18th September 2015.

My friend and I landed in Casablanca and the first thing I told her was ‘So, this is how it feels to be in a foreign country!’ 😀

Morocco has a rep of not female friendly.

It was the first foreign country I visited and it wasn’t anything like what the media projects it. Sure, there were some catcalls but that can happen in any country. Heck, it happens almost on a daily basis in where I live.

This is how my first traveling experience went by! 😀

First stop, LUNCH! The driver insisted to take us to Hassan II Mosque en route to the restaurant which was great!

We had our first Moroccan dish in a restaurant made famous by the classic movie Casablanca; Rick’s Café. The restaurant had a cozy rustic feel and the food was delicious!

Next stop was the train station to begin our journey to the most northern part of Morocco, Tangier. The railway system is extensive, extremely easy, and very comfortable for only pennies.

The sun was about to set by the time we settled in our hotel in Tangier, and we took a petit taxi to the souk Petit Socco. It was quite dim, lots and lots of shops selling all sort of leather products, pretty crowded and all we wanted to do were to grab some dinner and leave.

We were 2 females in a foreign city, the first rule of thumb; don’t wander around late night. We went back to our hotel and got in bed by 9:00 p.m.

Tangier is definitely not the place to wander around at night, especially if you are a female.

We experienced some catcalls and as an Arab, I understood what they said and yelled back. The men were very persistent in following around.

On the 2^nd day, we wanted to go to the Cave of Hercules; unfortunately, it was closed for some work by the king of Morocco. So we took a very early train to Asilah and got there before life began. The streets were empty and we hardly saw anyone on the streets.

As we stepped in the medina, it has a resemblance look with Santorini in Greece. We were the only ones there, different Arabic style doors were shut tight, empty yet colorful narrow alleys, and we continued to stroll and enjoyed the emptiness.

We left to see Ancient Lixus before the shops opened so we did not experience it being busy.

As we got to Ancient Lixus, we were again the only ones there, several tour guides were at the gate ready to offer his service in exchange for money which we refused to take. We told them we just want to hike up on our own, nevertheless, one of them guided us cause we were quite puzzled on where to go. 😛

I wouldn’t recommend visiting Ancient Lixus. I’ve been to many other ruins which are much more intact than Ancient Lixus.

It was quite a long day from Tangier-Asilah-Lixus-Asilah-Tangier that we just wanted to unwind. So we went to a popular café on a hilltop; Café Hafa.

It was exactly what we needed. It is a hilltop café, with pretty mosaic tables, overlooking the Bay of Tangier and perfect weather. We couldn’t ask for a better way to end our day.

After that, we still had some time in our hands so we went to parc perdicaris.

It’s a great place to unwind. You will find many locals exercising on the wooden equipments and running through the forest.

On our 3^rd Day, we wanted to visit the blue city; Chefchaouen.

There are several options to get there, we were advised by the locals on the fastest way which is cramming in a Grand Taxi from Tangier to Tetouan and then cram in another taxi from Tetouan to Tangier. My friend and I sat on the front seat and there were 4 other passengers in the back seat. It might not be comfortable but it was indeed the fastest and best way to reach Chefchaouen.

As we got to Chefchaouen, we took a petit taxi to the blue city. When we got there, it looked just like any other medina. There were lots of vendors along the path, stalls and crowded with tourists. But once we stepped into the alleys between the buildings; we were awestricken.

Our first sight was a bright blue door right in front of our view and many other shades of blue along the beautifully decorated alleys with colorful flower pots. There were many different Arabic style doors and families live behind these beautiful doors among the busy shops.

On the 4^th Day, we needed to catch an early train to Casablanca or else we would have to wait for the later train which means arriving in Casablanca almost dark.

We woke up late and decided to rush our way to make it to the early train. I got on the train with my PJs! I couldn’t care less, my mission was to arrive early in Casa and spend the day there.

We arrived in Casa as planned and got settled in our hotel right by the beach on Ain Diab. We headed out to Anfa Place which was only a few minutes’ walk and had our lunch there. We actually didn’t know what else to do in the city so we ended up having a spa day.

The next day, we took the train to Marrakech. The long-awaited city since our arrival. Unfortunately, the schedule was delayed 2 hours behind which kind of messed our plan for the day.

We wanted to see a couple of things before dark but it got too late. We ended up only visiting Djemaa al Fna and Menara Gardens Market.

Menara Gardens was a huge disappointment! The photo below can clearly explain my disappointment. Expectation vs Reality 😀

We could’ve visited one more place but we were sun-stroked that we just wanted to go back to Casa. The heat was unexpected after having such pleasant and cool weather in other parts of Morocco. It was too hot for us and we came from Saudi where we are used to 35-40C.

Even the famous fresh orange juice couldn’t help us beat the heat stroke! 😀

Morocco was a great first-time experience to be outside my comfort zone. It’s extremely affordable and easy to go around.  It is also safe for females despite what the internet and warnings tell you. 😀

Suggestions!

1. Spend at least 2 days in Marrakech

2. Do not miss out Chefchaouene

3. Get your souvenirs from the medina in Casablanca for better quality and cheaper!

4. Do not wander around late at night in Tangier.

5. Try Babboush on the street of Ain Diab in Casablanca

6. Use the railway to go between cities and it is widely covered. You can check the trip schedule from here and they are pretty much on time except that one ride to Marrakech.

7. Don’t be surprised if someone jumps in the taxi you’re in. They taxis are shared 😀

8. Skip Casablanca and trade it for another city if you had to choose between them.

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