Ask any vagabond who’s been traveling the world travel for several years, and more often than not they’ll have their bogey country. For myself that country is the North African state of Morocco. As the title to this post implies, I will never say never, but I do dread the day I venture back to the souks and sands of Morocco.
There’s no doubting that Morocco is a beautiful destination, with many great experiences to be had. It’s a country rich in history, and the food was sensational, but the constant badgering everywhere I went was a nightmare, and nearly drove me over the edge.
On top of the badgering by the ever persistent street touts, another downside was the outlandish and ridiculous prices quoted for goods and services.
In a nutshell it was hard work for someone who was determined not to be taken advantage of.
I’m normally quite a calm person, but during my time in Morocco many years ago, I was ready to rip every ones head off. I’ve got to make myself completely understood here, so I will say it again, ‘They drove me fucking bananas !’. I should have realized I was going to be in for a tough time the day I first set foot in the country, and went to board a train in Tangier’s.
The Moroccan Touts Were At Me From Day One!
I refused a mans help in directing me to my seat, because it was not needed. I had an allocated seat number, and knew exactly where I was going. He then proceeded to call me a Zionist when I didn’t give him any money, and you can throw in a couple of other expletives as well.
Over the years I’ve had my fair share of run ins with the worlds touts, hawkers and scammers. In my opinion, the best I’ve seen are all on the continent of Africa. Getting of the ferry at Zanzibar is one classic place, and on a smaller scale there not bad on the island of Lamu either. Then there’s the blokes that hire out the camels and horses at the Pyramids in Giza.
These guys will push your patience, but they all pale into insignificance compared to the hawkers and touts of Morocco.
They simply demanded money for everything, and if I looked around and if the locals weren’t paying, then there was no way I was going to pay. On some bus trips there was an official baggage charge that was quoted with the ticket, which and happily paid. On arrival at your destination there were times where we’d pull into the local bus station and some fella on top of the bus would not throw our packs down until I paid him 4-5 times the quoted price.
There Was No Way The Touts Would Get There Own Way.
After four or five days of putting up with this exuberant extortion, I and my fellow travelers (Tone and Dave, a couple of good mates from London) had just about had enough. From this time on we would do a paper rocks and scissors, as the bus entered the bus station. The loser would have to climb onto the roof of the bus as soon as the bus stopped and throw down our packs.
The three unwise and tormented monkeys. Tony and Dave and myself (on left). It seemed the more remote we got, the less hassle we had.
One particular time where I drew the short straw, I and actually climbed out of the window and onto the roof, while the bus was still driving down the main street, so I could untie the packs and throw them down to Tone and Dave below, and make a hasty getaway.
After three and a half weeks of absolute torment from the hawkers and touts, we’d had enough. We boarded an overnight train and began our long journey back to Gibraltar. The last straw was when one fella tried to sell me a fist sized piece of hash whilst I was about 200m from the customs gate, where you board the ferry.
I couldn’t believe it, and didn’t. That was until he asked again and the proceeded to show it to me. There I was only a minutes walk away from the customs booth, and this fella trying to sell me hash. ‘Get me out of here!’
Harassment of Travelers Is An Ongoing Problem For Many Countries
Some people would visit Morocco (or other countries with similar issues) may not encounter such an experience, and this I believe is half the problem. The people who just pay any price that is asked of them, just feed this type of behavior. Sooner or later it just gets out of control as every tourist or traveler is perceived as a walking ATM.
One of the main reasons I believe Morocco is a country with such a problem, is it’s close proximity to Europe. Although quite an exotic destination, It’s just a short ferry ride from Continental Europe, and quite easy for a person traveling through Europe to visit. On arrival they throw their money around without a thought in the world, as everything seems dirt cheap compared to Europe.
I’ve mellowed a bit over the years when it comes to crunching the locals on price, and at times have been guilt of paying well over the odds for something. Generally if I’m tired or in a hurry and can’t be bothered haggling, but I still refuse to pay for anything that the locals are not paying for, and do my best to get the quoted price down.
I completely understand that it’s quite difficult or near on damned near impossible to pay the correct price for goods and services (the longer you spend in any destination, the better chance you have of paying the correct price), but paying for something that should not be paid for is just not on in my book, and the touts will just pray on your good nature.
There will come a day, I do return to Morocco, as Africa is a favorite destination of mine, and I really do wonder what it will be like?
Your Thoughts and Comments?
Have you been to Morocco and had experience’s such as mine, or did you visit and not run into such outlandish extortion? Maybe the Moroccan touts and hawkers have calmed over the years (I doubt it though) .
What about other places in the world where this sort of experience is common. I’ve named a few other places in this post, but where was your worst experience?
