Laayoune Travel Guide

 maykal Says:  If you're feeling energetic, head past the makeshift football ground and climb the dunes. It is hard work in the heat (I was there in January, and it was still hot enough to make me sweat), and don't forget to buy some water before you set off. The dunes immediately behind... 

 maykal Says:  Most afternoons, a local football team uses a patch of flat hard sand in the Seguia as a training ground, and this is the most obvious place to head for, as there is a path across to the dunes. The football teams use the dunes in their training...running on sand is one of... 

 maykal Says:  It's easy to forget that Laayoune is in the desert. All the best viewpoints are hidden away in locked parks, and the few visitors who find their way to Souk ez Zaj are put off admiring the views by the piles of rubbish. A shame, as this is the city's backyard, an area well... 

 maykal Says:  Place Dchira is a lively square of cafes and restaurants. At night, the place is heaving with people, and is the start of the nightly parade up and down the main street. the centre of the square has been taken over by a cafe complex called Las Dunas, quite an upmarket place,... 

 maykal Says:  Another huge Moroccan square, this one during the week can seem a bit pointless. The size of several football fields, Place Oum Saad has a semi-covered walkway all the way round, something that actually looks quite striking from a distance. Apart from a small funfair in one... 

 maykal Says:  Laayoune is a city for walking, and it is quite a relaxed place just to wander off on your own and explore. certain areas are potentially off limits, such as the slums on the very edge and some military areas, but you're pretty much free to go wherever you want, despite the... 

 maykal Says:  I'm told this is supposed to be the liveliest part of town, but I think the area south of Place Dchira is probably livelier after dark. Anyway, this part of town is almost like an extension of Souk ez Zaj, a few old spanish relics dotted around but mainly new apartment... 

 maykal Says:  wander around Souk ez-zaj, and it won't take you long to find the old Spanish cathedral. It's on a little square opposite the old town hall, which is now something to do with the police, explaining the many policemen who hang around the park on the square looking at everyone... 

 maykal Says:  The oldest part of town (don't expect anything medieval, as Laayoune was only founded in the 1930s), Souk ez Zaj is an interesting place to wander round. It is quite a poor district, and a lot of the houses are crumbling away from neglect, although the city planners have got... 

 maykal Says:  All Saharan towns have an Ensemble Artisanal, which basically means a collection of workshops where jewellery and artwork is made by local artists. In Smara, I enjoyed my trip to the ensemble artisanal, as it was with a local friend who knew a lot of people working there, so... 

 maykal Says:  In 1975, as the Spanish pulled out of the Sahara, the Moroccan government organized a march of civilians from just over the border in the tiny village of Tah. 300,000 civilians poured into Laayoune and the surrounding area to settle and claim it for Morocco. If you take the... 

 maykal Says:  These two water towers just off Place Mechouar aren't exactly monuments, but they're strangely picturesque with green designs on a pink background. I'm not entirely sure if I was meant to photograph these or not, as there were a few soldiers standing guard around the bottom,... 

 maykal Says:  The tallest building in Laayoune is the minaret of the new Great Mosque, just off Place Mechouar. Not much to say about it really, as it looks just like all the other huge mosques the Moroccan government is buidling at the moment (Smara has one, as does Dakhla). In keeping... 

 maykal Says:  One of the strangest public spaces I've seen in the Arab world, Place Mechouar is the showpiece of Moroccan Laayoune. Four salmon pink towers with tiles stand in the corners, connected by what are supposed to be tented walkways (a nod to Sahraoui culture?) but look more like... 

 maykal Says:  You can reach Laayoune by bus from Agadir (11 hours) and Marrakesh (15 hours), with buses stopping in Inezgane, Tiznit, Goulimime and Tan Tan. Coming from the south, buses from Dakhla take just over 9 hours, passing through Boujdour. Getting on a bus in Laayoune is a bit...