Morocco is a destination that offers endless possibilities, but due to unfounded fears and prejudices, it ends up stopping the adventure of hundreds of travellers. Get comfortable and ready to know the 10 things you should know before travelling to Morocco.
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| credits : Pixabay |
Surely you have heard or read somewhere that Morocco is a very cheap destination for the travellers. Well, I had the opportunity to spend a week touring the south of the country with only 250 euros of budget, including a round trip by plane, accommodation, meals, local transport and activities such as spending a night camping in a Berber Khaimah or riding a dromedary.
During those days I did not go hungry, nor did I deprive myself of doing everything I wanted.
With this, I want to tell you that, despite travelling as a backpacker and always keeping in mind the optimization of my budget, I never had a bad time.
Every night he slept in a comfortable bed and, following the Moroccan customs, drank green tea at all hours.
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| credits : Pixabay |
2 - The currency changes
The official currency of Morocco is Dirham (DH). The current exchange rate against the euro is 10.84 Dirham (MAD) = 1 Euro. Avoid whenever you can the currency changes before the trip and in airports to save unnecessary commissions. In the big cities, you will find dozens of establishments with a much more beneficial exchange rate.
If you have no idea which office offers the best exchange rate, do not be embarrassed to ask. I found an establishment very close to the hostel where I stayed that offered one of the best conversions we saw during the trip.
When it comes to making mental calculations with your purchases you have it easy. What I was doing was converting 10 dirhams directly to one euro. This saved me the calculator and always had some extra money compared to the expense I had estimated.
3 - The linguistic barriers
The official languages of Morocco are Moroccan Darija and Berber. French is spoken in practically the whole country, and do not find it strange to hear them speak also in Spanish. For something, Morocco is the country of the Arab world where French is most studied. But what is really going to make things easy for you to communicate is the simplicity and linguistic ease of the Moroccans. Walking through the medinas you will find natives speaking English or Spanish fluently enough, and do not be scared if you hear them chanting German, Russian or Italian.
I do not know what your secret will be. You, for now, stay pretty close to them, see if you can find out!
4 - You will drink a lot of tea.
All my life I have been more of coffee than of tea, but I have to admit that the balance began to reverse since I made that trip to Morocco. Beer, being banned for Muslims, can only be found in hotel chains or restaurants aimed exclusively at tourism, which translates into a high price to pay. You have the option of bringing it from home, although the best thing you can do is forget about it during your travel days.
One of the basic principles of any self-respecting traveller is to try to adapt to the local culture in order to learn from it and better understand the world in which we live.
So, my advice is to replace beer with tea. In Morocco, you drink at all hours and is the perfect excuse to start a conversation with strangers and make new friends. Also, it's delicious!
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| credits : Pixabay |
Finding a comfortable bed at a good price is very easy in Morocco. You can find shared rooms in hostels for 5 or 6 euros. Unless you travel as a group, avoid as much as possible to book more than the first two nights. By booking each stop of your trip in advance, you run the risk of finding a place that does not finish pleasing you and you will have to decide whether to hold on or lose the money you have already paid. On my mobile phone, I have always installed applications such as Booking or Hostel World to book accommodation on the fly. If a day or two before I see that the offer is wide, I prefer to avoid the reservation and judge the establishment with my own eyes. Remember that asking to be shown the room before closing any agreement is always a good option.
In addition to that in Morocco, the manager or owner of the hostel will always be open to negotiating. You're in Morocco for something!
6 - Weather in Morocco
Although it may be hard to believe, Morocco can become a very cold country, especially in the higher mountains. But calm, that unless you are planning to visit the Atlas villages or spend the night in the desert during the winter, you will not be cold.
The best times to travel to Morocco correspond to the seasons of autumn and spring when the temperatures are much more compassionate with the traveller.
In summer it is not very attractive to travel to Morocco because of its high temperatures. In the south of the country and the desert areas, these can reach up to 45 degrees.
Regarding the desert, I made my trip in October and I had no problem. It was hot, as is obvious, but it was more than bearable. For the night I wore a sweatshirt, although I think I did not even use it.
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| credits : Pixabay |
7 - You are going to lose yourself.
One of the greatest charms of travelling, which is appreciated and valued more as more experience you are taking, is to lose yourself for a few hours.
Walk without a map or GPS that tells you the way. Follow your instinct and let it be the colours, the people or the most mundane aspects who decide the course, it is a fabulous feeling.
We overestimate the fact of getting lost in a city and see it as something dangerous. Get away from the itineraries proposed by your travel guide, followed by all travellers as if it were the only possible route, will allow you to cross with those surprises of which I spoke in previous paragraphs.
After all, what is the worst that could happen to you? Unless you are so grumpy that you do not remember the street name of your accommodation, or a nearby main square or avenue, you have nothing to worry about. Always carry a small notebook with you to record this type of information or use your mobile phone camera to take a photo of the street or billboard of your hostel. Surely someone will know how to explain your way back!
8 - Reserve your shopping instincts.
Travelling to Morocco will awaken your consumerist instincts. In all cities, you will find hundreds of street stalls and markets with a thousand and one inventions that will capture your attention. If one of your first plans is to go to the souk of the city, it is quite likely that you will not return with your hands empty. Buying clothes, crafts or souvenirs for your friends and family is great but try to resist until at least the last day. Your efforts optimizing the weight of your backpack will have been in vain if the second day of travel loads of gifts. Do not you think? Avoid buying the first day will also help you see what else you find in other cities and towns of your travel itinerary. Whenever you can, try to collaborate with the local economy. So, avoid buying in the main stalls where all tourists buy and save your Dirhams to invest in smaller businesses and family.
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| credits : Pixabay |
Always bear in mind that you are going to travel to a country with a strong cultural and religious contrast. You may disagree in certain social points of view, or with certain customs or traditions, but do not forget that you are not in your country, nor in your city, nor in your neighbourhood. Here you are the foreigner. You are the one who must adopt a proactive stance and focus your efforts on understanding the vision of a culture that differs so much from yours. Do not get angry if they do not let you enter the mosque and try to empathize with the population. After all, the trip is reduced to that. To empathize with who you have before you and offer the best version of yourself. So, please, avoid behaving like an idiot, and if you discover things that simply do not fit with your principles and values, nobody is going to force you to return in the future. But be yourself who judges and do not let third parties or the media decide whether or not to make that trip.
10 - Avoid drugs.
One of the tendencies of a certain type of people is to travel to Morocco with such a habit of smoking hashish at a bargain price. However, this is an aspect to which we must pay special attention. The possession of cannabis can be punished with a simple fine up to one season in prison. If you want to smoke, do it, but listen to the possible consequences. Like everything in this life, the decision is always yours.
