Travelling as a female alone in Morocco
- Lorincz Orsolya
- Feb 7, 2017
- 8 min read
When I found some cheap tickets to Morocco, I bought them without hesitation and without knowing much about the country. After doing some research I realized that there are so many nice places to visit that I decided to prolong my stay. But still, I didn't have enough time to do everything I wanted.
My first day in Marrakesh was confusing because there are no signs with street names so a map wasn't very helpful, unless you had GPS. So i ended up making a walking tour of the city and getting lost in the bad neighbourhoods of Marrakesh until a nice teenager helped me find my hostel. Some people will ask money for helping you find your hotel or a museum, but I never experienced it myself. As in any other cities, there will be kind people who will try to help you have a nice time in their country and there will be people who will try to take advantage of tourists .
I finally arrived to my hostel and they were nice enough to present me some day trips around Morocco. If you plan to visit Morocco, never book a trip on the internet since it's almost double priced, sometimes even 5 times more expensive. Almost every hostel/riad offers many types of day trips and 3 day trips to the desert. I advise you to contact them beforehand to make sure they do. I went there in December and there were 2 mini buses going everyday to the desert. So you really don't need to worry about it, as I did.
I decided to book a 3 day/2 nights trip to the desert that included a camel ride and a night sleeping in a traditional berber camp. Online you can find this trip for 125 euros, but I booked it for 80 euros from my hostel: Young and Happy Hostel.
The first day we went to visit the old city of Aït Benhaddou. Many famous movies were filmed here such as : Gladiator, Cleopatra and Game of Thrones.
The entrance costs around 2,5 euros, and the guide will ask you for some extra money for being your guide. Although I am pretty sure that the entrance actually goes in the guide's pocket, since there is no actual 'entrance' to the old city.
There is a restaurant close by, where the guide will take you , but it is expensive for Morocco, so I advise you to take some lunch. The prices range from 5 to 15 euros, while normally it should be around 2 euros.
Next stop is at the peak of the Atlas mountains, but it's very windy, so make sure to pack warm clothes, especially during winter months.
At night we arrived at the hotel, which was very cold at night in December, since they don't have any heating. Fortunately they gave us extra blankets and I slept with a sweater on and 3 blankets.
We woke up early to head for the desert. We stopped in a valley where a guide waited for us and didn't really gave us an option of what we would like to do. First, he took us to a museum, where women make Moroccan carpets, and we had to stay there 1 hr watching her doing carpets and waiting for a french old lady to negotiate the price of 3 carpets. We were anxious to move on to the amazing Todra Gorges. We finally got there and they only left us for a 15 minutes walk. Most of us would have rather spent 15 minutes at the carpet museum and 1 hour walking through the valley. At the end of the walk the guide asked us for 2,5 euros for being our guide. In my opinion, he didn't deserve it because he didn't give us a choice of what to do. And if you were to calculate, 2,5 euros from 20 people is 50 euros. I don't even make 50 euros/day at my job,let alone in 1 hr. It is your option to decide how much to give him, but don't let them fool you.
After visiting Todra Gorge, we were on our way to the desert! The time was finally here to tick a new thing off my bucket list: go on a camel ride in the Sahara desert. I was excited when I saw the camels waiting for us and when they asked who wants to go first, I happily offered myself. Since I was the first to embark on a camel, I wasn't really ready for what was about to happen and I screamed very loud when the camel stood on his feet. The camels first put their back legs up, so that pushed my whole body straight ahead and I really had to hold on. If you ever plan to go on a camel ride, be sure to hold on tight, since it's very easy to fall over your head as I almost did.
The camel ride was long and spectacular with the sun setting just behind us. It was bumpy at times, especially when going downhill when it was a real struggle to hold yourself. One of us didn't manage to hold himself tight enough, so he actually fell off the camel. The only problem with the camel ride was the uncomfortable seats and the pain we had afterwards.
We finally arrived to the berber camp, but since it was already dark, we didn't see much. The camps were basic and equipped with the minimum things you need: a bed, a few blankets and candles for light. We had a special tent for the kitchen, where we ate traditional Moroccan food at candlelight. After dinner, the berber people delighted us with singing traditional songs and playing the drums. Afterwards we danced with them and learned to play the drums. It was one of those moments I will never forget!
After the singing and dancing was over, the berber people were nice enough to show us how to play the drums.
Unfortunately, I had a minor negative experience when one of them asked me to go out and watch the stars. Thinking that many other people are out and sitting together I willingly agreed. Soon I realized, that it is only me and him outside and he set down on a carpet and invited me to join him. I friendly refused him, and got out of it, by mentioning that its clouded outside and we can't watch the stars. I went back in the common tent and continued singing on the drums. After a few hours the clouds went away and we were able to see the stars and the Milky Way. Watching the stars away from the city and seeing the Milky way is one of the most spectacular scenes the nature can offer us.
We all stayed up until 3 am watching the stars and talking about our experiences through Morocco.
Next day, we woke up at 5.30 am and at 6 we started heading back on the camels. The sunrise was even more beautiful than the sunset
Day 5.
The next days I spent only in Marrakesh, since I didn't have enough time to travel all the way to northern Morocco and back.
The hostel I stayed in was very nice and they had everything we needed. I made many friends during my stay there and on day 5 some of us decided to go together and visit the city. We started with the Bahia Palace which is simple, but very beautiful and the entrance is only 1 euro. Next we went through the souks and drank a tea at the balcony of Cafe du France, where we had a nice view over the souks in Medina.
In many places in Morocco, such as this coffee place, you have to pay to use the bathroom, but the conditions are very good. Just to be sure, always bring some tissues with you, since it may happen that there is no toilet paper. It only happened 2 times while I was there, so I think it is getting better from this point of view.
After the tea we went for a walk through the souks and try to negotiate some good prices. Another thing you should know is that you have to negotiate almost everything . Tip: you can usually go down to at least half of the price the seller asks for . Also, I advise you to compare prices, since some of them are very expensive. For example, I bought a traditional Moroccan Jerga (jacket) for 10 euros, when the price started from 40. Also, I bought a pretty Moroccan dress for 6 euros, the price started at 20.
Next we decided to visit one of the most beautiful gardens of Marrakesh: Jardins de la Menara. These gardens are simple and beautiful and many young people gather there to sing and listen to music.
The next day I went through the souks again, which is actually a day trip, because it's so big that you always get lost in it.
This was the first day I actually went alone through the souks and I can say that I wasn't afraid at all and there is no reason to be. If you are female and are thinking to go to Morocco alone, don't be discouraged by other people. The only thing that happened to me is that men kept telling me "Bonjour mademoiselle", "Where are you from?", "What are you looking for?". Nobody touched me, without my consent and nobody yelled any mean or insulting things. The most weird thing men yelled to me was "Fatima!", when I tried to blend in and wore a long dress with flowers. The only reason men yell to women in Morocco is because they are trying to sell their merchandise to the tourists.
I can say this for sure, because the last day in Marrakesh I decided to look for the leather factory. You can pay a guide to lead you there, but I was determined to find it by myself. On my way there, I went through a local market, where they sold everything from socks to frying pans. This market was very different from the souks. The souks are made for tourists, and this was for locals. It was pretty obvious that I was the only tourist there, so I was afraid I would get too much attention. To my surprise, it was the contrary! As a tourist, nobody even notices you at the local market because they are busy making sales with the local people, whilst in the souks the tourists are the target for the overpriced products.
I started asking people where the leather factory was and I was getting closer and closer. Finally, some nice children led me to it and didn't ask for money. The entrance is for free, but some locals are trying to make profit out of tourists and ask for 1 euro entrance and pretend to be your guide. I refused to pay and proved them that the entrance is free, but they literally put they arms out and didn't let me go in. So I caved in and gave them the money. If you want to go there,you should be prepared for the smell. It's the most horrible smell I ever encountered. At least, the "guides" give you some mint to make the experience more enjoyable.
All in all, my experience in Morocco, as a solo female traveler was more than positive! Many people helped me find streets and museums and many of them just wanted to make sure that I have a great time in their country. I recommend anybody to visit this country with beautiful places and nice people!
Some other places I recommend you to visit is the souks of Fez(which is the biggest one in Morocco),Chefchaouen - the blue city and the beautiful waterfall close to it called Akchour. I will definitely go back to northern Morocco and visit all these places I didn't have time for.
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