Morroco

[_JohnnyF_]

I am hitting marroco in mid-August.

I’ll be staying most of the time in Agadir with my folks trying to learn kite-surfing. however, given the retarded flight schedules from London, I am thinking of getting there before my parents and hitting some off-beat paths.

any recommandations on where to go? I probably should avoid the Maghreb?

cheers,

JFF

[ROB]

Lee got some great desert photographs in Morocco from memory – cannot remember exactly where it was though.

I haven’t been there for 10 years though. :(

[rickshaw92]

Tangiers was a real shithole when I went. Marachesh or whatever that place is called is kinda nice. Good hash.

[Lee Ridley]

For me, the main attraction of Morrocco is the desert to the east and south. I spent a couple of days around Merzouga, snapping the dunes of the Erg Chebbi, but found the open hamada the most inspiring.
I tried unsuccessfully to cross illegally into Algeria over the desert, but in my failed attempts I found the desert folks to be great personalities, with excellent humour and a welcoming hospitality to outsiders. Of course, they want your money, but they are most polite about it.

Can’t tell you much more, as it’s been so long. I almost made it out there earlier this year, but a volcano in Iceland put the brakes on that particular trip.

Cheers.

[_JohnnyF_]

arrived earlier today in marakesh. I am staying at a nice Riad in the souks behind the djema el fana. full of chicks and with nice small pool. the place has been refurbished recently and looks really nice; it`s traditional architectural features are still in place. the pool is great to chat up birds and to cool down at mid day as it gets really hot!

so far a guy scammed me of five quid helping me get to the hostel. these people are like vultures for your money. I had to tell two others to fuck off.

but the food is really good. strongly recommend the chicken lemon tajine. cus cus at the street vendors in djema is quite good as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine

I also had some tea on the street. initially it was very hot but sweet. later the guy added a tea spoon of some cinamon extract making it really hot and spicy. still enjoyable though.

off to chat up some aussie birds. tomorrow I am visiting some of their main touristy bits and then I am off to Agadir…

peace out,

Johnny

PS: rickshaw mate, saw you on Monday passing through Leicester Square, looking all cool in your Canadian suit and fancy glasses… :D

[flipflop]

Remember Johnny, plenty photos :wink:

[Tonne]

Marrakech is superb, lots of stuff to see. You can see the Atlas from the city, hiking there is good fun, especially taking the less-traveled passes (was it the Tizi’n’Test? Can’t remember the name). Made my way from Marrakech to Ouarzazate a couple of years ago. Ouarzazate itself is rather sleepy, but that’s where the desert starts. The rivers Draa and Dades are going east and south respectively from there, and traveling through their valleys for a few days provides some stunning sights. Plenty of mountains, kasbahs and oases. I went as far as the oasis of M’Hamid, a small oasis south of Zagora. The locals were very welcoming and I got a glimpse of real desert. Don’t know how security has developed, but there has been plenty of al-Qaeda operating in the Maghreb for some time, especially just over the border in Algeria. I never felt unsafe though.
No point in going further down south towards Western Sahara if you don’t plan to cross into Senegal or something, because all you find along the way is an empty coastline and lots of other sandy emptiness.
Fez is also great, especially the old quarter. I wandered them for days and never got bored. Be sure to check out the souks no matter wich town. And don’t buy too many carpets.
If travelling budget, don’t use the state-run bus lines, because they are expensive and boring. Just go to the next gare routiere: some tout will approach you, you tell him your destination, haggle a bit and minutes later you are on board. Taking a bus there is always entertaining, as all over Africa.
Cheers

[rickshaw92]

so far a guy scammed me of five quid helping me get to the hostel.

Aint the 3rd world great!

these people are like vultures for your money.

Indeed.

I had to tell two others to fuck off.

Thats the reason for going!

PS: rickshaw mate, saw you on Monday passing through Leicester Square, looking all cool in your Canadian suit and fancy glasses…

Them fancy specs can be had for a score at the spy shop, they have way kewl mirrors on the sides so I can look backwards without turning my head, and yea, what Flipflop said bout photos.

[Author]

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