Imperial cities of Morocco + ocean vacation
The operator - Delta Travel, the agent - Mandruy is cheaper, the meeting party - New Approach Holidays, the guide's name was Rafik.
Program: Agadir - Marrakesh - Beni Mellal - Fez - Meknes - Rabat - Casablanca - Marrakech - Essaouira - Agadir
The excursion program is designed for 5 days. It must be said right away that there are other tours, longer ones, including a large tour for 20 (sort of) days. This is exactly how much, according to NAH, you need for a leisurely and high-quality acquaintance with Morocco. And this can be trusted, since all the cities on the way were completely different and interesting, and there was little time to get acquainted. Moreover, a number of cities (for example, Urzazata) were not included in the program.
Briefly about the program.
At the beginning of the tour, there is a big forced march to the north, and from there we slowly and with stops return back to Agadir. Therefore, stops were not frequent, strictly by necessity. They didn't even let me take pictures.
(It should be noted that the light there is very hard and intense - it is very difficult to photograph)
1. Marrakech.
First stop Majorelle garden. The garden is more strange than beautiful. Or maybe I'm just not used to the sight of cacti and palm trees. Then we wandered a little near the central square of Djemaa el-Fna. Dinner. Although the lunch was free, Rafik undertook to organize it for us and organized it for 150 dx. More about lunch below. Let's go further.
2. Beni Mellal.
A relatively small city, the center of an agricultural region. The city is accordingly boring, having no sights. Girls eager to explore the surroundings are advised to dress modestly (i. e. pants, not miniskirts or shorts) - local rednecks are very orthodox.
Seeing Ifrane sounds very cool because there is nothing to see there except a monument to the last lion, killed in 1946. We bought water in the nearest stores, ice cream and moved on.
4. Fez (as the locals say).
A truly medieval city with crooked and narrow streets. You can’t get out of the medina without a guide, so everyone tried to keep up. Accordingly, it is simply not possible to buy something. They brought us to leather and weaving workshops, but the prices there are not childish. The guide again organized a lunch for us for 150 AH and we already started to get a little excited, because we already noticed that in a cafe you can eat for 50-80 AH.
The Fes market had the lowest price for fruits: peaches - 7dh.
It should be noted that since there is an agricultural region nearby, fruits and vegetables can be bought on the way (melons - 3dh), but the guide did not allow it. Subsequently, he strongly discouraged us from buying food from the layouts, including fruits. But I ate until I died.
5. Meknes. Rabat.
There is nothing super outstanding. Architecture, parks, King Ets palace. The most interesting was the mausoleum of Mohammed 5. In Rabat I decided not to go to lunch with everyone and ate in a cafe - 50dh.
6. Casablanca.
There are no ancient monuments - the city is 100 years old. Hassan 2 Mosque can only be viewed from the outside - non-believers are not allowed to enter. In addition, to combat terrorists, a very strict temporary control was introduced - you can only be in the mosque during the prayer period. In Casablanca turned out to be the coolest bitch (bazaar in their language). In one of the corners, girls can paint their hands and forehead. Very cool actually. Sausages are baked near the central gate - quite tasty. We wanted to get acquainted with the real Moroccan flavor, so we went further along the wall of the medina to the old part (not from the side of the embankment, but from the side of the city). The market turns out to continue here too - the street is full of layouts with goods, and there is a shop in every hole. Here are the lowest prices. The choice is not really the best. A special rough glove for washing in which soap is inserted was given away for 10dx, although in other places the prices reached up to 80dx.
A silk dress was given for 200dx (bargaining started from 400). Here they could hem it in shape.
And next to the ocean, there is a lot of salt in the air, it seems that it sticks to the body.
7. Marrakech.
Well… Marrakech is Marrakesh… It's like a giant bough, it seems to work around the clock. Moreover, all roads lead to the souk. It's easy to get lost in the medina, even with a map. The most striking impression is the central square of Djemaa el-Fna (next to the main entrance to the souk))). During the day, merchants are located on the square, part of the territory is given over to the trade in orange fresh juices (it seems that the trade is round-the-clock). The price of a glass is 4dx. These were the lowest prices. True, there is one thing. Water is not supplied to their "points" and they wash glasses in special buckets. How often the water changes in these buckets is a mystery shrouded in darkness. In the evening, merchants leave the square and various amateur artists, snake charmers, etc. , appear.
Many musicians play very impressively, much better and brighter than, for example, on the Fantasia show. Closer to the night there are still mini-shops with food.
Near the hotel (riad Magador (next to the train station)) there was a small agricultural market, very colorful. Prices are higher than in the supermarket: peaches 18dh. By photos. This is Djemaa el Fna. The crowd in the center and to the right is a bunch of people gathering around the artists. Behind the crowd on the left are points for the sale of fresh, in the middle - shops with food. That fog that rises above the shops - this is crap from cooking.
8. Essuera - that's what the locals say.
The city is notable for the port, the Portuguese fortress and ...bough. And also the presence of shawarma))). The souvenir market is relatively small, all littered with wood products. If you are interested in wooden souvenirs, then it makes sense to buy them here, since in other cities the choice is much more modest.
If you go a little further and turn right, you can get to the ordinary market.
Uh…. Shawarma. Much tastier than ours and smaller in size. Single - 25dh, double -40dh. In addition, they wrap it in foil.
On the way to Agadir we stopped at an argan cooperative - the oil is expensive.
9. Agadir - the place of our deployment for the rest.
This is the largest and best resort in Morocco. Some say the only one. The city is popular among both foreigners and locals. We arrived at the peak of the season and there were a lot of traffic jams at the entrances to the city. Agadir itself is a small town about 5x5 km. It is best to travel by taxi - the fare to any point is within 20dx. Moreover, the maps there are bad to figure out where it is very difficult, Google also does not differ in accuracy, so a taxi is more reliable and faster. There is a very good souk in Agadir. There is a cafe where half a liter of fresh juice costs 12dh.
Travel agents are better. These offices are located further from the promenade, so to speak in the second line. Offices are mature and serious, everything is solid. Tourists are sent in large tourist buses, guides repeat everything in French, English and German. The disadvantage is that all excursions are strictly on schedule. The prices are the same for everyone - this suggests that the operator is the same. There were 2 offices on Hassan Avenue 2 next to the hotel: Holiday Service and Atlas Tours. I went to the show "Fantasy".
Better travel agents. Located right on the promenade, close to the beach. And the representative of Petrovich even appears on the beach all the time. And it is Petrovich who has the lowest prices (albeit a show-off lower, but still). These offices send people in minivans converted to 8 seats. Guides also speak 3 languages, but if there are French in the group, then the bulk of the information will be given in French. There is no clear timetable.
Simply put, if they recruit a group of people who wish, they will go any day. I went to Tafraout/Tiznit with such an office.
Tafraout is a village in the mountains. When we started climbing the mountains, it turned out that the mountains that we have seen so far are complete nonsense. There were really majestic, formidable, very beautiful and picturesque mountains. And also failures. The driver flew along the serpentine like a fried and shortened the corners on the turns, because of which we took off 3 times against an oncoming car. We often stopped and took pictures as much as we wanted. People were not spoiled by tourists, there were no helpers. Goats climbing trees could be photographed without any extortion. Tea cost 8 dh. The downside was that almost no one speaks English. Tafraout has its own bough, but a small, rural one. You can buy cheap spices (bags!! ), slippers-grandmothers, teapots, fruits etc. Tiznit is located much closer to the ocean, it is not so hot in it.
Its biggest attraction is the precious metal jewelry market. There were also in the workshop for the production of these very jewelry. In general, gold and silver are 2 times cheaper than in Ukraine (if you know how to bargain).
Legzira is such a beach. Very beautiful caves. Still almost uninhabited. Here the power and strength of the ocean is felt to the greatest extent (the beach in Agadir is actually located in the bay), You can swim only in places covered with stones from the ocean. On the way back, we stopped at a cooperative for the production of argan oil. And there were really low prices. The oil was undiluted. (You need to understand that there are commercial requirements for products and, by virtue of these requirements, the oil is brought to a certain consistency, composition, etc. - no crime or deceit. ) So here you can buy real, thick, not brought to commercial requirements oil 200dkh per litre.
In the bitch of Agadir, ordinary (commercial) oil - from 250.
A few words about the language. English goes with a bang. In Agadir, many people speak it to one degree or another. weather can be discussed. But deep down it's a problem. When traveling to Tafraout, it was possible to deal with the waiter only with the help of a guide. Menus in restaurants are usually in several languages and Russian is available upon request. In addition, helpers specialize in different languages and can help (lighten your pockets))).
Souvenirs. The question is very complex and huge. Most souvenirs are sold as hand-made items. This can be trusted. Because when you go to a large store you can often see a frame that polishes something, cuts, mints, grinds, sculpts it. Well, the products often show defects that the machine will not leave - see the photo with the tray, here the punch went beyond the chasing area.
On the caskets, the back walls (external) are poorly polished, traces of a saw are visible in the middle at the bottom. There are solder drips on the teapots, the lid does not fit well. They have very interesting teapots inlaid with different metals, but again there are solder streaks, crookedly inserted inlay, but beautiful. Leather. Cool. A light jacket can be negotiated for $100. But the skin is stinky. That is, inside, where the air does not penetrate well and the smell does not disappear, it stinks. In general, we can say that they do not reach the heights of mastery. And there is another strange moment. On metal products, only 2-3 drawings are realistic. It looks like only one on teapots, see pictures. The question is, did it really not occur to any master to somehow diversify their assortment, especially since this is a type of hand-made and you can do whatever your heart desires. The caskets are also poor with patterns.
In general, you need to keep in mind that it is better to buy souvenirs during the excursion program, and not in Agadir.
Alcohol. Terrible. Expensive besides. As a side note. They have very bad water. The water in the hotels is chemically through, has a bluish tint, not transparent. Their drinks also have a characteristic aftertaste. We continue. The best beer is made in Fes. There is the best water. They produce several varieties, the most fugly - Flag Pils, better - Flag Speshil, even better - Casablanca. There are several foreign varieties, Heineken for example. The flag is an ordinary powdered beer, no different from Chernihiv. When I saw the prices of alcohol, I decided that I would endure until Ukraine. Flag Special - 40 dx per half liter, Casablanca - 60 dx. It's the same story with wine. Wines up to 50dh - ordinary shmurdyak, much worse than wines in Ukraine of the same price.
Their much-vaunted gray wine is an ordinary rosé (although sometimes with a yellow tinge). Wines in restaurants cost 140 - 160dh. By the way, in Duty Free, the prices for wine (local) turned out to be somewhat lower - around 6 euros. At the end, I got to a sale at Uniprix (this is a supermarket). Beer could be bought in the region of 10-15dh per can. And further. They say that Moroccans do not drink because Allah has forbidden. Don't believe me, they drink. It is very difficult to meet a drunken Moroccan, but if you try, you can. Yes, I almost forgot. If you can't live without alcohol, take it with you.
Spices in Morocco. The flavors are very bright. Much brighter than ours. And there are mixes for tourists and for their own. Some show the difference. For tourists it is much worse, but still better than ours. I bought 100 grams of a special mix for meat (they said it would last for 3 years), the whole kitchen was fragrant until I transferred it to an airtight container. Worth 60dh. I also bought 100 grams of tea.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be mint (I think so), it smells even stronger than the meat mix. I decided that I would just add it to tea. But I suspect that I bought very little. Well, let me remind you, if you understand spices, then in Tafraoute you can buy at ridiculous prices.
Dinners. The price and type of menu depends on where you dine. On the Agadir promenade, all cafes and restaurants work with an à la carte order. The most expensive are anywhere from 150 dh. But most are a little cheaper - for 100-120 hh it is quite possible to eat. Wi-fi may or may not have - you need to go and ask. Approximate prices: salads -25 ...40 hh, steaks - 70 ...100 hh, fish grill - 80 ...120 hh, fresh juices (250 ml with ice): orange - 12 hh, lemon -15, fruit juice (actually not juice, but puree does not quench thirst) -20 ...25dh, tea -12 ...16dh.
Leaving the coastal zone, you can find a number of medium-sized cafes where you can find something like set menus.
Such a menu usually includes salad + meat with french fries. Meat - different types of kefta (patty on a skewer), shish kebab. If you add coffee or tea to this, you get about 50 dx.
Restaurants with a national flavor use a set menu from 90 dh. The options are different, for example: 1. Choice: salad or harira soup, 2 Choice: several options for tagine or shish kebab, all with a side dish, 3 orange dessert + coffee or tea.
General impression: they cook mediocre, our cuisine is better. Salad mix with sardines is delicious, fish is bland and tasteless, vegetables are like vegetables, meat is like meat, but it could be much better, chicken tagine is dry in any performance; lamb tagine is quite tasty in any performance; coffee is good; tea is wonderful, fresh juices too.
Ice cream. Yes ...here ...ice cream ...On average - average. Of the ice cream that is sold in balls, I really liked fruit (well, like sherbet) orange, for example.
And did not like vanilla, chocolate ets. It costs 1 ball - 10hb, 2 - 15hb and 3 - 20hb. In Marshan (analogous to Auchan) ice cream is better than in McDonald's. Among the ice cream on sticks, I really liked pistachio in milk chocolate “Titan”, it costs 15 hx - the best. Even not so: THE BEST! The most delicious ice cream I have ever eaten. The rest were not impressed at all.
Helpers. Despite the fact that the entire Internet is full of intimidation, the situation is not sad. And send them to FIG is quite possible. However, do not go to the shops with a person who believes that if he undertook to bargain, he must buy. Such a person will be sold everything and three times more expensive. This is verified - I had such a groupmate with me. In the end, he wondered all the time how unlucky he was with prices.
In general, we can say that Moroccans are very big times ...(guilders). Very careless and inaccurate. In one restaurant, in part of the hall, there was a kitchen stench.
There was a moment when the whole company was helped to calculate the cost of food. They can also make a mistake with the order or incorrectly calculate the change. Well, beggars and their rudeness can be encountered, but if you don’t specifically look for a meeting with them, you may not meet at all. They also have an interesting custom. If you eat something, then children may come up to you and ask you to finish eating. Moreover, they are not interested in the degree of food being eaten, if you give a positive answer, they will even take an unopened package from their hands and run away. One groupmate said as soon as the food was laid out, a frame came up and said: “You love Morocco, I love Morocco, so we are friends, so we should eat your food together”))).
Yes...Here...How to bargain. In general, the opinion that there you need to bargain for everything is somewhat exaggerated. Often traders set fixed prices on the markets and you get a firm no when you try to reduce them.
Although if you buy for a lot, say for 200 households, then you can win back about a dozen. How to bargain: 1. There should be no inadequate people with you - that is, alternatively gifted, people who do not understand who a helper is and how his participation affects the price, people who do not comment on what is happening ets. 2. It is better to find out the price level in advance, for example, from a guide or in a supermarket, in any case, you need to decide on the purchase budget. If there are no options, you can turn the option described below. 3. If, nevertheless, there is a helper who takes an active part in the trade, ask the seller to expel him from the store (if this is possible in principle).
The process itself is the following. It takes a long time to choose a product. That is, for a long time, not in the sense that you are stupid, but in the fact that you carefully examine, estimate, portray interest in this. You can come the next day and consider the same product. They see it and react immediately.
This will be the LOWEST PRICE at which he can sell the goods. You can buy, and if you are not sure that this is the target lowest price, you can bargain with another merchant using this price as the base one. Secondly, he may ask your last price. You add up to 180 and either the deal goes through or it doesn't. Here you need to understand that the minimum price for the same product in different cities can be different. In Meknes, they sold me a brass teapot for 350 (that is, they chased me and offered a price). In Casablanca, a brass kettle with a copper bottom was offered for 250. In Agadir, I bargained for 240. A tray 430mm in diameter bargained for 180 with an initial price of 600. Regarding the prices in the store, you can bargain somewhere 10-15% (that's what you need know the approximate price of the goods). In general, in my opinion, in Agadir the price should be reduced by 3 times. And another tip: preparation for each auction should be focused, do not accidentally buy.
Some prices (in Agadir souk). honey - 30 ...200 dx (this is eucalyptus so expensive), bread, such a flatbread with a diameter of 150 and a thickness of 30 mm - 1 dx, black Moroccan bread of the same size - 2 dx, sesame - 35 dx, fresh sesame - 15 dx kilogram, dates from 20 dx , the most popular - 40 hh (In Uniprix, already packed - 30 hh), melons from 5 hh, peaches and oranges from 11 hh. Dresses from 200-250 are highly dependent on quality, but there is no such quality as in Casablanca. Scarves cost from 20dx the simplest cotton ones (made in Turkey or India). Scarves are more expensive, but the price is highly dependent on quality. A cashmere scarf can be bargained for somewhere around 100dh.
PS. You can't properly organize a gallery. The photos are in disarray.
