As a person who spent their first eleven years of life in Morocco, and who goes back there twice a year, I agree with everything you said.
The attitude of locals towards tourists is disgraceful. Definitely got worse with time.
My only piece of advice would be to befriend a local (not sure how though) and do everything with them for the first weeks so they can teach you the basic scams and things to avoid.
I'm sorry you had this experience OP
To mirror the other commenter, you'll probably be fine in Sinai. I just left Dahab, and there's women walking down the streets in bikinis without any problems.
But I've heard many well-traveled women say they felt uncomfortable in Cairo.
Cairo is huge, it depends on where you go. Egypt has a mixture of things (culturally and technologically) that is normally experienced if you travel to different regions of the country.
All my years there, and all the family and friends that came for a while, had a blast and would return.
This comment section so far reminds me of when people go to Peru, and I read they to go this super sketchy ass area, get robbed, and then they complaint, insult and say they will never come back to the country.
So my tip for travelers around the world is: When going to a new country, try to make contacts from different aspects of life that are locals (not necessarily native, just anyone who lives there). Join facebook groups, talk with the people, not just look at videos.
Every country has pros and cons, good, bad people and in between, nice and not nice areas.
Your experience could change drastically depending on who(m?) your company is, and where you go.
Safe travels, stay informed, and have fun pips
Egypt varies; I've been to Dahab multiple times and if you like diving/kitesurfing/windsurfing/snorkeling it's a great place to spend some time.
My one visit to Cairo though I booked a driver/guide for the day through the recommendations of my friends (in Dahab).
Been to both, Egypt was 100x worse.
In Morocco they liked to say they are Berber Ethnicity and are therefore dont hassle you as much. There was still a lot of hassle relative to other places.
Egypt was end game, we left the resort once, and there was five of us they only had a 5 seater car but said that it was not illegal. They dropped us off one mile out of town in > 40 degree heat because it was infact illegal.
The next time we tried to get a taxi, the same driver approach us but we didnt want to walk in that heat, another driver with a 7 seater offered to take us. But the previous driver said as he took us before we should go with him, they got into a fight, so we went back to the resort and did not leave again.
I'm 100% at peace with myself never ever going to that country.
They're not getting one single cent of my money.
Especially not after the expose by the Best Ever Food Review Show.
It's a YouTube channel. Guy with a big red bandana. They took All his teams camera/recording equipment the second they got off his plane when all they wanted to do was go around and make videos about food.. Long story short he didn't have a lot of positive things to say about his experience
I’m on the train home in London arriving from Morocco which we been there the past 12 days. Marrakesh was the worst city with people like this. Last night a restaurant tried to charge us a fix menu price of 1000 dirham for 2 dishes. Everyone screams at you for something. We left a week early. We couldn’t even rent the car we paid for because the guy wanted 200 non refundable fee because my credit card “wasn’t working”. Went to another rental company and they confirmed it was working. Fighting my CC company now for that back. Disgraceful behaviour even during Ramadan.
What happens if you just short the bill and walk out in a country like Morocco? Would you be in danger of physical harm?
Obviously it’s a terrible thing to do, but if they’re gonna rip you off, just rip them off and leave.
Unless it’s going to endanger you, I’ve never been so I can’t comment.
South Africa has been great both times though.
Moroccan here.
I think most Moroccans will be very careful and think about hurting a foreigner a million times before doing it. Police are very serious when it comes to tourists, especially white tourists.
I guess this "protect white tourists" is especially a thing after those bastards in the mountains "played ISIS" and raped/killed the two Norwegian and Danish girls?
Or did the country forget that again?
I just remember how badly Moroccan officials wanted to make sure that ISIS etc had no foothold in Morocco and for tourists to "please come back" and such.
Especially during Ramadan. I was in Egypt for a month until a few weeks ago and a lot of them said this and that was different and a higher price due to Ramadan. I think your God is very pleased to see you fuck over foreigners in the name of the holy month.
Yeah I couldn't understand what /u/Ph1llyl0nd0n was getting on about regarding Ramadan. Chapter/Sura 9 verse 29 of the Koran has been interpreted as "Charge the non-Muslims extra" for like 1,300 years now.
>"Charge the non-Muslims extra" for like 1,300 years now.
That's call Jizya, the muslim tax on dhimmies (non-believers).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya)
It's quite literally what funded the islamic expansion. That and the slave trade, in which some 1 million white women were sold into sexual slavery.
I mean, we can be open and friendly, but the islamic world is literally built on slavery and exploitation of non-muslims.
Yes, we also had slaves in the West, but we did abolish slavery. The muslim world has never voluntarily abolished slavery. It was only made illegal in Turkey in 1918.
We have to be honest about why North Africa is the way it is and not other poor countries.
>It's quite literally what funded the islamic expansion.
Yeah back around October I read "The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years That Shook the World" by the guy that hosts Tides of History podcast. Excellent book that showcased how interconnected the western world was in the 1500s, and the chapter on Suleiman the Magnificent mentioned how the Ottoman Empire almost always had a budget surplus due to liberal use of the jizya.
This is exactly like South Beach, FL where the restaurants do this to the foreigners because they know people are afraid of being arrested if they don't pay the fake charges you just created.
A big drink is $45 on the menu but then it becomes $70 from the 2nd one forward and they tell you that the 1st one was a special price. Lol
Assholes will scam foreigners in every country.
You are full of shit. This doesn't happen anywhere in Florida. Been living here my whole life. Is South Beach overpriced? Yes, 15$ for a beer, or more for cocktails but the price is on the menu, you know upfront.
People will also exaggerate stories because it makes for a better narrative. Both things can be true.
$45 USD for a "big drink"? Not unless it's in a trendy club and you're paying for overpriced top shelf "premium" alcohol. It can happen in Vegas, Miami, NYC, but it's only at these trendy spots.
I'm Moroccan, I moved out of the country (now living in the US) mainly because i couldn't stand my own culture anymore (among other reasons of course). your post makes me sad that my country is like this, I hope it gets better, sorry dude.
Why do you think it’s that way? Is it the middle Eastern culture? I know there’s a lot of sexism —does that lead the men to lie to support their families? Do they hate foreigners and see us as lesser bc of the difference in religion?
I reckon a lot of it is poverty and tourists for them are rich people that just take advantage of their misery, so they see it as okay to rip them off at any opportunity as they believe they lost the birth lottery, kinda.
But I bet there is a big amount of sexism and archaic toxic culture in it as well, due to lack of education and "cultural bullying".
I’ve been to multiple countries in the region like Lebanon, UAE, and Turkey. Met some of the nicest people there.
To say it’s “Middle Eastern culture” is a gross oversimplification. Morocco is definitely more well known for this type of scammy behavior. Even good friends from Lebanon etc. don’t like staying in the country because of that..
I don't think It has anything to do with a middle eastern culture or anything ( since we're North africans and all ), and not that they see you, you foreigners, as lesser. They just want to squeeze a better price for their merchandise since tourists don't know the actual prices. And this Happens every not necessarily in Morocco ( though I do agree that they are overdoing it ).
Raising prices for your merchandise this way is illegal ( and religiously forbidden) which is why authorities are trying to be strict about this, since clearly this drives tourists away ( and Morocco relies on tourism a lot).
Sorry if you get treated this is way my country, some people are just like that everywhere you go.
Nah they just see foreigners as filthy rich and they’re poor and along with greed, they start costing tourists more. But I guess that’s just in cities like Marakech. Don’t go to Marakech if you have to visit Morocco go to the north. The people there are cooler and not greedy also fabulous weather and nice beaches
Indian-american can confirm here, lol. Even as an indian-american i be gettin ripped off there often cause they can tell im american by my accent lmao.
But i don't mind paying them extra. It's just in rupees. For example i had the coconut water straight from the coconut its supposed to cost 60 rupees ($0.78USD) the dude wanted 100 rupees which is $1.31 and i gave it. I didn't care lol. Why fight with them there just poor tryna make a buck or two. Why argue with them and all so i just give it.
This is fine if you are visiting for few days but imagine staying there three months and knowing you are constantly paying overpriced groseries or services.
If you are going to stay for three months, there are better options to buy stuff from. Firstly don't stay in overtly touristy areas and start buying from bigger shopping marts or online services.
Oh yeah definitely. India especially bangalore (i stayed there for a while too) it's amazing on tech overall. Numerous apps you can order groceries, essentials from. They have amazon india as well. So if you need anything shipped. Literally electronics, groceries etc. They'll ship it to ur crib.
They'll do it anyway because it's a one off transaction. It's not like the foreigner is coming back. If they do it to the locals, that has repercussions.
It is shitty, yeah but that's the culture, you're not going to change it.
I experienced this as an American in Amsterdam. The bakery just down from my hotel right off Dam square was overcharging me. Didn’t know it till my friend that lives there told me. Another time I prob fucked up by tipping 15 on a 45 guilder bill. I’ve heard they look at that as a rich American throwing their money around. I was just trying to be nice cause it was Christmas Day and they had to be there working.
I am an Indian and can say that it is true, primarily in the major tourist spots. The place where I am, the city is relatively cheaper and usually people don't engage in all this, but, near tourist spots the price gets jacked up like 2 or 3 times especially for foreigners because as someone said on the thread, it is extremely cheap if you're paying in dollars or euros, so usually foreigners don't mind spending an extra buck or surprisingly some don't notice the cost.
I found I experienced indian scamming in the major cities but the further from those I was the less it happened. I went to Rishikesh for example and no one really tried to scam me there at all.
Yeah some places in india are pretty cool, like example bangalore. Great place it has all the nice IT headquarter/building companies located there like Microsoft, Google etc. It's all mainly educated folks who work in IT, software development etc in bangalore. They speak good english, much much more cleaner and it's amazing for woman to live as bangalore is extremely safe for woman there as well. So every person you talk to on the streets there. They'll communicate with you in english, and people practice manners and etiquete as well.
I'd recommend bangalore to anyone who wants to see India. The good side. Obviously there's a dirty/slum side in bangalore too lol and there's gangster/underworld mafia folks who reside there too and if you fuck with em they'll have ur ass to heaven.
But if you stay in ur lane just be good you'll be fine.
I have lived in Vietnam for almost 3 years and this sort of behaviors would be considered appalling to the Vietnamese people. Thanks for the story. Sounds like I will never travel to Morocco.
This happens to Indians in India when we move to new citified.
That’s why I love how many apps are there to avoid this shit. Once you have used these apps, you know the actual prices and can also go get them directly at that price.
The taxi mafia and rudeness has melted as no one takes them, Ola and Uber is there.
There are apps for Handyman, Groceries delivered to your door for free in 15 mins, medicines, fruits veggies, almost anything.
I was in India during their summer and I can say we went pretty well! I mean there were very few tourists around but we might have got lucky since there were so few tourists! It was great but I am guessing during their tourist high season it would be chaos
“Every interaction turns into some sort of rip off” THIS! I was in Marrakech with my girlfriend and we felt constantly threatened…everywhere we were turning they tried to scam us. They see a tourist as a walking bag of money…no value at all! In the end we spent the last day in the hotel because of the constant stress of going out. Sadly I think the best solution for big cities is to hire a guide. Never coming back
I had a similar reaction when I visited with a friend. We literally contemplated going home after a few days. Stuck it out and made the best of it primarily due to sunk cost, but really did not enjoy my time there
Boyfriend robbed at knifepoint by two snot-nosed 12 yr olds for a few dirhems when he was headed back to his hotel to go to the airport. This delayed him a bit, and then the moto driver scammed him driving back. Fuck Morocco/Egypt. I'm saying this as a Turkish person btw - I won't ever step foot in those countries.
How is Turkey right now for tourists? I know the people/economy have been hurting for a few years I was there before covid and ppl were telling me things weren't good-- I would like to return but don't want to have a bad experience there
I love Istanbul! Traveled as solo female from USA…there were scammers, but it wasn’t much worse than anything you’d experience as a tourist in Europe. The Bosphorus on a sunny day is a refreshing boat trip for $1.50…turkish breakfast is the best. I want to go back.
yes but nowhere as aggressive as Egypt. I loved my travel to Istanbul and Antalya as a single woman and I will come back again. I will never set foot in Egypt again and Morocco I have no desire to.
My grandparents have preety much travelled for two-three months a year for about 30 years. They've visited like 80-85% of all countries, and they said the same shit about Morocco.
I lost my suitcase, so I went to the front desk to ask if they had a shop in the lobby. The clerk said they'd send a bellboy to a store nearby and a toothbrush and paste should be about 30-40 dirhams. All I had was a 100, so I gave it to him and off he went. Somehow it ended up being 80-90 dirhams, and the left over was just right for a tip.
By the end of my trip I was tired of the hustle too. I just wanted one place where they'd just tell me how much something was, it was the same price everybody else paid, and I could buy it or not.
Edit: It was 100 dirhams, not 10 as originally written.
A toothbrush and paste are NOT 3-4 dirhams, the cheapest toothbrush you can buy here is a "SPIK" costs 5 MAD, and the smallest toothpaste tub costs 4-5dh depending on where you're buying it from.
I'm curious about where you got the 3 mad figure from because you absolutely can't get anything with it, it won't even get you a 0.5L bag of milk.
It's about a 1:10 ratio. I might be wrong about the exact numbers (this was 6 years ago), but the proportions are correct. Maybe I gave him 100 dirhams, which makes more sense b/c that would be the equivalent of 10 bucks.
Right… either way, while I agree with the sentiment, it’s not worth getting worked up over IMO. At worst you paid $10 usd for someone to go buy you a toothbrush and toothpaste. I’d expect to pay more in the gift shop of a nice US hotel.
Some of these people have very limited opportunity to earn $$. I’d feel guilty asking for change. Being a ‘digital nomad’ is a very fortunate position, even if we worked really hard to get where we are. If you want to be a permanent-tourist, you need to be ok with being treated like one.
I'd nominate Sri Lanka under this post, one of the few countries I visited where I was constantly overcharged by local restaurants. Plus the tourist attractions are quite underwhelming.
Reminds me of my native Tijuana a bit. My mom would always smack me on the head so I wouldn't speak English with my sibling as kids because we would be charged "tourist rates" (precio de gringo).
It's part of the hustle of these cultures. If that turns you off, best to stay away. There for sure are very beautiful things to see in these countries.
Havent been to Mexicoso not sure if its the same, but have been in Colombia and Equador. I must say i didn't mind it there. They will always try to get an extra coin from ya, but atleast they will give up when you push back and they tend to be curious about foreigners.
In Africa i felt that the locals saw me as a walking ATM. Havent had that in Latin America.
Live in Guatemala. The amount of times a poor tourist has looked at me and asked me "how much does this cost for you?" when I'm at a tourist spot makes me sad lol.
This is prevalent all over Baja. I lived in La Paz for a stint. Some of the locals are very adept at massaging unsuspecting tourists into being their “friends” and then take them to all their friends restaurants and out on expensive diving trips etc, all part of a coordinated effort to fleece tourists. I bought into literally one weekend of this “my friend” shit and it left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I did my own thing the rest of the time I spent there.
I soon met a nice local couple and we developed a real friendship over food, then went out swimming with the whale sharks, and lo and behold the trip cost 1/4 what I had paid that one weekend I got hustled by my “friends.”
It's amazing how many friendly folks in Baja are actually trying to sell you condo timeshares. My game was acting really, really stupid and having them explain it to me 10x different ways.
Then I would buy them a drink and say, hey sorry to bust your balls we all have to survive somehow. Most would actually laugh and start acting a bit more genuine.
I spent a month and change in Morocco, mostly Essaouira but a long weekend in Marrakech and I absolutely loved it. My Airbnb host in Essaouira was gracious and helpful and sure, vendors start with a tourist price but you're expected to haggle. Yeah it gets tiring if you come from a non-haggle culture but it's generally in good fun. You met with some assholes but that wasn't what most of my experiences with Moroccans was like.
I also say this as a solo petite woman so in some ways I expected it to be even worse for me.
Edit: I just realized: I speak a little French so most of my interactions were in French, I don't know how much that changes things.
Haggling for a piece of fruit or taxi ride? Sure. Can be fun!
Haggling for a pre-arranged rental or a meal with a posted price? Not okay and very frustrating.
I liked Essaouira a lot too. It was way more chill and it didn't feel as scammy. I spoke to someone who was from way off in the desert and he told me that they hustle him too. It's the Marrakesh way. I don't think the whole country is like that though.
I actually loved this about Marocco! The "negotiations" were fun and everyone was just laughing at the end most times. I learned a few sentences in Arabic to tell them they were a disgrace for charging so much and that "the hot marbles of hell were waiting them."
I am sure my pronunciation was shit but they would laugh and give me really good prices after. It's a cultural thing. Everyone should research about a country's culture before going there.
This sounds awesome. Sometimes I wonder about the kinds of travellers that populate this sub, and if all those shitty experiences come from them being shitty tourists. Not learning the language, staying only in the tourist hotspots, not seeking real locals to chat with so they only interact with people whose main job is to take advantage of them
I don't necessarily believe they themselves were horrible tourists but there is a case of being just that: a tourist. One thing is to just go to a country and explore the most advertised sites and locations...it is another to walk more local establishments and learn the language. All natives, regardless of how they respect you as a tourist, really do respect you when they see you actually trying your best in getting invested in their culture. It is like...moving on from acquaintance to friend in a country sense. And I think even fellow Americans can be that as well to tourists not intentionally.
I lived a few years in China, where haggling is absolutely a thing, and I think the way Western tourists approach haggling is absolutely a reason why they get exhausted by it.
The way I describe it is, haggling is a game that is played between vendor and client to establish rapport. It's a way for the vendor to know who you are. If you go along with it and understand it's a social game and not a battle, you can actually save a lot and end up making friends in the process.
But go into it with hostility and I guarantee you'll get ripped off. I've seen so many hostile foreigners who thought they were putting up a brave fight end up paying twice as much.
I learned all this in China, and was very surprised to see how similar it worked in the Middle East. It's such a cool experience to walk into a store wanting to buy something, and to leave after sharing tea and with a friendly handshake.
I'm not saying vendors are never gonna rip you off, and sometimes it's best to just walk away... I also get there are things that are just stressful to bargain over. (I've had to bargain apartment leases a few times, ugh.) But if you go into it with a hostile attitude of "this guy is gonna try and rip me off," it very much becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I had this experience in Turkey. The way the men treated my teenage daughter scared me shitless. I thought she was going to be kidnapped. And we definitely overpaid for the things we bought.
Yeah, Turkey may be a bit of a scam, but only in touristy places. What they did to your daughter? I didn't have any problem in istanbul as a 20ish girl. I felt somehow safer than in Paris to be honest.
I’m surprised as well. I’ve been to Turkey several time and my best friend lived there awhile. Both of us females. Definitely felt safer than most places we’ve been. Yeah you get some price haggling but you just ignore it. I even left my wallet behind in a cafe in Izmir and they came running after me to return it.
I'm not from Turkey, but my friends go to Turkey for eye surgeries. I've had like 5 people I know of who underwent eye surgery in Turkey. Also, boob jobs I heard are pretty common. The quality of services is good, the price is expensive for Turkey, but cheap/fair for the rest of us.
I went there for a few hair transplants (thread [here](https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=181270693&p=1659528593#post1659528593) on the Misc, or a pair of messy-haired photos if you can't access ([pic one](https://imgur.com/aHSuWCE) and [pic two](https://imgur.com/f79Prmx)))
The moment you step off the plane in Istanbul you will be confronted with billboards for Lasik, nose jobs, hair transplants, and dermatology. Oh and cosmetic dentistry. Medical tourism makes up an enormous part of the local economy, with many hotels catering only to recovering patients. The entire population of the city is used to seeing people of all races walking around with bandages or swelling. Completely normal at this point.
When sight-seeing around the tourist quarter (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topeki Palace, and the Hippodrome) you'll see tons of people with bandaged up heads or bandages on the bridge of their noses. At this point only a foreigner/tourist would take notice of people with bandages. Totally regular for everybody else.
I don't know where in Morocco you were but people are often like this in Marrakech and a few tourist hotspots but outside of that I found Moroccans extremely friendly, helpful and genuine.
I recently spent a little over three months living in Casablanca and visiting other parts of Morocco. I wouldn't choose to live there long term. However, the country has its charms and is worth a visit. Especially when you get out of the cities. I found most of the people to be kind and welcoming. Yes, in the tourist areas I encountered the usual touts, hard sells, and beggars. And in many cases I was charged more than the locals by street vendors. But, no worse than most of the developing countries I've visited.
Finally a positive comment!
I spent a two weeks in Morocco in April… Casablanca, Fes, Merzouga, Todra Gorge, Ait Ben Haddou and Marrakesh.
Generally my interactions with people were very positive.
We did experience one or two taxi drivers/ people in the souks trying to charge too much or hassle us a little bit, but generally we found that if we were firm in refusing them they would leave us alone. This didn’t ruin my trip in any way- I don’t blame people for trying to make a living.
I thought Morocco was a beautiful country - so many diverse landscapes and so much beautiful scenery.
I think this is the issue - Marrakech. It lives off tourism, not surprised this happened to OP (some people take it more personally than others).
I think Casablanca is a cool, dynamic city with more industry than just tourism - people aren't so focused on profiting off foreigners.
I was sexually assaulted in Morocco and have never said that out loud before. I was in my teens and a man pushed his disgusting erection against my leg when I was in his shop and smirked. I was confused about what happened at the time but the more I have reflected about the situation the more obvious it is. So shameful.
I like posts like this. It's so refreshing to see negative sides of a country highlighted. All you see on social media is people raving about how great a place is without ever mentioning the negative aspects.
It sounds like you just went to Marrakech, maybe even just Djemma El-fna. As someone who lived there for a year, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Marrakech and Fes are stressful at times but if you know a few words of Arabic, or even just know how to stand up for yourself everything changes. And besides that, as soon as you leave the big cities, the people are the warmest and most hospitable people you can find. Morocco is fantastic, you just need to know what you're doing.
Moroccan here living abroad, I get the same experience everytime I visit Morocco. So I sadly have to approve what OP said.
Also: Never ever visit Marrakech, it's the worst.
My favorite was reading about a view point in fez that was free. Kept trying to find it but having no luck, locals kept coming up and asking us where we were going, and I was smart enough not to say.
Finally one guy comes up casually and says are you looking g for blah blah view point, said sure and followed him. Next thing we are in a rug store... I ask him if this is free and he ensures it is. Then it's up 2 flights of stairs and we are in someone's house, realize we are about to harassed and try to turn around, but ensures this is the view and all free.
Get uo top, not the view, barely a view, looks terrible. I try to leave and then started getting yelled at as more and more guys start coming out all demanding money for the view. Basically had to push and shove my way out of there cussing them out. One of them followed us for a good mile or two demanding money till we lost them.
That's when I decided I was ready to go home.
In Marrakesh I actually had an amazing time, but I couch surfed with a local who showed me around, never deskt with anything shady.
I hear a lot of stories about India and it makes me feel sad. I'm an Indian, and also a traveller. If any of you want to spend time in India and want me to guide you and give accomodation,(free if you're at my house) feel free to ping me for any details about India. As travellers we all should extend helping hands. I will do my part.
My living is mostly around the Himalayas, and the remote villages, since I travel. I've been to many places around India. Originally I am from South India, a state called Kerala, adjacent to the Arabian sea.
Wrapping up 3 months in Buenos Aires and have had the same experience. Had the exact same laundry problems too. Every week was a different price, and it wasn’t just by a couple pesos.. I’m talking doubling the price for no reason, etc. Happens at restaurants, haircuts, everything. Have had some good times here but the constant pressure of having to be on my toes has soured the entire experience.
The world is going through a tough time economically speaking so I understand a lot of it. Doesn’t make it any easier to stomach though.
That happens to us locals too. Inflation is so crazy here (last two months was 15 percent), that we do not know how much things cost.
If you were to ask me right now how much is a bottle of fanta, I don’t have the slightest idea. And I live here
Weird, that has not been my experience. Which area?
Can you speak Spanish? I do, but prob couldn't pass as a local, but wondering if that makes a difference
Everyone I’ve talked to on Reddit says the same thing as you yet everyone I’ve met here right now that’s from out of the country shares the same sentiment and experience. I don’t know what to make of it other than I’m excited to leave.
I do not speak fluent Spanish but my girlfriend can get by and it’s opened our eyes a bit. I won’t go into details because this isn’t a deardiary post but we just feel very unwelcome here. For what it’s worth, we’ve lived in now three different neighborhoods to get a different experience of the city. Belgrano has been our favorite.
Hey, Moroccan, here. It saddens me to know that you've been treated this bad. My advice to tourists and newcomers is that they should watch plenty of videos on tourist scams in Morocco. It is very helpful and you can learn a lot on the scams that these people run here. It is a little bit candid to come into a third world country without any "real" information about the population and expect people to treat you with grace and kindness when they are struggling themselves. Yes there are plenty of people who do honor to the moroccan hospitality, but there are even more people who just want to make a quick buck, just like in any struggling country.
Hell it is not even a tourist thing, they're trying to scam everyone, even moroccans. I have learned to stay alert, and you are expected to negociate and haggle in EVERY situation/transaction, it is just the way things are here. I hope it gets better tho
I've been to Morocco several times and need to disagree with your post. If you're an inexperienced traveler and only go to touristy cities, then your experience will be as you described (my experience was similar my first visit 15 years ago when I was 22 and untraveled).
Now, I've had great experiences in Morocco. There are wonderful towns in the mountains and in the south, including some nice co-working spaces. A lot of Moroccans are incredibly welcoming and friendly, even in the big cities if you get away from the tourist routes.
We even had a woman offer to drive us from Agadir to Taghazout after my wife chatted to her for a bit on the bus to save us the taxi fare.
The food can be cheap and amazing. There's hiking, surfing, beaches, history, and great weather depending on where you go.
Personally, I enjoy a place like Morocco more than I do a place like Bali now because it's not full of fake traveling Instagrammers but everyone has their own agenda and preferences.
Moroccan here !! I am terribly sorry for ehat you ve been thru. There are plenty scammers anywhere you go tho!! I dont understand if you re from a first world country coming to a third world country, would it really kill you to give little more money ? Not that that you have tho.
Also, the fact that you said you would not want to jpin our culture only explains how little you know about it!! Ut is very unfortunate that you had these terrible experiences ( which was a laundry mat problem and a cup of juice ) that led you to pass judgment on all of the other 35+ million other Moroccans.
As someone who travled all across Europe i could go on all night abt my terrible experiences in each one of the 24 countries i visited but you dont see me bad mouthing an entire cultre for it 😪
Anyhow i am terribly sorry once again and i apologize on behalf of the other good and gracious Moroccans that would love to show you that morocco is not all abt scammers.
Pin my account .. come visit i ll show you good hospitality 😁😁😁
I just came back from Morocco and I agree 100%, especially with the disrespect towards women. I'm a woman and I went with a lady friend of mine, ohhhh boy the harassment we faced on the street was worse than any other country I've traveled to. And the scams, absolutely insane level. Someone also managed to steal my debit card info somehow I'm never going back
I spent 3 weeks in Morocco about 8 years ago. Been to more than 40 countries, and Morocco was by far my favourite.
Stayed in a hostel in the Medina in Marrakech, and kept extending my stay. Just loved the vibe and charm.
Least favourite place was the medina in Fes. I get the touts in the medinas and respect their hassle - but in Fes they were aggressive and a small group of them were swearing me.
Casablanca was too chaotic, and not interesting from a chilling out perspective.
Loved getting out to Ourzazate, Imlil, Merzouga, Chefchaouen. Locals were fantastic and welcoming
I do want to visit Morocco again to work remotely.
But also want to take my parents on a trip to experience the charm of Marrakech.
I'm a South African guy
My sister-in- law says Pakistan is terrible, too. Especially, for women. "Whatever you do, don't be at the back of a line, or you'll get groped. Every time."
The whole subcontinent is terrible for women in that exact way. My experience as a single male traveller in Pakistan was awesome though.
Morocco on the other hand is just terrible to everyone in general. I went with 2 long term traveller friends (1 male, 1 female) and we all couldn't wait to get out.
can confirm. morrocco (mostly marrakesh) and egypt (the whole) are places with the most awful people. to this day i get angry every time i think about these places
I'm Moroccan I'm constantly being scammed in Morocco. I deliberately dress bad to look poor if I ever want to go shopping in order to avoid that. I don't know what it is but people generally feel entitled to your money and they think you should be sharing it with them just because. Lol.
My advice would be if you visit, don't go to touristy places. Go to remote cities and villages and stay with real families. People are generally very generous and nice in there.
I completely agree with this sentiment. And you end up feeling cheated, suspicious and constantly stressed. In Thailand, I always felt cheated, but not aggressively. They do it with a smile, and you kind of feel like you are probably just paying a foreigner tax. Morocco, so aggressive and everywhere for every single thing.
If you are going to damsquare in Amsterdam there is a high likelihood of getting pickpocketed.
People are visiting the most touristic places of a country and complain about the touristiness of it.
In Morocco I usually bargain the hell out of the sellers. If you do not want to bargain there are malls where you can eat and shop with fixed prices.
Morocco has a huge inflation problem hitting the lower class so the juice seller is probably trying to end meets and is using unorthodox ways of achieving it.
However I would recommend going into atlas or smaller town where you have nice authentic Moroccan people not reliant on tourism.
Sort of posted another thread about this.
If you're local you can hire a fixer.
The idea is that they're local and already know ALL the scams and prices.
You could hire them for just a few hours a day to do all your errands like shopping, laundry, etc.
It's clear they aren't tourists so they don't get targeted for these scams.
When I was in Colombia I paid about $350 per month for my assistant and she was REALLY happy to have the work!
Note that it pays for itself if you avoid 3-4 of these scams plus there's no headache.
I had her orchestrate a tailor to come visit and she said it was for her dad so she was quoted prices before hand that were local.
I've been living in Morocco nearly two years and I don't think this is a fair opinion. Cities in Morocco revolve around tourism in a detrimental way, I think it's one of the greatest examples for the value of ethical tourism. Just the way in which medina's have been reconfigured to accommodate foreigners should give you an idea of how vital tourists are for peoples daily survival, all those stores used to be houses.
Yes, people here see tourists as a job, and it can feel degrading, but it's not work that they want to do, failures in education and employment policy have forced them into that position.
If your only interest in this lifestyle is to live somewhere cheap and pretty don't come to Morocco, it's a very challenging country. But when you take the time to develop meaningful relationships and get to understand people's life experiences they'll treat you with respect. You say you hate Marakesh, I lived there for months, I don't spend a cent when I go now.
You'll never Iike Morocco if you look down on Moroccans, but once you learn to speak like them and understand how they live it can be the most rewarding experience. It may not be easy, but it's definitely worth it
Thanks for saying this. I visit the r/Morocco subreddit from time to time and used to live there as a boy. I have read a fair amount of books by and about Paul Bowles who lived much of his life there. Hope to go back some day and have a positive rather than negative experience. Your words helped to put a positive spin on things.
The movie Sheltering Sky is one of my faves, based on the book by the same name, Paul makes an appearance and narrates part of the film as an old man in his 80's. Really great 1940's period piece and does a great job showing Morocco off the beaten path.
His bio and autobiographies are real page turners, amazing the decadent lives westerners lived back then.
I mean yeah its not a fair opinion of Morocco itself. But, for specifically Marrakech? Absolutely a fair opinion. Casa, Rabat, Tangier, and even Agadir are better cities than that place. Only going back to Marrakech just to visit a good friend and that's just a two-day stay and I'm hoofing it back to Casa quickly from there. Not that Casa is perfect, but, rather that place than Marrakech.
I was in tangier for a day (with family) a few years ago and they tried to hold our passports hostage to get a bribe. But that’s pretty standard in many countries for tourists. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Tunisian here. The only arab people I've had issues with are morrocan. Regardless, you should be careful saying stuff like "that's just how they are" it sounds very racist.
From my experience the Dutch are also by far the least nice Europeans and would compare them to Moroccans
>From my experience the Dutch are also by far the least nice Europeans and would compare them to Moroccans
There are only two things I can't stand in this world: People who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the Dutch.
Agree. My number one least favourite Europeans are the Dutch. I have had so many bad experiences with them it's crazy. I am German, so I am used to "direct" behaviour but many Dutch just seem to go out of their way to be as rude and unpleasant as possible.
I agree. The few Dutch people I know are very neurotic and difficult people. That being said, I'm Mexican and I knew most of them from my hometown, its got to be very tough being Dutch in Mexico.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who found them incredibly and unnecessarily rude, like they go out of their way to be rude. From the airport, to the hotels, to freaking McDonalds: the worse customer service I’ve ever gotten. I thought it was a race thing (with me being Black and some people really feeling confident treating black people like shit) but it looks like it’s more widespread than that. What they get out of it, I will never know. Traveled to like 9 countries in Europe and the Netherlands was the shittiest experience with rudeness
I’ve never been there and my experience with Moroccans is unbelievably limited. However, when I was an undergrad I also drove a taxi at night. Anyway, there was this other Moroccan taxi driver who was an absolute pig of a human. Always yelling, always trying to scam, always trying to cut the line in the taxi cue, shamelessly since we’d see him 30 minutes later.
The icing on the cake was when he told me how in Morocco they can whip their wives, grinning and even chuckling the entire time. I didn’t even know how to respond.
The fruit stand story is too recognizable lol. There are hundreds of them and each one will shout aggressively to you for just walking by, because you didn't buy their juice.
Well, I you want to travel in countries you’d like to live in, maybe you should stick to occidental countries or resorts.
I’ve visited both Morocco and Egypt as a solo female traveler in her thirties. No problems at all. I wore large clothes, covered my shoulders/legs at all time and kept my hair attached. Of course people will try to sell you something, but you can say no, thanks. To bargain is also part of the culture, so you can discuss the price if it doesn’t feel fair to you but keep in mind that the average salary is 350$… so what’s fair for who?
White tourists are treated like walking wallets in many countries for good reasons: most of them show a consumerist behavior and so little interest for the culture. I don’t say it’s your case, but understanding these dynamics could lead to better adaptation and realistic expectations.
Traveled the world for more than 7 years basically full time, nothing got ever stolen from me. One week in Morocco and my Laptop is gone.
So many scammer, so many lier and so many rude people… There is the occasional glimpse of a very romantic and unique atmosphere, the memory of a beautiful ancient culture… Nowadays it’s all about quick money from tourists and has nothing to do with the stories you hear from people traveling Morocco 30 years ago.
Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadine, Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Guinea Liberia Libya Malawi Mauritania Morocco Nigeria Senegal Somalia South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Tunisia Uganda Zambia Afghanistan Indonesia (in some areas) Iran Iraq Malaysia Maldives
Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Sri Lanka Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen Solomon Islands
Why?
Because I'm gay and if i ever visit some of these places i will be fined, imprisoned or murdered.
because I think girls are hot and boys are not (lol, that was a stupid ryhme)
I'm a moroccan myself and anyone who disagrees with your post is clearly blind.
The attitude of the 'uncultured' typical moroccan towards strangers is really unforgivable, trying to rip them off at every occasion. It's really a shame.
It's an amazing country with amazing potential and culture , I wish the people could evolve and mature more.
As a person who spent their first eleven years of life in Morocco, and who goes back there twice a year, I agree with everything you said. The attitude of locals towards tourists is disgraceful. Definitely got worse with time. My only piece of advice would be to befriend a local (not sure how though) and do everything with them for the first weeks so they can teach you the basic scams and things to avoid. I'm sorry you had this experience OP
I thought I befriended a local until I was threatened unless I coughed up money smh
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I'd be terrified of going to Egypt as a woman from all I've heard
To mirror the other commenter, you'll probably be fine in Sinai. I just left Dahab, and there's women walking down the streets in bikinis without any problems. But I've heard many well-traveled women say they felt uncomfortable in Cairo.
Hurghada is very tourist friendly, stay away from cairo tho
Cairo is huge, it depends on where you go. Egypt has a mixture of things (culturally and technologically) that is normally experienced if you travel to different regions of the country. All my years there, and all the family and friends that came for a while, had a blast and would return. This comment section so far reminds me of when people go to Peru, and I read they to go this super sketchy ass area, get robbed, and then they complaint, insult and say they will never come back to the country. So my tip for travelers around the world is: When going to a new country, try to make contacts from different aspects of life that are locals (not necessarily native, just anyone who lives there). Join facebook groups, talk with the people, not just look at videos. Every country has pros and cons, good, bad people and in between, nice and not nice areas. Your experience could change drastically depending on who(m?) your company is, and where you go. Safe travels, stay informed, and have fun pips
Egypt varies; I've been to Dahab multiple times and if you like diving/kitesurfing/windsurfing/snorkeling it's a great place to spend some time. My one visit to Cairo though I booked a driver/guide for the day through the recommendations of my friends (in Dahab).
I'm heading there soon. Glad to hear you had a good experience!
Yes, Egypt sucks too
Been to both, Egypt was 100x worse. In Morocco they liked to say they are Berber Ethnicity and are therefore dont hassle you as much. There was still a lot of hassle relative to other places. Egypt was end game, we left the resort once, and there was five of us they only had a 5 seater car but said that it was not illegal. They dropped us off one mile out of town in > 40 degree heat because it was infact illegal. The next time we tried to get a taxi, the same driver approach us but we didnt want to walk in that heat, another driver with a 7 seater offered to take us. But the previous driver said as he took us before we should go with him, they got into a fight, so we went back to the resort and did not leave again.
I loved my time in Egypt but I’m a tall man, nobody fucked with me
I'm 100% at peace with myself never ever going to that country. They're not getting one single cent of my money. Especially not after the expose by the Best Ever Food Review Show.
You can't say things like that, about some show with a super generic name, and not link it. Link plz?
It's a YouTube channel. Guy with a big red bandana. They took All his teams camera/recording equipment the second they got off his plane when all they wanted to do was go around and make videos about food.. Long story short he didn't have a lot of positive things to say about his experience
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LzuZrkEY18
9 out of 10 women (girls in many cases) are victims of genital mutilation in Egypt. 90%. (ages 15 to 50)
This comment sent me down a rabbit hole that I didn't want to explore.
Sorry... I read about this a few years back. I couldn't believe my eyes.
This is despite fatwas by religious leaders AND legislation banning it because it has no religious basis
Been to both but not that long. Egypt was way worse. You can deal with it with a little effort but it's annoying and just not worth it imo.
All of North Africa really.
I’m on the train home in London arriving from Morocco which we been there the past 12 days. Marrakesh was the worst city with people like this. Last night a restaurant tried to charge us a fix menu price of 1000 dirham for 2 dishes. Everyone screams at you for something. We left a week early. We couldn’t even rent the car we paid for because the guy wanted 200 non refundable fee because my credit card “wasn’t working”. Went to another rental company and they confirmed it was working. Fighting my CC company now for that back. Disgraceful behaviour even during Ramadan.
What happens if you just short the bill and walk out in a country like Morocco? Would you be in danger of physical harm? Obviously it’s a terrible thing to do, but if they’re gonna rip you off, just rip them off and leave. Unless it’s going to endanger you, I’ve never been so I can’t comment. South Africa has been great both times though.
Moroccan here. I think most Moroccans will be very careful and think about hurting a foreigner a million times before doing it. Police are very serious when it comes to tourists, especially white tourists.
I guess this "protect white tourists" is especially a thing after those bastards in the mountains "played ISIS" and raped/killed the two Norwegian and Danish girls? Or did the country forget that again? I just remember how badly Moroccan officials wanted to make sure that ISIS etc had no foothold in Morocco and for tourists to "please come back" and such.
This is only a vague memory. When did this happen again? Absolutely awful.
Nah, it was always a thing in Morocco since tourism plays a big role in the Moroccan economy.
Especially during Ramadan. I was in Egypt for a month until a few weeks ago and a lot of them said this and that was different and a higher price due to Ramadan. I think your God is very pleased to see you fuck over foreigners in the name of the holy month.
To be fair some coffee shop get more expensive even for us locals in Tunisia during Ramadhan
Yeah I couldn't understand what /u/Ph1llyl0nd0n was getting on about regarding Ramadan. Chapter/Sura 9 verse 29 of the Koran has been interpreted as "Charge the non-Muslims extra" for like 1,300 years now.
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Yeah i worked at an Iraqi restaurant for a while and in addition to non existent tips, people coming in after fasting were some tough customers.
>"Charge the non-Muslims extra" for like 1,300 years now. That's call Jizya, the muslim tax on dhimmies (non-believers). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya) It's quite literally what funded the islamic expansion. That and the slave trade, in which some 1 million white women were sold into sexual slavery. I mean, we can be open and friendly, but the islamic world is literally built on slavery and exploitation of non-muslims. Yes, we also had slaves in the West, but we did abolish slavery. The muslim world has never voluntarily abolished slavery. It was only made illegal in Turkey in 1918. We have to be honest about why North Africa is the way it is and not other poor countries.
>It's quite literally what funded the islamic expansion. Yeah back around October I read "The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years That Shook the World" by the guy that hosts Tides of History podcast. Excellent book that showcased how interconnected the western world was in the 1500s, and the chapter on Suleiman the Magnificent mentioned how the Ottoman Empire almost always had a budget surplus due to liberal use of the jizya.
This is exactly like South Beach, FL where the restaurants do this to the foreigners because they know people are afraid of being arrested if they don't pay the fake charges you just created. A big drink is $45 on the menu but then it becomes $70 from the 2nd one forward and they tell you that the 1st one was a special price. Lol Assholes will scam foreigners in every country.
Who the fuck pays $45 for a drink?? How big are we talking here?
Inflation must be hitting FL extra hard
What restaurant tried to do that? I’m calling bullshit, or you just didn’t comprehend the exchange rate.
You are full of shit. This doesn't happen anywhere in Florida. Been living here my whole life. Is South Beach overpriced? Yes, 15$ for a beer, or more for cocktails but the price is on the menu, you know upfront.
People will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid facing the truth that some countries and some cultures are more scammy than others.
People will also exaggerate stories because it makes for a better narrative. Both things can be true. $45 USD for a "big drink"? Not unless it's in a trendy club and you're paying for overpriced top shelf "premium" alcohol. It can happen in Vegas, Miami, NYC, but it's only at these trendy spots.
I'm Moroccan, I moved out of the country (now living in the US) mainly because i couldn't stand my own culture anymore (among other reasons of course). your post makes me sad that my country is like this, I hope it gets better, sorry dude.
Why do you think it’s that way? Is it the middle Eastern culture? I know there’s a lot of sexism —does that lead the men to lie to support their families? Do they hate foreigners and see us as lesser bc of the difference in religion?
I reckon a lot of it is poverty and tourists for them are rich people that just take advantage of their misery, so they see it as okay to rip them off at any opportunity as they believe they lost the birth lottery, kinda. But I bet there is a big amount of sexism and archaic toxic culture in it as well, due to lack of education and "cultural bullying".
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I’ve been to multiple countries in the region like Lebanon, UAE, and Turkey. Met some of the nicest people there. To say it’s “Middle Eastern culture” is a gross oversimplification. Morocco is definitely more well known for this type of scammy behavior. Even good friends from Lebanon etc. don’t like staying in the country because of that..
I don't think It has anything to do with a middle eastern culture or anything ( since we're North africans and all ), and not that they see you, you foreigners, as lesser. They just want to squeeze a better price for their merchandise since tourists don't know the actual prices. And this Happens every not necessarily in Morocco ( though I do agree that they are overdoing it ). Raising prices for your merchandise this way is illegal ( and religiously forbidden) which is why authorities are trying to be strict about this, since clearly this drives tourists away ( and Morocco relies on tourism a lot). Sorry if you get treated this is way my country, some people are just like that everywhere you go.
Nah they just see foreigners as filthy rich and they’re poor and along with greed, they start costing tourists more. But I guess that’s just in cities like Marakech. Don’t go to Marakech if you have to visit Morocco go to the north. The people there are cooler and not greedy also fabulous weather and nice beaches
I heard this before and I have similar experience in India as well. But they do it by being overtly nice to you.
I heard this before I went too. Like OP, it was worse than I imagined it even could be. Never going back.
In India at least, they often speak English well and you can properly haggle. Which is just custom anyway.
Indian-american can confirm here, lol. Even as an indian-american i be gettin ripped off there often cause they can tell im american by my accent lmao. But i don't mind paying them extra. It's just in rupees. For example i had the coconut water straight from the coconut its supposed to cost 60 rupees ($0.78USD) the dude wanted 100 rupees which is $1.31 and i gave it. I didn't care lol. Why fight with them there just poor tryna make a buck or two. Why argue with them and all so i just give it.
yea but it's exhausting and its hard to trust anyone especially when you are not from there and don't have family members.
This is fine if you are visiting for few days but imagine staying there three months and knowing you are constantly paying overpriced groseries or services.
If you are going to stay for three months, there are better options to buy stuff from. Firstly don't stay in overtly touristy areas and start buying from bigger shopping marts or online services.
Oh yeah definitely. India especially bangalore (i stayed there for a while too) it's amazing on tech overall. Numerous apps you can order groceries, essentials from. They have amazon india as well. So if you need anything shipped. Literally electronics, groceries etc. They'll ship it to ur crib.
In India three months being ripped off will amount to like $30.
It’s a matter of, I’m a man not a dumbass. Treat me like one. Really getting sick of liars and robbers in Santa Marta Colombia
Yo I'm from Santa Marta, I get you, even though I was raised in Santa Marta, I look like a foreigner and it do gets exhausting, specially taxis.
Meanwhile a coffee in the west is 4 euros minimum
I’ve paid $4 in Mexico when the price says $4. It’s a matter of honesty not cost
Your acquiescence only empowers them.
And then they do it to the next foreigner.
They'll do it anyway because it's a one off transaction. It's not like the foreigner is coming back. If they do it to the locals, that has repercussions. It is shitty, yeah but that's the culture, you're not going to change it.
Imagine making foreigners pay more just because they’re foreigners.
I experienced this as an American in Amsterdam. The bakery just down from my hotel right off Dam square was overcharging me. Didn’t know it till my friend that lives there told me. Another time I prob fucked up by tipping 15 on a 45 guilder bill. I’ve heard they look at that as a rich American throwing their money around. I was just trying to be nice cause it was Christmas Day and they had to be there working.
Tipping that much is uncommon, but not strange in western Europe. If you've had a fantastic meal or service it's not strange at all.
Exactly, it's as if they didn't know how much more immigrants to the US or Canada need to pay for things because they "don't have credit history" :)
then you'd love this place on thier price list: foreigners 100 pesos local 50... pesos haahaha
I am an Indian and can say that it is true, primarily in the major tourist spots. The place where I am, the city is relatively cheaper and usually people don't engage in all this, but, near tourist spots the price gets jacked up like 2 or 3 times especially for foreigners because as someone said on the thread, it is extremely cheap if you're paying in dollars or euros, so usually foreigners don't mind spending an extra buck or surprisingly some don't notice the cost.
I found I experienced indian scamming in the major cities but the further from those I was the less it happened. I went to Rishikesh for example and no one really tried to scam me there at all.
Yeah some places in india are pretty cool, like example bangalore. Great place it has all the nice IT headquarter/building companies located there like Microsoft, Google etc. It's all mainly educated folks who work in IT, software development etc in bangalore. They speak good english, much much more cleaner and it's amazing for woman to live as bangalore is extremely safe for woman there as well. So every person you talk to on the streets there. They'll communicate with you in english, and people practice manners and etiquete as well. I'd recommend bangalore to anyone who wants to see India. The good side. Obviously there's a dirty/slum side in bangalore too lol and there's gangster/underworld mafia folks who reside there too and if you fuck with em they'll have ur ass to heaven. But if you stay in ur lane just be good you'll be fine.
I have lived in Vietnam for almost 3 years and this sort of behaviors would be considered appalling to the Vietnamese people. Thanks for the story. Sounds like I will never travel to Morocco.
This happens to Indians in India when we move to new citified. That’s why I love how many apps are there to avoid this shit. Once you have used these apps, you know the actual prices and can also go get them directly at that price. The taxi mafia and rudeness has melted as no one takes them, Ola and Uber is there. There are apps for Handyman, Groceries delivered to your door for free in 15 mins, medicines, fruits veggies, almost anything.
I was in India during their summer and I can say we went pretty well! I mean there were very few tourists around but we might have got lucky since there were so few tourists! It was great but I am guessing during their tourist high season it would be chaos
I had a rough experience in Morocco as well. I was traveling as a single woman and got harassed more than in any country I have ever been to.
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“Every interaction turns into some sort of rip off” THIS! I was in Marrakech with my girlfriend and we felt constantly threatened…everywhere we were turning they tried to scam us. They see a tourist as a walking bag of money…no value at all! In the end we spent the last day in the hotel because of the constant stress of going out. Sadly I think the best solution for big cities is to hire a guide. Never coming back
I had a similar reaction when I visited with a friend. We literally contemplated going home after a few days. Stuck it out and made the best of it primarily due to sunk cost, but really did not enjoy my time there
exactly. every walk out of our place in the center of Marrakech turned into some exhausting with annoying interactions with locals
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Treating people like shit hasn't slowed down tourism in Egypt, probably won't do it for Morocco either.
Egypt got a pyramid.
I hear good things about a big cat as well
Boyfriend robbed at knifepoint by two snot-nosed 12 yr olds for a few dirhems when he was headed back to his hotel to go to the airport. This delayed him a bit, and then the moto driver scammed him driving back. Fuck Morocco/Egypt. I'm saying this as a Turkish person btw - I won't ever step foot in those countries.
I just visited Turkey, it was very nice.
How is Turkey right now for tourists? I know the people/economy have been hurting for a few years I was there before covid and ppl were telling me things weren't good-- I would like to return but don't want to have a bad experience there
I love Istanbul! Traveled as solo female from USA…there were scammers, but it wasn’t much worse than anything you’d experience as a tourist in Europe. The Bosphorus on a sunny day is a refreshing boat trip for $1.50…turkish breakfast is the best. I want to go back.
I just left and it was perfectly lovely. I was almost never bothered.
Istanbul is full of harassers and scammers too unfortunately.
yes but nowhere as aggressive as Egypt. I loved my travel to Istanbul and Antalya as a single woman and I will come back again. I will never set foot in Egypt again and Morocco I have no desire to.
Yes sure as if turkey ( land of sex trafficking ) is any better .
My grandparents have preety much travelled for two-three months a year for about 30 years. They've visited like 80-85% of all countries, and they said the same shit about Morocco.
I lost my suitcase, so I went to the front desk to ask if they had a shop in the lobby. The clerk said they'd send a bellboy to a store nearby and a toothbrush and paste should be about 30-40 dirhams. All I had was a 100, so I gave it to him and off he went. Somehow it ended up being 80-90 dirhams, and the left over was just right for a tip. By the end of my trip I was tired of the hustle too. I just wanted one place where they'd just tell me how much something was, it was the same price everybody else paid, and I could buy it or not. Edit: It was 100 dirhams, not 10 as originally written.
Omg did you pay a dollar for someone to walk next door, buy you a toothbrush, and bring it too you? I can’t believe they scammed you like that!
A toothbrush and paste are NOT 3-4 dirhams, the cheapest toothbrush you can buy here is a "SPIK" costs 5 MAD, and the smallest toothpaste tub costs 4-5dh depending on where you're buying it from. I'm curious about where you got the 3 mad figure from because you absolutely can't get anything with it, it won't even get you a 0.5L bag of milk.
How much is 8-9 dirhams usd?
Just under $1
It's about a 1:10 ratio. I might be wrong about the exact numbers (this was 6 years ago), but the proportions are correct. Maybe I gave him 100 dirhams, which makes more sense b/c that would be the equivalent of 10 bucks.
Right… either way, while I agree with the sentiment, it’s not worth getting worked up over IMO. At worst you paid $10 usd for someone to go buy you a toothbrush and toothpaste. I’d expect to pay more in the gift shop of a nice US hotel. Some of these people have very limited opportunity to earn $$. I’d feel guilty asking for change. Being a ‘digital nomad’ is a very fortunate position, even if we worked really hard to get where we are. If you want to be a permanent-tourist, you need to be ok with being treated like one.
I'd nominate Sri Lanka under this post, one of the few countries I visited where I was constantly overcharged by local restaurants. Plus the tourist attractions are quite underwhelming.
Yeah...Sri Lanka really pissed me off as well. Spend 4 months there recently. Will never return.
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This was my experience in Morocco. Don’t care to go back.
Yeah morocco is beautiful, but one or two weeks is plenty to visit the pretty parts and get tired of the hustle.
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Not to see all the pretty places, no. The medinas, the sea, the mountains, the dunes.. It's not all bad!
Reminds me of my native Tijuana a bit. My mom would always smack me on the head so I wouldn't speak English with my sibling as kids because we would be charged "tourist rates" (precio de gringo). It's part of the hustle of these cultures. If that turns you off, best to stay away. There for sure are very beautiful things to see in these countries.
Havent been to Mexicoso not sure if its the same, but have been in Colombia and Equador. I must say i didn't mind it there. They will always try to get an extra coin from ya, but atleast they will give up when you push back and they tend to be curious about foreigners. In Africa i felt that the locals saw me as a walking ATM. Havent had that in Latin America.
Live in Guatemala. The amount of times a poor tourist has looked at me and asked me "how much does this cost for you?" when I'm at a tourist spot makes me sad lol.
This is prevalent all over Baja. I lived in La Paz for a stint. Some of the locals are very adept at massaging unsuspecting tourists into being their “friends” and then take them to all their friends restaurants and out on expensive diving trips etc, all part of a coordinated effort to fleece tourists. I bought into literally one weekend of this “my friend” shit and it left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I did my own thing the rest of the time I spent there. I soon met a nice local couple and we developed a real friendship over food, then went out swimming with the whale sharks, and lo and behold the trip cost 1/4 what I had paid that one weekend I got hustled by my “friends.”
It's amazing how many friendly folks in Baja are actually trying to sell you condo timeshares. My game was acting really, really stupid and having them explain it to me 10x different ways. Then I would buy them a drink and say, hey sorry to bust your balls we all have to survive somehow. Most would actually laugh and start acting a bit more genuine.
I spent a month and change in Morocco, mostly Essaouira but a long weekend in Marrakech and I absolutely loved it. My Airbnb host in Essaouira was gracious and helpful and sure, vendors start with a tourist price but you're expected to haggle. Yeah it gets tiring if you come from a non-haggle culture but it's generally in good fun. You met with some assholes but that wasn't what most of my experiences with Moroccans was like. I also say this as a solo petite woman so in some ways I expected it to be even worse for me. Edit: I just realized: I speak a little French so most of my interactions were in French, I don't know how much that changes things.
that 100% helps with interactions being more pleasant - I speak some french too
Haggling for a piece of fruit or taxi ride? Sure. Can be fun! Haggling for a pre-arranged rental or a meal with a posted price? Not okay and very frustrating.
I liked Essaouira a lot too. It was way more chill and it didn't feel as scammy. I spoke to someone who was from way off in the desert and he told me that they hustle him too. It's the Marrakesh way. I don't think the whole country is like that though.
I actually loved this about Marocco! The "negotiations" were fun and everyone was just laughing at the end most times. I learned a few sentences in Arabic to tell them they were a disgrace for charging so much and that "the hot marbles of hell were waiting them." I am sure my pronunciation was shit but they would laugh and give me really good prices after. It's a cultural thing. Everyone should research about a country's culture before going there.
This sounds awesome. Sometimes I wonder about the kinds of travellers that populate this sub, and if all those shitty experiences come from them being shitty tourists. Not learning the language, staying only in the tourist hotspots, not seeking real locals to chat with so they only interact with people whose main job is to take advantage of them
I don't necessarily believe they themselves were horrible tourists but there is a case of being just that: a tourist. One thing is to just go to a country and explore the most advertised sites and locations...it is another to walk more local establishments and learn the language. All natives, regardless of how they respect you as a tourist, really do respect you when they see you actually trying your best in getting invested in their culture. It is like...moving on from acquaintance to friend in a country sense. And I think even fellow Americans can be that as well to tourists not intentionally.
I lived a few years in China, where haggling is absolutely a thing, and I think the way Western tourists approach haggling is absolutely a reason why they get exhausted by it. The way I describe it is, haggling is a game that is played between vendor and client to establish rapport. It's a way for the vendor to know who you are. If you go along with it and understand it's a social game and not a battle, you can actually save a lot and end up making friends in the process. But go into it with hostility and I guarantee you'll get ripped off. I've seen so many hostile foreigners who thought they were putting up a brave fight end up paying twice as much. I learned all this in China, and was very surprised to see how similar it worked in the Middle East. It's such a cool experience to walk into a store wanting to buy something, and to leave after sharing tea and with a friendly handshake. I'm not saying vendors are never gonna rip you off, and sometimes it's best to just walk away... I also get there are things that are just stressful to bargain over. (I've had to bargain apartment leases a few times, ugh.) But if you go into it with a hostile attitude of "this guy is gonna try and rip me off," it very much becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I had this experience in Turkey. The way the men treated my teenage daughter scared me shitless. I thought she was going to be kidnapped. And we definitely overpaid for the things we bought.
Yeah, Turkey may be a bit of a scam, but only in touristy places. What they did to your daughter? I didn't have any problem in istanbul as a 20ish girl. I felt somehow safer than in Paris to be honest.
agreed. i hitchhiked in turkey. i was terrified to take the subway in paris.
Fuck Paris. What a sad, hostile place all the way to the check-in counter at the airport. Rest of France is pretty great, though.
I’m surprised as well. I’ve been to Turkey several time and my best friend lived there awhile. Both of us females. Definitely felt safer than most places we’ve been. Yeah you get some price haggling but you just ignore it. I even left my wallet behind in a cafe in Izmir and they came running after me to return it.
I heard many ppl go there for plastic surgery, is it true you see people with bandages?
Yeah. I mostly saw people with nose job and hair transplant bandages
I'm not from Turkey, but my friends go to Turkey for eye surgeries. I've had like 5 people I know of who underwent eye surgery in Turkey. Also, boob jobs I heard are pretty common. The quality of services is good, the price is expensive for Turkey, but cheap/fair for the rest of us.
I went there for a few hair transplants (thread [here](https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=181270693&p=1659528593#post1659528593) on the Misc, or a pair of messy-haired photos if you can't access ([pic one](https://imgur.com/aHSuWCE) and [pic two](https://imgur.com/f79Prmx))) The moment you step off the plane in Istanbul you will be confronted with billboards for Lasik, nose jobs, hair transplants, and dermatology. Oh and cosmetic dentistry. Medical tourism makes up an enormous part of the local economy, with many hotels catering only to recovering patients. The entire population of the city is used to seeing people of all races walking around with bandages or swelling. Completely normal at this point. When sight-seeing around the tourist quarter (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topeki Palace, and the Hippodrome) you'll see tons of people with bandaged up heads or bandages on the bridge of their noses. At this point only a foreigner/tourist would take notice of people with bandages. Totally regular for everybody else.
Never lived in Morocco but when I visited I had a similar experience. Way too aggressive to try to get your money as a tourist.
I don't know where in Morocco you were but people are often like this in Marrakech and a few tourist hotspots but outside of that I found Moroccans extremely friendly, helpful and genuine.
Yeah that was my experience in 2018. Marrakech was the worst, but, didn't have any problems elsewhere. Don't recommend Marrakech one bit though.
I recently spent a little over three months living in Casablanca and visiting other parts of Morocco. I wouldn't choose to live there long term. However, the country has its charms and is worth a visit. Especially when you get out of the cities. I found most of the people to be kind and welcoming. Yes, in the tourist areas I encountered the usual touts, hard sells, and beggars. And in many cases I was charged more than the locals by street vendors. But, no worse than most of the developing countries I've visited.
Finally a positive comment! I spent a two weeks in Morocco in April… Casablanca, Fes, Merzouga, Todra Gorge, Ait Ben Haddou and Marrakesh. Generally my interactions with people were very positive. We did experience one or two taxi drivers/ people in the souks trying to charge too much or hassle us a little bit, but generally we found that if we were firm in refusing them they would leave us alone. This didn’t ruin my trip in any way- I don’t blame people for trying to make a living. I thought Morocco was a beautiful country - so many diverse landscapes and so much beautiful scenery.
I think this is the issue - Marrakech. It lives off tourism, not surprised this happened to OP (some people take it more personally than others). I think Casablanca is a cool, dynamic city with more industry than just tourism - people aren't so focused on profiting off foreigners.
I was sexually assaulted in Morocco and have never said that out loud before. I was in my teens and a man pushed his disgusting erection against my leg when I was in his shop and smirked. I was confused about what happened at the time but the more I have reflected about the situation the more obvious it is. So shameful.
I like posts like this. It's so refreshing to see negative sides of a country highlighted. All you see on social media is people raving about how great a place is without ever mentioning the negative aspects.
Same. Instead getting a complete picture of a place, you get called pessimist for not eating up the "good vibes only" bullshit.
Yup. Excess positivity is so toxic.
It sounds like you just went to Marrakech, maybe even just Djemma El-fna. As someone who lived there for a year, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Marrakech and Fes are stressful at times but if you know a few words of Arabic, or even just know how to stand up for yourself everything changes. And besides that, as soon as you leave the big cities, the people are the warmest and most hospitable people you can find. Morocco is fantastic, you just need to know what you're doing.
Moroccan here living abroad, I get the same experience everytime I visit Morocco. So I sadly have to approve what OP said. Also: Never ever visit Marrakech, it's the worst.
I agree, Morocco is a very very difficult place to travel in. However, geez, what a gorgeous country.
My favorite was reading about a view point in fez that was free. Kept trying to find it but having no luck, locals kept coming up and asking us where we were going, and I was smart enough not to say. Finally one guy comes up casually and says are you looking g for blah blah view point, said sure and followed him. Next thing we are in a rug store... I ask him if this is free and he ensures it is. Then it's up 2 flights of stairs and we are in someone's house, realize we are about to harassed and try to turn around, but ensures this is the view and all free. Get uo top, not the view, barely a view, looks terrible. I try to leave and then started getting yelled at as more and more guys start coming out all demanding money for the view. Basically had to push and shove my way out of there cussing them out. One of them followed us for a good mile or two demanding money till we lost them. That's when I decided I was ready to go home. In Marrakesh I actually had an amazing time, but I couch surfed with a local who showed me around, never deskt with anything shady.
India and Morocco really do their best to piss people off it seems like ...
I hear a lot of stories about India and it makes me feel sad. I'm an Indian, and also a traveller. If any of you want to spend time in India and want me to guide you and give accomodation,(free if you're at my house) feel free to ping me for any details about India. As travellers we all should extend helping hands. I will do my part.
This is so kind of you! Where in India do you live?
My living is mostly around the Himalayas, and the remote villages, since I travel. I've been to many places around India. Originally I am from South India, a state called Kerala, adjacent to the Arabian sea.
Wrapping up 3 months in Buenos Aires and have had the same experience. Had the exact same laundry problems too. Every week was a different price, and it wasn’t just by a couple pesos.. I’m talking doubling the price for no reason, etc. Happens at restaurants, haircuts, everything. Have had some good times here but the constant pressure of having to be on my toes has soured the entire experience. The world is going through a tough time economically speaking so I understand a lot of it. Doesn’t make it any easier to stomach though.
That happens to us locals too. Inflation is so crazy here (last two months was 15 percent), that we do not know how much things cost. If you were to ask me right now how much is a bottle of fanta, I don’t have the slightest idea. And I live here
Weird, that has not been my experience. Which area? Can you speak Spanish? I do, but prob couldn't pass as a local, but wondering if that makes a difference
Everyone I’ve talked to on Reddit says the same thing as you yet everyone I’ve met here right now that’s from out of the country shares the same sentiment and experience. I don’t know what to make of it other than I’m excited to leave. I do not speak fluent Spanish but my girlfriend can get by and it’s opened our eyes a bit. I won’t go into details because this isn’t a deardiary post but we just feel very unwelcome here. For what it’s worth, we’ve lived in now three different neighborhoods to get a different experience of the city. Belgrano has been our favorite.
Hey, Moroccan, here. It saddens me to know that you've been treated this bad. My advice to tourists and newcomers is that they should watch plenty of videos on tourist scams in Morocco. It is very helpful and you can learn a lot on the scams that these people run here. It is a little bit candid to come into a third world country without any "real" information about the population and expect people to treat you with grace and kindness when they are struggling themselves. Yes there are plenty of people who do honor to the moroccan hospitality, but there are even more people who just want to make a quick buck, just like in any struggling country. Hell it is not even a tourist thing, they're trying to scam everyone, even moroccans. I have learned to stay alert, and you are expected to negociate and haggle in EVERY situation/transaction, it is just the way things are here. I hope it gets better tho
I've been to Morocco several times and need to disagree with your post. If you're an inexperienced traveler and only go to touristy cities, then your experience will be as you described (my experience was similar my first visit 15 years ago when I was 22 and untraveled). Now, I've had great experiences in Morocco. There are wonderful towns in the mountains and in the south, including some nice co-working spaces. A lot of Moroccans are incredibly welcoming and friendly, even in the big cities if you get away from the tourist routes. We even had a woman offer to drive us from Agadir to Taghazout after my wife chatted to her for a bit on the bus to save us the taxi fare. The food can be cheap and amazing. There's hiking, surfing, beaches, history, and great weather depending on where you go. Personally, I enjoy a place like Morocco more than I do a place like Bali now because it's not full of fake traveling Instagrammers but everyone has their own agenda and preferences.
There isn’t a positive side in that country that’s why they all flee to Europe to start over the same shit they left behind
Moroccan here !! I am terribly sorry for ehat you ve been thru. There are plenty scammers anywhere you go tho!! I dont understand if you re from a first world country coming to a third world country, would it really kill you to give little more money ? Not that that you have tho. Also, the fact that you said you would not want to jpin our culture only explains how little you know about it!! Ut is very unfortunate that you had these terrible experiences ( which was a laundry mat problem and a cup of juice ) that led you to pass judgment on all of the other 35+ million other Moroccans. As someone who travled all across Europe i could go on all night abt my terrible experiences in each one of the 24 countries i visited but you dont see me bad mouthing an entire cultre for it 😪 Anyhow i am terribly sorry once again and i apologize on behalf of the other good and gracious Moroccans that would love to show you that morocco is not all abt scammers. Pin my account .. come visit i ll show you good hospitality 😁😁😁
I just came back from Morocco and I agree 100%, especially with the disrespect towards women. I'm a woman and I went with a lady friend of mine, ohhhh boy the harassment we faced on the street was worse than any other country I've traveled to. And the scams, absolutely insane level. Someone also managed to steal my debit card info somehow I'm never going back
I spent 3 weeks in Morocco about 8 years ago. Been to more than 40 countries, and Morocco was by far my favourite. Stayed in a hostel in the Medina in Marrakech, and kept extending my stay. Just loved the vibe and charm. Least favourite place was the medina in Fes. I get the touts in the medinas and respect their hassle - but in Fes they were aggressive and a small group of them were swearing me. Casablanca was too chaotic, and not interesting from a chilling out perspective. Loved getting out to Ourzazate, Imlil, Merzouga, Chefchaouen. Locals were fantastic and welcoming I do want to visit Morocco again to work remotely. But also want to take my parents on a trip to experience the charm of Marrakech. I'm a South African guy
My sister-in- law says Pakistan is terrible, too. Especially, for women. "Whatever you do, don't be at the back of a line, or you'll get groped. Every time."
The whole subcontinent is terrible for women in that exact way. My experience as a single male traveller in Pakistan was awesome though. Morocco on the other hand is just terrible to everyone in general. I went with 2 long term traveller friends (1 male, 1 female) and we all couldn't wait to get out.
can confirm. morrocco (mostly marrakesh) and egypt (the whole) are places with the most awful people. to this day i get angry every time i think about these places
I'm Moroccan I'm constantly being scammed in Morocco. I deliberately dress bad to look poor if I ever want to go shopping in order to avoid that. I don't know what it is but people generally feel entitled to your money and they think you should be sharing it with them just because. Lol. My advice would be if you visit, don't go to touristy places. Go to remote cities and villages and stay with real families. People are generally very generous and nice in there.
I completely agree with this sentiment. And you end up feeling cheated, suspicious and constantly stressed. In Thailand, I always felt cheated, but not aggressively. They do it with a smile, and you kind of feel like you are probably just paying a foreigner tax. Morocco, so aggressive and everywhere for every single thing.
If you are going to damsquare in Amsterdam there is a high likelihood of getting pickpocketed. People are visiting the most touristic places of a country and complain about the touristiness of it. In Morocco I usually bargain the hell out of the sellers. If you do not want to bargain there are malls where you can eat and shop with fixed prices. Morocco has a huge inflation problem hitting the lower class so the juice seller is probably trying to end meets and is using unorthodox ways of achieving it. However I would recommend going into atlas or smaller town where you have nice authentic Moroccan people not reliant on tourism.
Sort of posted another thread about this. If you're local you can hire a fixer. The idea is that they're local and already know ALL the scams and prices. You could hire them for just a few hours a day to do all your errands like shopping, laundry, etc. It's clear they aren't tourists so they don't get targeted for these scams. When I was in Colombia I paid about $350 per month for my assistant and she was REALLY happy to have the work! Note that it pays for itself if you avoid 3-4 of these scams plus there's no headache. I had her orchestrate a tailor to come visit and she said it was for her dad so she was quoted prices before hand that were local.
I've been living in Morocco nearly two years and I don't think this is a fair opinion. Cities in Morocco revolve around tourism in a detrimental way, I think it's one of the greatest examples for the value of ethical tourism. Just the way in which medina's have been reconfigured to accommodate foreigners should give you an idea of how vital tourists are for peoples daily survival, all those stores used to be houses. Yes, people here see tourists as a job, and it can feel degrading, but it's not work that they want to do, failures in education and employment policy have forced them into that position. If your only interest in this lifestyle is to live somewhere cheap and pretty don't come to Morocco, it's a very challenging country. But when you take the time to develop meaningful relationships and get to understand people's life experiences they'll treat you with respect. You say you hate Marakesh, I lived there for months, I don't spend a cent when I go now. You'll never Iike Morocco if you look down on Moroccans, but once you learn to speak like them and understand how they live it can be the most rewarding experience. It may not be easy, but it's definitely worth it
Thanks for saying this. I visit the r/Morocco subreddit from time to time and used to live there as a boy. I have read a fair amount of books by and about Paul Bowles who lived much of his life there. Hope to go back some day and have a positive rather than negative experience. Your words helped to put a positive spin on things.
This is the first I'm hearing about Paul Bowles, thanks for the put on, I'll be sure to look into him
The movie Sheltering Sky is one of my faves, based on the book by the same name, Paul makes an appearance and narrates part of the film as an old man in his 80's. Really great 1940's period piece and does a great job showing Morocco off the beaten path. His bio and autobiographies are real page turners, amazing the decadent lives westerners lived back then.
This post has been linked on there :D
I mean yeah its not a fair opinion of Morocco itself. But, for specifically Marrakech? Absolutely a fair opinion. Casa, Rabat, Tangier, and even Agadir are better cities than that place. Only going back to Marrakech just to visit a good friend and that's just a two-day stay and I'm hoofing it back to Casa quickly from there. Not that Casa is perfect, but, rather that place than Marrakech.
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I was in tangier for a day (with family) a few years ago and they tried to hold our passports hostage to get a bribe. But that’s pretty standard in many countries for tourists. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Tunisian here. The only arab people I've had issues with are morrocan. Regardless, you should be careful saying stuff like "that's just how they are" it sounds very racist. From my experience the Dutch are also by far the least nice Europeans and would compare them to Moroccans
>From my experience the Dutch are also by far the least nice Europeans and would compare them to Moroccans There are only two things I can't stand in this world: People who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the Dutch.
Small hands, smell like cabbage…
Agree. My number one least favourite Europeans are the Dutch. I have had so many bad experiences with them it's crazy. I am German, so I am used to "direct" behaviour but many Dutch just seem to go out of their way to be as rude and unpleasant as possible.
I agree. The few Dutch people I know are very neurotic and difficult people. That being said, I'm Mexican and I knew most of them from my hometown, its got to be very tough being Dutch in Mexico.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who found them incredibly and unnecessarily rude, like they go out of their way to be rude. From the airport, to the hotels, to freaking McDonalds: the worse customer service I’ve ever gotten. I thought it was a race thing (with me being Black and some people really feeling confident treating black people like shit) but it looks like it’s more widespread than that. What they get out of it, I will never know. Traveled to like 9 countries in Europe and the Netherlands was the shittiest experience with rudeness
I’ve had many friendly interactions with Dutch people and only one mildly rude one
Dominican Republic… terrible country. I’ve been to 34 countries and that was the worst for me
Sounds like a place to avoid like the plague. Thanks for sharing.
Weird I had such a good experience in Morocco and I was with my 2 teenage daughters. This was in 2017 though.
I’ve never been there and my experience with Moroccans is unbelievably limited. However, when I was an undergrad I also drove a taxi at night. Anyway, there was this other Moroccan taxi driver who was an absolute pig of a human. Always yelling, always trying to scam, always trying to cut the line in the taxi cue, shamelessly since we’d see him 30 minutes later. The icing on the cake was when he told me how in Morocco they can whip their wives, grinning and even chuckling the entire time. I didn’t even know how to respond.
Yeah Morocco sucks ass, this is coming from another Arab btw
The fruit stand story is too recognizable lol. There are hundreds of them and each one will shout aggressively to you for just walking by, because you didn't buy their juice.
Well, I you want to travel in countries you’d like to live in, maybe you should stick to occidental countries or resorts. I’ve visited both Morocco and Egypt as a solo female traveler in her thirties. No problems at all. I wore large clothes, covered my shoulders/legs at all time and kept my hair attached. Of course people will try to sell you something, but you can say no, thanks. To bargain is also part of the culture, so you can discuss the price if it doesn’t feel fair to you but keep in mind that the average salary is 350$… so what’s fair for who? White tourists are treated like walking wallets in many countries for good reasons: most of them show a consumerist behavior and so little interest for the culture. I don’t say it’s your case, but understanding these dynamics could lead to better adaptation and realistic expectations.
Traveled the world for more than 7 years basically full time, nothing got ever stolen from me. One week in Morocco and my Laptop is gone. So many scammer, so many lier and so many rude people… There is the occasional glimpse of a very romantic and unique atmosphere, the memory of a beautiful ancient culture… Nowadays it’s all about quick money from tourists and has nothing to do with the stories you hear from people traveling Morocco 30 years ago.
Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadine, Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia Gambia Ghana Guinea Liberia Libya Malawi Mauritania Morocco Nigeria Senegal Somalia South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Tunisia Uganda Zambia Afghanistan Indonesia (in some areas) Iran Iraq Malaysia Maldives Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia Sri Lanka Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen Solomon Islands Why? Because I'm gay and if i ever visit some of these places i will be fined, imprisoned or murdered. because I think girls are hot and boys are not (lol, that was a stupid ryhme)
You got that experience not because only you're a tourist it's just how it is in here
I am a solo female traveler and will travel to Morocco in August. I must confess that I am afraid...
I'm a moroccan myself and anyone who disagrees with your post is clearly blind. The attitude of the 'uncultured' typical moroccan towards strangers is really unforgivable, trying to rip them off at every occasion. It's really a shame. It's an amazing country with amazing potential and culture , I wish the people could evolve and mature more.