Morocco

I'm not really sure how I can begin to explain Morocco to you. This was the kickstart of our European adventures and we were all so excited for it. We have only heard great things about Morocco and a friend from home even rated it as one of her top 3 countries visited (and she has visited quite a few). So I guess this may have been our first mistake, going in there with such high expectations.

We landed in the afternoon, settled into our riad (which was awesome!) and headed straight to the square for some dinner and this is where it all went downhill. Over the years we have experienced various forms of annoyance and abuse from the locals, mainly in the form of them being sleazy and saying funny things such as 'I would pay 100 camels to have you' and so on. However, this experience took it to a whole new level. We had guys deliberately getting in our way and trying to feel us up, grabbing us and trying to get us to come with them, walking behind us and trying to touch our asses and even follow us on motorbikes. It was actually quite confronting and slightly scary by the end of it. We managed to grab a meal and head back to the hostel in what seemed like record time. Rhiannon had never travelled to a country like Morocco before and this experience pretty much threw her into the deep end in terms of cultural shock. This even made Toma and I consider the situation and in turn would start our reconsideration of the country itself. 

What was meant to be a 2-3 week stint in Morocco lasted 6 days. I am not sure if it was the timing, the people or the structure of what we planned to do in Morocco but it didn't win my heart over in the end. We based ourselves in Marrakech and after the first night planned to get out of there so we booked a 3 day Sahara desert trip for 90 pound. It all sounded great; travel through the Atlas mountains, stay at a hotel in a beautiful gorge, go visit another gorge, camel ride into the desert, stay in a Berger style tent or under the stars, watch the sunrise and make your way back to Marrakech the scenic way. If only it was like that. The first day we did nothing but drive and stop 'ok take photo then we go in 5 minutes'. This got really annoying because the photos were of winding roads in a mountain (1-2 photos is enough and just one stop for it too) and rocks and other useless things. By the time we got to the hotel we just wanted dinner and a good night sleep so we couldn't give a hoot exploring the gorge that surrounded us. 

The next day we stopped for lunch before going to the Todra Gorge. We were told we could swim there and as we crossed paths with the other group that we kept bumping into the girl said to us that 'its really amazing definitely go swimming!' How silly we were to believe that we could actually go swimming because once we got there the water literally went to your ankles. We asked if there was a swimming section and the man pointed to an area that was pretty much knee deep. We took some pictures anyways and made the best of the 'swimming'. By now I was a little worried about what the Sahara Desert was going to bring us as we hadn't had much luck and this is what EVERYBODY raved about. We did a village walk, brought our scarves, learnt how to wrap them up to protect the sand should it fly into our faces and were given our camels. The ride was 1.5hrs and even 10 minutes on a camel is enough for my body but we all felt the pain of a camel ride and chose to take in the scenery and not complain. This part of the trip truly did not disappoint. It was beautiful to see the desert, so untouched, peaceful and charming. 

We arrived at our tents and a small campfire-stlye set up was made where we ate dinner, listened to the guides play Moroccan music and laid down staring at the open sky. There is something about watching stars that makes you feel as though life has just paused for you. Living in a city we hardly see many stars but in the desert it was almost as if every star possible was shining for us. We laughed and joked, sharing stories and watched countless shooting stars go past (Rhiannon unfortunately missed almost all of them). Morocco had finally provided me with an unforgettable experience.

Once back in Marrakech we planned a way out of here as we all knew that we were seeking the beach in such hot weather and had not been impressed by Morocco enough to stay. The cheapest flight out was a few days away so we filled the time with a day trip to Essaouira, a surfing beach and a fishing port. I really liked this place. It had a real cruisy feel to it compared to Marrakech and such beautiful little side streets with small shops and markets. Yet once again it didn't pull me in which was a shame and therefore a day trip was enough for me.

Back in Marrakech we explored the medina's during the day, caught up with our emails, started reading the Hunger Games triology and even begun to watch the Revenge series. Not the most desirable thing to do on a 'holiday' but sometimes you really do just need a few days lazing about and pretending like your at home, resting, especially when the weather is 35+ and you need to cover up in the streets, making the riad the perfect place to stay in your pj's.

So what went wrong in Morocco, why did we not like it compared to everyone else? I believe that it was because we were in Marrakech for too long. If I was to go again (and I most definitely haven't ruled it out) I would plan it much better, moving forward in a large circle or even selecting to do it on a tour. Travelling around as we did I felt that we didn't get to see much of the culture and unfortunately our encounters with people didn't always go so well. It seems like the people in this country seldom smile and are constantly trying to make a buck from you so to me there was hardly any humbleness about them. The sites really did get compared to Turkey (which was fantastic) and really weren't that appealing. However to us the biggest downfall was the sleaziness and the high expectations. We have been told that Egypt is worse in terms of sleaziness so we can only go there prepared now.

On a final note, I did manage to capture a few good photos so enjoy!

Morocco........until we meet again (if it ever happens)