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My First impression of Morocco, on the First Day of a Major Islamic Holiday

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A day of many firsts- my first day and first impression of Morocco, on the first day of Eid al-Adha.  Lesson learned- do not arrive in a conservative Islamic country on the first day of a major Islamic holiday.

 

MY FIRST IMPRESSION OF MOROCCO

 

I traveled to Morocco after traveling around Turkey for 3 weeks.  I was very sad to leave Turkey because Turkey is amazing and it easily became one of my favorite countries.  And I had become a little hesitant about Morocco because I met quite a few travelers in Turkey who told me that they didn’t love Morocco and that it was dangerous, which is never a good thing to hear, especially as a solo female traveler.

I was also dreading the travel day to Morocco.  I had picked the worst flight from Istanbul to Casablanca- the 6 hour flight left at 1:15am and arrived at 4:30am, with the 2 hour time difference.  There was nothing ideal about any of this, other than saving $300 (hence the masochism).  Every time I book one of these god awful flights/trains/buses to save money, I ask myself how much I hate myself 🙂

But my travel day wouldn’t stop there.  My goal was to make it to Chefchaouen in the north of Morocco, but the likelihood of that happening was uncertain because I would be traveling on the first and most important day of one of the biggest Islamic holidays, Eid al-Adha.  A fail of epic proportions, but I like a challenge, apparently.  I was hoping to make it as far as Fes, at the very least.

I was legitimately the only non-Moroccan person on the full flight to Morocco.  On the plane, there was a Moroccan woman sitting in my seat, who refused to move.  I tried to explain and gesture to her that she was in my seat, but she ignored me and had zero interest in moving.  Awkward.  Finally she moved, but wasn’t happy about it.  I, however, received unfriendly and formidable looks from the Moroccans around me.  Turkish hospitality was going to be a tough act to follow.

Upon my arrival in Casablanca, I wished I had brushed up on my French beforehand (everyone from Canada learns a decent amount of French) because most Moroccans speak Arabic and French, so everything is written in Arabic and French.  There was no English written or spoken anywhere.  Luckily, I can read French well, but my speaking was very rusty.

It was still dark when I landed in Casablanca at 5am.  I took the train from the airport into the city and then another 4 hour train to Fes, Morocco’s second largest city.  The train ticket guy seemed to hate me, and his life.  On the train, it was completely unclear as to where and when to get off, but somehow I managed, despite sleeping nearly the whole way.

After 14 hours of travel, I arrived in Fes, with which I would have to be satisfied because getting to Chefchaouen would be extremely difficult and expensive (I’d have to take a private 4 hour taxi which is $$$), due to the holiday.  I wanted to get a bus to Chefchaouen, but a very helpful, lovely Moroccan man who worked at the station told me the buses weren’t running on the holiday.  There wasn’t any wi-fi, so he let me use his phone to book a hostel in Fes.  He also told me I absolutely needed to go to Akchour waterfall once I was in Chefchaouen (which is still my favorite waterfall I have ever seen).  I will never forget this man’s kindness and helpfulness.

I left the train station for the deserted streets in Fes to face the 8 Moroccan hustlers who surrounded me and harassed me to take their taxi and stay at their hotel of choice.  It was a little intimidating considering Moroccan men are tall (as opposed to Turks) and the place was completely deserted except for all of them and me.

I took a taxi to the medina and the driver called my hostel so they could retrieve me because cars can’t go inside the medina and there was no way I’d be able to find the hostel on my own.  A medina is a giant walled maze of narrow alleyways, which can be really sketchy because if you encounter any danger, there are dead ends everywhere.  And the medina in Fes is the biggest in the world.

I dropped off my bag at my hostel and ventured out into the maze of a medina to try find something to eat, which was very difficult because everything was closed for the holiday.

So, on this holiday of Eid al-Adha, which means Sacrifice of the Feast, every family gets a sheep to sacrifice.  As a result, there were fresh sheep skins piled everywhere, with their juices running all over the narrow streets.  And in early October, it was still quite hot, so the heat was cooking the juices.  The smell was horrific.  Nearly everything was closed, so it was very quiet and there were only men in the street.  And me.  Therefore, I was a great candidate for harassment.  And harass they did.  In some parts of the medina, the men were burning the skulls of the sheep and hacking them with axes.  It smelled dreadful and I had no choice but to walk through the raging, suffocating black skull smoke because the streets were so narrow.

I had seen too much 😐

Moral of the story – if possible, avoid traveling to an Islamic country on the first day of a major Islamic holiday.  I know that certain things I saw in Morocco would be similar to what you’d see in many other Islamic countries because it was the first and most important day of Eid al-Adha, so I was trying my best to withhold judgement.  However, despite all of this, Fes still seemed to be a very dirty and potentially unsafe place (but to be fair, the rotting sheep skins everywhere made it feel particularly dirty and unsanitary).

But first impressions are often accurate, as I would soon be reminded.

Read what happened when I returned to Fes here.

Lesson learned – After this experience, I learned that it’s a good idea to actually research major holidays in a country I’m traveling to before I leave.  An idea that I have yet to implement…  Sometimes it’s a nice surprise to be in an Islamic country on Eid al-adha or Ramadan (I experienced both in Albania), or Spain’s biggest festival of the year (Sant Joan), or Thailand’s Loi Krathong (lantern festival), Tet in Vietnam, Holi in India, or in Israel for Yom Kippur (all of which I have experienced since).

 

MORE INFORMATION ON TRAVELING MOROCCO

 

What to Know Before You Go to Morocco

What To Know Before You Go to North Africa And The Middle East

16 Fun Things To Do in Tangier

Chefchaouen – Morocco’s Blue Pearl

20 Things to Do and See in Marrakesh

Akchour Waterfall – Morocco’s Lost Paradise

16 Things to See and Do in Fes – Morocco’s Ancient City

Essaouira – Morocco’s Surf and Art Town

A Trip to the Sahara Desert

Volublis – Morocco’s Ancient Roman City

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0 thoughts on “My First impression of Morocco, on the First Day of a Major Islamic Holiday”

  • Sabrina November 14, 2014 at 12:49 PM Reply

    Gosh I feel with you! I assume it was even dark when you arrived? I guess I would have been totally paranoid about this whole situation, like they would sacrifice me instead of the sheep or something like that.. Do you have a post how the story goes on? I’d love to read about that!
    Stay safe 🙂

  • atravelinggypsy November 14, 2014 at 3:04 PM Reply

    Yes it was dark for hours after I arrived! Hahaha sacrificial blonde girl! Oh man, I didn’t even think about that. I left for Chefchaouen the next morning, but I returned to Fez a few days later, where more chaos ensued… stay tuned! 🙂

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