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-   -   Is MOROCCO the best allround destination ? (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/the-hubb-pub/is-morocco-best-allround-destination-101825)

badou24 9 Apr 2021 08:26

Is MOROCCO the best allround destination ?
 
I have not been around the world, but been to many places on Motor bikes ............... and have come to the conclusion that Morocco has it all

1 Fantastic scenery in spring
2 Cheap Hotels
3 Cheap food
4 Very friendly people
5 loads of off road to do
6 If you live europe easy to get to
7 Still many parts that are still non touristy
8 Best to travel on your own for a better interaction with locals
9 Best places to visit.....
.... Cassablanca Safi Tiznit Sidi ifini Marrakesh Atlas mountains Taroudant
10 You can do it in 2 weeks, but 4- 6 is better !

Keith:scooter:

TheWarden 9 Apr 2021 08:53

Without a doubt, I've been exploring Morocco and the Western Sahara for over 20 years now, last 5 years living out there for most of the year.

Anyone who says they've "done Morocco" after a 2 week trip has missed 99.99% of whats on offer

badou24 9 Apr 2021 09:09

In two weeks your a Tourist !!
In 6 weeks your a traveller
But it takes time to understand a place and the people

frameworkSpecialist 9 Apr 2021 10:11

MOROCCO is amazing, but it's not my favourite.

I'm a sucker for Asian food (and women) so my absolute favourite is Vietnam. The prices are dirt cheap and the children still have that wonder in their eyes when they see a white person. The scenery is breath taking and there is a little bit of everything with mountains in the North and a long coast line.

Vietnam still also has some of that old world danger. Things are not as regulated like they are here in the west.

mark manley 9 Apr 2021 12:25

I have not been to Morocco yet but it would have to go some to beat the Indian sub-continent for me, between Pakistan, India and Nepal there is so much, although many parts of overpopulated you can still find the bits in between that are great.

Tim Cullis 9 Apr 2021 13:23

I think @badou's question should have been "Is Morocco the best all-round destination that you can easily ride to from Europe?" and then the answer will probably be "yes". The subtitle to my Morocco presentations at Horizons Unlimited meetings has always been 'Safe, Exciting and Inexpensive'.

Culture wasn't mentioned above and for me the mountain/desert areas of Morocco that were the last to be subdued by the French in the late 1930s were the time capsule of a tribal life that goes back centuries. On my last trip I met one old lady with tatooed face who was a young girl at the time.

If all goes well I plan to be in Morocco on 8 May 2022 for the 50th anniversary of my first motorbike trip to Morocco. Insha'Allah.

badou24 9 Apr 2021 21:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Cullis (Post 619358)
I think @badou's question should have been "Is Morocco the best all-round destination that you can easily ride to from Europe?" and then the answer will probably be "yes". The subtitle to my Morocco presentations at Horizons Unlimited meetings has always been 'Safe, Exciting and Inexpensive'.

Culture wasn't mentioned above and for me the mountain/desert areas of Morocco that were the last to be subdued by the French in the late 1930s were the time capsule of a tribal life that goes back centuries. On my last trip I met one old lady with tatooed face who was a young girl at the time.

If all goes well I plan to be in Morocco on 8 May 2022 for the 50th anniversary of my first motorbike trip to Morocco. Insha'Allah.

see number 6 !

backofbeyond 13 Apr 2021 07:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Cullis (Post 619358)
I think @badou's question should have been "Is Morocco the best all-round destination that you can easily ride to from Europe?" and then the answer will probably be "yes".

If all goes well I plan to be in Morocco on 8 May 2022 for the 50th anniversary of my first motorbike trip to Morocco. Insha'Allah.

It's certainly the country that gives the most culture shock per gallon if you're heading out from the UK (or most places in northern Europe). The EU has brought a sense of familiarity to travelling through e.g. France, Spain, but take that 20 mile ferry ride and it all changes. If 'going abroad' used to be crossing from Dover to Calais its now moved to getting on the ferry in Algeciras.

Re 50th - mine was last August and we had also planned a return visit - on the same model bike. Sadly Covid saw that plan off, as it has the revised version for 2021. Now we're looking at August 2022. The 52nd anniversary doesn't have quite the same ring to it but it's the best we can do under the circumstances.

Tangier 1970. Not me but the person I was travelling with + 3 'junior guides'. The sheepskin was bought to make the bike seat a bit more comfortable (didn't work though)


https://i.postimg.cc/3R1d521B/1970-2a.jpg


Were we ever that young!

brclarke 13 Apr 2021 17:52

Sounds pretty good - but a tad more difficult for those of us across the big pond to travel to.

TheWarden 13 Apr 2021 18:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by brclarke (Post 619472)
Sounds pretty good - but a tad more difficult for those of us across the big pond to travel to.

Fly in, rent a bike or 4x4 and enjoy :thumbup1:

markharf 13 Apr 2021 18:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWarden (Post 619474)
Fly in, rent a bike or 4x4 and enjoy :thumbup1:

I think you may miss the point. Living in North America, Mexico checks all the same boxes (along with others, like a wide variety of scenery, cultures, ecosystems) plus it's easy to get to. Morocco is expensive once I include shipping a bike or renting on the ground, even without airfare.

I've ridden in both countries (plus an additional 60 or 70 more). I loved Morocco, and hope to get back there some day, but that's not a simple thing from where I sit. There are good reasons why I've been to Mexico by bike a half-dozen times, and I've generally enjoyed it as much as I did Morocco.

Mark

TheWarden 13 Apr 2021 19:05

Cost wasn't mentioned, being difficult was, its no more difficult from across the pond as anywhere else.

markharf 13 Apr 2021 19:18

I'm not sure how to understand what you're saying. First, the title of the thread is "Is Morocco the best allround destination?" Do you really think answers to that question don't include cost?

Second, I've taken a bike to Morocco from Europe; I pulled into town (a couple of days' happy riding from much of Europe), bought a ticket, and was comfortably lodged in North Africa a couple of hours later. Do you seriously propose that it would be just as easy from North America? I can't quite fathom this. Maybe try the reverse scenario: would a trip to Mexico be "no more difficult" for a European than for a North American?

This is not a winner-take-all competition. Morocco may well be the best bang for the buck from southern or central Europe or the U.K., but things look very different from where I live. I'm ok with that.

See you on the road, sooner or later.

Mark

badou24 13 Apr 2021 19:46

The tread did say from europe ( item 6 ) so it does not apply to some people !

Jay_Benson 17 Apr 2021 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by brclarke (Post 619472)
Sounds pretty good - but a tad more difficult for those of us across the big pond to travel to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWarden (Post 619474)
Fly in, rent a bike or 4x4 and enjoy :thumbup1:

Fixed below:

Fly in, borrow a bike off someone in the HU section “ https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/bike-swap-or-rent/” and enjoy :thumbup1:

PanEuropean 18 Apr 2021 09:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by brclarke (Post 619472)
Sounds pretty good - but a tad more difficult for those of us across the big pond to travel to.

Not at all difficult - Royal Air Maroc operates non-stop flights from Montreal to Morocco on a frequent basis (when pandemics are not in progress), and ticket prices are not particularly expensive. It's fairly easy to rent a motorcycle in Morocco - or, if you wish, you can fly to Southern Spain and rent a moto there, or join up with an organized tour that supplies motorcycles.

I've visited Morocco several times with my Canadian-plated motorcycle, and enjoyed each visit. It is a very safe country to travel in, and the residents of Morocco are pleasant people.

sushi2831 18 Apr 2021 13:58

Hello

Quote:

Originally Posted by badou24 (Post 619346)
If you live europe easy to get to

Quote:

Originally Posted by markharf (Post 619476)
Living in North America, Mexico checks all the same boxes (along with others, like a wide variety of scenery, cultures, ecosystems) plus it's easy to get to.

Marocco is as close to Europe as Mexico is to North America.
Depending where you live it's a long ride to get there with the own bike.
To me Marocco is as far away as Iceland, been in both but would only revisit Iceland again.
Spent the same amount of money in both countries per day.
In one enjoying camping and sleeping well, in the other hotelrooms with good and bad sleeping due to bad/unfamiliar beds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWarden (Post 619474)
Fly in, rent a bike or 4x4 and enjoy :thumbup1:

Once you fly and rent, every place in the world is close by.

sushi

PanEuropean 18 Apr 2021 17:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by sushi2831 (Post 619589)
To me Morocco is as far away as Iceland, been in both but would only revisit Iceland again.
Spent the same amount of money in both countries per day...

That is an unusual comparison (Morocco vs. Iceland)!

I've also been to both countries several times, and I can't think of any two countries that are more different from each other than Morocco & Iceland. Both are delightful places, but for entirely different reasons.

Iceland is a fully developed country, on par with CH for quality of life. It is a beautiful country, no doubt about that, and offers great riding opportunities, but other than hot springs & volcanos, it's not particularly different from Western Europe.

Morocco is a lesser developed country (though progressing quite quickly), and everything there is very different from Western Europe - food, economics, culture, religion, geography, etc.

Cost-wise, if you compare like for like (e.g. hotel prices to hotel prices, restaurant prices to restaurant prices, cost of getting there from CH, etc.), the overall cost of a trip to Morocco starting from Zürich, which is my usual base when in Europe) is about half that of a trip to Iceland.

I'm not criticizing Iceland or promoting Morocco - I'm just a bit perplexed at your comparison of the two.

Having said that, in the overall context of this discussion, I would be happy to live in either Morocco or Iceland (or CH, for that matter).

brclarke 18 Apr 2021 18:02

Quote:

Not at all difficult - Royal Air Maroc operates non-stop flights from Montreal to Morocco on a frequent basis
5 hour flight from YVR to Montreal, stopover, another 9 or 10 hours to Morocco... I'm sure it's a lovely place to ride, but not quite as difficulty-free to reach as for someone in Europe.

All I am saying is that the original poster has probably not heard of Betteridge's law: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can usually be answered by the word 'no'."

I've done a fair bit of motorcycling in Mexico, and loved it. I think it's a terrific place to go for a ride, but I wouldn't suggest it's the best all-around destination for anyone from outside North America.

Jay_Benson 18 Apr 2021 20:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by brclarke (Post 619591)
5 hour flight from YVR to Montreal, stopover, another 9 or 10 hours to Morocco... I'm sure it's a lovely place to ride, but not quite as difficulty-free to reach as for someone in Europe.

You say that but you haven’t met my wife have you? That sort of flying time can be described as a safe distance. :innocent:

sushi2831 19 Apr 2021 06:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by PanEuropean (Post 619590)
That is an unusual comparison (Morocco vs. Iceland)!

Hello

Quote:

Originally Posted by badou24 (Post 619346)
loads of off road to do

My only reason to go to marocco.

Although in Iceland you have to stick to the tracks, a lot of "adventure" waiting for you. :mchappy:


And no risk of hitting children on the road.
Thanks to all the idiots who think "high-fiving" while passing with the bike is cool.:thumbdown:
No where in the places I visited so far I've seen this.
That's why I will go back to Iceland again and never again to marocco.

sushi

TheWarden 19 Apr 2021 08:37

Unfortunately a problem caused by the bad behaviour of some travellers.

Get away from the popular routes and its not a problem

badou24 19 Apr 2021 09:26

I dont understand how you can compare Morocco with Iceland !
You can go to Morocco in the winter and have all the snow you want in the mountains ! ..... and next day be on the edge of Saraha desert ! or go to the coast and have nice beaches.
Most people go there for two weeks and have no idea about the people and the country , and are just "tourists " and get ripped off by the locals ( same in most places ) They never get to see the real Morocco !
?c??c??c?

backofbeyond 19 Apr 2021 12:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by badou24 (Post 619608)
Most people go there for two weeks ... and get ripped off by the locals (same in most places ) They never get to see the real Morocco !
?c??c??c?

It's much the same wherever you go in tourist areas, the locals 'take advantage'. I've been ripped off by some of the best over the years - Venice, Rome, London, NY etc. I don't even often go into the nearest big town to where I live - Oxford - because of the 'tourist culture', but the Moroccans hold a special place in my heart for their 'sales ability'. :rofl:

In fact I'd advise anyone at the planning stage of a long trip and thinking about what skills they might need to upgrade to add a solo trip to Tangier or Marrakesh to the list ahead of departure. You don't need to sign up for anything or even have a plan; just take it easy, walk around, sit in a cafe, browse in a shop. The experience will be the character development equivalent of learning to ride offroad.

I only realised how much I'd benefited from my time there when I spent some time in Shanghai. A bunch of rank amateurs by comparison is all I can say. Call that negotiation. Where's the grabbing you by the shirt, the six of them pickpocketing you at the same time, the pulling a knife, the fake police uniform (actually, thinking about it, that was Senegal). No, there's no doubt. Graduate from the Moroccan school of consumer survival and you've got a skill with real market value. Just as long as it's not a Moroccan market.

badou24 19 Apr 2021 16:13

The secret is to dress in your old clothes and do not look like a 2 week tourist. been a " few " times and very few problems !( if your there in your new white jeans and expensive gear on you ............... sitting chicken ! or DUCK

frameworkSpecialist 19 Apr 2021 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by badou24 (Post 619621)
The secret is to dress in your old clothes and do not look like a 2 week tourist. been a " few " times and very few problems !( if your there in your new white jeans and expensive gear on you ............... sitting chicken ! or DUCK

This is great advice for shorter trips. Dress down. But if I am taking my bike through a continent, I want good gear!

gbags 20 Apr 2021 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark manley (Post 619355)
I have not been to Morocco yet but it would have to go some to beat the Indian sub-continent for me, between Pakistan, India and Nepal there is so much, although many parts of overpopulated you can still find the bits in between that are great.

A quick deviation please, as you brought it up. Mark, is bike travel in Pakistan safer or more dangerous than five or ten years ago. I really want to pass that way.

Mack to Maroc: fantastic country and it has lots to offer. I hope to go back as soon as COVID loosens it’s grip. I agree with the comments about India/Nepal and Vietnam. Asia is awesome, but not a quick ride away.

badou24 20 Apr 2021 19:26

Best advice for Morocco .......... i always pretend to be on my phone when there is a "hot spot " and it works for me ! ( must buy a battery !! )

frameworkSpecialist 16 May 2021 21:34

I was reminded about this thread...

I have been riding up home towards Finland from Malta through Italy.

Oh my god. I had no idea. Italy is absolutely amazing for riding. Been going up the west cost and the roads are indescribable. Probably the best tarmac riding I have ever done.

RussG 16 May 2021 21:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by badou24 (Post 619650)
Best advice for Morocco .......... i always pretend to be on my phone when there is a "hot spot " and it works for me ! ( must buy a battery !! )

Or talk to them in Welsh, or talk to each other in Welsh. We can't speak Welsh:rolleyes2:
But we can string enough random words together to confuse anyone enough for them to move on to the next victim :rofl:

backofbeyond 17 May 2021 07:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussG (Post 620239)
Or talk to them in Welsh, or talk to each other in Welsh. We can't speak Welsh:rolleyes2:
But we can string enough random words together to confuse anyone enough for them to move on to the next victim :rofl:

I actually went to the trouble to do a course in Irish Gaelic on the basis that it might be 'handy' in those circumstances.

I think I might need to retake the course as I can't remember a word of it.:(

RussG 17 May 2021 11:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by backofbeyond (Post 620249)
I actually went to the trouble to do a course in Irish Gaelic on the basis that it might be 'handy' in those circumstances.

I think I might need to retake the course as I can't remember a word of it.:(

I was being slightly tongue in cheek but when necessary it absolutely does work:-)
I can string a sentence or two together and 99.9% of the world population have zero idea in identifying what language it is or where you are from. And as they say time is money in this scenario so they quickly get bored, or give up and move on:thumbup1:

backofbeyond 17 May 2021 11:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussG (Post 620262)
I was being slightly tongue in cheek but when necessary it absolutely does work:-)
I can string a sentence or two together and 99.9% of the world population have zero idea in identifying what language it is or where you are from. And as they say time is money in this scenario so they quickly get bored, or give up and move on:thumbup1:

First time I ever went to Morocco I hadn't been that long out of school so could still remember a few bits of the five years of Latin I'd been taught. I went with a friend from the same class in school so we could exchange a few faux Latin phrases between us. Did it work? No not really but it did stop a few of them for a minute or so before they worked out we were talking in some dialect of Italian.

Latin did help a little trying to ask for stuff in Italy. It was better than English out in the countryside anyway.

Rapax 31 May 2021 10:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by frameworkSpecialist (Post 619631)
This is great advice for shorter trips. Dress down. But if I am taking my bike through a continent, I want good gear!

Wear what you want, you cannot hide yourself because even if you ride in an old Djellaba with wornout Sandals on the shittiest bike ever Morrocans will smell against the wind in a second that you are a foreigner.

Best prep for Morocca beside getting a nice tan is knowing phrases in french and arabic. Morrocans are very talented in learning phrases in any language because they are by culture doggy salesmen. So better to talk in their language to avoid boring sales phrase conversations in your language. Have in mind that about 30% of moroccans are analphabets, so letting them reading a digital translation doesn`t work sometimes.

Buy a phrase book or use an online translator to learn. Will help you much more because Marrocans love to talk you. In all smaller towns or villages you will receive a lot of hospitality if you are willing to communicate. Sure prices for you will always be a little higher but this is imho fine because it will be still cheap for you.

In general morrocan tourist police in bigger touristic towns will always help you with any kind of problems. The only problem with these guys is that they don`t wear uniforms and that they often ride faster motorcycles than an average morrocan.

Kids who are throwing stones after you are in some areas a problem. Be attentive of crowds of kids hanging near by roads.

Morrocco has great landscapes, a tourist infrastructure for every wallet, a nice mixture of french and arabic culture. They offer really delicious food, try out morrocan cuisine as much as you can, you won`t regret it. If you are around the coast, go visiting industrial habors areas and checkout seafood restaurants for locals which are always located around the areas of the gates.

TheWarden 31 May 2021 11:33

Even better learn some of the 5 Amazigh dialects, French will get you by, but Arabic or Amazigh will get a much better response from the locals.

Unfortunately the stone throwing and aggressive begging in some areas is a result of irresponsible travellers.

backofbeyond 31 May 2021 12:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWarden (Post 620570)

Unfortunately the stone throwing and aggressive begging in some areas is a result of irresponsible travellers.

I blame the hippies. When I first went there the 'Marrakesh Express' was still taking them en masse to the promised land. When everything is 'far out man' they must have been easy pickings for the Moroccans - especially with very little in the way of 'consumer regulations' to restrict some of the more 'enthusiastic' sales techniques. Stone throwing if you didn't buy, or even as an encouragement to buy, was std practice when I went there in 1970. My crash helmet still has the dents to prove it.


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