Anyone ever being to Morocco? Interrailing?

pFd

Hello everyone,
Myself and some friends are thinking of going interrailing during the summer.
We were thinking of doing the portugal, spain, morocco zone (zone F). I have no worries about Portugal or Spain but to be honest I am a little weary about Morocco. It's a place a I don't know much about.
If anyone has any opinions/advice could you gave us a little response!
Thanks guys!

Dave!

hey there,

just so you know, the whole interrail system has been completely changed. There's no more zones anymore (it works a different way that I don't understand), and Morocco's no longer involved in the scheme. It's now changed to like "5 days within 10 days", and stuff like that. Really you'll have to read it up.

I don't understand the full details, but check out these sites for an explaination...
http://www.interrail.net/index2.php?language=en
http://forum.interrail.net/

I'm getting the global 1 month ticket, and AFAIK that's the only one that hasn't changed thankfully!

DublinWriter

pFd wrote:

I have no worries about Portugal or Spain but to be honest I am a little weary about Morocco. It's a place a I don't know much about.

I was there about 10 years ago and hated it.

Pan-handled every 10 meters, got caught up in a Police sting, mate had a gun drawn on him by a pimp outside a club, drinking my own urine would have been more hygenic than washing my teeth with the tap water, flying insects so big that they had faces...otherwise we had a whale of a time.

In fairness, I have heard the place has improved a lot since Mohammed VI came to the throne in 1999, but generally I'd avoid doing the whole student-travel thing in any North African state with the exception of maybe Libya.

Bradidup

DublinWriter wrote:

I was there about 10 years ago and hated it.

.

I was there in the 80ies and found it hectic, went from Tangers to Rabat and Fes on Inter rail. The AC was not working and it was a slow journey. Most of the rail system (Oncf) was installed by the French and is electrified. If you can afford 1st class go for it, you have to watch your baggage constantly. You get kids hopping on board selling refreshments american brand fags singally and hop off again when the train is moving.

pFd

Thanks lads/ladies. Didnt know about the change in the system. Sounds confusing....:mad:

Dunno if you'll still be considering Morocco with the ticket changes, but just to say, I had a pretty good time there when I went last year. I think a lot of the people who don't go with too high expectations or don't know what to expect. You can't really compare it to a European country, just accept that the buses are usually awful, get cancelled a lot or run late and obviously don't think about drinking the tap water, or even brushing your teeth with it, etc, and be careful where you eat. I didn't even really want to go, having heard horror stories, but I was curious and I'm glad I did. Maybe I was lucky but I was travelling with 2 girls and a guy, just on the local transport buses that take 10 hours to get anywhere and stop about 100 times (so no sheltered group tour or anything) and had no major hassle. Yes, got harrassed a bit by people trying to sell things, screwed over a couple of times by hostel managers who gave away our beds when we arrived late but overall it wasn't too bad. I found I just had to be super laid back about it and not get annoyed by the cultural differences (women treated like inferiors, the way they hassle you etc) and the shambles that is most of the bus companies.

I will say Tangiers is an absolute hell hole and gave me an awful first impression, but I visited Marrakech, Fes, Meknes and a few smaller places and really liked them. There is a lot to do and see, and I also had some very nice, cheap meals there. I have stomach problems at the best of times and didn't have a problem with the food there at all. The highlight for me was going down to the desert, staying in this lovely hostel in a small village and going for a short camel ride into the desert and staying there in a tent overnight. The next morning we went up the sand dune at 5am to see the sunrise. The Berber people are totally different from the people in Marakech etc, really open and funny. It was absolutely amazing and I've never seen anything like that in my life. I had a few bad experiences in Morocco but overall I'm really glad I went.

Dubh Geannain

Interrailing news:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0410/rail.html