by vagabond » Tue Jan 03, 2012 5:27 pm
I was there for a month back in summer 2002 so nothing recent sorry. At the time, it was cheap as hell. It was also my first '3rd world' place as I was mainly touring around Spain/Portugal that summer. For the most part, the harassment wasn't too hard to put up with but was constant in some of the larger cities. I even picked up one technique for gaining someone's attention that they use which is hissing at you. It's actually rather effective. Anyway...
My route (with notes):
Ferried from Tarifa to Ceuta - I wanted to avoid the mess in Tangier that I had heard about. Ceuta didn't seem much better. From the port you walk out a gate into a massive area that is a parking lot/taxi rank. This is your first raping until you understand the prices of things (which you should research before going so you can bargain better). This was also the first place I learned about the whole "fill the taxi" concept of third world transportation. There was probably also a bus or something somewhere I could take but I was 18 and pretty dumb.
Ceuta - Tetouan - Chefchaoun - I took the cab south and stopped in Tetouan to go to the ATM. The cab driver got freaked by some sketchy people hanging out near the ATM and hurried me back into the cab. Tetouan seemed kinda crap and dodgy in general. We made our way through the mountains out to Chefchaoun. It was nice other than the plastic bags decorating the hillsides.
Chefchaoun - Really nice small town. Lots of hiking around. Also lots of kif and hash. I slept on the roof of the hotel for about $2-3 night. Was a very low key place at the time.
Fes - Decent enough place. The old city was pretty crazy, functioning medieval style place. You're due for pretty constant harassment but if you can put up with it lots to see. Some decent hikes to ruins outside of town. The new city is modern and relatively hassle-free. I had wanted to go to Meknes and see the Roman ruins from here but didn't get a chance.
Erfoud/Merzouga - This is where most people head out to the Sahara. I stayed in a little fort out here with some other folks. We did a day and night camel ride out to an oasis (around $35-40). Was very bare basic but cool place and the scenery was great. Sandstorms are fun (if you're not caught out in it). There was one dodgy operation that, when we got to Erfoud initially, tried to kidnap us and make us stay at their fort vs the one we actually wanted to try. We got them to take us where we wanted to go and even had to help dig the car out of the sand on the way.
Tinerhir - Stayed here after leaving Merzouga. Went hiking through the Todra gorges which were pretty cool and remote. Very pretty area/drive in this region too as desert meets water and so there's stunning greenery amongst the hard parched rock.
Boumaine de Dades - Also a nice oasis/river town. Not much to see but tranquil.
Marrakesh - Big town. Djama al'Fna is rather crazy. If you go in a little distance you can find nice, cheap hotels to stay (I think I paid maybe $7-8). Definitely felt like Casablanca at times with the French colonial architecture outside the medina. The drive here from Boumaine de Dades/Oauzazarte was cool as you go over the High Atlas and can even see Mt Toubkal. Marrakesh was a decent place to relax if a tad boring and overtouristy.
Essaouira - This was a cool small town. Big wide beach to the south of the main old town. I took kite surfing lessons here, about $100 for 4 days of instruction (about 2 hrs ea.). Obviously, a lot windy and chillier than other parts of the country so you'll want to over a jumper at night. You can take buses to beaches further south that have no one other than locals running around on horses. Even further south you hit the more touristed surf/windsurf spots of Agadir and the like.
Casablanca - Was there for 5 minutes but was a bit too big and hustle and bustle for me at the time. Left immediately to Rabat.
Rabat - Pleasant place, clean, orderly. Boring. There were a few things I wanted to see but I left after two nights and went up to Asilah.
Asilah - Tiny coastal town not far from Tangier on the Atlantic side. Very nice place but w/ pricey accommodation. A city south of it called Larache is also supposed to be a similarly nice beach town.
Getting out - from Asilah, I took the early morning bus to Tangier then a cab to the port. I guess on the way out there's not much harassment (or maybe they cleaned it up) but there were no touts to be spotted and the facilities were very nice and organized. Took the ferry across to Algeciras from which I immediately got the gut-feeling of "dodgy shithole" and went to the train station and caught a train to Granada.
Hope that helps.
"If you were born near someplace called "The Erg of ____" you lost the lottery." - Kurt the Wise
"If you're stupid, the whole world is a dangerous place." - friendlyskies