Morocco Meanderings

We’re Off to Morocco

Nice Flag

So I have blown off the cobwebs, dusted down the shelves and the blog is back in action.

We had a wonderful Christmas in Goa, but as this little Christmas calm down was mostly going to consist of beach, eat and drink and smoke I didn’t think it worthy of words. So we are back after almost a year heading towards North Africa. Our second sojourn to this part of the world, having laid on a beach on the Red Sea a few years ago.

Not sure how this came about but it did, so here we are about to experience our first proper north African adventure. We are starting in Gibraltar as the flights were too good to miss, and then hopping over the Gibraltar straits into the land of the Berbers.

Now as you know, as both of my loyal readers will attest, I usually start my pre trip blog with a list of things that I then go on to break during my blogging over the following few weeks. Well why break the tradition of a lifetime.

Well stay there

Last time I promised they would be shorter and they were, but I found myself self editing which sometimes is good and sometimes bad. But on the whole left me unsatisfied. So I shall make no such promises this time on length or girth and you will just have to take it as it comes. If you get bored after the first few lengthy linguistic libations then feel free to run away. In fact I will never know so the guilt will be all your own…

So the next few weeks shall consist mainly of kasbahs, medinas mint tea, an occasional camel and one hopes some imagery of me in a Djellaba.

John and I have also recently given up smoking and will be put severely to the test given what I have read about Moroccan smoking laws. They have a ban on smoking in public places, ergo you can smoke in any restaurant cafe,bar or hotel. Just brilliant.

This is sooo me

Things we are doing differently this time….

Travelling lite, we learnt in Thailand that lugging suitcases on multiple forms of transport within the space of a few hours is a right pain in the arse

So we have one 35L backpack each, mine consists of the following

Four t-shirts
Two shorts
One shirt
One hoodie
Two light pants
One pair of trunks
A few sets of underwear
iPad and charger
iPhone
One camera and charger
Small wind up torch
Beard trimmer
Bag of mini toiletries and medications, contact lenses and glasses
One pair of flip flops
Er….
That’s it.

We’re Back from Backpacking in Morocco

I thought I’d just give you a quick update on our time in Morocco. We had a great time, accompanied by John’s sister. The list above was ample, and travelling light was certainly a revelation to us both, no more will we travel except with essentials – the freedom was so liberating. We had a great time in Morocco, so much so that from now on we plan to travel like this much more frequently. You see the highlights of our Moroccan trip here, with the exception of Marrakech (we really didn’t like Marrakech, it was all a little depressing – little did we know a bomb would have exploded during our time there if we hadn’t decided to leave early!!)

The traditional seaside resort of Essaouira worth a trip for those who want some beach time, can be very windy though, but that’s good for all the water sports.

Fez is a busy and impressive city providing an insight into the charms of old Morocco.

The stunning mountain region of Chefchaouen is a place to relax and take in the fresh air whilst marvelling at the local architecture.

If you travel to Morocco, let us know your top things to do there.