Morocco In 10 Days- A Brief How-To Itinerary.

So you’ve got your cheap flight from easyJet, a return flight to Marrakech, and, if you’re anything like me, you have no idea what to do. So without further ado I present my guide to how best to blow 10 days in Morocco.

*Please bear in mind that this is an ultimate budget guide, not luxury, and also that it has as its central idea that you will not mind experiencing things like funny smells, the treat of robbery and some seriously funkadelic food*.

You Will Need:

A backpack. 35 litre maximum, you want it to be just hand luggage sized.
A pair of sneakers. Converse are good.
A pair of flip flops.
A pair of trousers.
A pair of shorts.
A pair of beach shorts.
4 t-shirts, 1 long-sleeved. Get silly designs if possible.
1 collared shirt, thin as possible.
2 jumpers. The nights get pretty chilly.
1 good hoody. See above.
1 Arab scarf (the woven type recently fashionable amongst indie kids with silly fringes)
Pants and socks. As many as you like of either.
Washbag including 1 bar of soap, 1 razor and deoderant. You dont need anything more.
Needle and thread. Always handy, don’t travel without it.
Pen and paper.
1 good book. I chose Plato, but everyone’s different.
1 cash card. There are ATMs everywhere.
£50 in travellers cheques, kept safe and separate from your cashcard. Don’t be silly.
Bogroll. nothing like doing the Katmandu quickstep in a minging toilet then reaching over to find a bare cardboard tube where there should have been bogroll.

What you will not need:

A towel. It takes up loads of space and an Arab scarf works just as well and dries faster.
Makeup. Sorry girls, Muslim country. Very little point in it.
Ipods, mobile phones, PDAs etc. Mugger-magnets. Forget them. Do take a camera though.

Day 1.
Marrakech.

You land, get stamped, change money at the wee kiosk on the way out, and get surrounded by taxi drivers. Anyone with a merc charges 150d to get to town. Knock them down to 100 or walk out beyond the gates and look for a small taxi. The absolute maximum you should pay to get to Djemaa el-Fna (the big square) is 100d, and even that is a tourist price. When you get to town, pay a barrow-boy 5 or 10d to take your luggage to the Hotel Palace Centrale. This saves on the effort of finding the hostel.
Shower, go for a wander, then at nightfall head into Djemaa el-Fna for so mad food and snake charming. when you’re wandering through the food stalls many of them sell similar things but the sales pitches vary wildly. You may be offered “hell’s kitchen”, “Asda price”, or even one enterprising chap who claims to be “better than Hemingway”. Ignore the free water and olives, theyre not really free.

Day 2.
Marrakech

Wander round the souks and look at all the crazy stuff for sale. Get weird lunch (I reccommend a kebeb) and just chill out. If anyone offers you hash and you dont want it, refuse politely. If you do want it, its your funeral. (The stuff there is absolutely banging though, and comes highly recommended).

Day 3.
Bus.

Get a taxi to the bus station (max 15d) and get a coach to Agadir (90d). It will stop halfway for a piss break, food etc, then arrive in a place called Inezgane, 13km south of Agadir. Grab a grand taxi (a taxi for several people) to a place called Batois. From there grab another grand taxi to a place called Taghazout.
Arrive, wander, swim, eat.

Day 4.
Taghazout.

As regards hostels pay a maximum of 100d per person per night. People will meet you out of the taxi in order to get you to stay at their place, so finding one is not a challenge. Very little to do in this village but its so nice, calm and sunny. The surf is good and the water is warm. If you want some booze hop a bus to Agadir, jump out by the Oasis hotel and ask people where the nearest Epicerie or Supermarche is.

Day 5.
Bus.

Grand taxi to Batois, then to Inezgane. Get a bus to Taroudannt. When you arrive in Taroudannt get a barrow boy to take your luggage to Hotel Roudana on Boulevard Sidi Mohamed, near the grande mosquee de Taroudannt. Its 40d per person in a twin room, and its a nice place just out of the centre. Ask for Fouad, he will show you round for free (as long as you buy him some ciggies or beer or food). In the nights theres a very spit and sawdust-type bar open in town, again ask Fouad to show you where.

Day 6.
Taroudannt.

Take a mosey round the souks after breakfast, then go on a horsedrawn carriage ride round the city (40d for a solid hours travel). It smells like shit but gives you a really nice view of the city.

Day 7.
Bus.

Grab a bus to Casablanca and then a taxi to Hotel Negociants on Rue Allah ben Abdellah. Its not the greatest but the showers are hot and the beds are snoozeable. Mozzie bites are a real bastard at that place though. In the evening there is a shisha bar opposite, a chicken restaurant next door and four bars just down the street. Happy days.

Day 8.
Casablanca.

Go to the Hassan ii mosque out on the seafront. Its the third biggest religious structure in the world and there is not an awful lot one can do except stand in awe. It really is a massive mosque. Also try to get to the old medina, there are some good tat shops.

Day 9.
Train.

Take a train to Mohammedia (24d). They go from Casa Voyageurs (ask a taxi driver). Its a really small town but worth a wander and the food is good.

Day 10.
Bus.

Grab a bus to Marrakech. Before you go to bed remember to order your taxi for next day to the airport.

Day 11.

Fly home, looking glum.

Ok, so it was 11 days, not 10. You may have missed your plane but you had fun, right?

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