Morocco

I've been pondering for a little while on making a trip to Morocco.  Brother-in-law went there a year or so ago and seemed to enjoy it.  The buildings and markets look pretty interesting and also I've seen an interesting program on traveling and even skiing in the Atlas Mountains (I think the largest mountain in northern Africa is there?)

Has anyone been there?  I'd guess Marakech might be a good starting point but I haven't looked at the guidebooks yet.

How does it compare to, say, Egypt?  I've heard some pretty bad things about Cairo, such as lots of people begging and trying to grab you to pull you into their stalls and sell you all kinds of crap, etc.  I wouldn't mind a bit of that and I understand the haggling thing is the way to go, but I couldn't have it full on all the time like a work colleague seemed to describe his trip to Cairo!

I get the feeling Morocco is one of the safer countries in that part of the world as well but I could be off-base again.

Cheers,
Matt

I have a friend that went to Morroco with friends (a girl and a guy) and he said yeah it was great but the girl was harrassed a lot and people were just kind of...in their face.  Although he liked it, he said he would never go back. 

Hmm, perhaps that's the North African way?  My colleague said almost exactly the same thing about Cairo, that he enjoyed the experience but that he wouldn't go back again.  Still, it seems like one of those experiences to be taken once in your life, I suppose?

Matt

All of Africa (well the 6 or 7 countries I've been to) is pretty bad for people harrassing you for money and trying to buy stuff. Egypt is horrible for sexual harrassment. Haven't been to Morocco but I wouldn't let these stories put you off, it 's all part of the experience.  Get a good guidebook the a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet and check out their safety tips and you should be fine.

You'll never know unless you go. 

I went to Marakech and Fez years and years ago with a group of French people.  You do get harrassed for money at a lot and it's not the best place to be if you are female and alone.   In fact, we always travelled as a group (there were 6 of us).  But it was absolutely lovely and I'm glad I went!

It was very beautiful and very different then anything that you would ever see in America or the UK.  I went 2 summers ago, we took a ferry over from Marbella Spain so I really was only there for 2 days.  People walked around with monkeys on leases as pets.  There were camels on the street ready to give rides (for a fee) and huge snakes would be put around your back for a photo op (again, for a fee).  Harassment is unfortunately a big issue.  Small children with tattered clothing and dirty faces see a tourist and basically chase you wherever you go asking for money or food.  It really pulled at my heart-strings.   The worst part though was the men.  Having Blond hair and light eyes doesn't help! They would grab my arms and try to pull me aside.  They asked the people that I was with "how many camels for a night with her".  I felt scared to go anywhere by myself (even the rest room at the restaurants). Other then that though it is amazing to see and is definatly worth a 1-2 day trip....