Hello beautiful people,
Even though we were in Morocco for a total of 3 days, I felt that I really needed to dedicate a whole post to this incredible place. I’m going to walk you through day by day of what we did, what we saw, friends we made etc. But first, I’m going to tell you what I read on the internet before I went there.
I had never been to Africa. I had never been to a Muslim country. Those are two things that are very different from my normal, day-to-day life. Therefore, I did some google research before going as to what to expect, what to wear, how to behave etc. Every article I read said how it can be a dangerous place for women to travel. How you must keep your shoulders and your knees covered at all times otherwise local men would assume you’re a prostitute and would either avoid making eye contact and interacting with you or that they’d make aggressive moves on you. Now, as a woman traveling alone with another woman, I shared this with my friend so that we’d both be aware of the potential problems and be appropriately dressed. Google also pointed out not to trust directions from anyone even if they seem nice. They will try to hustle you for money.
So when we go to the airport, we wear long dresses and sweaters to make sure we’re not showing any skin. Fast forward to getting off the plane and it being 100 degrees outside, for a brief moment we regretted making the choice to come to such a foreign country. We get to our Riad (a type of hotel with a center garden and/or pool in the middle of all the rooms) and check in.
One of the first things I noticed when we got inside was a chalkboard that the hotel had put up by the front desk. It read. “Welcome! May all who enter as guests, leave as friends. Riad Yasmine.”
The guy at the front desk was so nice!! He told me to download maps.me and use that as an offline navigation that way I’m not roaming and charging up a fortune to my cell bill. He then went on to star all the main spots that we should try to hit while we’re visiting.
We were really hungry at this point so we went to one of the cafes that he had starred that was only a 6 minute walk called “Atay Cafe Food.” It was the best tajine we had in Morocco and that says something because it was all incredible.
On the way back to the hotel, a man approached us. He said, “I’m sorry you can’t go this way. There is a holiday right now at Mosque and it would be very bad if you crossed. Big problem. Here let me show you how to go.” Now hold on one sec! We were actually scared in this moment. A grown man that seems harmless (We are not naive by any means, we are very good at reading people. We give credit to living in East Harlem for that one.) is telling us that there could be a big problem if we go down a certain street. We stopped to listen to him for a brief moment then continued on like we read to do online. Don’t listen, keep walking is the motto. Turns out, there was no holiday, there was no danger. He was trying to get some money from us for “helping.”
We got back to the hotel and were a little shook. We stayed in the rest of the night thinking that we’d most likely stay by the pool for the rest of our time there. But, we didn’t.
The next day we did a morning camel ride with Dunes and Desserts. It was so neat! The camels were the sweetest and the guys working the activity were the nicest. I cannot recommend this company more for a camel excursion. Yessine was my favorite but all of them were the absolute sweetest. We rode the camels for 45 minutes until we arrived at a house in the middle of the dessert where they served us tradition Moroccan tea (aka Moroccan whiskey! No actual alcohol in it.) Then we got back on the camels and rode back to base camp taking a different route. I definitely recommend doing the morning ride as it’s much cooler than the afternoon ride! Once we got back, we went to the Souks.
This is the part of town you’ve seen online with the colorful rugs, beautiful textiles and all the Moroccan styled furniture you could dream of. The Souks are pure magic. You go, you get lost, you shop, you find your way, you make friends. This first day we stumbled into a spice shop. Which was one thing we both were very excited about visiting in Morocco. The young man that helped us was called Mus Mus. (Pronounced, Moose Moose.) He’s a 23 year old man from Berberre, a neighboring area to Marrakech. He started chatting with us and insisted on making us traditional tea. We said yes. It was broad daylight and between the two of us, felt no danger from him whatsoever. We drank tea with Mus Mus and a nearby shop owner named Abdul (who I actually bought two purses from!) and chatted for about an hour and a half. Mus Mus then said, “let me cook for you tomorrow. It’s your last night, I’d like to make you traditional Moroccan tajine.” Again, we said yes. We exchanged whatsapp info and went about our day shopping and exploring.
The next morning, we went to the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech. Obviously, I love fashion. Seeing the evolution of his styles and how he drew inspo from Morocco was really neat. One of our highlights for sure!
We explored the Souks some more afterwards and then met Mus Mus and Abdul for dinner in the spice shop. Mus Mus had spent 3 hours making us a traditional chicken tajine. He set up homemade bread for each of us, made a big pot of tea and gave us bottles of water and Pepsi. (I’m a Coke gal myself, but, beggers can’t be choosers. 😉 ) We had an incredible night sharing traditions and expressions with each other, sharing laughter and sharing wonderful food. If you’re open minded and not judging, food really can bring people together in an incredible way. Turns out Mus Mus had been on his own since he was 13 years old. He had always wanted to have his own shop in the Souks so he worked hard to make it happen. He’s only 23. He has a beautiful soul and is quite the character! We all took a picture together (Which you’ll see below) that Kirstie and I printed out for him and Abdul. Mus Mus put it in his glass cabinet in his shop and said, “You will always be here with Mus Mus. Next time you come, we take another and add to the collection!”
UGH. Tear jerker.
- The truth about Morocco is that you can wear whatever you want! Seriously. Whatever you want to wear is a-okay as there are many tourists now.
- Don’t take directions from anyone besides other tourists that speak english or a shop owner that you just bought something from. Download maps.me asap before your next international travel.
- They will try to hustle you for money or try to lead you in the wrong direction. BUT they mean no physical harm by it. Kids do it as a joke because kids have weird senses of humor. Adults do it to ask for money. Once we realized that, any feeling of danger went away. After all, homeless people everywhere ask for money. You just keep walking.
- When bartering with the shop owners, yes you definitely barter, cut it in half for your first offer. They’ll come back at you with a much lower price. Continue to negotiate! Pro tip: if they won’t meet you in the middle somewhere, say you’re leaving. They will give you whatever you want! lol
- There are many wonderful places to stay in Morocco. However, I highly recommend Le Riad Yasmine, though. The staff, the food, the location etc. etc. It’s all wonderful and did I mention you can get a beautiful room for only $77 USD/night? It’s a winner!
God bless Mus Mus and Le Riad Yasmine for making us feel at home in Morocco. We most certainly left Morocco with full hearts, belly’s and with lifelong memories of the wonderful friends we made. While we were surprised by so many elements, we were most surprised by the hospitality. We will be back, Morocco.
xox
Tessa
