Up to now I can honestly say I enjoyed my holiday in Morocco more than any other, I have been twice now.
The first time we went was in September 2001,it wasn’t a direct choice we where just looking for a cheap deal to somewhere hot, we found our holiday on teletext it cost us £200 half board for one week
We stayed at the hotel Kamal, which although one of the cheapest off the tourist hotels , was clean, warm and friendly, our room had twin beds a nice spacious sitting area with a sofa coffee table and small dining table and a small balcony overlooking the pool.
The pool is not very big but seemed ample for the hotel as it never got overcrowded, it had a poolside snack bar and the chips from there are really nice and made a good lunchtime snack. All in all the food was pretty good.
Breakfast was a croissant and a selection of rolls, the nice thing being that you could have as much coffee as you liked.
The evening meal was three courses and you where given 2 choices of each ,there was never an evening that we did not enjoy our food.
Morocco is definitely a couples holiday as there is nothing for children other than the pool or the beach, which is a long stretch of beautiful golden sand. I would also say it is not a place for drinking and clubbing although it do’s have a few lively bars.
I would definitely recommend it as a relaxing romantic holiday destination.
The weather was in the 90’s but at this time of year it did not really get hot until late morning and it got dark about 7 o’clock and the evenings where cool but this made for a comfortable sleep.
Morocco is not the best place to get a tan unless you spend all day on the beach or beside the pool because although they do not have a really strict dress code and most of the young where fashions like ours there is still the fact that it is a Moslem country and walking around in scantily dressed is frowned upon, you will get a much warmer welcome and have a chance to get to know the people if you dress with a bit of respect for their culture, when we where out and about I always wore a longer skirt and tee shirt.
I remember one day we hired a motor scooter and took a drive along the coast( this is only for the confidant driver as Moroccans drive a bit wild and there do’s not seem to be much system to the roads ) we met lots of nice people and stopped in villages hardly touched by tourism and got a warm welcome, people waved to us in passing as we road along except on the way back my husband decided to take his tee shirt off to catch the sun from that moment we noticed a change in peoples attitudes no longer did the smile and wave to greet us now they turned away from us, I even heard that a girl got spat at in one of the markets because she was wearing shorts.
Morocco is a charming mix of cultures the Arabs and the Berbers.
I found the Berbers a very happy go lucky kind of people who just seem to enjoy life for all its simple pleasures.
The hotels do lots of excursions but if you are adventurous you can see all the same places for less than a quarter of the price by travelling on the local transport and in my opinion this is the best way to travel as you meet the people and experience a bit more of the culture and it is very easy to get around on the bus’s I can’t exactly remember where the bus station is but it was not far from the hotel and it is easy and cheap to grab a taxi to take you there, even if you used the taxi the whole way to your destination it will still be cheaper than the hotel excursions and a lot more fun.
On our adventures we ate at a lot of local cafes and restraints and never had a problem with the food and it was very cheap for example we had a plate of chips and a Fanta each and it only cost £1 altogether, you can also get a proper meal for a couple of pounds.
The markets or souks as they are called are an exiting place to visit but be ready to barter as they love to trade in this way from experience we have found they will first ask for a really high price and if you go to the other extreme and say a ridiculously low price you should find a happy medium and get a good bargain.
The main trade seems to be rugs, silver and spices and make sure you try some Berber whiskey (mint tea)
The currency is the dirham and the Moroccans speak Arabic and French with a good lot of people able to speak English..
The second time I went to Agadir we could not get to stay at the same hotel as it was being renovated and the only deal we could get at a good price was self catering at the issadour apartments.
This was last May and it cost us £270 each.nother deal we found on teletext we had never fancied self catering but because we really wanted to go to Morocco we decided to give it a try ,we where not impressed by where we stayed we had to walk three long flights up to our apartment very tiring for my mother in law who came with us this time.
The apartment itself was very basic but was clean and tidy and we could get rolls and croissants just next door for next to nothing and ate in local places most of the time so it was a very cheap holiday but would not go there again as we where ripped off most of the time at the bar and café in the complex they would always give a dirham less in the change we spoke to other people who had same experience.
But that has not put me of going to Morocco again because my overall experience of the country and its people was very nice and friendly and respectful.
Morocco is still fresh and barely touched by tourism although I’m sure that won’t be for long so now is the time to enjoy it.