Morsels from Morocco

Oh dear. It has been almost six months since I returned from Morocco, and only now am I ready to put my photos from the trip on-line. "Well" done, Bjørn!

If you look through all the photos, I can pretty much guarantee that you'll discover lots of stuff you didn't know can be seen right on the doorstep to Europe. And it's all there, right now. You can just get on a cheap flight from anywhere in Europe to Agadir or Marrakesh and do it all on your own. There's no need to book anything ahead, and there's nothing in particular to worry about.

All you have to do is get off the plane and find your way to the nearest bus terminal. There you'll buy a ticket to Tafraoute, Tinerhir or Merzouga, depending on whether you prefer mountains, canyons or deserts. The buses are comfortable and the drivers and passengers agreeable. In all these three places it's easy to find somewhere to stay, something to eat and something strange to see.

I can't say I recommend the main cities of Morocco, however. They've got Kentucky Fried Chicken, but apart from that they hold little of interest to me.

The cities are all mainly about noise, hassle and a dirty mess wherever you go. And they're full of old mosques you can't enter unless you're a Muslim, and of crazy men on motorbikes driving through the narrow streets as if they were on their way from Paris to Dakar. And the shops! Oh, the shops... They're full of stuff at what may or may not be reasonable prices, but one thing is for sure; when upon returning home you pull out of your backpack something you acquired in Morocco, you will seriously start wondering what on Earth you were thinking when you bought it.

There's much I could say about Morocco, and much of that I have put in the captions I have provided for the photos. Maybe I'll add a few stories from my trip here later.

For now, though, my main message is that I can easily recommend Morocco to almost anyone. Knowing some French is an advantage, but not at all a requirement. Good thigh muscles is a plus, but most places these days you'll find toilets you can actually sit on.

There is no reason to book a guided tour to anything in Morocco. As long as you keep smiling, and as long as you can do that without getting dangerously drunk first, you'll have an excellent time in Morocco, where everything will just sort itself out.

Happy trails!

Bjørn