TRAVEL DIARIES - MOROCCO (ENGLISH)
11/07/2018
I’ve had the pleasure of travelling to Morocco at the end of October,
which was perfect timing regarding the weather. I would chose this time of year
next time as well. It was so nice to fly from autumn to 25-30 degrees celsius
summer weather. I wouldn’t recommend visiting Morocco in the summer because the
temperature can easily be around 40 degrees celsius.
Morocco is a huge country, so if you’re only staying one week, you have
to really think about what you want to see. We decided to start with a little
bit of Marakech, then ont he last few dayswe checked the ocean and stayed in
Agadir. Our plane landed in Agadir from Budapest and w epre ordered a transfer
from there to Marakech, which was about a 3 hours car ride.
You want to find your accomodation near the city centre in Marakech, so
all those markets are nearby. The centre is called medina, which is a Unesco
World Heritage Sight. We lived in a riad which is a traditional moroccan house.
There were only 4 rooms in the entire
house and we got the breakfast served in the friendly and quiet inner
garden.You could also sit on the rooftop – which is common in Marakesh – from
where you had amazing vieew on the city.
We spent our first day exploring the
neighborhood, the spices and all those interesting things the market had to
offer. We also checked the Bahia Palace, but because everything was in either
french or arabic, we didn’t understand one single thing. Well the colourful
tiles and the hidden gardens made up for it.
On our second day we went to Le Jardin Majorelle
which is Marakech’s famous botanical garden. It was renovated b Yves Saint
Lorent himself int he 80s after he discovered the place from his window and
didn’t like the view… at least according to the „legend”. We went back to the
market sin the afternoon and tried some sisha as well. We opted for some lunch
that was made in the so called tagin, which is a traditional moroccan slow
cooker dish.
We booked a trip at our landlord for the third
day where they brough us to the Atlas mountains nearby. We hiked, saw some
waterfalls and admired the amazingly red stones and sand.
We packed our belongings ont he fourth day and
headed back to Agadir, this time ont he local bus instead of a transfer. We
booked the ticket in advance the day before at the bus station where they were
super helpful. They even guided us to the bus to make sure we find it. There
were only two other tourists on the bus so we really found ourselves surrounded
by locals. Don’t be suprised if some of them will try to be friendly and start
a conversation. They also sell a ton of crazy things on the bus before it leaves
the station.
Agadir is a typical holiday town full of hotels
so we focused on enjoying the ocean and the calm environment, which was a
Godsent after busy Marakech where they ride on motorcycles in the nearest
streets and there are so many people all the time. Agadir was destroyed by an
earthquake in the 60s so the rebuilt city is quite young. People didn’t move
back to the medina so it is now a museum. I think it’s totally worht a visit
because it’s not expensive and it really has tohe picturesque streets we all
imagine when thinking about Morocco.
If you’re only visiting Agadir, it’s worth
signing up for some trips, because one or one and a half day is more than enough
to go around Agadir and see everything. I think the 3 day long desert trip
sounds interesting, where they take you camel riding and you can sleep in a
tent, under the stars. We went for a quad ride and checked a berber house where
they offered mint tea. All in all we spent 6 interesting and eventful days in
Morocco where we definitely got away from our usual weekdays. After all, we
flew to another continent and got to know a whole different culutre. The good
thing is that we didn’t have to travel to the other side of the World, with
only a 4 hour 30 minutes ride it’s available for anyone. And I’m saying this
because the prices aren’t expensive at all, and with a little bit of
bargaining, they can be even cheaper.
tips/ good to know
- the moroccan currency is dirham, which is a closed currency. This means that you can only buy it in Morocco so be prepared with euro sor dollars.
- it is absolutely mandatory to bargain, except in restaurants and regarding your accomodation.
- it is not recommended to try tap water if you are a tourist
- only eat food that is hot when served, do not try streetfood
- ordering salad should be fine, buti f you want to be safe, you can disinfect it with some vinegar
- they don’t sell alcohol in most shops
- the traffic is crazy so I won’t recommend renting a car
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