Mosques, medinas, carpets, and other adventures

I watched the movie Casablanca a few hundred times, which meant Morocco was on my bucket list of countries to travel to. I was chuffed when I finally got there. It’s a country of contradictions, for instance, you can sit in a café with free Wi-Fi and then a donkey will walk past on the street.

I travelled there for ten days, visiting most of the major centres. Through those travels I learned several interesting things about the country. Here are some of my takeaways:

1. Medinas can be scary places for a few reasons

Firstly there are the pickpockets who are well versed at their artform. But what I found even more troubling was how disorientating they were.

Imagine a collection of shops, stalls, restaurants, houses, schools, and donkeys. Then imagine it all placed inside a maze that has no end… Voila! That is a medina.

You can navigate those medinas without a guide, it will just take you a lot longer than you expect. We were told stories of people that live there getting lost in the medinas. Don’t be brave, invest in a good guide.

2. Moroccan people are very patient

To highlight this, it takes on average 15-20 years to build a house. This often results in multiple generations living together, so when you start building you need to plan for all eventualities.

3. Cab drivers in Morocco will make sure they get the best amount of money from you

If you engage a cab driver to take you for a one-hour drive around a city, like Casablanca, it can mean a three-hour drive with a stop at a carpet store.

Although all the cabs have meters fitted, none of them work (or at least that’s what the cab driver will tell you).

4. You think you can haggle?

I had heard it said that nobody leaves Morocco without buying a carpet. I didn’t want to buy a Moroccan carpet, I didn’t need a Moroccan carpet, and yet, I ended up bringing home a Moroccan carpet. They were unrelenting, but I will give them their props, I have never seen someone fold up a carpet so small in my life.

Like the television ads in the West, all carpet stores in Morocco are closing forever and today is their last day!

5. Bidets and pit toilets are a lot harder to use than I had originally thought.

6. REAL Moroccan food tastes nothing like the “Moroccan food” I get in the West.

They use different spices and a lot of prunes. The excessive use of prunes meant I had to master point 5.

7. A picture of a horse outside a butcher shop means exactly what you’re thinking.

8. Non-smoking rooms in hotels come with ashtrays.

There is no rhyme of reason for it, there's just a LOT of smoking still in Morocco and even though I would request a non-smoking room it would smell as though it was a tobacco warehouse.

9. There aren’t any set non-smoking areas within most restaurants

People seem free to smoke wherever they want. Inhale deeply and enjoy your meal.

10. It is only OPTIONAL to stop for pedestrian crossings

Watch where you're walking, it's one of those countries where chaos reins supreme on the road. I nearly got cleaned up a few times.

11. Casablanca has a population of approximately 3.8 million people.

12. 2,799,998 people in Casablanca sell rugs and carpets or are related to someone who does.

I lost track of the number of times I was approached to buy a carpet from someone or their brother or their cousin.

13. The movie Casablanca was filmed in Tangiers, not Casablanca.

I know, confusing but there's some interesting trivia you can throw out when you need to impress on someone your knowledge about the city and the movie.

14. There is a Rick’s Café in Casablanca

For those who haven’t seen the movie Casablanca, that’s where the movie is predominantly set. It has amazing food, great music, and you feel as though you are in the movie.

15. The concept of “just browsing” is lost on most Moroccan salespeople.

16. Although a large proportion of the population is poor, they seem relatively happy.

It goes to show that money doesn't necessarily equate to happiness. There were genuine smiles and an appreciation of what they had instead of what they didn't have.

17. The giant Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca has lasers that point towards Mecca on top of the 210-meter-high minaret.

Yeah, that's right, lasers!

18. Moroccan wine isn’t very nice, which isn’t surprising for a country where a large proportion of the population doesn’t drink alcohol.

It was really bad, in the end, I stuck with Johnny Walker red. They don't know a lot of specific drinks but they knew brand names.

19. There are ruins of a large Roman town called Volubilis within Morocco.

Parts of the old town were still being discovered into the 1950s and 60s. It is an impressive place to visit, but I'd advise going in the warmer months. I was there in February and thought I was going to freeze to death.

20. The influences of the different cultures that have occupied Morocco over the years are clear today, especially in architecture.

In some places, you feel as though you are standing in the streets of Paris or another French city.

I genuinely cherished my travels through Morocco. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend checking it out. I would recommend a visit to Rick's Café even if just for the nostalgia.