A ferry ride took me from southern Europe to northern Africa. In the country where 99% of the people are Muslim, Morocco gave me a great opportunity to get a glimpse of how Muslims live their lives – without seeing through the lens of western media.
Unless you are an Arab-Berber who grew up in Fes, it is almost guaranteed that you would get lost in the narrow streets of the medina: It is like a maze in there, and Google Maps wouldn’t do much help. I ended up joining a local tour and the tour guide (born and raised in Fes) helped me navigate through the hundreds of narrow streets in the medina. One of those streets led to the tannery, where animal skins are treated to produce leather.
@Fes
I have a lot of good things to say about Morocco: People are generally friendly and the country is culturally unique. But if I am to say one negative thing about my time here, it would be my experience being harassed at the Jemaa el-Fnaa square market in Marrakech.
\\
Jemaa el-Fnaa is a marketplace in Marrakech’s old city. This is where locals do their trades and tourists wander around shopping for souvenirs. I don’t buy souvenirs – My backpack is only big enough for the essentials and I avoid lugging unnecessary things around. I came to Jemaa el-Fnaa to do people watching. One of the famous things at the marketplace is snake charming. As I was told by my local guide, it is free to watch snake charming but taking photos would cost $10 Moroccan Dirham (= $1 USD) – There is no sign indicating the cost, but it is a general practice to pay the performer $10 Dirham after taking pictures.
\\
As the performer saw me approaching, he started charming the snake – No doubt it was fun to watch and he did a great job. So I took my pictures and paid the performer. However, he then put down his snake and refused my $10 Dirham coin. He said he wanted “paper money” (meaning $50 / 100 / 200). I knew how much I was supposed to pay, so I didn’t give in and insisted to pay nothing but the $10 Moroccan coin that I was holding in my hand. I handed him the coin and started walking away, but he didn’t let me go. He kept cursing at me and followed me wherever I went. After some back-and-forth, I told him to stop following me or I would go find my guide (I had none – My tour had ended and my guide was already gone). Surprisingly, it worked! He stopped following me and walked away (cursing); after walking away from the market, I still wanted to see the rest of the place so I circled back to the market. I wanted to see if it was a common practice for snake-charmer to harass tourists for money, so I walked close to another snake-charmer and just stood there and watched – Exact same trick! This other snake-charmer asked for “paper money” after a young female tourist tried to pay him a $10 Dirham coin. The only difference is that the tourist gave in and paid him “paper money” so there was no further harassment.
\\
What did I learn? A few things: 1. The person harassing you generally leaves you alone when you say you are going to find your guide / police / embassy – While trying to scam tourists, these people are running their “business” in the market and don’t want to get kicked out. But of course, I was lucky to be able to get away fairly easily. If this were to happen in the evening, or if the snake charmer had a side-kick to help him handling business, I am not sure if the outcome would be the same. 2. Know your price. If I didn’t know the price I would probably have given in and paid him more. 3. Don’t go to the market alone in the evening, and dress appropriately (ladies) – Morocco is a conservative Muslim country and wearing skirts would definitely attract a lot of unwanted attentions. Conform to local norms.
@Marrakech
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Hassan Tower.
@Rabat
Cute Moroccan family.
@Rabat
Cute Moroccan family.
@Rabat
Hassan II Mosque.
@Casablanca
Hassan II Mosque.
@Casablanca
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Muslim Moroccans living their lives.
@Marrakech
Dar el Makhzen palace.
@Fes
Dar el Makhzen palace.
@Fes
Camal.
@Rabat
A rug shop in the medina in Fes.
@Fes
A rug shop in the medina in Fes.
@Fes
A rug shop in the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Old city of Fes.
@Fes
Old city of Fes.
@Fes
Arabic is not the easiest language to learn.
@Fes
Unless you are an Arab-Berber who grew up in Fes, it is almost guaranteed that you would get lost in the narrow streets of the medina: It is like a maze in there, and Google Maps wouldn’t do much help. I ended up joining a local tour and the tour guide (born and raised in Fes) helped me navigate through the hundreds of narrow streets in the medina. One of those streets led to the tannery, where animal skins are treated to produce leather.
@Fes
Unless you are an Arab-Berber who grew up in Fes, it is almost guaranteed that you would get lost in the narrow streets of the medina: It is like a maze in there, and Google Maps wouldn’t do much help. I ended up joining a local tour and the tour guide (born and raised in Fes) helped me navigate through the hundreds of narrow streets in the medina. One of those streets led to the tannery, where animal skins are treated to produce leather.
@Fes
Unless you are an Arab-Berber who grew up in Fes, it is almost guaranteed that you would get lost in the narrow streets of the medina: It is like a maze in there, and Google Maps wouldn’t do much help. I ended up joining a local tour and the tour guide (born and raised in Fes) helped me navigate through the hundreds of narrow streets in the medina. One of those streets led to the tannery, where animal skins are treated to produce leather.
@Fes
I have a lot of good things to say about Morocco: People are generally friendly and the country is culturally unique. But if I am to say one negative thing about my time here, it would be my experience being harassed at the Jemaa el-Fnaa square market in Marrakech.
\\
Jemaa el-Fnaa is a marketplace in Marrakech’s old city. This is where locals do their trades and tourists wander around shopping for souvenirs. I don’t buy souvenirs – My backpack is only big enough for the essentials and I avoid lugging unnecessary things around. I came to Jemaa el-Fnaa to do people watching. One of the famous things at the marketplace is snake charming. As I was told by my local guide, it is free to watch snake charming but taking photos would cost $10 Moroccan Dirham (= $1 USD) – There is no sign indicating the cost, but it is a general practice to pay the performer $10 Dirham after taking pictures.
\\
As the performer saw me approaching, he started charming the snake – No doubt it was fun to watch and he did a great job. So I took my pictures and paid the performer. However, he then put down his snake and refused my $10 Dirham coin. He said he wanted “paper money” (meaning $50 / 100 / 200). I knew how much I was supposed to pay, so I didn’t give in and insisted to pay nothing but the $10 Moroccan coin that I was holding in my hand. I handed him the coin and started walking away, but he didn’t let me go. He kept cursing at me and followed me wherever I went. After some back-and-forth, I told him to stop following me or I would go find my guide (I had none – My tour had ended and my guide was already gone). Surprisingly, it worked! He stopped following me and walked away (cursing); after walking away from the market, I still wanted to see the rest of the place so I circled back to the market. I wanted to see if it was a common practice for snake-charmer to harass tourists for money, so I walked close to another snake-charmer and just stood there and watched – Exact same trick! This other snake-charmer asked for “paper money” after a young female tourist tried to pay him a $10 Dirham coin. The only difference is that the tourist gave in and paid him “paper money” so there was no further harassment.
\\
What did I learn? A few things: 1. The person harassing you generally leaves you alone when you say you are going to find your guide / police / embassy – While trying to scam tourists, these people are running their “business” in the market and don’t want to get kicked out. But of course, I was lucky to be able to get away fairly easily. If this were to happen in the evening, or if the snake charmer had a side-kick to help him handling business, I am not sure if the outcome would be the same. 2. Know your price. If I didn’t know the price I would probably have given in and paid him more. 3. Don’t go to the market alone in the evening, and dress appropriately (ladies) – Morocco is a conservative Muslim country and wearing skirts would definitely attract a lot of unwanted attentions. Conform to local norms.
@Marrakech
Jemaa el-Fnaa square market in Marrakech.
@Marrakech
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Narrow streets of the medina in Fes.
@Fes
Mosque.
@Fes
Hassan Tower.
@Rabat
The throwing-random-things game.
@Fes
Unless you are an Arab-Berber who grew up in Fes, it is almost guaranteed that you would get lost in the narrow streets of the medina: It is like a maze in there, and Google Maps wouldn’t do much help. I ended up joining a local tour and the tour guide (born and raised in Fes) helped me navigate through the hundreds of narrow streets in the medina. One of those streets led to the tannery, where animal skins are treated to produce leather.
@Fes
