#288. Morocco

Today's tardy tip: Morocco is not the world's no. 1 destination for a stress-free fortnight. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a wonderful place for a holiday for adventurers, beach boys and shoppers, but they obviously have a tougher skin than me. I obviously don't possess the necessary social skillz to successfully navigate the Medinas and streets of Moroccan towns and cities; i.e. an ability to skillfully and guiltlessly ignore and repel random street humans. I appreciate that people have to make a living and getting you into their shop (at any cost) is one way to do this, but as for the tactic of following you around for half an hour (despite multiple pleas to go away), asking for money and then going into a rage and insulting your mother when you only give them x amount (about one day's average Moroccan wage) — that's just daylight robbery.

This is expected and fair enough in Tangier, but when you head to Chefchaoun (supposedly the country's most 'chilled-out' town) and you get the same shit... well we'd had enough. After a week of constant hassling, we caught the (fast) ferry back to Spain.

Despite all that, I don't regret going and it was an interesting experience being in a (albeit liberal) Muslim country. Even if that was only wondering where all the women were and being woken by the call to prayer everyday at 4am, it still leaves a lot to think about and has changed my perceptions of things like immigration ("hmm, maybe we should be worried about the dilution of western culture after all"), which surprised me. Moroccan food is pretty good, too.

We spent the rest of the time relaxing, drinking beer, eating tapas and wandering around Sevilla and Cordoba (in peace); so not a total pooper of a holiday then. Photos are up on flickr.