Morocco Travel Blog | Hammam - Marrakech

Local Hammam is a traditional hammam located right next to Jemaa al Fnaa. It is a special spa service known as a "Turkish bath" which consist of a body scrub and body wash. We found out after the experience that this is actually a very well known local hammam that many European bloggers and travel shows vote as #1.

• When: mornings to evenings (call ahead of time)

• Cost: $33 a person for traditional hammam experience (scrub, body mask and wash) and a 30 min massage

• Who: Mille et un Nuit Hammam

• Duration: 1-2 hours

• Tips: don't shower before so your body isn't dry, be prepared to do nothing after because you will be squeaky clean and so relaxed

• My personal experience: since we already tried the Luxury Hammam experience in Fes, it's always fun to try out how the locals do so we went to this traditional hammam near the square. Because it's a one 'locker/steam room/bathroom' area females are serviced at even hours and males at odd hours. I went for the first hour and my husband went the second hour (while I was getting the best massage ever). It's interesting to see this combined locker, washing area and steam room filled with Moroccan textiles and water fountains. First they wash you with a bucket then you sit in the steam room for a bit. After a couple minutes they come and get you wipe down some Argan oil soap on you as you lay down on the "washing counter" (let's call it that for now) and then you head back into the steam room again to let it soak in. Once again they grab you and this time they scrub you down with a glove and then lather you with the mud body mask (extra cost). You get to sit in the steam room for a long time and finally they'll grab you and wash you down after. You feel so clean and they even offer if you want to go back into the steam room to sit for a bit (it feels awesome in there). Afterwards they'll pull you out, hand you a robe and pour some rose water on you for to relax with some fresh mint tea. We got our massages after and we both were impressed with the strength and strategy they have in their hands (really, we were!). Definitely one of the best massages ever because I just passed out :)

Morocco Travel Blog | Hot Air Balloon - Marrakech

www.mariamshibly.com

Uh yes finally got to go on a hot air balloon ride and I loved my first time. There's not many vendors for this excursion and it gets booked pretty quickly, so try to do it ahead of time. I did it 3 weeks prior to our trip.

• When: Spring - Fall is best and definitely try to get the sunrise flight. They'll mention that all of them are sunrise flight, but pick the first flight so that you can see the sunrise in the air (and not on the ground)

• Cost: 1990 MAD DH so about $200 a person

• Who: We did it through Marrakech by Air

• Duration: About 4-5 hours; they picked us up about 5:45 am from our hotel and we were back by 11 am. They actual duration in the air is about 40 minutes

• Tips: It's pretty chilly early morning so pack a jacket, bring your go-pro and SLR because normal cameras will not come close to capturing any of it

• My experience: It's worth getting up that early because-- my god once you get up in the air and witness the sun rising above the mountains, it is so beautiful! So let's start from the beginning, our driver picked us up with a bunch of other people along the way when it was pretty dark out and drove us to what looked like the middle of the nowhere for about a half hour. We thought we potentially were about to get killed on the way, but don't worry eventually you get to a Berber tent where they serve you tea, milk, and cafe like the most hospitable people on Earth. If you're the first flight, you'll get to watch the hot air balloon get set up too, which is pretty interesting. The fire to gas the balloon actually feels really nice in that chilly weather. It'll start to get light outside and they'll scoop you in, the basket can hold up to like 10-12 people. I suggest getting into the basket last so you can be on the outside and have an awesome view with your camera without people's heads in your way. Our guide was really nice. He may have tried a little too hard to be carefree and funny, but oh well it's better than some monotonous dude at six in the morning. Once the balloon goes up you can't believe how easy it is to just fall --haha yes that was my first thought. You're literally being held up by a balloon, 3000 ft up in the air, just floating. It's so tranquilizing and quiet up there though like you just really feel at peace. About 20 minutes in our guide pointed out the sun rising above the mountains. It's really pretty seeing a perfect round ball come up and the colors change around you, everyone pretty much complained how it was coming out fuzzy in their camera, but I think our SLR got a fairly decent picture. Once the sunrise is up, they bring you back down which is a little more fun. The workers have to pretty much tug it down with sandbags so that the next crew can hop right in. Afterwards, they drove us to a Berber home for tea and a traditional Moroccan breakfast there. The mother was extremely sweet and provided us all sorts of bread, boiled eggs, fresh fruits, tea and cafe. Then they'll drive about 15 minutes closer to the Medina to for a 5-10 minute camel ride. The camels are sweet and the Bedouin guides will offer to take pictures of you while you're on the camel. Pretty much after that they'll drop you home and you have a whole day awaiting you!

Morocco Travel Blog | Sahara Desert Part 1 - Marrakech to Merzouga

Uploaded by Mariam Shibly on 2018-02-07.

So you can either choose to drive yourself to the Sahara Desert (and most probably will get lost) or there are plenty of vendors offered both in Fes and Marrakech that will take you to the Sahara and will show you really cool and well known geographic sites of Morocco along the way (better option to go with in my opinion).

The best part of this tour is that it takes course over a few days. We heard to see the most and the best you should do the 4 day and 3 night tour, but with limited time on our hands we decided to go with the 3 days and 2 nights, which still got us to the mainland of the Sahara, unlike the 2 days and 1 night tour - which barely gets you to the tip of the desert.

• When: Spring or Fall is the best time, Summer can be done as well, but it will be extremely hot throughout the whole tour (and depending on the driver they like to use A/C as minimal as possible)

• Cost: 220 €

• Who: Go Sahara Tours

• Duration: 3 days 2 nights

• Tips: pack light and pack efficiently for sure. Bring a warm covered outfit for the chilly overnight in the desert. 2 day outfits to walk around in all sorts of dust, water, mud, road and to keep you cool as you are up and early and out and about all the time on this tour. Don't forget the basic essentials: sunglasses, sunscreen, overnight personal care kits, allergy medicine, etc.

• My personal experience: Rise and shine at 7 am and they picked us up right on the dot in a huge comfortable 4 x 4. The great thing about this vendor was that you're the only group they pick up, the whole trip is a private tour just for you and who ever else you're with. Trust me, this will come in handy when you have to ride back 12 hours with so much space for you to sleep in! The driver's a quiet and respectful elderly man and the tour guide's a young guy in his 30s who can speak English pretty decently (better than the majority anyway).

  • 1st day: right after the pick up, we drove up the High Atlas Mountains located in Marrakech and go across the mountain range. It's absolutely stunning and well worth the 2-3 hour drive. They make stops at the best scenic spots for snacks and pictures of the stunning scenery. Most of the drivers are experienced and aggressive, so we were pretty afraid of the speedy drive through the narrow and winding roads, but it was a hilarious thrill (and a bit of nausea). We make our way towards the old Kasbah (old city or citadel) of Ait Benn Haddou, where a ton of movies and shows were filmed such as our favorite Game of Thrones. It's amazing how they still let tourists go in and out of the Kasbah and host a couple of merchants in there. It's a gorgeous old ruin to walk through and you get to go all the way to the top! Afterwards we were treated with lunch at a modern restaurant nearby. On our way to another valley, we make a pitstop at Ouarzazate, basically Morocco's Hollywood. It casually has a couple of ruins, but mainly very modernized and interesting to stroll by. We finally get to our last destination for the day and the most beautiful, Dades Gorges in Ourzates. These magnificent red clay like stoned cliffs and canyons were absolutely fascinating. In this case, pictures speak more than words and we were so excited to find out this was basically going to be our backyard view (yes, not even joking because they casually have hotels structured into the canyons - so awesome!). We were treated again with dinner served promptly at 8 pm and were left with time a little before and after to explore our beautiful backyard ourselves.

  • 2nd day: Woke up for breakfast and left the hotel promptly at 8 am with our driver and guide. I was really excited today was the day for the desert! We were dropped off, what seemed like in the middle of nowhere in an agricultural field in Tenhir and then were given a tour of how this little Berber village makes their produce, water supply, and colors for the woman to weave into their carpets. BTW the souks here (ask your guide if you can shop around) because the prices are so much cheaper than the bigger cities like Marrakech or Fes! After the Berber village, we drove through Todra Gorges, humongous canyons carved by the Dades River, which we got to stop and play around in for a bit. The water was so clean and refreshing that people openly drank and washed off their hands (don't worry everyone was very cautious not to dump some junk in it).  After a few more hours we finally made it to Merzouga in the Sahara Desert - follow up with the overnight stay in the desert with this post.

  • 3rd day: you'll come back to the hotel take a shower and be thankful you're exhausted because you're going to sleep through the rest of the 12 hour car ride (ssh).

Morocco Travel Blog | Sahara Desert Part 2 - Overnight in the Desert

Uploaded by Mariam Shibly on 2018-02-07.

It's always been on my bucket list to visit the greatest desert in the world, the Sahara Desert. It's also been one of my biggest fears to sleep out in the open, especially in the dark, where you're away from human civilization. I'm proud to say it's been overcome and accomplished!

It takes a while to get to the desert whether you're coming from Fes or Marrakech, but most tours make it fun and you visit the coolest places, valleys and mountains on the way. If you're interested in the tour along the way, check out the first part of this post here. The Sahara Desert is definitely worth it and one hell of a lifetime experience.

• When: Spring or Fall is the best time to visit the desert or else it gets scorching hot even when it's almost sunset

• Cost: most tours offer 3 days 2 nights, which is the one we did to get the farthest into Sahara for about 200€ aka $230 per person. The tours range anywhere from 200€ to 400€

• Who: there's a ton of tours available, but we did ours through Go Sahara Tours which allowed us to have our own private tour throughout all 3 days. Also, we were the only ones immediately after the desert stay that were allowed to shower at the hotel thanks to our tour group connections!

• Duration: 3 days and 2 nights. There are tours that go 2 days and 1 nights, but you don't really get to experience the true Sahara and the larger dunes. If you have time definitely try to do the 4 days and 3 nights to get deep into the Sahara!

• Tips: Pack light and bring cool and breezy outfits for the day it can get pretty hot and the drivers like to drive with the windows down even though they have A/C. Bring a jacket or  a cover up for the nights in the desert, it can get pretty chilly and windy. Baby wipes are also awesome to have in the desert for some quick clean up since there's no bathrooms. Also take advantage of the stops at the gas stations - they sell the water bottles for the cheapest (which you will need throughout)

• My experience: I was probably most excited for this excursion on our Morocco trip. Hashim and our driver were the chillest people yet. Hashim did a good job of answering all our questions, he spoke fairly decent English. They let us stop whenever we requested especially for pictures, which was very well appreciated! (To read more about the stops and trekking on the way to Marzouga, you can follow up through Part 1 post). We finally reached Merzouga just before sundown and waited for another smaller group so the Bedouins can escort us to the tent. We got on our camels for about a two hour trek to our tent. Most of the camels have one hump also known as dromedaries, and are very gentle. I adored them! Feel free to pet them as much as you want. In fact one of the camels rubbed up on my husband randomly through the trekking it was so cute (he was caught off guard of course, which was hilarious). The Bedouin guides are extremely nice and caring, they walk your camel the whole way through. One dude on in our group wasn't feeling too well with the rocky camel ride and our guide waited patiently for him to do his thang in the outskirts. Once we got to the tent, we were provided some sweet Moroccan mint tea and freshly barbecued tangines. After dinner the Bedouins placed out some comfy mats outside the tent for a little musical entertainment with tablas (drums), singing and dancing. It was a lot of fun just dancing in the desert with a bunch of strangers and your partner. Finally we were pooped and they told us it's best to grab your sleeping mats and go sleep outside because it was too hot inside the tent. So we did it. I wrapped up the wool blankets (made out of sheep/camel skin so it was really warm) really tight around me so that nothing could creep inside. So here's the best part: when you look up at the night sky, wow you are left in a daze. It feels like you've been dropped into outer space with the 360 view of the brightest sky full of stars you've ever seen. You are literally sleeping in a sea of stars. Especially when the moon drops (I had no idea the moon disappears at night - just learned that on the trip) you're left in darkness and faint light provided by the stars. It was amazing. I would sleep under that magical night sky all over again. Truly a magnificent moment to witness and that no camera can capture. The Bedouins woke us up about 4:30 am to get us ready to go back on the camels and watch the sunrise on our trek back to the land. It was hilarious trying to maneuver through the dark to get on your camel and ride through the desert, but beyond gorgeous once the sun began to rise. The Bedouin guides were very sweet and took a couple of pictures of you on the camel once it was pretty light out and then we pet the camels goodbye and that was it. Short and sweet, it captured my heart (I know cheesy, but I'm telling you honestly how I felt).

As for African and Desert insects and animals, you don't have to worry. The Bedouins are extremely familiar with the area they're taking you to and they don't leave your side. They will be there to approve or warn you of any danger, which they assure rarely happens. Yeah of course there's spiders and weird insects, but they're usually not poisonous (yea surprisingly). I would just say bring clothes to fully cover yourself so you don't give them a chance to crawl up on your skin.

The Bedouins are hard working and very caring. No one steals your stuff, no one tries to mug you midway in the desert. I would say you're in pretty safe and experienced hands, so relax and enjoy these special moments in peace.

Morocco Travel Blog | Riads & La Mamounia - Marrakech

Uploaded by Mariam Shibly on 2018-02-07.

My favorite riad cat, Garfield, we truly loved each other.

Marrakech is where we spent majority of our time and compared to the other cities it is definitely the busiest. Marrakech thrives on tourism and the New Town is there to keep both locals and tourists well entertained at all hours. This city is also pretty South so the weather here was very different from Fes and very hot.

How do you get here? There are many direct flights to Marrakech (usually at a cheaper rate than Fes) from all over the world. You can get cheaper flights coming in from Spain. There's also buses and trains you can take to get here from other cities.

Riads known as the boutique hotels are what we stayed at majority of the time and took advantage by staying at a couple of different ones:

• Riad L'Etoile D'Orient: friendly French owner named Franck, cute place and a nice rooftop terrace where you eat breakfast. Location is ideal and easy to find from the souks in the Medina

• Riad Rafaele: nice owner but the staff are a lot friendlier, the boy (feel so bad forgot his name) is extremely helpful and he will make sure when you're dealing with other Moroccans they stick to what they say. The rooms are pretty nice and Garfield their cat is probably our favorite part about this riad, he's the friendliest cat you'll ever meet :)

• Riad Mansour: in my opinion, one of the most beautiful riad in all of Marrakech. Just take a look at it’s architecture and design, that should be enough.

La Mamounia Hotel used to be the king's old palace and is converted to an extremely extravagant hotel. It's located right outside of the Medina and very close to the New Town. La Mamounia is filled with history as it's been the most popular luxurious hotel since the 1930s! This is the most pampered hotel ever, anything you'll ever need they'll be at your service (within seconds). Also, they assume you're extremely wealthy like everyone else so food, taxis, anything that's chargeable will likely be the same price for luxury in the US or Europe. This was also the only hotel we stayed at that had a huge pool (both indoor and outdoor). The indoor pool was heaven and it leads to another paradise to where the jacuzzi here. We saved the best for last intentionally so that we didn't ruin our expectations at the other riads and I'm glad we did because this was truly paradise.

Tips for stays:

• Outlet Converter: very few outlets so bring your essentials (charger, blowdryer, straightner, battery chargers).

• Most of the riads rarely have irons--most of the time you'll have to ask the host and even then they might not have one.

•  It'll be common to find dim lighting in your bathrooms as well, so I wouldn't be trying to film or do anything in there, you can barely put your makeup on. The bathroom space tends to be smaller, so I wouldn't depend on counter space either.

• Except for the hotels, you're given a traditional key to your room, which the riad also has a spare as well to clean your room. Most riads are very trustworthy so you don't have to worry too much about your stuff, but I wouldn't bring the most expensive items either just in case. 

• Sometimes there isn't much to do at night besides the New City and more food--so keep in mind Netflix is banned there, so download as many movies on your laptop if you just want to lay in for a bit. 

Morocco Travel Blog | Jemaa Al Fna (Main Square) - Marrakech, Morocco

Uploaded by Mariam Shibly on 2018-02-07.

Dal Moha Al Medina Restaurant (Mos r ecommended by locals)

Jemaa Al Fna is the busy city square located in the heart of the Medina. Personally in Marrakech, you'll find the cheapest prices here and be sure to read up on haggle strategies before you go and buy something for twice the price.

• When: usually busy in the morning to evenings and especially on Saturday (don't go on Eid or the day after it's deserted)

• Cost: free

• Who: you'll see signs everywhere leading to the square in the Medina or you can ask the locals or your hotel/riad host

• Duration: however long you want its basically like NYC times square (obviously not as advanced)

• Tips: in the evening all these food stalls pop up in the middle of the square, be sure to have dinner there with freshly grilled/bbQ tangines and skewers! The best time to see the square in action is to go on Saturday.

• My personal experience: we learned quickly that from the square we know how to go anywhere and to get to the square there's  signs as you can easily get lost in the Medina (the key thing to learn is how to actually get back to your hotel from the square). The square has everything you need- access to the grand souks, all the restaurants, post office, banks, exchange rates whatever you need most probably they'll direct you to the square. Jemaa al Fna is most entertaining on Saturdays, crowds fill up and everyone has dinner in the food stalls that pop up. It's so interesting to see a couple games come up like at the carnival, games like you could get the ring around the bottle using a fishing rod. Unlike carnivals in the US where you only see one person trying, on Saturdays you'll see a huge crowd form as they watch a couple people try and it's actually a lot of fun. There's mini snake shows you can pay for a price, get henna done by the local ladies (that probably persist after you girls but just politely say no) and constant vendors asking you if you want fresh citrus juice (which is pretty refreshing).

Grand Souks is where you can find a bunch of the souks, but beware most souks in the grand bazaar are overpriced because the locals know tourists go there first (darn Moroccans).

• Tips: go deep into the grand souks or even better go to the souks that are on the outline of Medina or outskirts of the grand bazaar for legit deals and prices, if you get lost no biggie there's signs that direct you to the city square (although they take you the long route) so as long as you know where to go from Jemaa al Fna you're set.

• Bargaining: Moroccans are pretty aggressive when it comes to bargaining as soon as they see you eyeing their store, they'll do their best to lure you in. They key to getting good pricing, is not letting them know which item you really want. First ask the price of an item similar to what you're trying to buy, then tell them no too high. Then ask them the price of the item you actually want to buy, hopefully they'll say a lower price. You can say no still too high and then start walking out the store, most usually they come after you saying okay what price do you want. If they don't chase you then that means they're not really willing to change the price. This is your homework to research a reasonable price, and tell them a bit lower than that. They'll disagree and then tell them your ideal price and they eventually give in. Good luck!

• Sick of Moroccan food? Look for Terrasse de Espices, it's a European rooftop/terrace burger restaurant. You'll find all the normal American food you missed. Just ask the locals for this restaurant, it's on top of a mini mall plaza inside the Medina. 

Morocco Travel Blog | Koutoubia Mosque - Marrakech

Koutoubia Mosque is a beautiful ancient, almohad style mosque built in 1157 (so yes over 800 years old) and still serves today as the largest mosque in Marrakech.

• When: Muslim prayer times, especially Jummah on Fridays

• Cost: free but sadaqah (small charitable donation) is highly recommended/expected

• Who: Muslims are only allowed with the appropriate dress code (females covered head to toe)

• Duration: as long as the prayer lasts and many people are seen hanging outside near the gardens/park

• Tips: go enjoy the Friday prayer, although the khutbah is in Arabic, it's amazing to experience the prayer in an ancient mosque

• My personal experience: We unfortunately missed Eid Al Kabir/Eid Al Adha prayer (because it's done right at dawn/Fajr) but we were thankfully able to do Friday prayer here. It's very easy to distinguish the female side from the males (just follow them in duh). There's bags for your shoes and the people are very welcoming. Although the khutbah/lecture was in Arabic (which I could not understand) it was very tranquilizing. When it was time for salah/prayer the ladies welcomed me to come stand with them in the front and we stood firmly shoulder to shoulder. They smiled after the prayer and this is where you could really wish you could speak the same language as the people, but a genuine smile and hug can convey the same message :)

Morocco Travel Blog | New City (Modern Area) - Marrakech

New Town is literally what it is called by, the newer part of Marrakech. If you want to escape leave the old school Moroccan ways then you can come here and feel right at home as it's pretty westernized and a lot of the locals hangout here as well.

• Tips: if you want night life come here and dress nicely- and I'm not referring to dancing (although they actually have clubs) there's musical entertainment at trendy restaurants and lounges left and right. You should wear proper dinner attire if you want them to let you in, unless you come from a fancy hotel (like la Mamounia) then they'll take care of you (VIP treatment! yes!). If you're looking for shisha that's tough as they sometimes rarely do they they serve it (it's illegal there or the restaurants get fined for serving it). We went to Comptoir and enjoyed some fancy Moroccan food (I liked the local food better) and an entertaining musical and trendy atmosphere.