Hindsight’s a bitch, and now that we’ve spent a reasonable amount in Morocco I can properly declare that we did it wrong. Absolutely and totally wrong.
What was our biggest mistake?
Our biggest mistake, and the one that impacted our trip the most was going to Marrakesh first.
Marrakech is an anomaly – like I wrote before, it’s seductive and toxic at the same time, and while I absolutely fell in love with it, it set us on a path of paranoia and even xenophobia, which I’m embarrassed to type.
Everywhere in Marrakech our muscles would tense and our hands would clench when someone approached us because, after being scammed within the first 10 minutes of setting foot in the city, and a total of 3 times before even making it to our hotel that night, we were on our guard. Anyone who approached us we immediately thought was trying to con us, was going to demand money from us, or would pretend to be friendly until suddenly they were trying to sell us something ridiculous.
Because of these experiences in the week we spent in Marrakesh, we wrongly assumed that this was just Morocco, and this is Moroccan culture. People had warned us about this very thing, while others had told us that Moroccans are some of the kindest, most generous people they had ever known. I questioned those people, because we didn’t experience kindness or generosity – but that’s because after Marrakesh we didn’t give anyone the opportunity to show it to us.
I was absolutely blindsided when in Fes a craftsman let me take his picture. I asked, expecting him to demand payment since in Marrakesh some guy had seen me taking a photo of a snake in the main square and demanded I pay for the privilege (I responded by deleting all the photos of said snake), but he just smiled and said “Of Course!”. I figured he must be the one nice merchant in Morocco.
And when we got to Chefchaoian and someone showed us the way to our hostel, and didn’t demand to be paid, but told us to have a pleasant stay, Jordan and I just stared at eachother. Huh?
That’s when we realized we had it wrong. The order in which we visited Morocco was
- Marrakesh
- Essouiara
- Merzouga (Sahara Desert Safari)
- Fes
- Chefchaoian
The order we should have visited it is pretty much the reverse.
The kindest people we met who were likely being genuine when they told me to ‘open my heart’ after reading the distrust on my face were in Chefchaoian and Fes. In Merzouga we didn’t get to meet many locals and our exposure was to those who were in cahoots with the tour and trying to sell us something, so I would suggest Essouiara first, Merzouga next, and leaving Marrakesh for last.
Yes, you should absolutely go to Marrakesh. It’s an experience, and it’s not comparable to anything else. People may tell you Fes is similar but more authentic – and that’s not true. They are different – worlds apart even. Fes has the medieval charm in the medina, and the kind people, but Marrakesh has the organized chaos and the exotic ridiculousness that makes it so special. You can’t avoid it, but if you’re prepared for it and embrace it you’ll be much more accepting of the experience. Just, leave it for the last so it doesn’t colour your view of the rest of Morocco, as it did ours.