11 reasons WHY I FELL IN like WITH MOROCCO

Updated: 1/20/2020 | January 20th, 2020

Visiting Morocco has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I’ve always wished to trip a camel, see the desert, check out maze-like medinas, as well as drink tea with Berbers.

As I stood overlooking the Sahara one morning, marveling at the rhythmic, undulating dunes of the desert, that dream had come true. I had ridden a camel to the area where I would look at a million stars that night, smiling at the truth I was lastly somewhere I had dreamed about under the exact same stars countless miles away.

For two weeks, I traveled around the country on Intrepid Travel’s finest of Morocco tour as well as gorged myself on couscous, drank my body weight in mint tea, hiked, as well as absorbed the sights as well as seems of Morocco.

Morocco was an incredible as well as rewarding experience. It batters your senses as well as is full of surprises. If you’re looking for reasons to go, right here are some highlights from my trip:

1. Camel Trekking in the Sahara

While I desire you might still trip the old camel caravans from Morocco to Egypt, I settled for one night under the stars. turns out riding a camel for an hour is quite uncomfortable, however seeing the lovely color of the desert up close as well as personal, camping with Bedouins, as well as gazing at a million stars without any light contamination made everything worthwhile. There’s an eerie silence in the desert when the wind dies down as well as you feel a excellent sense of peace, just sitting as well as being in nature.

Fun fact: It rained while I was in the desert. There was a crazy, crazy lightning storm — one of the most intense I have ever seen. The roar of the thunder sounded like a million bombs going off, as well as the lightning turned night into day. It hadn’t rained all year however that night the sky opened up for a short moment to let out all her anger. Nadreálný.

2. Hiking the Atlas Mountains

The Atlas Mountains cover most of Morocco, as well as we spent a great deal of time in the low, middle, as well as high parts of the variety (it’s difficult not to). My preferred part was when we traversed the High Atlas range, climbing for an hour to reach a little farmhouse, where we stayed the night with a regional household (who cooked us the tastiest tagine dinner as well as Berber omelet of the trip).

Arriving early as well as leaving late the next day, we had lots of time to hike as well as check out the surrounding area. I like a great hike, so I enjoyed the chance to truly get out into nature, walk with riverbeds, as well as see Mt. Toubkal (North Africa’s greatest peak) in the distance. next to the camel trek, this was my preferred experience.

3. eating at Café Clock

Recommended to me by many people as well as with places in Marrakesh as well as Fez, this Western-influenced café is famous for its gigantic as well as tasty camel burger (which tastes a great deal like spicy shawarma). The food is excellent: the burger, eco-friendly smoothies, as well as melt-in-your-mouth buttery poultry couscous were so satisfying I ate right here twice.

And, in the crazy as well as chaotic medinas of each city, the cafés provide an oasis of calm, where you can recharge, utilize Wi-Fi, as well as great down with air conditioning. They likewise offer cooking classes as well as hold routine events in each location!

4. getting lost in the Medinas

The medinas are the historic hearts of each city in Morocco: part residential area, part buying center, part food market. right here you’ll discover twisting as well as turning streets where shops, restaurants, markets, as well as houses all line the streets in buildings seemingly as well close together as well as as well old to stay up much longer.

As somebody who likes to get lost, the medinas were heaven. I spent hours wandering with them, making right turns, doubling back, walking with plazas as well as streets that type of looked familiar, as well as discovering my way, only to get purposely lost around again. They were a labyrinth I liked trying to solve while likewise drinking tea, eating tasty as well as aromatic food, as well as seeing the sights.

Word of caution: Fez is a bit sketchy as well as unsafe, so do not go as well far off the beaten path. stay with streets with great deals of people. I had some close phone calls including pickpockets as well as prospective robbers.

5. checking out Volubilis

A major trading center as well as the southernmost settlement during Roman times, Volubilis is one of the very best preserved (and least frequented) such ruins in the world. I discovered it empty of tourists, not developed up, as well as open in a method that truly lets you get up close as well as see the structures without being behind ten feet of barriers as well as jostled by crowds. most of the city is still unexcavated so the site has a extremely raw feel to it. I’ve been to a great deal of Roman ruins in my travels, however I like this the best.

6. Seeing Aït Benhaddou

Though I didn’t get to spend much time here, checking out this place full of kasbahs (fortified houses) was quite amazing. It is the Hollywood of Morocco as well as has been featured in game of Thrones, Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, as well as many more films. It was the most picturesque ksar (fortified village) I saw, which is most likely why it’s in every movie!

It plays into what people believe an old ksar should look like. I enjoyed roaming the streets as well as climbing to the top for the view.

7. enjoying the beach as well as seafood of Essaouira

My preferred city in Morocco, Essaouira is found a few hours from Marrakesh on the Atlantic coastline as well as is a prominent beach destination for tourists, particularly Brits. I liked the relaxed environment of the city, the lack of pushy touts, the sea air, as well as all the fresh fish.

Be sure to see the wonderful fish market in town, where all the little fisherman offer their day’s catch. Afterward, inspect out the little fish stalls close-by in the primary square where you can enjoy fresh seafood grilled truly cheap.

My good friends as well as I “splurged” on a meal here: for $75 USD total, the four of us shared a lobster, eight tiger prawns, two fish weighing over a kilo, as well as half a kilo of squid. All that came with drinks, bread, salad, as well as tea. (We ate there every day, as well as meals afterward were about $15 USD.) try stalls #5 as well as #11 for the very best fish!

8. visiting Marrakech

Marrakech was whatever I believed it would be: a contemporary mix of Moroccan as well as worldwide culture with the most diversity of tasty worldwide food (check out PepeNero for Italian as well as Latitude for a Med-Moroccan mix) as well as lovely design in the medina.

Though Marrakech lacked the grit as well as edge of the rest of the country, it was the most eclectic city on the trip.

The chaotic speed subjected a city as well as people always on the go. The famous Jemaa el-Fnaa square is truly the mess everybody describes: tens of countless people at night eating, shopping, getting henna tattoos, listening to bands as well as storytellers, as well as watching magicians (and snake charmers during the day). It’s one of the most stressful however interesting people-watching locations in the country. It still blows my mind exactly how huge as well as full it was! (Contrast that to the underwhelming Saadian Tombs, which is an attraction I would avoid — they are simple, the grounds are small, as well as overall, it was just bland.)

9. eating great deals of Couscous as well as Tagine

By the end of my two weeks there, I was a bit “couscoused out.” That said, I dove headfirst into eating as much of it as possible — I liked savoring the flavors, seeing the regional variety, as well as getting to truly appreciate exactly how long each meal took to prepare. Tagine (cooked with meat, dates, nuts, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, as well as saffron in a clay pot) was by far my preferred Moroccan dish.

Also worth trying is the Berber omelet, which is egg, tomato, onion, as well as herbs, likewise cooked in a clay pot.

10. Drinking Mint Tea

I’ve never drunk more tea than when I was in Morocco. In a country where “having a beer” is not a thing, locals substitute pots of mint tea. There’s even an art to pouring it: the higher the teapot, the better. I couldn’t get sufficient of this minty, sugary treat as well as sitting in the tea shops watching soccer with the locals. I must have drunk a pot or two a day. Man, that stuff is addicting!

11. hearing the contact us to Prayer

While I’ve been to predominantly Muslim countries before, in Southeast Asia, I’ve never experienced an Arab Muslim country or heard the contact us to prayer. There was something lovely about the melodic nature of the call, as well as it was a excellent alarm clock at 5 a.m. Seeing people flock to the mosque in their white prayer clothes was a unique cultural experience I couldn’t assist however observe.

Morocco is an incredible destination. At times, it was trying, stressful, chaotic, as well as overloaded my senses, however for all the stresses of travel, it was a country where I felt out of my aspect as well as like I was truly somewhere new as well as different. I liked that feeling as well as whatever else about Morocco.

Editor’s Note: I went to Morocco with Intrepid travel on their finest of Morocco tour. It was part of my continuous partnership with Intrepid Travel. They covered the expense of the tour, flight, as well as meals.

Book Your trip to Morocco: Logistical tips as well as Tricks
Zarezervujte si let
Find a affordable flight by utilizing Skyscanner or Momondo. Jsou to moje dva preferované procházení motorů, protože procházejí webové stránky i letecké společnosti po celém světě, takže vždy chápete, že žádný kámen nezůstane bez vrub.

Zarezervujte si ubytování
You can book your hostel wIth hostelworld, protože mají největší akcie a nejlepší obchody. Pokud chcete zůstat někde jinde než hostel, využijte Booking.com, protože neustále vracejí nejlevnější sazby pro hostující domy i dostupné hotely. Moje preferovaná místa k pobytu jsou:

Riad Layla Rouge (Marrakesh)

Lhostel a Casablanca (Casablanca)

Dar Rabha (Fez)

Nezapamatujte si cestovní pojištění
Pokrytí cestovního pojištění vás ochrání před nemocí, zraněním, krádeží a zrušením. Je to komplexní bezpečnost v situaci, cokoli se pokazí. Nikdy jsem nejezdil na výlet bez toho, protože jsem ho v minulosti musel mnohokrát využívat. Moje preferované podnikání, které nabízejí nejlepší služby a hodnota, jsou:

Bezpečnostní křídlo (pro všechny do 70 let)

Pojistěte moji cestu (pro ty nad 70)

MedJet (pro další pokrytí repatriace)

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Podívejte se na moji stránku zdrojů pro to nejlepší firmu, kterou můžete využít při cestování. Uvádím všechny ty, které používám k úspoře peněz, když jsem na silnici. Při cestování vám ušetří peníze.

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