walk around a bunch of sets from Kingdom of Heaven, an Egyptian mock-u-comedy, Gladiator, etc. Just make sure you visit in the morning before all the tour busses crowd the attractions.
I had fun checking out one of the many sport multi-pitches here on sticky, quality limestone. However, I had a bad climbing guide experience so I didn’t climb as much as I’d like and it was very low season for climbers to try to find a partner. It could use an actual guide book and not all the routes in-canyon are accessible due to people selling their wares over them. I’d say it’s worth returning because the rock is good and has potentially really good climbing. The canyon is very beautiful and I did have some fun off trail adventures.
