Last Updated on April 13, 2022
I’ll be honest, Morocco had been on my bucket list for quite some time, so I was ecstatic to finally be able to go. After the trip, I had to think back to why Morocco was on my bucket list – what were my expectations?
Expectation: Beautiful Sights
Reality: Probably the dirtiest place I’ve ever traveled to
There definitely were some very beautiful and authentic sights that I got to see in Morocco – the colors, the hustle and bustle of the medina, the amazing crafts and spices, the mountains, the desert—it was stunning, actually.
But in between all of these places and the parts you don’t see on Instagram, the sides of the roads and trails through the Atlas Mountains are piled with trash.
As far as sanitary conditions, plan on living off of hand sanitizer while out and about.
Unless at your riad or a nice restaurant, bet on not many spots having soap or hot water (or toilet paper).
A lot of places also only have squatty potties (holes in the ground as the toilet).
Expectation: Delicious Food
Reality: Struggled to find good food
Some may not have this issue, but I decided to go vegetarian on the trip to avoid any run-ins with tummy troubles. Also, you will see tons of animal carcasses hanging in stalls all over the medina that really made me want to stick to veggies.
The water is also not safe to drink in Morocco, which I had to be mindful about with ordering any uncooked items that could have been washed in the water.
When it comes down to the options remaining, I was limited to cooked veggie dishes most days, which became quite old.
For some reason, I expected there to be some Mediterranean dishes available, but found no such thing.
Although, the riads offered free breakfast, most consist of bread, pastries and sugary mint tea. To say the least, I went home feeling pretty bloated and ill-nourished.
Expectation: Another friendly tourist town
Reality: The locals don’t want you there
Seriously. The locals do not want you there. I don’t think they understand how poor their country would be without all of the tourism they have.
We may have been treated differently if we had men with us, but it was a girl’s trip.
Expect to be treated with a lot of disrespect — especially if you’re a woman traveling without your husband.
Expectation: There will be lots to see and do
Reality: We struggled to find things to do near the end of our trip
We saw the medina, did shopping, did a day-long hiking and camel ride tour, did more shopping, ate food, saw local sights, walked around, chilled at our riad, did a baking class, did a yoga class… after all of that, we still ran out of things to do.
We stayed for a little over a week and visited Marrakech and Fez, while still starting and ending in Casablanca.
We didn’t want to spend our whole trip on a train or van commuting to tons of different cities.
I would suggest splurging on a nice resort-style riad where you could spend more time there lounging and relaxing.
Most people who have stayed at the resort more than seeing locals sights had a better experience.
So, if a relaxing resort-style vacation is what you are looking for, this may be the better itinerary of what to do in Morocco.
Expectation: First class will be classy and nice
Reality: It’s not!
On our long train commutes to and from the cities in Morocco, we decided to splurge on first class tickets. Our first-class experience consisted of a hot and smelly closed-off cabin with six people.
One of the men in our cabin found it appropriate to put his dirty bare feet on my friend’s seat across from him the whole train ride.
The restroom on the train is not pleasant. Again, no soap and no toilet paper.
Also, there is nowhere to store large luggage on the train, so it either has to fit above you or go in the hall, where you will have to get up to move it every time a cart or someone else with luggage needs to go through.
Expectation: A highly-rated spa experience will make up for everything
Reality: Worst spa experience of my life!
Such. A. Bad. Massage.
This place we went to was one of the top-rated spas in Fez and ended up for sure topping our “worst spa” experiences.
They weren’t very nice, privacy wasn’t a thing, and cleanliness was probably the last thing on their minds.
We also paid for a 45-minute massage and they only massaged us for about 15-20 minutes and the remainder of the time told us to lay there and just “relax”.
They were whispering the entire time, which was uncomfortable. They also used way too much oil, starting at our dirty feet from walking around all day and worked their way up to our faces.
No, this was no nice temple massage. They massaged my whole face and head. After smearing all of my makeup, I looked like an oily racoon post-massage. We couldn’t wait to get out of there and run back to our riad to take a shower.
Expectation: The price they say is the price you pay
Reality: Wrong. They would change their price mid-transaction.
One thing you’ll learn about Morocco is that you barter your price before an exchange of goods or services.
For instance, purchasing some ceramic pottery, I agreed on a price and midway through, the seller would start complaining about how much time and effort he put into crafting that product and that it’s worth far more than what I was paying for it and would try to up the price.
Another example is when we were getting a cab to the airport from the train station, many cab drivers stand outside and will walk you to their car. We agreed on one price before getting into the car and once we got into the car, we confirmed the price and he said “oh, no no” and raised the price on us. When we refused to pay that price, he got very angry. Stick to your guns!
Expectation: If you get lost, you can ask for help
Reality: Never ask for help unless from a reliable source
Any time we remotely looked lost, locals would run up and try to point you in some direction expecting money in return.
Many times, if you refused their help, they would try to tell you to walk the wrong way so you would get lost and ultimately need their help to find your way.
Moral of the story, don’t stop and ask for help unless it is from a shop owner or riad where they won’t be able to follow you and keep pointing you in the wrong direction. Try your best to just keep walking until you figure it out.
Want to learn more about the Moroccan culture? Check out my Tea Time Talk with Local Moroccan post!
