Fes Warnings Or Dangers

Wandering through the Medina you may find yourself distracted, taking photos, looking at ceramics or simply just trying to avoid the latest tout or faux guide.

While you're at it, try and avoid the donkey that's quite possibly careening towards you. Donkeys are a beast of burden that you'll see all over Morocco, and I have to admit that in Fes they don't look too happy. Up in the mountains, they seemed to carry the same things, everything from shoes to gas canisters, but the ones in Fes always looked that little bit more emaciated.

Don't expect lots of noise, very often they seem to glide up behind you silently and suddenly it's all commotion as 'driver' and donkey attempt to get through a packed alleyway that you couldn't even get an Austen Mini through.

I had a lot of problems trying to cash travellers cheques in Fes. The first bank I went to, Banque de Maroc, said they didn't have the facilities, so they sent me around the corner to another bank. After waiting 15 minutes in a queue at the second bank, they too, couldn't help me, saying that only Banque du Maroc will cash your cheques. And on and on it went like that...I left Fes without finding anywhere to help us. No such problems at Rabat, our next overnight stop.

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One moment we're being guided along through the medina by our tour guide. Then he takes us down a quiet street to see a really great sight and he takes us to the roof of his friends house for a fantastic view over the medina. His friend seems like a great guy and we chat about Fes and Morocco and so on.

Our tour guide excuses himself for a moment, then we are brought downstairs by his friend, into a room full of carpets. This all happens so quickly that you've little time to react. At first I thought his friend was genuinely interested in speaking to us and showing us around his house, but then the penny drops and we realise he wants to sell us a carpet. So before we knew what was happening his assistant was rolling out carpets in front of us and offering us mint tea. Ruth was even dressed in a carpet for a picture!

I'd heard tales of travellers being coaxed into spending a small fortune on carpets they did not want, as they were pressured (or charmed) by the sellers and did not want to appear rude. It wasn't going to happen with us. I explained we were students (a lie) and needed to keep what money we had for the rest of our trip and insisted that we were not interested in buying anything.

In fairness, the seller was not at all threatening and in fact didn't seem too put out at our refusal. My advice to anyone in a similar situation is to politely but firmly say no. These situations can be a little tricky socially but it's a lot better than handing over hundreds of pounds for something you don't want. It's sad to conclude that whenever someone seems overly friendly or nice to you in Morocco, they usually only want to sell you something.

In the cafe at Fes station we were overcharged, paying 47 Dh for food that should have cost 20Dh. We were in such a hurry to catch our train to Meknes that it wasn't until later that I worked out they had charged us more than double the price. Luckily the amount wasn't too much but it was very annoying being caught out like this. I later read in Lonely Planet that this cafe is well known for doing this, and many other travellers have also been caught out, so avoid it if at all possible.

There are lots of beggars in all of Morocco, but especially tourist cities. Fes is no exception. You'll especially see them in the old medina, and around the mosque in ville nouvelle. If you see one, you can use this phrase (written phonetically for english speakers):

Lie sa hell.

It means, "may God grant you mercy," or something of the sort.

Tap water in Moroccan cities can generally be drunk. I never did but many of my friends did.
You can, occasionally, though, get sick from it, especially in the hotter months (risk od stomach bugs just increases so much when it's hot). I would say, why risk it if you can avoid it? Just get some bottled water and stay safe.
They also say the water in Marrakech is quite safe, but it also is high in something that is not good at all for your kidneys. That probably only matter, though, when you you drink it a lot over a longer period of time. apparently many people in Marrakech suffer from kidney illnesses.

There is a lot of pick-pocketing going on in town buses (those between cities I don't think since there everyone has their seat etc.). In the town buses, people always stand crowded and I think it is some people's only occupation to hop on buses and pick other people's pockets.
Buses are THE number one place for getting pick-pocketed. Unless you hold your bag to yourself covering it with your arms you are almost certain to become the victim. Don't think that hiding your money deep in your bags, with many buttons and zippers, is going to help. They can open even these without you noticing. Do not keep your rucksacks on your bag on the bus!

There are a few things that you can do that can help you make it more bearable:
1. Dress modestly. No short sleeves or miniskirts. On the other hand, you don't have to wear a headscarf,
2. You can wear sunglasses. That way you catch peoples' eyes much less easily and they won't say anything as often.
3. Wear a walkman. Whether you listen to music or not, this will either blot out the comments or preempt them in the first place.
4. Always have a self-confident walk, always appear like you know exactly where you're going and what you're doing. This way fewer people will feel like they can do with you what they want.
5. Walking with a guy helps. As soon as I was walking together with one of the guys from the institute, all the hassling miraculously stopped. This way, western men rarely ever know just how much single girls get hassled.
You'll have fun in Morocco!