Come to The Kasbah
Maroc/Morocco is not a destination for Bier, not that the Hector ever gives up hope. There is Bier to be had, but generally not at the quality or price that would be acceptable on a typical Hector vacation.
It was in the mid 1990s, a previous life, when Hector first visited this north-west African nation. Two weeks in a Tangier. The Kasbah & Souk were visited late afternoon on arrival, within an hour they were done, now what?
An Elderly Chap came to our hotel every year and sat in the foyer to greet new arrivals, we all heard his stories, once. There was a pool a beach, not how Hector chooses to spend his days. Being in the company of a Lady from Nigeria there was little cooperation in the procurement of a suntan.
Two long, almost dry weeks in Tangier, I wondered why the Rep kept suggesting a trip to Spanish Morocco. Bier was the equivalent of £7.00 a pint, in 1995! Two small bottles was the daily indulgence. In the subsequent years Morocco has grown, the tourist industry has evolved. In 2023 domestic Bier – Casablanca/Special – was typically £5.00 a pint
For non-smokers, Maroc remains a problem. The majority of bars are indoors where smoking almost appears to be mandatory. Europeans who know how to behave at home revert to type, because they can. Restaurants tend to be smoke-free indoors, but this is not guaranteed. Bar-Restaurants have smoking throughout. The result, there are few places to sit outside and have a Bier and none where clean air can be guaranteed. Hookah, Shisha Pipes, are part of the local culture, so one cannot see Maroc ever following the lead of the countries across the Mediterranean.
In terms of sightseeing, Maroc has lots to offer. The Atlas Mountains mean there is snow in Africa at xmas. Oases such as Tiout where goats do climb trees, walled Medina such as Marrkech and Toraundot, film locations (Gladiator) at Aït Benhaddou, and there really is a Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca. For a beach resort, Agadir is modern, clean and inviting.
I read somewhere that Maroc is the sixth safest nation in the World.
