9 days in Morocco: My first solo international trip

‘Why Morocco?’ was a question that everybody asked me when I told them about my plans for visiting the country. Here in India, not many are familiar with this country. Even I wasn’t sure about it until I met my friend Soukaina from Morocco. We used to work together and bonded well over memes and other things.

It was last year when she went back to her country and since then she had been asking me to pay her a visit. After saving money for a year. I finally booked my tickets and flew off to this beautiful country. A country full of friendly people, beautiful landscapes, gigantic souks and tasty food.

Morocco is a beautiful country residing in the North of Africa alongside the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Because of its proximity to Europe, there is an evident influence of European culture in the country. Moreover, one can also find Jewish, Roman and Italian influence across various cities in this country because of its past colonization.

9 days in Morocco seemed short and I wish I could spend more time here exploring the beautiful terrains and cities. I covered a lot while visiting the old cities, beaches, Berber villages and mountains. The only thing that I missed was the desert. Maybe this is what will take me back to this beautiful country someday.

Here is a list of places (that I visited in Morocco) and a few other important things to note, if you are thinking about or planning a trip to Morocco!

VISA – How and where I applied

The Moroccan embassy has entrusted Cox and Kings to operate the VISA services. They have centres across various cities in India. I applied at the Delhi centre that is located at New Delhi house, Barakhamba road. The process is simple and easy. All you need is to submit the documents as listed on their official website. The VISA fee is 2218.63 INR and can be paid via Cash or Demand Draft. I had applied for the VISA at a short notice of 4 weeks, however, the process went smoothly and without any hustle and I managed to get my visa in 10 days.

Flights – Why I booked Gulf Air

There are no direct flights to Morocco. However, there are plenty of flights flying to Morocco with short layovers. Since I booked my flight tickets for March in the first week of February, the prices were almost the same for all the flights. Why I chose Gulf Air was because of its timing, as it suited my itinerary the most. I wanted a night flight to save my time and to avoid Jet lag and Gulf Air was suiting the best.

Itinerary – Places I covered in 9 days

Since I was staying at my friend Soukaina’s house in Casablanca, I had planned everything according to that. Most people prefer flying to Marrakesh directly. However, I feel it is best to stay in Casablanca if you are planning to travel intercity a lot. I say so because the train and bus connectivity is great here and saves a lot of time, money and effort.

Day 1: Reached Casablanca and explored the city

Day 2: Explored the capital city Rabat.

Day 3: Took a day trip to Chefchaouen (the blue pearl) from Tangier

Day 4: Went for Tangier city excursion and came back to Casablanca

Day 5: Took a day trip to Fes from Casablanca

Day 6: Went to Marrakech and took a day trip to Essaouira

Day 7: Took a day tour to Imlil from Marrakesh and trekked until Mount Toubkal viewpoint.

Day 8: Explored the Gardens and markets of Marrakesh

Day 9: Explored the remaining attractions in Marrakesh before – heading to Ourika for lunch. Then came back to Casablanca

Day 10: Flew back to New Delhi from Casablanca

Language – How I communicated with the locals

Arabic and French are the two main languages of the country. You will generally find people knowing both languages. However, a good amount of people can speak English too because of which it was easy for me to communicate. It was only in small towns like Fes and Imlil where I had a slight difficulty in communicating.  Moreover, I learned a few basic terms from my friend that came in handy while travelling alone.

Terminologies:

Greeting – People in Morocco are friendly and they tend to say hello even if they don’t know you. So learning this was important!

Saying hello in Arabic was not difficult, as it sounded similar to Urdu. You can either say ‘Marhabaan’, which means ‘Hello’ or ‘Salaam’ that literally means ‘Peace’ while meeting people in Morocco. Moreover, if someone greets you first, then you simply say ‘Wa alaykumu s-salam’, which means ‘Peace to you too’.

Thank you – this comes handy everywhere and it is a way of showing respect too! So, whenever you take a taxi ride back home or buy something from a local shop, simply say ‘Shukran’ or ‘Shukran jazilaan’.

Come on – ‘Yalla’ a word that my walking tour guides kept on saying. This word means to ‘hurry up’ or ‘go’ that they mostly used when I froze at a place for more than 10 minutes clicking pictures.

Transportation – How I travelled within the cities

The transportation system is excellent in Morocco. The train network is very strong in the north and central parts of Morocco while the smaller cities are well connected via bus. However, to reach the south the only way is to take a bus or a taxi, which becomes slightly expensive.

If you want to travel within Casablanca, the best way is to download the taxi App called ‘Heech’. The cost is very nominal and the response rate is great!

In Morocco, different cities have different colours of Taxi. You will find red taxis in Casablanca and Marrakesh, beige ones in Tangier and so on. Hence, know your taxi before riding it. The coloured ones are great for travelling within the city, whereas the Grand taxi is good for intercity ones.

The Al Boraq is Morocco’s super-fast train that comes with high-class facilities at a very nominal price. You can reach Tangier from Casablanca in merely 2 hours. Moreover, the train service is very good with trains running every two hours from 6am to 11pm. There are many other trains operated by Supratours that connects various cities of Morocco.

For buses, you can consider two main companies, CTM and Supratours. It is best if you can download their app to buy tickets. Alternatively, you can simply go to any of the nearest bus stations to buy the ticket. The process is very simple and hassle free. The buses are well maintained and are always on time!

Stay – Where all I stayed

I found the hotel room rates in Morocco reasonable as compared to what we have in India for a 3-star hotel. Therefore, staying in Morocco would not cost you much and you’ll get a nice hotel at a very reasonable price. I stayed at my friend’s place in Casablanca for 5 days, spent 1 day in Tangier and 3 days in Marrakesh.

In Tangier, the hotel was inside the Medina. This came at an advantage, as I could observe the nightlife from the balcony.

In Marrakesh, I stayed in a hotel near the train station for a night and then moved to a Riad inside the Medina. Riads are the heritage houses turned hotel that will give you a complete feel of Moroccan culture. It is a must-try when in Morocco.

Food – What all I ate

Morocco is popular for its cuisine worldwide. People tend to love the spices and the variety that they offer. For an Indian, it was easy to digest the spices as we are used to spicy food. For people who think vegetarians can’t survive here are certainly wrong. They have a wide variety of vegetarian food in their menu. To a surprise, the breakfast here in Morocco is majorly without meat and is sweet.

The Moroccan bread is the staple food here and can be eaten with vegetarian cooked salads along with tea. For meat lovers, there is a huge variety waiting for you to hog on too!

Must-try food in Morocco:

Moroccan Tea – Start with the famous Moroccan tea pouring in your glass from a height to create that perfect foam.

Moroccan Pancakes with honey – The fluffiest and tastiest pancake I have ever eaten. This can beat any pancake in the world and is a must try for breakfast.

Moroccan Salads – There are two kinds of salad served here, cooked and raw. Unlike other countries, the salads here don’t contain meat. Instead, they are made of vegetables like Carrots, Eggplant, Zucchini, onions etc. Both are good in their own ways and are a must-try for sure!

Tajine – a not-to-miss for meat eaters. If you don’t eat beef, worry not! You’ll have a variety of Chicken and Lamb tajines waiting for you.

Moroccan sweets – There are a variety of sweets that you can try in Morocco. Each with a unique characteristic, flavour and look.

Olives, dates and Argon oil – These were the three things that I used to carry everywhere with me. The pink olives dressed in spices were my favourites. Dates here tasted different from what we have in India. They were more sweet and mushy. Argon oil was something that was served with bread in the Berber village for breakfast. The oil tasted different and was lighter than olive oil.

Shop – What I brought along

My friends mailed me a long list of items to get them from Morocco that included fridge magnets, Argon oil etc. Here’s a list of things that you can get as a gift or souvenir from Morocco!

Fridge Magnets – as a token of love and memory.

Bags made of dried palm leaves – because they look very stylish.

Argon oil – for healthy hair and skin.

Ceramic wall plates and bowls – for decorating the walls and serving on stylish dishes.

Moroccan spices – for making your food taste awesome!

Leather shoes/ bags/ belts – because they are sold at a reasonable price.

I hope I have excited you enough to visit this beautiful African country as it has so much to offer. Shoot me a message or comment below if you have been there or if you have any queries while planning a trip to Morocco. 😉