Archive for February, 2010

• Telephones in Morocco

  Telephones The easiest way to call within Morocco or abroad is to use a public phone booth (cabine), which takes a phonecard (télécarte) issued by Maroc Télécom. The cards are available from some news agents and tabacs, and from post offices, and come in denomi­nations of 18dh, 30dh, 60dh and ...

• Mail In Morocco

  Morocco's post and phone systems are generally pretty efficient, especially to Europe, and Internet access is cheap if a little slow, with offices in most Moroccan towns. Mail To mail letters between Morocco and Western Europe generally takes around a week to ten days, around two weeks for North A...

• Moroccan Tea

  The national drink is mint tea (atay deeyal naanaa in Arabic, thé a la menthe in French, "Whisky Marocain" as locals boast), Chinese gunpowder green tea flavored with sprigs of mint (naanaa in Arabic: the gift of Allah) and sweetened with a minimum of four cubes of sugar per cup, or four lumps knoc...

• Moroccan Style Eating

  Eating in local cafés, or if invited to a home, you may find yourself using your hands rather than a knife and fork when Moroccan style eating. Muslims eat only with the right hand (the left is used for the toilet), and you should do likewise. Hold the bread between the fingers and use your thumb a...

• Restaurants in Morocco

  Eating in Morocco More expensive dishes, available in some of the Medina cafés as well as in the restaurants in Morocco, include fish, particularly on the coast, and chicken (poulet), either spit-roasted (rotl) or in a tajine with lemon and olives (poulet aux olives et citran). You will sometim...

• Hammam in Morocco

  The absence of hot showers in some of the cheaper Medina hotels is not such a disaster. Throughout all the Medina quarters, you'll find a local hammam in Morocco. A hammam is a Turkish-style steam bath, with a succession of rooms from cool to hot, and endless supplies of hot and cold water, which yo...

• Cafes in Morocco

  Eating and Drinking in Morocco Like accommodations, food in Morocco falls into two basic categories: ordinary Moroccan meals served in the Medina cafés (or bought from stalls), and French­ influenced tourist menus in most of the hotel s and Ville Nouvelle restaurants. There are exceptions - cheap...

• Camping in Morocco

  Campsites are to be found at intervals along most of the developed Moroccan coast and in most towns or cities of any size. They are inexpensive and often quite informal and makeshift, advertised from season to season on roadside signs. Most sites are very cheap, at around 10dh (65p/$1.10) per per­s...

• Hostels in Morocco

  Morocco has expanded its youth hostel organization in recent years, and now boasts twelve Auberges de Jeunesse nationwide. Most are clean and reasonably well run, and charges vary from 20dh (f1.25/$2.25) to 50dh (f3/$5.50) per person per night in a dorm. Hostelling International (HI) membership c...

• Riads in Morocco

  The big new trend in Moroccan holiday accommodations are riads. Strictly speaking, a riad is a house built around a patio garden - in fact, the word riad correctly refers to the garden rather than the house - while maison d'hóte is French for "guest house". In the tourist industry, however, both te...