rec.travel: Morocco Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe?

Yes, compared to Europe and North America; unless, of course, one happens to be a Moroccan dissident. Violent crime is comparatively rare, the hot spots for muggings and robbery are Casablanca and Tangier. Scams of all natures, however, are everywhere. The government is aware of the very bad press the latter have caused in Western media and consequent loss of tourist income - police and soldiers are deployed around some of the large hotels and at some major tourist spots to eject the hustlers.

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 Polisario movement and the Moroccan army have declared a ceasefire, but unexploded mines still litter the area, and express permission to gain access must be obtained from a Moroccan Embassy.

How bad is the hustling?

Although the hustling is a great nuisance, 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; these will run a taxi-rank and prevent drivers from taking passengers without their commission or below their set price, or there will be pleasant guides who are working for aggressive bosses who make life unpleasant for both guide and client.

What are the usual scams?

• Getting the tourist into a shop to buy

  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, if 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.

  • "Please help me translate this letter to my friend in Canada"

    This is a real oldie, watch the letter vanish once amongst those rugs.

  • "Come friend, let us talk about our countries"

    Some do, most want to sell.

  • "We can swap your goods for souvenirs"

    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.

  • "My cousin has the only taxi service. He'll be leaving shortly, come have some mint tea with us"

    Once the mint tea is drunk and trinkets bought, one may be tempted to wonder where the cabbie is - don't.

  • "Today is the Berber market day; it's only once a month and the best time for bargains"

    Funnily, there seem to be 31 sets of these monthly markets, and they all look suspiciously like the back of a carpet shop.

• Closing the Sale

  • In comes the old wizended man, a starvation case, buy my carpets. That didn't work, so in comes Mr Greased Belly rippling with fat and muscle who'll sit menacingly near the door, there'll probably be the fast talking young guy, perhaps even a pretty girl. Hey, meet the whole family!
  • Generous portions of mint tea, candies, etc., followed by generous invitations to guilt trips for enjoying hospitality and not buying the $1000 rug.
  • "We have lots of people, buy 4 carpets, sell 3 and pay for their holiday". Yeah, yeah just send a $1 to each of the names on the bottom of this sheet...
  • "This carpet is ancient heirloom" OK, but check for jeeps in amongst those camels in the Berber women's embroidered autobiographies. And, anyhow, do you really want to be remembered as a plunderer of the country's cultural heritage?
  • The most common technique is to find something one likes. To the Maghrebi mind there's a simple equation: Rich Greedy Capitalist Westerner + Expressed Preference = Sale. They know that if one wants it one can pay for it somehow, MasterCards being issued at birth to all Europeans & Americans:

    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. 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 verdicts.

  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. Stand firm, don't get first-world conscience stricken; they won't let themselves take a loss, moreover one may even acquire some respect! 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 the usual start with a ridiculously high price and haggle down to a surprise approach of start with ridiculously low price and bargain up.

• Robbery

  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. Same goes for invitations back for lunch and the ubiquitous couscous (always accompanied by the same ridiculous quacking gesture with the hand). Be alert for suggestions not to bother to leave luggage at the hotel - bring it along, my friend. One net.traveller was driven by taxi in Tangier to an out of the way district and then cash was demanded to return to safety - he did but at a cost of $200. Also, be vigilant using ATMs and careful with shoulder bags - common robbery targets the world over.

• Drugs

  "You wanna get high?" This happens every 100 metres in Tangier, eventually it's apparent that the hucksters aren't selling bucket-shop air tickets and they are offering kif (the locally grown marijuana). Police are much tougher on foreigners than locals. Look out for hippies - they'll ask with the intention of cadging. 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.

  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.

  "Can you take a package for a friend abroad".

  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.

• General

  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. Perhaps it is the impeccable synchronisation of dissembling and dissimulation combined with tenacity which beats people into submission - through credulity, embarrassment or frustration.

  After a while, it becomes clear that Morocco is not, as seems, amazingly educationally advanced with an 80% student population. Some of the guides may have been students since a large number don't make it past the first year (the exam standards are determined by the budget). Helpfully, student-ID soukhs may be found in all large cities, forging and laminating the essential matric card. This does not, however, mean that the ex-student is a poor guide or has designs on one's credit cards; he may very well be a helpful and interesting young man: it is true, though, that tearing away a layer of deception sometimes allows one a better insight into real Moroccan life, rather than the lies he'll offer to support the deception. Note, that some first-worlders play exactly the same trick - passing themselves off as students to seem poor.

• One Woman's Perspective

  1. Don't talk to people who approach you

     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.

  2. Walk fast

     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.

  3. Do not brush up on your French or Moroccan Arabic

     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.

  4. When you walk, try to follow women or couples closely

     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.

  5. Don't be afraid to confront 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. There is no point threatening them with the police, they are not afraid, they probably paid them off. But confronting them may startle them enough to make them decide to go elsewhere.

  6. Don't believe anything they say

     Hustlers are great liars too. They will try to direct you the wrong way (ask an uninterested party), convince you that the medina is dangerous or complicated (certainly not much more than your average airport), and of course, they will always claim that they are not commission guides (they always seem to have their own shop). Even merchants will never admit that the man who took you to their store is a commission guide, but chances are that if someone took you, or followed you to a shop, he will get a commission on what you buy (and you will pay more than you should).

  7. If you need help, ask women or older gentlemen

     Most hustlers are young and male.

  8. Don't feel guilty

     Yes, Morocco is a poor country, but you don't need to feel it's up to you to enrich every person who comes across your path. I personally decided on an amount I would donate a day, and generally gave money to older men and women who were unable to work.

  9. Dress conservatively

     You heard it a million times, but it works. Dressing conservatively does not mean dressing like your grandmother, basically it means to avoid tank-tops (or very tight tops), shorts and mini-skirts. I found that people treated me the same whether I wore long skirts or pants, so you shouldn't feel like you "have to wear a skirt." As you can't go to mosques in Morocco, it really doesn't make a difference (a warning, though, if you travel to (almost) any country where you can enter mosques, be advised that you must wear a skirt and a long-sleeve top). Wearing sunglasses also helps, as it makes it so much more difficult for hustlers to make eye-contact with you (and easier for you to pretend not to see them).

     If you want to dress as a Moroccan woman you have two choices. One, you can go for the "traditional" look and sport a djellaba. This is a good idea, especially if you are travelling alone, and you are not super fair (many Berbers are quite fair, and have blue eyes, so even if you are not dark-skin you can "pass"). You can buy a djellaba in the souks (remember to bargain) and just wear it over your normal clothes. You don't need to wear a scarf, tying long hair into a braid or ponytail is common enough. For a more "authentic" effect, you may want to wear shoes or sandals instead of sneakers. The whole point of wearing a djellaba is not to make people think that you are Moroccan, but to blend in enough so that hustlers don't come after you. I tried several times, and it gave a great sense of freedom to be able to walk through the medina without having people give me a second look or thought.

     If you don't feel comfortable in a djellaba, you may try wearing tights or tight pants and leather jackets (or big tops, if it's too hot for leather). That's the current most common look of "westernized" Moroccan women, and if you look like that, chances are people will think you are Moroccan.

  10. Tie your hair

      This bears repeating. Wearing your hair in a sole braid or ponytail (or under a hat or scarf) will decrease sexual harassment considerably. I am not sure why, I guess Moroccan men find hair very sexy, but every time I wore my hair loose, I had many more men coming on to me.

  11. General

      My general attitude is to not trust anybody, or rather, any man. Women in general (with the exception of the Berber women who try to sell you "silver" jewelry in Marrakesh) are wonderful, though you generally have to approach them, rather than wait for them to approach you. Of course, most people are not "out to get you", but it pays to be careful. If someone invites you over for dinner and you feel comfortable enough to go, make sure to note the way and bring a present (it's the polite thing to do, plus it saves you, just in case the meal was a ruse to sell you something, from being "guilted out" into buying something -it happens).

      Trust, as anywhere else, can be built over time. I met many Moroccan men with whom I had wonderful conversations and began to develop friendships. And by far most of the Moroccans I met, were very nice and friendly, and more generous than most other people I know. When I was Fez, I ran out of Moroccan money and all the banks in the medina (where I was staying) were closed. I asked the owner of the hotel where I was staying to let me pay the bill the next day, when I would hopefully be able to change. Not only did she allow me to pay the bill the next day, but after hearing my plight, she lent me 100dh so I could have enough money for food! I don't think that the people at the local Holiday Inn would be so inclined.

      Have a great time!

  Thanks to Margarita Lacabe for this contribution.

  Further reference:

  • Beyond the Veil : Male-Female Dynamics in a Modern Muslim Society

  ---

Where should I go?

Fez

"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?" (Moroccan saying, quoted in Paul Bowles'The Spider's House)

The classic North African city; like others in Morocco divided between a ville nouvelle and a medina (there's also a new medina, but it's about 500 years old). The ville nouvelle is a very ordinary french-style town; the medina is like something out of a biblical epic. There are miles of dense, narrow, twisting passageways (Colossal Cave fans have been here before) negotiated by black-clad women, donkeys and camcordered tourists. The lanes are full of little shops selling carpets and videos, workshops producing tiles and souvenirs, and soukhs arranged according to produce. The most famous part is the tannery - donkeys bearing dead creatures enter, then there is a progression of workshops in various stages of the process and finally an enormous courtyard of Zhang-Yhimou-hued vats.

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 feature is the medersa - the old student accommodation for the mosques - these are full of delicate workmanship and are like old Roman buildings, centred around an atrium and pool.

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. The 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.

Hotels

There's a clear choice here (unless one can afford the Hotel Palais Jamai in the centre of the medina): either a normal, tourist hotel in the ville nouvelle (such as the Sheraton, where one may relax in western surroundings and sit about at a cafe or bar, or the medina hotels. Purists would suggest that only staying in the latter is the real Morocco; whilst it is true that living in the medina for a few days, in the middle of a medieval town, is a profound experience; most Moroccans live, not in a Fez-like past, but in cities and towns more akin to the ville nouvelle; spending the day in the medina and the evening in the new town, may be a better experience of the Magrhebi antisyzygy.

Marrakesh

This is a large, prosperous and rapidly expanding town, with a medina of much less interest than Fez, but with palaces, tombs and mosques worthy of attention. Each September, the El Baadi Palace is lit up in the manner of the Carcalla Baths in Rome and a Festival of Moroccan Folk Music held, complete with charging horses and acrobats - whilst this may appear to be an event for the Agadir-bound, it is very popular with Moroccans themselves - tribal loyalties are easily spotted amongst the audience as the many different folk styles are played. The Djemaa El Fna is, disappointingly, a large piece of tarmac - it does come alive at night, when the story tellers, dancers, fish stalls, magic stalls are packed with Moroccans and foreigners. The glory is a little faded, it's perhaps best to watch from one of the cafes or restaurants surrounding it and marvel at the myriad bikes, mopeds and cars darting about like moths around the candle and managing to weave their way through the melee.

Images of Marrakesh

• City Map
• Aerial View

Hotels

La Mammounia, if within budget! (Tel (011-212) 4 448 981, Fax (011-212) 4 444 4660); if not, the Hotel de CTM. This is the old bus station, right on the Djemma El Fna, and now converted into cool, covered courtyards surrounded by rooms, and patrolled by a lazy set of cats. It's cheap and has a rooftop cafe, from which one may lazily sit, dividing one's time between the market and the French-subtitled American TV shows. Order an orange juice from the waiter, and see him go to the railing and gesture to the orange-squeezers in the market - watch while the oranges are pressed and a young lad runs over to deliver it. Western-Type: Hotel Tropicana (Rec: Allen Banick). Details and booking for the Sheraton Marrakech may be made on-line.

Restaurants

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? Anne Abbott recommends:-

• Yacout, 79 Sidi Ahmed Soussi (Tel 441903)
• Kassar (Moroccan)
• La Trattoria (Italian): 179, Rue Mohamed El Bequal, (Tel 43 26 41)
• La Jacaranda (French), 32 Blvd Mohammed Zerktouni (Tel 447215)
• La Rotunda (Italian/Moroccan)

Shopping

• L'Art Marocain (everything, antiques, home furnishings)
  50, Kzadriya Bab Mellah near the Balais Badia
• Amazonite (nice jewelry, silver, gold items, small ethnic pieces)
  94 Bd El Mansour Eddahbi, Gueliz (in the French Quarter)

Meknes

This is a little empty of tourists, despite being one of the Imperial cities and being close to the old Roman city of Volublis. A short train journey from Fez, or regular buses from Tangier lead here. Apart from the Roman remains, the city offers the only tourist-accessible mosque, a pristine Christian Slave Prison, and the remnants of a massive palace. (Street Scene)

Hotels & Restaurants

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 cafes around the hotels, a cholera epidemic in 1992; Fez is only an hour/dollar away...

Tangier

"O Tingis! Tingis! O dementa Tingis, illusa civitas..."St Francis

Most people come here from the Spanish ferry; there being no other very good reason to come: the only useful railway connection is the overnight sleeper to Marrakesh - all other trains stop at Sidi Kacem (Berber for The Middle Of Nowhere) and one must wait for hours for a connecting train to Fez or Rabat. Because so many day trippers come from Spain (to do Africa!), Tangier has more hustlers than anywhere else. A steady diet of naive tourists is guaranteed, and a reception committee is waiting at the port. The medina is large, interesting, esp. since it contains remnants of Moorish, French, Spanish & British control. The city is now a rather large building site, and has the appearance to the eye of Beirut, but no longer has that seedy international air when home to the Beats, espionage and other action.

Hotels

The Grand Hotel Villa de France (the one with the Matisse room) in the medina was closed in 1992 for refurbishment, and is 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)

City Map

Casablanca

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, Essaouria (overnight air-cond coach) and Marrakesh.

Hotels

Anne Abbott & friends recommend the Riad Salam on the Corniche. (Tel (011) 212-2-391-313, Fax (011) 212-2-391-345). On-line details and booking for the Royal Mansour and Sheraton

Rabat

Official residence of King Hassan II 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 cafe 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. Salé is part of the Rabat conurbation, and site of the annual Wax Fair.

Hotels

Orin Hargreaves recommends Hotel Balima on Avenue Mohammed V (Tel:677-55) and Hotel Splendid on rue Ghaza (Tel:232-83).

Kenitra

Seaside town north of Rabat and onetime US Navy depot. Surfers are recommended to head south to Media Beach where there are great breaks and a long jeepable jetty out into the bay (drive out, surf back!).

High Atlas - Djebel Toukhal

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 Asni. From there it's a pickup truck ride to Imlil at 4000 feet [1200 m]. Asni has its share of hustlers: one reported scam involved the local teacher at Imlil, who has the practice of jumping into taxis with his friend as they approach Asni claiming personal knowledge of every mountaineer from Noah to Bonnington via Herzog inviting people back for a meal to his hut and then quelle surprise bringing out a selection of trinkets and demanding beaucoup de dirhams for the meal (there's also the sub-plot: leave your baggage here while my friend takes you on a tour of the village); this is accompanied by the common trick of giving the next taxi time as two hours hence. To really help the school, bring some pens or atlases. Watch out for the pickup trucks - they'll try to squeeze far too many people onto the back - watch them screech into cover when the police show up.

Imlil

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 terraced fields to the next Alpine Club hut at 10000 ft [3000 m] - at this height it's very cold outside; the hut itself has no heating, but is always very warm inside due to the concentration of bodies - there are at least 5 wardens, asst-wardens, deputy-asst-wardens and every nation in the backpacking world represented. Meals can be provided (at a fairly steep price) but cooking facilities are available - and most people seem to sit forever at the table, eating and exchanging trekking and interrail tales. Accommodation is in two enormous beds upstairs, and a bunk bed downstairs that can sleep about six across. It's worth coming here for the hostel itself, even if the mountain is not attempted. Discovery Travel and Sussex University have a study centre here.

The mountain

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.

Essaouria

Fascinating old Portuguese walled town and one-time Hendrix hang-out. Low on hustlers, high on lazy days sipping cafe au lait and eating large quantities of almond confections, occasionally exploring the warren of streets and alleys. As seen in Welles' Othello. Large jewelry arcade, and many shops selling the 2 local specialities - exquisitely crafted marquetry, including such traditional subjects as windsurfers and MichaelJacksons; and madly coloured patchwork trousers and jackets - de rigueur for strolling about town. Until this century, Essaouria had a large Jewish population, and some remants of those days remain, e.g. the old synagogue mentioned below.

Hotels

Hotel des Ramparts. Faded glory, superb rooftop views and a very friendly and welcoming couple run it. Biggest smiles this side of the Pillars of Hercules. Send them a postcard of home to add to their collection. Minute's walk from main street and less from the IagoHanging walls (hotel recently repainted - like everything else in the town - thanks to the 1992 Othello festival).
More upmarket is 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.

Restaurants

For olde-worlde setting, the best restuarant is in an old synagogue by the clock tower. Reasonable prices, however don't believe the credit card & cheques signs. For best value, try the restaurant 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.

Azrou

Mountain town and winter ski centre. (View of town) Much cooler and more laid back than the cities below. Only hustling likely to be encountered from mountain guides offering their services - this may include 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 soft-adventurers - Exodus, Dragoman, etc. - is no guarantee that they don't scam in their spare time; 'pay your money and take your chances'. Azrou has an excellent weekly market and the tasteless DecliningBritishSeasideResort style coloured bulbs and crown all over the Azrou itself - a large rock outcrop. There's also a local Rug Co-operative. Great view down the valley and reasonable hotel on the main street - however, bus connections can be a little confused; don't believe any timetables or locals (they're all related to a taxi-driver somehow and less than disinterested) with regard to times or destinations - ask the driver or fellow passengers.

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.

Hotels

Orin Hargreaves suggests the Panorama hotel in Azrou; even better is Auberge Amrose ("quiet country setting, sumptuous food and cheap") on the road out to El Hajeb.

Merzouga

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 Bertolucci team) at the sordid patios of Rissani and then there's a two-hour Land Rover or Transit van ride over desert tracks to the tiny collection of huts that is Merzouga, at an oasis on the edge of the erg.

Hotels

It's an auberge rather than a hotel: Auberge La Palmierie. Young owner in desert turban and shades. Gives out trendy advertising bookmarks. Stay on the roof (with a good sleeping bag, it gets very cold at night) for not much more than a $1. Rooms inside and meals at similar reasonable rate. It is also bang next to the largest dune in Morocco, waiting to be climbed at midnight or before sun-rise for a magnificent experience.

Restaurants

Hey, this is the desert!

Errachadia

Modern desert town, military out-post, and bus interchange. Placed on the cross-roads from Fez,Oujda, Ouarzazate to Merzouga and Figiug, it's an inevitable point of call on any journey south of the Atlas. Unremarkable, but tidy and relatively prosperous.

Erfoud

Desert town, and last piece of civilization before Rissani. A number of 4 star hotels here; Allen Banick recommends the Hotel Salem.

Todra Gorge

Magnificent. Short taxi ride from Tinnehir (which is not quite the quiet hustle-free town that older Rough Guides suggest, although it does have some interesting kasbahs). There's only one bus per day, but an overnight stay in the gorge should be mandatory anyhow. Rather than wait on the grand taxis filling up on the main square, go round to the other square behind the main street - Transit Van taxis load up here regularly for a pittance - squeeze in amongst the livestock and locals. The gorge itself achieves sublimity in its combination of great height and narrow width.

Hotels

There are three auberges - one at the mouth of the gorge which offers only rooftop sleeping, and two at the end which have rooms and roofs ($1). The very last one is in the style of a French fort and has the best 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.

Imilchil

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 marriage festival. Reachable by Land-Rover or Berber camions. Note that the Imilchilis now have a tourist marriage festival in addition to the real one; it may be expected that the marriage festival will eventually become fortnightly.

Ouarzazate

Major cross-roads and film studio location south of the Atlas mountains. From here roads lead out to Marrakesh, Agadir, Zagora and Errachidia. The tourist hotels which have sprung up here are present for the latter reason and not anything especial about Ouarzazate itself. Anyone travelling in the South is bound to spend at least a night here; the local people are friendly and there's little hustling apart from the overgenial shopkeepers. It is also important in being the only liquor store for several hundred miles/kilometres.

Hotels & Restaurants

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.

Agadir

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.

Hotels

The Sheraton in Agadir has on-line details and reservations.

Sefou

Middle Atlas village. (Street Scene)

Tarazoute

A town north of Agadir famous for its surf, especially in the winter months. The main break is at Anchor Point and there's also a surf camp (supposed to have a access to a secret beach). Another recommended surf-spot is Boilers, 8 miles north of Anchor Point near an old graveyard (it takes its name from an old ship's boiler left behind in the rocks.) Surf contact is Laurent Miramon (Tel: 00 212 226 5054).

Chaouen

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.

Tetuan

Capital of Northern Morocco in the fertile Martil valley.

• Dali's Tetuan

Ouirgane

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)

Zagora

Desert town at the end of a long and spectacular valley, and at the edge of the sandy ("real") Sahara.

Hotels

Anne Abbott & friends recommend the Riad Salam, with its gardens and large pool. The hotel manager's wife also does a mean packed meal. (Tel (011-212)4 847 400, Fax (011-212) 4 847 551). Further out into the desert is the (Down?) Porte au Sahara.

What's the language?

The indigenous Berber has been overlaid by colonial Arabic, French and Spanish (the latter on parts of the Northern coasts). Tourism has made English reasonably common, but some French ability makes things much easier. Comprehensive information on the range of languages and dialects spoken in Morocco is held in the 12th edition (1992) of the Ethnologue. If you wish to learn some of the everyday language, the Richard Slade Harrell Arabic Series has A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic.

What's the money?

Currency is the dirham. Exchange rate is fixed by the government, consequently the currency is not hard and there are no inflation-induced bargains for foreigners. Import/export is prohibited. Within the country, there are several flavours of bank - principally the BCM and the BMCE - with varying queue lengths, marble patterns, carpet pile depth and commissions. The government keeps a tight control on rates, and they can fluctuate quickly to compensate for adjustments in other currencies. Travellers' cheques, VISA, Mastercard and Eurocheque are taken everywhere; however, be careful of bank closures on national holidays.

How big is the place?

In terms of inhabitants, about 23 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

• Detailed Map
• Artist's Drawing

How do I get around?

• Self-Drive

  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 Renault 4, as seen in Romancing the Stone being nearly ubiquitous); some hire companies permit vehicles to be dropped off at a different location from the hire point.

• Taxis

  Within cities, private cabs 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. Essaouira has (rather tatty) horse-drawn cabs. For longer distances, Mercedes and Peugeot station-wagons form the bulk of a fleet of grand taxis which operate as mini-bus service between towns and villages, and may be hired for out-of-the-way tourist spots. There are fixed prices for set destinations and most cities have specific grand-taxi staging areas for different routes.

• Bus

  Private buses, sometimes with video, reclining seats, and 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 goat for company. In the Atlas mountains, Berber camions provide a rudimentary bus service, organized around village market days - these have arrival days and not times and can drop the unsuspecting passenger at a village from where the next camion is several days away.

• Rail

  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.

• Air

  Royal Air Maroc offer flights between Casablanca (Aeroport Mohammed V), Rabat, Tangier, Laayoune, Ouarzazate, Oujda, Fez, Al Hoceima, Marrakesh and Agadir. Fares are moderate, and discounts available to students.

• Sea

  Dozens of ferries run the 14km gap between Tangier and Algeciras in Spain or Gibraltar. In addition ferries run from Malaga and Almeira in Spain to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, from Faro in Portugal to Tangier, and from Tangier to Casablanca, and from Agadir to Casablanca and the Canary Islands.

Will I catch anything?

There's only one small out-of-the-way village with malaria. Usual precautions against HIV, tetanus, cholera and typhoid. Keep an eye on the local papers for health warnings - in the style of Death in Venice tourists can be blissfully unaware of major epidemics. Southern desert streams and oases may have very nasty bilharzia worms - don't bathe or even walk barefoot by them. Also, mountain streams may have the giardia bacterial infection, don't drink water untreated unless above the very last human habitation. The entire population drink Sidi Harazem, Sidi Ali or equivalent still spring water - do likewise, but make sure the bottles are sealed - children frequent bus stations with bottles, refilled at their local stand-pipe. Everyone should know about salads, ice-cubes, etc. - but there's a surprising number of people who go, eat salads, and have not so much as a 'funny tummy' for weeks. If deciding to live a little and eat salads, restrain for the first few days until one's viscera attune to the microbiological climate.

How do I make Moroccan friends?

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 Forum or on the IRC at Channel #maroc.

What customs should I follow?

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 Berber blood than Arab. In the mountains, women have always worn head scarves tied around their hair rather than the traditional all-over garb. In the larger towns, and especially where there are Universities, it's not uncommon to see girls in Western dress - they're also bold enough now to strike up conversations with Western men, shout greetings as they go past in a taxi or simply give a broad smile. Short trousers on men appear to be tolerated; however, baring one's top half (male or female) is still frowned upon, and can lead to some unfavourable glances or aggressive behaviour. It is their country, and the people do have a right to have their customs respected. Mosques are, with the exception of one in Meknes, out of bounds to non-believers. As in every other place, politeness and a calm disposition make life easier for all.

It is worthwhile checking beforehand the calendar for festivals and holy days. Some of the festivals are colourful and spectacular (although becoming heavily tourist-oriented), others simply mean that the banks are shut for a couple of days, which can be very unpleasant if stuck somewhere with a rapidly diminishing pile of dirhams. The Prophet's Birthday in September and Ramadan in spring both effect everyday life, and should be borne in mind when planning routes and budgets. During Ramadan, offices start late about 9:00 am instead of 8:00 am and close earlier at 2 or 3:00 pm instead of 6:00 pm; usually towns will have tourist restaurants where the dawn-to-dusk restrictions on eating and drinking are not enforced. Daytime fasting can make people tetchier than usual, and emphasize the cultural gap between foreigners and locals - travel with extra caution and sensitivity during Ramadan.

Will I be as dry as the desert?

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 - Tangier, Fez, Casa, etc. - will have bars in the ville nouvelle. Practically every decent size town has a shop somewhere selling alcohol - discreetly wrapping up the bottles to keep up appearances - though the wine may well be Moroccan and the beer likely is too. Restaurants will let patrons bring a bottle; although often with the rider that it is consumed towards the back. Some bars will permit tourists to sit outside with beers; Moroccans must go inside (where Allah can't see) to imbibe. In the outback, things are looser - there may be a bar, where everyone goes, and where the good people of the town will respect the Prophet by giving up drinking on his birthday. The Rough Guide contains directions to those essential filling stations.

What is the political situation like?

Rest assured, no one returns missing a hand or with thirty lashes. It is, however, an Amnesty International hotspot - the King's secret garden contains dissidents and those who've merely wished to renounce their Moroccan citizenship to become full citizens of other states (under ancient law all Moroccans are subjects and belong to the King). 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.

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.

What should I buy there?

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 - jewelry, small handicrafts - are sensible until the day before leaving. Lugging a large carpet or chess set around can rapidly be irritating, not to mention the dangers of loss, damage or theft. Also, re carpets, it's not unknown when ordering carpets to be sent out, that the rug chosen in the shop is not the one that eventually reaches home; granted it may be similar, but not perhaps of the quality of the rug one 'bought'.

The Medina at Fez is where, the consensus of Moroccans holds, practically all the handicrafts are produced - however, because Moroccans are so accustomed to tourists and so good at telling them what they want to hear, take this with the proverbial handful of salt. There are particular centres for crafts - Fez does have many workshops, particular specialities including ceramics and leather. On the coast, Essaouria has a large jewellery souk (about two dozen little shops in narrow lanes) and many workshops and display rooms for marquetry. The ubiquitous, and quintessentially North African item, is the tajine - the dome shaped stew pot which lends its name to the classic Maghrebi dish. They come in all sizes, and vary from the simple terracotta to the highly worked ceramic.

When's the best time to go?

There is not a great deal of variation in the weather - it varies more within the country, than across the year. However, there are some festivals at certain times, listed below. N.B.Towns close up for Mohammed's birthday, and things are quiet at Ramadan. Also, certain festivals have become lost to tourism - the Imilchil bridal festival now runs twice, to accomodate the Agadir tourists Land-Rovered in for the occasion.

• January
  • 1st: Public holidays
  • 11th: National Holiday
  • Tafraout, Festival of the Almond Blossom
• March
  • 3rd: Public Holiday, La Fête du Trônes
• May
  • 1st: Public Holiday
  • 23rd: National Holiday
  • Kelaâ M'Gouna, Festival of Roses
• June
  • Marrakesh, National Festival of Folk Art
  • Tétouan, Moussem My Abdeslam Ben M'Chich
  • Sefrou, Moussem of the Cherries
• July
  • 9th: La Fête de la Jeunesse
  • Essaouira, Festival of Essaouria
  • Agadir, Honey Festival
• August
  • 14th: The Oued Eddahab Allegiance Day
  • 20th: The King and People's Revolution Day
  • Saidia, Folk Music Festival
  • Asilah, Festival of Asilah
  • El Jadida, Moussem of My Abdellah
• September
  • Imilchil, Bridegrooms Moussem
  • Errachidia, Moussem of My Idriss du Zerhoun
  • Marrakesh, Festival of Moroccan Folk Music
• October
  • Erfoud, Date Fair
  • Fez, Moussem of My Idriss II
  • Salé, Wax Fair
  • Tissa, Horse Fair
• November
  • 6th: The Green March Anniversary
  • 18th: Independence Day
• Variable Dates
  • 1st of Moharram (Spring)
  • Moulid El Nabi (Spring)
  • Aid Es Seghir (Summer)
  • Aid El Kebir (Winter)

Why does everyone want my address?

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.

How do I get there from Spain?

There are dozens of ferries and hydrofoils running between Algeciras or Gibraltar (although ferries do not run from here on weekends - the Lonely Planet lists the Idriss I which makes the 2 hour journey on Mondays at 8:30am and Fridays at 6:30pm, $24 single, $40 return, $45 cars) and Tangier. It is also possible to take a ferry from Malaga to Ceuta (which is legally part of Spain) - this is longer, more expensive,and less frequent, but is useful for those heading to Oran and the East. The Algeciras journey is short enough to make it a daytrip - 1994 cost 5400 pesetas return ($40) for either hydrofoil (1 hr) or ferry (2 1/2 hrs). Ferries leave every 2 hours, beginning at 0700, the single hydrofoil trip leaves at 0930 - the tickets may be mixed with a return trip on the other service (the ferry is much more comfortable if the sea is choppy, and the hydrofoil does not return directly to Algeciras).

Caveats

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).

Hotels

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.

Where should I go for sports and activities?

• Golf
  • Rabat
• Soccer
• Skiing
  • Ifrane
  • Azrou
• Swimming
  • Sidi Bouzid (a beach south of El Jadida)
  • Beach Guide To Morocco
• Surfing
  • Tarazoute
  • Kenitra
• Tennis
  • Marrakesh
• Trekking
  • Imlil
  • Azrou
  • Imilchil
  • Todra Gorge
• Mountain Biking
  • Atlas Mountains
  • Personal Journal of Morocco Mountain Bike Tour
  • Discovery Mountain Bike Tours
  • Walking & Biking Tours
• Windsurfing
  • Essaourira (Mogador)

Any recommended organized trips?

• Olive Branch Tours of Casablanca are Morocco's oldest agency (since 1958), and offer city tours, golf tours and cruises.
• Butterfield and Robinson of Toronto, Canada arranges biking and hiking tours worldwide - their Morocco tours come recommended by Anne Abbott.
• Oussaden Tours specialize in Jewish Heritage tours - although there are few Jews left now, Morocco does have a long and rich Jewish history. Note that there appears to be a New York and a Moroccan operator with this name, now unrelated.
• Heritage Tours offer specialized tours, and have a well illustrated web site.
• InterGolf offer a variety of custom flight & hotel packages for golfing in Morocco.
• Alizes is unique in being a Moroccan travel agency with it's own web page.
• List of Moroccan hotels, courtesy of www.hotelguide.com.
• Discovery Travel in England run school trips, trekking, mountain biking and bird-watching holidays and Duke of Edinburgh Award courses for young people.
• Mildred Green organizes ski mountaineering for vegetarians in the Atlas mountains.
• Trafalgar organize tours of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, from the USA
• NowVoyager sell video tours of Africa, including Morocco - A Bridge Across Time.
• Allen Banick tried the Enigma du Sud trip run by a French company Nouvelles Frontieres with his 13yr old son, a Land Rover tour with 4 nights camping and 3 nights in 4-star hotels. The tour covered some out-of the-way villages in the Atlas, plus the regular spots: Marrakesh, Merzouga and Todra Gorge. Overall it sounds good, but with caveats:
  • the campsite used at Ouarzazate is next to the city and its noise and hardly the desert experience
  • his tour had one Land Rover with three tourists in it, but potentially there can be 3 LRs with 6 each inside (plus guides) in the caravan,
  • some of the villages were blocked by either mudslides or tourbus congestion.

  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:

  • condescending backpackers, to whom people traveliing in Mercedes 4WDs with couriers and itineraries are a lesser species, perhaps the missing link with Beachbumma Agadira.
  • unpleasant co-adventurers: there is a type of tourist who does not wish to see Africa, but to have seen Africa, the experience of the trip being merely a tedious formality in order to collect brag-points and photographs for those back home - those who have been unfortunate to spend a few weeks with such virtual tourists have reported it an excruciatingly frustating and irritating experience. However, it is practically unheard of for such sad human beings to buy a Rough Guide, stuff a ruck-sack, take some buses or even hire a Renault 4 - this being the guarantee of avoiding them.

What's the voltage?

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.

What should I bring?

• Water filter/tablets, water flask
• Freeze-dried meals for camping or staying in towns without suitable restaurants; glucose tablets; vitamin tablets
• Tablets to prevent / cure / disinfect / fragrance the inevitable unpleasant freestyle rectal manoeuvres
• Sheet sleeping bag (may be made at home by folding and sewing an old sheet)
• Plastic or Goretex bivvy bag and sleeping bag if intending to bivouac in the Atlas or in the desert
• Small French-English dictionary
• Internet deprivation tablets and self-help guide
• Chain and padlock for the rucksacks
• Travel soap and washing powder
• 50-pack of Prince T-shirts for bargaining
• Many rolls of film and toilet paper
• Name and address cards of less than favourite people (to hand out to new 'friends')
• A device to remove pa(ren)thetic remarks from FAQs
• An emergency card or fax sheet, containing personal details, passport number, embassy and insurance information - this is essential to get help quickly on the unfortunate occasion of a mishap. It can and does happen.
• Sun oil
• Penknife, cutlery, small stove and pan/plate/bowl/tureen
• Torch and spare batteries/bulb, matches
• Spare laces, lace spares
• Postcards of local Mosque when asked 'Where do you live, oh cursed infidel?';
• For singles: pictures (both genders) of someone-waiting-loyally-at-home to deflect any unwelcome offers with a display of genuine loyalty to SO
• Small notebook to record events for travelogue to be submitted to rec.travel.africa
• Cool Desert Traveller Kit: Polarised sunglasses, bandana & attitude
• First aid kit, second aid kit, operating table, scalpel and sutures
• Beard-comb, pedicure kit, small towel
• Mirror for signalling / blinding drivers in passing Renault 4s
• Security wallet and some old credit-type cards for a second, decoy wallet
• Lempel-Ziv rucksack compression algorithm
• Plastic bags for wet or soiled clothing
• Paul Bowles' books
• Suitably filled hip flask
• Wash handbasin plug
• and so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, ad lib ...

How can I make the famous Moroccan mint tea?

"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 Abdelkarim Benoit Evans for the recipe.

How difficult is it for vegetarians?

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.

• Suggestions : there's a classic Moroccan dish known as the couscous aux sept legumes ( Couscous with seven vegetables) which has pears in it but can be requested to be prepared without meat (there're still seven veggies left).

  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.

• Caveats : If two people order a tajine - one veg, one non-veg - the restaurant will happily cooperate but supply a single tajine with meat on one side and "no meat" on the other. Also, most soups seem to have meat stocks.

Cookery & Restaurants

Recipes on-line

• Casablanca Couscous (Vegan)
• Recipes from Maghreb.Net
• Blueberry Couscous Cake (Vegan)
• Algerian Couscous (Vegan)
• Couscous Stuffed Eggplant (Vegetarian)
• 50 Ways To Serve Friends of Morocco
• The Couscous Home Page
• Couscous Beidaoui (Casablance Recipe)
• Fatfree Couscous Recipes
• Sweet CousCous Dessert
• Morocco Chronicle - Food
• Islamic Cooking with Vegetables
• Vegetarian Dishes - Menara
• Morrocan Cookery (German)
• Moroccan Menus & Recipes
• Moroccan Food Market

Books (at Amazon.com)

• Couscous and Other Good Foods from Morocco, Paula Wolfert, Gael Greene
• The Great Book of Couscous: Classic Cuisines of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, Copeland Marks

Restaurants Outside Morocco

• Marrakech, Edinburgh, Scotland Tel: (0131) 556 7293
• EL Morocco Restaurant in Worcester, MA
• Menara Restaurant, San Jose California
• Mataam Fez Restaurants, Colorado

Is Morocco hooked up to the net?

Some of the universities now have full access to the net, and are presently working on Web servers and home pages for students: the private Alakhawayn University is the only one known to be on-line so far. Recently a local public internet provider and web site has been set up - Ittisalat Al Maghrib. Other providers include AzureNet and MeaSoft. A report on connectivity in Morocco is also available on the WWW as is an Internet in Morocco FAQ and an NSRC guide.

The domain suffix for Morocco is .ma.

Why is this question here when it has not been frequently asked?

It is the will of Allah, the source of all undeserved plenty, my son.

(-99999) Go buy a book!

The Rough Guide (formerly sold as the Real Guide in North America) has good advice on what to see and where to stay. However, check the edition - things do change and some of the information gets out of date pretty quickly - if the Rough Guide recommends somewhere as quiet and unspoiled, this is a self-unfulfilling prophecy: very likely it'll be full of RoughGuiders and their attendant hustlers. N.B. A new edition, now with colour pictures, of the Guide has been published in July 1998. Buy it at Amazon

A sumptuous new guide, sold as Knopf and Everyman in the UK & US respectively, is a translation of a French guide; this does not have the mundane details of which hotel or restaurant to go to for which the Rough Guides will continue to be essential, but provides a richly illustrated and easily followed guide to the culture, landscape and architecture - especially useful are the birds-eye perspective 3-d maps of major towns. A good up-to-date guide to customs and etiquette for travellers to Morocco is Culture Shock! Morocco published by Kuperard of London. Lonely Planet have North Africa - A Travel Survival Kit, and (which replaces the Morocco, Algeria & Tunisia edition) and the more specific Lonely Planet Morocco (4th Ed). For francophones there is Hachette's annually revised Le Guide du Routard - Maroc.

Read the literature of the country - long time maghrebophile and Tangiers resident Paul Bowles is best known for his novel of the death throes of French colonialism in Fez, The Spider's House and his first novel (1949), the existential The Sheltering Sky, since produced as a film by Bertolucci with the aid of Bowles; a soundtrack including tracks by Beat composer Richard Horowitz and traditional North & West African music is available on the Virgin label (CDV 2652); a glossy the making of book has also been produced for the film. Other novels of Bowles include The Delicate Prey and Let It Come Down - he's also written an autobiography Without Stopping, diary Days, Tangier Journal 1987-89, many short stories, the collection of essays Their Heads Are Green, and translated tales of traditional Moroccan story-tellers. A recommended collection of photographs by the artist Owen Logan is presented with short stories by Bowles in Al Maghrib from Polygon, Scotland.

The most famous native Moroccan writer is probably Leo Africanus - many more recent writers are now available in English thanks to the translation and promotion of Bowles - Mohammed Mrabet is recommended, as is the autobiography, with its moving account of a childhood spent as an impoverished Moroccan, For Bread Alone by Mohammed Choukri. There is also a tradition of Francophone Maghrebri Writing. Expatriate Berbers have their own literary magazine, the Amazigh Voice.

The Sheltering Sky is an adventure story in which the adventure takes place on two planes simultaneously: in the actual desert, and in the inner desert of the spirit. The occasional oasis provides relief from the natural desert, but the sexual adventures fail to provide relief. The shade is insufficient, the glare is always brighter as the journey continues. And the journey must continue - there is no oasis in which one can remain - Paul Bowles

Bowles is also a composer and evangelizer for Magrhebi music - Sub Rosa have 2 CDs: traditional musicians recorded in situ (with tracks recorded in the street by Bowles himself) on Moroccan Trance Music (Sub Rosa, SUB CD013-36) together with in situ recordings of jilala and gnaoua music, and Dark Star At The Point of Darkness (Sub Rosa, SUB CD014-37) which contains Bowles' own work, including reading of his poetry (the title is taken from the death scene in The Sheltering Sky). Appearing in the works of William Burroughs (Face To Face With the Goat God) is the music since recorded in Apocalypse Across The Sky, The Master Musicians of Jajouka (Axiom, 314-510 857-2) which has since stirred up some genuine-vs-commercialized controversy; see also The Pipes of Pan by Brion Gysin, Richard Sutherland's biography Jajouka Rolling Stone, An Introduction to the Master Musicians of Jajouka and the work of other Beat writers, artists and film-makers. Prominent Moroccan musicians include Nass el Ghiwan, Najat Aatabou, Mahmoud Guinia, Hassan Hakmoun and Le Malhun De Meknes.

Tangiers at the time of the Beats is described, complete with all the literary gossip, in Ian Finlayson's City of the Dream: Tangiers - an earlier scene is found in Edith Wharton's In Morocco. For some impressions of the desert there are Albert Camus' short Algerian stories Exile and the Kingdom, Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, the Italian journalist Attilio Gaudio's The Western Sahara and the classic travel tale of Cunninghame Graham's Mogreb-El-Acksa:A Journey in Morocco. One traveller recommends the locally-sited mystery Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gillman. Two accounts of trying to live as a local are Peter Mayne's A Year In Marrakesh and Elizabeth Fernea's A Street in Marrakech.

Alternatively, there's always some sucker on rec.travel.africa or rec.travel.misc who'll show off his enormous knowledge or drop into soc.culture.maghreb. On the Web, check the address posted below, and certainly visit the biggest and best site at http://maghreb.net/countries/morocco.

To search for more books and music, we recommend amazon.com