Morocco

[Nervous_Dog]

Ahh "Belgique" He was expelled eventually, I lived the "belgique Position"

 

Great photos

 

ODOG

[JCK1]

I just saw this thread. Itâ??s too late for the OP whoâ??s been and gone, but reading his posts I felt his pain.

 

I did a year in Casablanca. That was two years ago, and I still struggle to find a good word about it. Moroccan food is dreadful. The famous tagines and couscous are great, but food in that class is only found in family homes with kitchens full of women. Normal restaurants just donâ??t have that sort of time or (wo)manpower, which all means one thing. The food sucks. Itâ??s red meat, red meat and chips (fries).

 

And the bars, oh my. Look at old photos of English pubs from the 1950â??s. Pubs were exclusively for men in those days, and itâ??d be a brave woman who ventured inside. Welcome to Casa 2007, where the only woman youâ??ll ever see in a bar is a whore from the desert. There are nightclubs where rich young Moroccan talent hang out, but your French will have to be pretty good, and Morocco being a muslim country doesnâ??t help matters. Oh, and apart from a couple of jewish bars, the whole lot will shut throughout Ramadam along with the supermarket booze shelves.

 

I was there with the British Council, and most of my colleagues were British females. They loved every minute. OK, they got plenty of attention, but the women problems (read police, religious and neighbour problems) faced by western males just donâ??t apply to western females. Many of my ex-colleagues in Casa never plan to date a western man again. Kind of like the once you go Asian, you canâ??t go Caucasian thing.

 

Itâ??s a huge generalisation, but people who find Morocco in any way exciting or exotic are not very well travelled. The handful of people I knew in Casa whoâ??d also spent time in somewhere like Thailand, never ever came close to liking Morocco.

 

The only positive, just to balance things a bit, are the locals. My Moroccan colleagues accepted me as a mate and I was invited into their houses, with them to dodgy bars, into walled medinas in the dead of night to buy wacky baccy, etc. The number of expats in Thailand who can say the same can be counted on the thumbs of one foot.

 

Then again, anywhere in SE Asia kicks Moroccoâ??s butt.

[The_Munchmaster]

Thanks JCK1, nice to know I wasn't imagining how crap it was. :thumbup:

[exit2dos]

You are never alone in Casablanca. The bastards will follow you around for hours, in secret, to find out what you are doing and looking for so they can make a deal with you abd sell/guide you.

[JCK1]

Welcome Munchmaster. If you need any more negatives on Morocco, I'm the man. Mind you, I found Rabat more picturesque than Casa - there's just even less to do there.

 

In a year in Casa, I flew to SE Asia three times on holiday. Can you even imagine that sick feeling when heading back to Casa? I also remember getting off the Tangiers ferry once and telling the first local who approached to fâ?¦ right off.

 

On the bright side, Munchmaster, after your short spell in Morocco you will now appreciate most other countries you end up in. I worked in the UK straight after Morocco and loved it!

 

You are never alone in Casablanca. The bastards will follow you around for hours, in secret, to find out what you are doing and looking for so they can make a deal with you abd sell/guide you.

 

Oh no. I'm going to defend Morocco! In a year, I never had anything that sinister, and I certainly was no shrinking violet sticking to tourist spots (Casa doesn't have any!).

 

You do get some attention in Casa. People in the street might walk after you and offer to shake hands ("zerktouer" means fâ?¦ off in Moroccan Arabic) or ask for the time even though they could've asked any one of the other thousand locals nearby. There are pickpockets around, but that was the extent of anything dodgy or illegal I experienced.

[JCK1]

Tangiers in the port / Medina area is probably the roughest place I've been. It was like a scene from the exercise yard in Midnight Express!

 

I just saw this quote. Ha ha. I went through both a few times, once when I'd missed the last Algeciras ferry one night. It looks awful but a huge number of tourists pass through with, as far as I know, no problems apart from the touts.

 

Tanger was actually my fave place in all of Morocco. It was the gateway to many a fun weekend in Spain.

 

In fact, I'd feel a lot safer walking through a late-night Tanger than some parts of Klong Toei or Phra Khanong.

[The_Munchmaster]

Fuck. I've got to go back to Morocco on Wednesday and I don't know how long for.

[JCK1]

I share your despair, believe me. All I can suggest is...weekends in Spain or Gibraltar? I wouldn't have even dreamt of spending time in the likes of Marbella with its Brit hooligans (folk like me in fact) amongst other things. But after weeks on end in Casa, it rivalled BKK for R n R.

 

I don't know your budget, but I used to get the Casa - Tanger night train (6 hours), the ferry to Algeciras (2 hours) and a bus to somewhere like Malaga or Marbella (2 hrs). What a long and awful journey it always was, but so so very worth it.

[The_Munchmaster]

Fortunately I only had to stay for two weeks this time and got out a week ago.

[UAL875]

There was a thread back in 2002 about Morocco titled Morocco Anyone?... found the brief post I contributed:

 

Been to all three cities -- really disliked my time in Morocco -- one of the few places on the planet (that for me) the negative experiences outweighed the positives. Did not even bother with the play scene there. If you want, PM me and I will share some info. Sorry if this wasn't the answer you are looking for...

 

Bottom line was I disliked that place. Casa was a shithole - so many shadows lurking in the darkness. Was followed in Marakesch by three goons who were going to jump me. And Fez (by this time I was already planning my escape to Spain) found my then gf and I almost kidnapped to the countryside in the spirit of buying a carpet. Crikey. No plans to go back to that hellhole anytime soon.