We’ve now arrived back in the UK after spending a month in Morocco. Before turning our minds to the planning of our ‘proper’ sub-Saharan Africa trip, I thought I’d take a moment to sum-up my views on Morocco, as we experienced it. Note these are my views only and–crucially–not those of Squiffy!

I’ll come right out with it: Morocco is weird.

In parts, it’s simply stunning. The High Atlas mountains, the desert at Merzouga, the walled medinas of Marrakesh and Fez, the kasbah at Ait Benhaddou. We’ve haggled with shopkeepers for lanterns, scaled mountain passes with Berbers and a mule, ridden a camel into the wilderness with nomads, surfed the coast with a crazy adrenaline junkie and yet a week or so after arriving back in Blighty, my overwhelming memory of the country is this:

Hassle.

Almost without exception, everywhere we went we got hassled. Sometimes it was light and friendly (Marrakesh). A lot of the time it was aggressive and unwanted. Sometimes it was scary and downright threatening. My advice to those wishing to journey through Morocco wanting to see the highlights but avoid the hassle? Book a tour with a specialist tour operator in the UK or hire your own car in places to avoid unfriendly towns that offer little more than hassle and touts as in Er Rachidia and Rissani.

So would I go back?

Yes and no. We spent a month in the country and feel that we really got to grips with it–certainly towards the end of our stay–and although there were a number of notable locations that we didn’t get to (coastal Essaouira and white-blue Chefchaouen, especially), it’s a big world with a lot to do and see and so I’d likely choose a new destination over returning to Morocco.

Claire wrote up a nice Morocco trip report, sharing here tips and opinion, on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree.