Morocco and Youth Hostels

[Amma]

Has anyone been to Morocco travelling independently? How much hassle did you get, ie from men in the street? Did you have to cover your hair? Considering organized tour of Morocco, and whether or not to add on a few days of independent travel, staying in hostels. Do you think it would actually be cheaper than small hotels? Also, have any of you travelled around Europe using hostels?

Hi Amma. You're asking a very big question!

Hassle in Morocco varies from city to city. The worst places for it are Tangiers and Marrakesh. However places like Essouira (sp?), Assilah and Chechuan are really quite laid back. In general though women don't get as much hassle as men, especially if covered up (you don't have to cover your hair, but it may help; you should cover legs and shoulders at least). Learning the Arabic for "no" ("la" as I recall; you could also add "chokran", thankyou) also helps. Finally, don't even think about going into a Morroccan bar (they're not for women), though bars in Western style hotels are fine.

On the hostels thing I wouldn't bother. Small hotels are very cheap anyway, much cheaper than hostels in Europe (£3 a night ish when we went 2 years ago). We also stayed in a 4* hotel for £15 a night!

have fun and don't go to too much effort to see Cassablanca - it's a horrible big dirty city.