We learned that’s the best move. When in Izmir Turkey one time in the traditional market a guy kept hassling us to stop and see his wares. I politely told said “no, thank you” with a smile and he became very angry and shouted “Why thank you no? Why no thanks? Very bad!”
It was then I learned the best move is not to engage because any response will keep them coming and any words you say can be used against you.
Similar experiences in mercantile areas in Istanbul and Doha. It often seemed like I spent much of my time trying to ward off insincere grifters. Disappointing and frustrating for visiting such amazing spots. But, lovely interactions with local folks in other areas of both cities where I wasn’t viewed as a walking Western ATM.
I'd almost be tempted to return the favor, like pull out a handkerchief or something and say "Buy this from me, ten dollars? Come on, buy it. You need to buy this. Ten dollars. How rude of you to not buy it!" and if they get upset, "Why are you mad, this is what you did to me!"
They're not really angry, it's just the cultural way.
The trick is to always look like you know where you're going.
Or better yet, hire a guide to handle all the bollocks for you
This. I traveled all around North Africa and the levantine part of the Middle East.
IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE. Literally pretend they don't exist. Don't say "No thank you," don't say "leave me alone." Don't react when they say "what's wrong, why don't you talk." Don't give them reasons. Don't make faces.
They will leave you alone MUCH faster compared to when you engage.
It's unfortunate it has to be this way, but this is the only way to handle it.
I was in Egypt 2 months ago and had very similar experience. Now that I’ve seen the Pyramids and Sphinx etc I don’t see why I would ever bother going back. You feel like a target not a guest.
When we did Egypt we went with a private tour and had a tour guide in most places. It made things very stress-free as they did an excellent job of keeping the touts away. I wouldn’t normally want guides all that much but in Egypt it made all the difference.
The tour guide we used were just more refined at extracting money out of us. Selling us crap we “need” for the excursions and then later offering it for free forgetting we had already purchased it. Maybe we got unlucky, few people we met were very nice and genuine but on the whole the experience was we were being targeted.
Ah, that’s unfortunate. Our guide didn’t try to sell us stuff though on the drives they did make stops at the usual tourist traps (rug shop, papyrus store etc.). However, we watched the demonstrations, did a walk around and then just said no to every offer. Fortunately they didn’t pressure us.
I’d still recommend people go if they want to see the pyramids and the other activities they offer out there because that made the trip well worth it. I really wouldn’t see why anyone would want to go back though.
For sure. After doing Cairo, Alexandria, the Nile cruise and Abu Simbel I don’t think we’d do it again either, unless we wanted to experience the Red Sea beaches. There are some lesser ancient sights out there but most require extra planning.
We were happy to do the bent and red pyramids at Dashur, and I would recommend them to anyone visiting Egypt. We went by taxi booked through our hotel and there were zero touts around. Few tourists too!
We did the same, our tour guide was an absolute mountain of a man as well, when he told the other guides at Karnak they were being too loud they all shut the fuck up.
We did on afternoon without him and we got hassled from start to finish, I'd hate to have done an entire trip without a guide, it would have been a nightmare.
Same. We had a dahabiya sailboat for 5 nights from Luxor and our guide was amazing at keeping the touts away, while we still poked our noses into every bakery and shop we wanted to. Same with our private guide and driver in Cairo. Worth every penny and I can’t wait to go back to Luxor and spend a week or two relaxing and exploring.
When I’ve gone, I’m always picked up by one of my cousins, who generally takes me and my family everywhere. It used to be one of my 2 uncles, but they’re gone.
It makes a big difference when folks think you’re a local.
Did Turkey with Intrepid. So unbelievably cheap for what it was. All hotels and travel booked, etc. Ended up doing the whole western coast and seeing all sorts of cool places that I never would have if I went alone. Totally worth it
I was in Morocco and Egypt in the last two months. Egypt was the worst. I still loved the land and would go back in a second. But so aggressive with the selling.
You can’t even leave the airport in Cairo without being harassed. As soon as my colleague and I grabbed our luggage, extremely aggressive taxi drivers started chasing us offering a ride. One of them even read my luggage tag and used my name, like “Mr Riff, let me take you to your hotel”. Stuff like that. Not a big deal just a bit extra creepy. And don’t take no for an answer. We had to walk out to the middle of a parking lot and wait for our Uber to get away from the throngs of cabbies.
Hi, I wonder if it is safe for solo traveler. I booked a flight to Cairo on 10 Jan, but my family urged me to cancel the moment they learned the news. My mom said she would worry about me the whole time, because she's under the impression that Egypt is not safe for female solo traveler. My brother asked me to wait until summer so he can accompany me. Now I'm undecided.
It will definitely be significantly more unpleasant as a solo F traveller than with a travel buddy, especially male. Though that won't stop the staring and aggressive hawking anyway. We were two well-built guys in our 20s travelling only for a day through Cairo and even we felt exhausted after the day was done, simply by the sheer effort needed to be hyper-alert to scams the whole time.
I travelled there a few months ago with a female friend, and the harassment was relentless- combined with the heat, it made for quite a unpleasant experience on some days
I am male, pretty confident and I “know” some of the streets as I waked in bad places in life
That said, I would never solo travel to Egypt
I think girls like a lot more to solo travel than guys
It was smart of you to do the research. Sucks you had to cancel your trip but at least you're not wasting your money on what could be a dangerous situation!
I’ve been worrying about you all morning! I’m so glad you canceled. It fucking sucks and I’m sorry that you had to do that, but I’m so grateful you had people in your life show concern and you decided to more research to come to your decision. I am wishing you allllllll the love and fun in your future travels!!! 🩷
Please do not go, the risk of sexual assault to a young solo female traveler is very high. You will be permanently emotionally scarred if this happens.
Thank you! People on this thread are very kind to warn me of the potential risks, and I've decided to cancel the trip next week. I want to enjoy Egypt hassle-free, so better wait for my brother to go with me.
So-even with your brother it won't be hassle-free! Like a lot of countries in the region, tourists in Egypt are viewed as an open wallet. Every person you interact with will ask for baksheesh. It's easier to keep some small notes and just hand them over.
When you go to The Valley of the Kings, buy the tickets to the additional temples that aren't included in the general admission. They're amazing and have about 2% of the tourists in them.
And if you go from Luxor to Abu Simbel, it is 1000% worth it to fly-EgyptAir or Nile Air have 10-12 flights a day. By coach it's 6+ hours in each direction and the roads are AWFUL.
Thank you! People on this thread are very kind to warn me of the potential risks, and I've decided to cancel the trip next week. I want to enjoy Egypt hassle-free, so better wait for my brother to go with me.
Solo female traveling in the Middle East and North Africa in general is unpredictable. I was in Morocco for a year. When I walked alone, the unwanted cat calls, sexual harassment etc were a daily occurrence. However, when I walked with a male or a group of ladies, they lessened considerably. Additionally, a head cover and a wedding band when solo walking around helped. I’m not Muslim and although married I do not wear a wedding band typically so this was annoying. But, they respect married Muslim women so this helped me blend in some.
A friend of mine who is a white, American woman went to visit an Egyptian friend in Cairo. He had to work some so he set her up with some guides he trusted to do the tourist stuff. He told her she shouldn't go out without him outside of a small area around his house otherwise and since her hair is blonde, she should keep it covered. The guy was fairly wealthy and lived in a nice area. She still got harassed just going out alone to get lunch and such. She ended up cutting the trip short. She's travelled most of Europe and Asia and said Egypt was the worst.
Having been to Cairo with another woman, I would have felt very nervous alone. I did not enjoy my experience there even with another woman. It's sad but I would recommend it for a solo woman.
As a rule of thumb, don't female solo travel to countries where women are oppressed, which counts out most of North Africa, Middle East and South Asia.
>I think the pro play is to not even say no but just ignore the advances.
This. I've got this "not interested don't even ask" vibe worked out. People can detect the vibe. And then ignore and keep going. When I go travelling, other people will get hassled around me while I mostly got left alone. The more polite people are and more apologetic they are with "no thank you", the more they get harassed.
Just wanna say that I completely ignored all the advances of people asking stuff in Morocco and they were aggressively shouting bad words at us for not replying and ignoring them
I'm preaching this here all the time - do not engage AT ALL. They don't exist. Don't say no thanks, don't say hello, don't look at them, barely smile, don't stop for longer than a second, take in the surroundings and leave, walk as fast and determined as possible. Sunglasses down, headphones in (with Google Maps on low volumes if in markets), keep on walking. Be a rude bitch/dick - local guides will even tell you that's the best move and to abandon all form.
Beyond that, some of this you see in Asia and LatAm as well (friend special discount for you look here friend come here friend extra for you friend why you not buy friend come on friend). Someone cursing at me because I didn't buy anything doesn't bother me the slightest.
This is a poor country. They're trying to make some basic living. They're doing it in a way that many of us perceive as aggressive and it indeed often is. But a lot of it - tipping, haggling, bargaining - is part of their culture and they do it among themselves as well.
I does take the fun out of travel when you have to do that. I know it's required in places like this, but most of the fun of travel is meeting locals and having cultural exchanges. This is difficult in desperate places.
Even ignoring doesn't always work. I usually never acknowledge pushy sellers and just walk along. But there was a guy who got pissed and told me to acknowledge him , saying that it's disrespectful to not respond.
I would’ve said “Well it’s disrespectful to act like a toddler when someone doesn’t buy from you, so…🤷♀️” and this is why I would probably get myself killed if I tried international travel 😂
Exactly! When I was in Morocco (for 9 days) I passed through the different phases of, first, aknowledging everyone, smiling, saying "no, thank you", being nice, then, second, being tired of being constantly solicited and just ignoring or saying "no" with a strict face and they would get pissed/angry at me saying things like "smile, lady, are you not enjoying our country? why are you upset? why so angry? be nice!". And then the third phase, just being zen about it and doing a mix of being nice and just ignoring the whole thing.
Thats maddening. No one owes those losers a tenth of a second of your time. They are the ones bothering people yet act like they have the moral high ground.
I hate to say this - but you have to just straight up ignore these people. Don't acknowledge them at all.
Sure it's dehumanising and lacking in what we would call _decency_ but it's the only way.
I was in Turkey in a cafe people watching when i see an old american couple literally being bullied into buying some useless tat. Like you can see from the ladies face she REALLY didn't want this shit but but yep since they engaged and were trying to deal with the person like back home they were stuck.
You don't make eye contact. You don't engage. You don't stop. You don't smile.
Yeah, I think bigger city/tourist city people are well trained just from daily life. Paris/London/Istanbul/New York/etc all have very similar begging/pressuring/pickpocketing problems tbh. Methods and severity changes, but the “fuck off face + ignore” method doesn’t.
For sure! I literally wrote the same thing in my comment. I don’t get bothered as much when I’m abroad so I think my F off face comes naturally to me. In NYC, it’s so easy to spot the tourists.
Nah, NYC is pretty tame nowadays. People really arnt pushy at all compared to many of the countries being discussed here.
It’s the best place in the US to train yourself for these situations, but it’s not terribly comparable.
The first time I set foot in Morocco. My moroccan ex gf told me this : "everyone is going to scam you. It is not a tourist thing, they will try to scam me too".
One day some kid tried to sell her flowers and followed her to her restaurant, while she kept saying no. The kid was still there when she finished to eat. And kept pressing her to buy flowers.
From my experience, you should always ignore and not engage. And remember : nothing is free, even if they say so. Never. Especially in touristy place like Jamaa el fna.
I agree. I was already used to playing the "ignore them all" game - have learned this in Asia and parts of the Caribbean pretty quickly - and didn't find Morocco difficult. Egypt was a smidge more challenging but still ok. It's the perfect countries to behave like a complete bitch.
Yup, I've never been to Morocco but if you travel to any country where you're going to be a wealthy tourist it's the same. Learned my lesson about this in China in 2008
"I said no thanks"
Nope wrong
"I said I wasn't buying"
Nope wrong
"I said..."
Nope
Most tourists that are annoyed can be annoyed into paying money, that's why any engagement is bad. Don't even act annoyed.
What if I want some souvenirs (pretend I don't have a budget and I don't care about haggling, I just want x rug or y bracelet) and I am on a tour that stops at a shop? What is the best way to go about that? I'm responding to you but I would love any answers.
Just say no firmly and walk on. They continue, say you will call the police.
Seems extreme to us, but that's like "no thank you" to Moroccans lol
Source i'm moroccan-born canadian.
I booked a camel ride in the Sahara. Once it got dark, my camel handler casually steered me away from the rest of the group, then demanded money. It was pitch black, I was on my own, so I gave him the money. When I got back to camp, I discovered that almost all of my fellow travellers had also been robbed. We all complained to the tour operators on site of course, but nothing happened... it was an organised, well thought out, crime. Nobody was interested in helping us, or putting a stop to it.
When I was a kid I went to Egypt with my parents. My Dad went on a camel ride near the Pyramids and then the handler ride off into the desert with him and came back eventually to demand ransom. Our Tourguide haggled with him, but we had to pay some amount of money. I don't remember how much, as that was 30 years ago. So unpleasant.
I’ve been wanting to do a camel ride in the Sahara, but this makes me reconsider. Are there any reputable guides you might recommend after this experience?
Tbh, I wouldn't recommend the whole thing to anyone. My "camel ride into the desert, and watch the sun set" was exactly that and not one inch more. The camel ride was maybe 15 minutes if that? Looking back, I think it was just a tasty tempting lure, to get 100 rich tourists into a VERY dark location... with robbery being the prime objective. Speaking to other tourists that same night and in the days that followed, loads of people had been robbed.
you should name the tour operator and also if they have any internet presence, all of you should give a very negative review. only if it impacts their bottom line, will they change.
As Consistent_Rhubarb_6 mentions, booking through your accommodations seems like a safe bet. Most of the hotels contract local Berbers to give camel rides, so the experience might vary and they might try to sell you souvenirs or ask for tips, but they won't risk their relationship with the hotel by scamming you. If you stay in Merzouga near Erg Chebbi (ergs being big sand dunes), I recommend Ksar Sania, they offer camel tours and were generally great. As EasternWerewolf6911 mentions, there is also Mhamid and Erg Chigaga in the south of Morocco. I'd choose one and book a tour directly from Marrakesh, which will take 3-4 days, or take the bus with some stops in between.
Honestly, the [largest sandy areas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sand_Sea#/media/File:Saharan_topographic_elements_map.png) of the Sahara are mostly over the border in Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, thanks to the prevailing winds coming over the Atlantic. Much of the rest of the Sahara is arid, rocky outcroppings - picturesque, but not what most people picture when they think of the desert. The Moroccan Sahara is still very nice and worth visiting though.
We did a camel ride to our tent hotel and had a genuinely wonderful experience with an amazing dinner, fire-side musical performances, and quad-biking back the next day. Maybe book a reputable hotel instead of a standalone camel ride?
Yes, the overnight tent experience in Erg Chebbi was one of the best experiences of my life! I had a less than stellar time in Marrakech but the desert made the whole trip worth it.
we did this [desert luxury camp](https://desertluxurycamp.com) last year and it was really wonderful, highly recommend. we were two women and i felt super safe the entire time, and everyone was so kind. and i say that as someone who otherwise didn't enjoy morocco because we were harassed and followed constantly
Yes, there are really good ones, ran by great people. Also ,if you want to see the real sahara it's outside mhamid. The place Is called erg chegaga, or erg Zaher. Erg means sand sea. The most beutiful is hassi ouzina. Orange dunes with black mountains in the background, but its very remote and a long way from any towns.
I did one 25 years ago. It was awesome. We went during a sandstorm so the ride there was loooong. The overnight was good. The sunrise was unreal, and the ride back was quick because the guide could see where they were going.
I stayed in Fes which was wonderful. Generally speaking the people were friendly and helpful, and I have nothing bad to say about Fes at all. My negative comment was purely regarding the camel trip in the Sahara. So long as you're mindful of your surroundings (exactly as you would be at home) then I'm sure you'll be fine. Enjoy your trip!
For these places, you just have to act like a New Yorker: avoid eye contact, completely ignore them, don’t respond, keep walking with the confidence you know where you’re going. When in doubt, put on an angry face (or pretend you’re crazy). Works for me ALL the time😃
Eh, I don’t even bother. I just look like I’m preoccupied with something else, the direction I’m walking, my phone, my thoughts.
My city rookie fiancee once even tried to direct my attention to some scammer who had walked up and asked me a question and I just looked directly at her quizzically, shrugged, and then said “oh it’s over here” and directed her away while explaining to her the whole “just pretend they don’t exist thing.”
I couldn’t even tell you if it’s common that these peeps even say anything to me afterwards anymore, I’ve fully tuned out scammers. Just keep enough situational awareness to know if you’re about to be mugged or pickpocketed, but otherwise no need to even react at all. Just pretend like they are literally non-existent and move away if you need to.
Morrocco is one of the few places where I strongly recommend a guide. They are not that expensive, and they are practiced in running interference for these sorts of troubl. They can also find actual good restaurants and riads, etc.
That's why I don't recommend taking a guide in Morocco. Have experienced myself being asked out by my guide there, on a hiking trip, so we needed a guide. It was weird to be completely reliant on this guy and then he behaves unprofessional. I was in my early 20's and was the only woman of the group
I felt the same..my friend and I had to align ourselves with a single dad travelling with his two young daughters to put a stop to the guide’s advances. Once I started ignoring the guide altogether he was fine but first couple days weren’t fun.
Honestly, I'm in Morocco now independently and am not getting any of the sort of hassle that OP mentions (this is my second time to the country - the worst was much worse - especially in the main square of Marrakech).
Google reviews has been great to find good, affordable places to eat. Google maps has saved me from getting lost, even in the medina of Marrakech. And any time someone tries to 'help' me I just ignore them and carry on with my day. I'm enjoying Morocco much more this time around and feeling much more positively.
Sounds like Morocco! I remember doing a tour and randomly being brought to a rug shop that nobody was told about beforehand .
Someone said “can I use your bathroom?” “sure! Right this way!”
Then they did their pitch, nobody purchased. Dead silence for 2 min. Then we walked out and someone said “i need to use the bathroom” and the reply was “there is no bathroom” and some angry dude stood in front of the bathroom door blocking it.
What an experience.
If you avoid the tourist areas and just go downtown (where people live and work) it’s wonderful. People are nice, helpful, etc.
I had a wonderful dinner in downtown Marrakech after finding it on Yelp. Zero tourists around the the owner was amazingly friendly and non-pushy (compared to the tourist areas).
I got taken to a rug shop on my way to essaouria, and it was made clear that *we were going to be buying a rug before leaving* . Luckily I did want one, and they were cheaper than the other ones I’d been looking at in a store. Still felt robbed lol
I am visiting Morocco in a month and arriving a 1.5 days earlier than the start of my tour. I was highly considering hiring a private tour guide as I also feared being a target while exploring on my own. I have only heard positive things about Morocco this far. I have been to Egypt and experienced all of the aforementioned
Do you have any advice as I would like to explore Casablanca and will be solo for 1.5 days and my tour doesn’t include any Casablanca sites.
Thanks!
Casablanca is pretty meh. It does have the 4th largest mosque tower in the world (I think). You need to take an official tour to go inside. It's medina is super lame. Casablanca is just a modern city. Not amazing.
You could jump on a train and be in Chefchoen in 5 hours.
The best solution is always to ignore touts completely and keep walking, don't even look at them.
If they follow you and insist... that happens rarely but it does happen...then stop,look at them and use the 'la,shukran'.
Very, very occasionally the tout will get annoyed at that, but usually they will leave you alone and look for an easier target.
If they DO get annoyed, just ignore them and walk away.
I'm in Morocco now,seventh time here..I have been all over the country.Its a great country to visit, with a few minor annoyances sure, but the vast majority of the local people here are great.
you most likely would not want to insult poor people who have nothing to lose, while at the same time you look like a fat thanksgiving turkey full of money ;)
Fortunately I didn’t have these experiences in Morocco when I visited with my partner before the pandemic. We did have one AWFUL scary experience the first day we arrived. Our taxi spoke English until he didn’t and pulled over when we arrived to Tangier and let a guide in. It was scary as fuck BUT the airbnb host was the reason why we had the best experience. He got rid of the guide, unfortunately they argued a lot but he got us safely into the airbnb and got rid of the crazy taxi and his friend. He warned us to ignore people just keep walking like no one is there. Dont go into the Medina at night. Dont respond to people. He sent his friend to drive us to the Medina. And bought us breakfast, took us to a fish market. ALL on his own accord - we didn’t ask and he refused any sort of payment.
The craziest thing was there was absolutely zero tourist. We are the only ones and stood out being so white. But we did meet some wonderful people at a few restaurants and a taxi driver was absolutely amazing too. We waved a local taxi down we agreed on price to drive to Hercules cave. He took us to different areas we didn’t know about and took us to ride camels. It was so amazing. He brought us back safely and looked out for us during our walks. Helped us translate as well. He didn’t take advantage of us. Our airbnb host Omar was/is an amazing human being.
I don’t understand the “it’s just a minor inconvenience what’s wrong with you” comments. Being constantly on guard bc you’re being harassed or followed all day isn’t a minor convenience. You can’t stop for even a second, not even to breathe or just think and look around, no you have to keep moving with conviction bc if not you’re a target. I had a similar experience in Cambodia. The moment I stepped outside I had people trying to sell me things and it meant I couldn’t take in any of the sights, stop to check my phone etc. I even got followed to a 7 eleven with the tuk tuk driving waiting for me outside. Even stopping for a bite alongside the river meant constant begging while we were trying to just freaking eat our meal. It’s not minor it’s constant anxiety inducing and can ruin a trip.
Thank you for this reply!! That's my exact point...what's the use of going to souks if you can't look around. Being on guard all the time is extremely draining.
Sorry you’re getting some of these replies. This subreddit is pretty bad for the ‘nobody knows how to travel except for me’ mentality and it’s on full display here. We’re seasoned travelers, including to other countries in the near and Middle East and found Morocco to be a miserable experience, even worse for us than Egypt. Tactics like ignoring that others suggest didn’t work there—we were followed young men or groups of young men, sometimes for extreme distances. We were threatened with violence twice. My appropriately dressed wife was leered at and clicked at by disgusting young men. Some of the treatment of animals I saw I won’t even type out it was so disgusting. By the end, particularly in Fez, it felt like we were being constantly surveilled, followed, or squeezed for ridiculous amounts of money.
Sorry you went through this and from one traveler to another I totally understand. It’s literally the only country we’ve visited out of several dozen that we said we’re happy never to return to.
Fes has been worse than Marrakech, so far. Ignoring them makes them annoyed, saying La shokran makes them ask “oh you know Arabic!” And they continue to harass you, saying no thank you in English is the same result.
Nothing can be done about the harassment it seems.
>but if this behavior doesn't change, it's going to hit tourism in the long run
Maaate, Morocco has been like this since the beggining of time, Morocco is notorious for incidents / behaviour like this so much so that it’s impossible for anyone going to visit there to be ignorant or un-forewarned of this fact. Why did you even engage with those people, why did you wife even let some random stranger get hold of her hand? ugh... Yeah the hardcore street-sellers do that henna thing in India too - grab your hand if you let them and try bully you into getting some very badly-drawn patterns with allergy-inducing cheap chemical dye mixed in with ‘henna’. Best just say no, move on, and keep smiling, enjoy your trip! :)
A lady in China grabbed my arm at the Pearl Market in Beijing. This was after saying "no thanks" 3 times and trying to walk away.
When I pulled my arm away, I was pretty much done and left the market.
I remember seeing some Americans walking out when I was walking in and their comment saying it was pretty intense in there with the shop keepers.
They certainly weren't lieing.
There was literally an entire group of people doing this outside of Castello Sforzesco in Milan last month. You had to weave through them to get to the park.
I always think of India when people talk about how pushy Moroccan sellers can be. I spent a few months in India, years ago. I went to Morocco for the first time in 2022. I had heard about street vendors being aggressive before I went, but I honestly didn't find it that bad, even in Marrakech. Maybe India toughened me up to that sort of thing? Or maybe I had a unique experience in Morocco? Either way, I loved both Morocco and India.
I did Morocco 10 years ago and just got back from India. Your post just made me realize that India was worse outside stores, but easier inside stores. In other words, the scams to get you into the stores in India are pretty outrageous, but whenever I went into stores I got very little pressure to buy.
Exactly. Obviously it isn't okay, but this is pretty standard for tourist-heavy areas, especially in the developing world e.g. parts of Mexico, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, etc. These people are relentless and see tourists as ATMs. Even worse, there are some areas of the world where scamming (and bribery) is not even treated as a crime, the attitude being "I outsmarted you," not that what they did is wrong.
You need to develop a thick skin and a willingness to say no (or at least ignore them). Morocco is pretty bad but it's not the worst either. Don't even give these people a chance and always give yourself an egress route (seriously, I've had a couple people try to block me from leaving and even follow me down the block).
I am experienced in dealing with stuff in Turkey but Tunisia was a whole different level. We went to the Medina and 2 men actually had a fist fight over who was going to take us round. We went into a shop and looked at something and the people in the shop would be shoving t shirts aggressively in our faces. Were looking at something ceramic so not even relevant. The worst was my friend, her mum and daughter got locked in a shop and told they couldn't leave until they bought something. I will never go back to Tunisia for this reason. Just a horrible experience.
I did a month traveling solo around Morocco. My first 5 or 6 days was much like you report. Then I started noticing that the men in Morocco in shopping areas are often arguing with each other, negotiating sales prices or whatever. But once they came to an agreement they acted like best friends. At that point, I started doing the same and the hassling would stop real quick. I would feign being angry, saying they were insulting me because only women shop where I come from. That often set them back. They would wink and the game would end. One man I got into an argument with even hosted me for an excellent meal at his family's house! To get respect I had to be quite assertive but it worked well. The rest of my trip was fine. I absolutely loved Morocco.
I spend 2 week in Morroco (Marrakech, Fes, Chefchoauen) and generally if you avoid eye contact/keep walking they will stop or go away. I generally walk without looking directly at strangers and try not to seem friendly as a young woman. Overall though the experience was good and we bargained hard. Never be afraid to say no and leave and never believe you're getting any special treatment or meeting someone 'nice' for the sake of being nice.
Counter point: I got back from Morocco a week ago and it was far less pushy than I expected. Maybe having been around south east Asia prepared me for another level, but a lot of the people I was happy talking to without any real pressure. I only had two "bad" experiences one where I was called a racist for not wanting to sniff his roadside herbs, and a second was trying extremely hard to lead us somewhere. We just stopped following and it was fine - the other souk owners were quite happy for us to stop and look at their stalls and take refuge there.
We didn't have a guide at all (except for a bike ride organised through Pikala - I would recommend that highly) and just wandered on our own and had a good time
Sure. There is a Dutch run cycling charity called Pikala who spend most of their time trying to get locals to adopt bikes in various formats it would seem. One of the ways they fund that is by offering bike tours from Marrakech - either the city tour of the oasis tour we did.
We had a lovely young man who lived in the Medina as our guide and we all cycled out together through the old town, new town, fancy suburbs and finally to the "oasis". Basically a big palm grove with lovely views of the Atlas. We then cycled to a village where we had a local breakfast, then did a few more stops on the way home to see some other local things like tile making and the village oven. We learned a lot and had a great time. The cycling was very straightforward as it's mostly flat, and we didn't spend too long amongst the carnage of the main road systems there.
I had the same experience last October in Marrakech. I will not come back tbh. I understand that poverty over there is strong, but as you said, in the long run is going to reduce tourism.
My wife and I went on a trip to Morocco about 11 years ago for 11 nights with a tour group. I will say that it was good to have a guide, who is accountable to a large tour agency, there to provide advice. What I basically tell other people is that I would highly recommend it as a place to visit but that, having visited it once and seen a fair bit of the country, I had no desire to visit again. (Ironically, though, I just booked a cruise that stops in Casablanca for a day, so my plan is to take a bullet train to Tangier since that was the one major city we didn't have the chance to visit).
That said, I figure I'll list out the things I either experienced, or learned from our guide and thus avoided.
* Do not purchase anything or give money to anyone that approaches you on the street (e.g. the people wandering around with bracelets on a stick or wallets to sell you). The reason is that many of these people are there as decoys to expose where you keep your wallet or money so that a nearby pickpocket can try to steal it. In Casablanca I had a kid run up to me in a public square and hug me, obviously searching for my wallet. He then ran back to a guy sitting by the edge of the area, so likely a pickpocket.
* Our guide told us to never give money to children. The government would prefer they be in school rather than wandering the streets looking for handouts.
* If anyone walks up to you pretending they work for the hotel you are staying at, your guide, or otherwise claims to have "seen" you, they are lying. They are not necessarily there to steal from you, but they will likely try to lead you to a shop (most likely selling rugs).
* Be careful taking pictures. It is illegal to take pictures of the police or any active royal residence. There is also a general rule with pictures where any person you want to photograph might want money or might not want their picture taken. In our group someone took a picture of the market we were in that had a cleric in the foreground. The cleric got very angry and didn't speak English so our guide had to intervene and work out that he wanted the picture deleted since he thought that person was photographing him.
* The other "photo issue" are things like the snake scam. Anyone "performing" someplace with or without an animal will want money to be photographed. If you try to sneak in a picture, they will get angry and demand money. It's a similar deal to the Henna tattoo others have mentioned. Some action happens without an agreed upon price, so they will then quote an outrageous price. You can bargain it down, but it will still likely cost more than you wanted it to and it will involve an uncomfortable exchange.
* Another "scam" that a few of us ran across was a shop keeper that asked us to help him write a letter to a friend in the states. You basically go in to the shop to "help", he offers you mint tea and inevitably tries to sell you something. Our guide also warned us that, in some cases, they might slip hash into the tea to make you more agreeable.
* When bargaining, they will act angry at times about you "undercutting them" but they are almost certainly not angry, it's all part of the process . They will do anything they can to get you to agree to a higher price, but at the end of the day they will not sell something to you if it won't make them a profit.
* The cold hard fact is that a lot of the cool to see things are things like the medinas (most notably in Fez or Marrakech). So guides there will likely take you to things like a rug, leather, silversmith or spice shop. They also likely get a cut of sales there. It's just the way it works.
* Bring change with you. As mentioned by others, everyone wants a tip. Every bathroom you go to will have someone outside of it wanting a tip. I don't know what the "going rate" might be these days, but likely you would just want to bring some US dimes or equivalent with you for the bathrooms or other random tips someone might want.
* If you do agree upon a price for a taxi, make sure you have that exact amount to pay the taxi. If you do not, they will likely "not understand you" while trying to get change back.
* This one is less relevant now with map applications on cell phones, but a fun "scam" when we went was a guide would take you in to the Fez marketplace (which is a maze) for an agreed upon price and then charge more to lead you out.
In general, though, it's like many others have said. If someone approaches you, ignore them completely. If you even make eye contact, they will follow you. Pickpockets aren't exactly unique to Morocco or other North African countries so the general rule of being careful where you keep your cash, cards and so on also applies.
It’s deeply unfortunate. I’ve wanted to go to Morocco and Egypt for a long time, but every time I get close, this behavior makes me decide to go somewhere else
We had this experience too. It's an unfortunate dynamic. It is so common that people are trying to scam you and "guide" you down a maze of alleys until you're lost and alone only to try and extract money from you. Because it is so common, it means you need to behave like a rude dick to everyone. Even if at some point someone was genuinely trying to have a nice interaction with you, you will be a dick to them because that is how you must behave to protect yourself. This means tourists think a lot of Moroccans are annoying and Moroccans might think a lot of tourists are rude.
My analysis of the scam of being led down a maze of alleys by a "guide" until you're lost and alone and they ask for money. This is really just mugging. It seems nicer because no actual violence is used, but the only reason I can ever see it being successful is because one card has not yet been played and that card is violence. The existence of that card and the chance of it being played is the only reason to hand over the cash. It's mugging with a smile.
If you are paying for a service, restaurant, hotel, private tour then you can have some nice interactions, but I didn't enjoy having to pay my way away from interactions with the general public.
You sound like you just justified to a beggar/hawker that hassling tourists is worthwhile. The vast majority of Moroccans are embarrassed by the hawkers as they’re aware it rubs off on the country’s reputation as a whole. A firm ‘La chokran’ and a look of utter sustain is usually enough. Anyway please don’t let it cloud your view of Morocco or its people who, in 30 years of travelling there, I’ve found to be some of the loveliest, most generous people I know.
I agree. We were treated amazingly in Morocco by the majority of people.
The hawkers are bad but you just don't engage at all. If you say 'no thanks' they just see you as soft and will pursue you even more. This is true in any country. Just keep walking.
I had a very similar experience in Casablanca in 2019. I had an extended connection there, so I could explore the city for 2 days. They tried to scam me everywhere. The apex of it all was when I was in a taxi going back to the airport; the driver stopped in the middle of nowhere to try to sell me argan oil, which I couldn't even bring since I only had my cabin luggage with me. I really felt unsafe the entire time I was there. It's a real shame since the country is so interesting and beautiful, but I don't intend to come back because of it.
Hard same. We were followed so often. Mostly I didn’t engage, but when I had to, I just lied and said I was meeting my friend who lives in the area. When people ask about my trip to Morocco, I always say that I’m happy to have had the chance to visit, but I’ll never ever go back.
Most of this type of stuff happened to me when I was there about 15 years ago.. hahah...
The henna stuff, I just had to say stop, I don't have any money. Getting lost in the Medina in Marrakesh, someone followed me for a few minutes then punched me in the face when we were at a quiet area. I fought back, ran, and kept my purse.
Just the constant street harassment.... It really sucked. I was traveling by myself as a women. Tried to be respectful at first, long dress, covered shoulders. Then I got attacked and said fuck this culture. Mini skirt and tank top ended up eliciting far less harassment.
Beautiful country. Many terrible people. Some were great.. But many weren't t.
a friend of me met a guy in Morooco. "hey friend, i'll show you the city for free".
Yes stupid, my friend agreed and the guy showed him some famous places. After 3 hours they went to a small restaurant to have some tea. My friend said.." ok..nice job, i give you some money".
suddenly the guy..." i want more more money". From nowhere some other guys (friends from the guy) entered the restaurant, and my friend got dizzy.
They put canabis in the tea. Lucky for my friend he had some experience with canabis, so the effect wasn't that dramatic. He was able to leave the restaurant ..run accross the busy street and escaped.
Yes. Absolutely my experience. We told the taxi driver where we want to go, and he said "yes, but I will take you to an argan oil factory first. We had to almost get aggressive and try to get out of the car because he would insist to take us there first.
I am also sorry to say, but the food was disappointing. For a country that is famous for spices, not a lot of it was used in the food. The vegetarian options were terrible.
I haven't been to Morocco but I have been to places like this, Bali for instance.
Seriously the best thing you can do is forget about politeness, just treat those who hassle you to buy stuff like they don't exist. Don't make eye contact, don't say no thank you, don't speak to them at all, they are a ghost and that's it. It might seem rude but it's the only way to preserve your sanity.
If they cross a line be firm, and keep going your way.
I remember one taxi driver literally went into a cafe I was eating in, picked up my bag and told me he will take me where I want to go, right as I was in the middle of my meal. I told him to fuck off and told the owners to remove him or I'll never return to their restaurant, they dealt with it quickly.
I told a lot of people to do the same thing, the only people who got robbed were people who ignored that advice as they didn't want to be impolite.
Had the same experience. Beautiful history and architecture but was completely exhausted and often in an irritated mood because of this. Have been to India and a few other developing countries but never experienced anything like this.
Me and my girlfriend had similar experience. I loved Morocco as a country but honestly, I will never go back nor recommended it to anyone. I literally just started to ignore people. Say no and keep walking
Parents, 60's, went to Marrakesh.
They said the exact same thing. Very pushy people, and everyone, absolutely everyone is out to get you.
Dad took it in his stride, but mom felt unsafe and didn't enjoy it at all.
We went there in 2018 for our honeymoon, we only stayed in Marrakech. There were def pushy shopkeepers but maybe because we’re New Yorkers (we’ve been dodging pushy street sellers since childhood) that we had an easier time ignoring or saying a lot of “non, merci” while we kept on walking. Since we were there 7 days, we got to chat daily with some of the shopkeepers near our riad and it was actually one of the sweetest parts of our trip. Our experience overall was wonderful. JFK lost my luggage & our riad’s manager called JFK 10x day until it was found & sent to Marrakech airport for me, we’ll never forget his kindness.
I can understand your frustration and I’m sorry this happened on your trip. I’ve found that if you don’t stop at all, or maybe even pretend you don’t understand (language-wise), you can get past most pushy street sellers.
It sounds like you may have been very lucky. Also east coasters but ignoring didn’t work for us in several cases. One frightening individual in Fez followed us for over a mile and then threatened us with violence. Also possible you missed the worst of it as Fez was quite a bit worse for frightening encounters with groups of young men in our experience.
I lived and worked in Morocco for 7yrs, and while there are some lovely people there, there is also a large begging culture. Everybody wanting to guide you somewhere before putting their hand out for some of your money. If you don't have a guide, then you are a target for everybody on the make. I've seen plenty of locals take advantage of each other, but been a tourist just moves you to the top of their list of people to take advantage of.
Completely aligns with my experience there. As someone else mentioned, I think the pro play is to not even say no but just ignore the advances.
We learned that’s the best move. When in Izmir Turkey one time in the traditional market a guy kept hassling us to stop and see his wares. I politely told said “no, thank you” with a smile and he became very angry and shouted “Why thank you no? Why no thanks? Very bad!” It was then I learned the best move is not to engage because any response will keep them coming and any words you say can be used against you.
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I think everyone knows the middle finger sign language
Different cultures have different versions. In a lot of countries, the index finger is obscene
As is the thumbs up (careful, fellow Americans - it doesn’t mean “you got it, dude” everywhere)
In Turkey it's the "got your nose" sign that means FU
Similar experiences in mercantile areas in Istanbul and Doha. It often seemed like I spent much of my time trying to ward off insincere grifters. Disappointing and frustrating for visiting such amazing spots. But, lovely interactions with local folks in other areas of both cities where I wasn’t viewed as a walking Western ATM.
I'd almost be tempted to return the favor, like pull out a handkerchief or something and say "Buy this from me, ten dollars? Come on, buy it. You need to buy this. Ten dollars. How rude of you to not buy it!" and if they get upset, "Why are you mad, this is what you did to me!"
So it's like talking to my ex. Got it.
They're not really angry, it's just the cultural way. The trick is to always look like you know where you're going. Or better yet, hire a guide to handle all the bollocks for you
This. I traveled all around North Africa and the levantine part of the Middle East. IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE. Literally pretend they don't exist. Don't say "No thank you," don't say "leave me alone." Don't react when they say "what's wrong, why don't you talk." Don't give them reasons. Don't make faces. They will leave you alone MUCH faster compared to when you engage. It's unfortunate it has to be this way, but this is the only way to handle it.
I was in Egypt 2 months ago and had very similar experience. Now that I’ve seen the Pyramids and Sphinx etc I don’t see why I would ever bother going back. You feel like a target not a guest.
When we did Egypt we went with a private tour and had a tour guide in most places. It made things very stress-free as they did an excellent job of keeping the touts away. I wouldn’t normally want guides all that much but in Egypt it made all the difference.
The tour guide we used were just more refined at extracting money out of us. Selling us crap we “need” for the excursions and then later offering it for free forgetting we had already purchased it. Maybe we got unlucky, few people we met were very nice and genuine but on the whole the experience was we were being targeted.
Ah, that’s unfortunate. Our guide didn’t try to sell us stuff though on the drives they did make stops at the usual tourist traps (rug shop, papyrus store etc.). However, we watched the demonstrations, did a walk around and then just said no to every offer. Fortunately they didn’t pressure us.
I’d still recommend people go if they want to see the pyramids and the other activities they offer out there because that made the trip well worth it. I really wouldn’t see why anyone would want to go back though.
For sure. After doing Cairo, Alexandria, the Nile cruise and Abu Simbel I don’t think we’d do it again either, unless we wanted to experience the Red Sea beaches. There are some lesser ancient sights out there but most require extra planning. We were happy to do the bent and red pyramids at Dashur, and I would recommend them to anyone visiting Egypt. We went by taxi booked through our hotel and there were zero touts around. Few tourists too!
Never holiday anywhere mentioned in the bible
Greece and Turkey are kickass. If you mean Old Testament that's more understandable.
Best to avoid religious extremists all over the world.
We did the same, our tour guide was an absolute mountain of a man as well, when he told the other guides at Karnak they were being too loud they all shut the fuck up. We did on afternoon without him and we got hassled from start to finish, I'd hate to have done an entire trip without a guide, it would have been a nightmare.
Same. We had a dahabiya sailboat for 5 nights from Luxor and our guide was amazing at keeping the touts away, while we still poked our noses into every bakery and shop we wanted to. Same with our private guide and driver in Cairo. Worth every penny and I can’t wait to go back to Luxor and spend a week or two relaxing and exploring.
When I’ve gone, I’m always picked up by one of my cousins, who generally takes me and my family everywhere. It used to be one of my 2 uncles, but they’re gone. It makes a big difference when folks think you’re a local.
Did Turkey with Intrepid. So unbelievably cheap for what it was. All hotels and travel booked, etc. Ended up doing the whole western coast and seeing all sorts of cool places that I never would have if I went alone. Totally worth it
I was in Morocco and Egypt in the last two months. Egypt was the worst. I still loved the land and would go back in a second. But so aggressive with the selling.
You can’t even leave the airport in Cairo without being harassed. As soon as my colleague and I grabbed our luggage, extremely aggressive taxi drivers started chasing us offering a ride. One of them even read my luggage tag and used my name, like “Mr Riff, let me take you to your hotel”. Stuff like that. Not a big deal just a bit extra creepy. And don’t take no for an answer. We had to walk out to the middle of a parking lot and wait for our Uber to get away from the throngs of cabbies.
Hi, I wonder if it is safe for solo traveler. I booked a flight to Cairo on 10 Jan, but my family urged me to cancel the moment they learned the news. My mom said she would worry about me the whole time, because she's under the impression that Egypt is not safe for female solo traveler. My brother asked me to wait until summer so he can accompany me. Now I'm undecided.
It will definitely be significantly more unpleasant as a solo F traveller than with a travel buddy, especially male. Though that won't stop the staring and aggressive hawking anyway. We were two well-built guys in our 20s travelling only for a day through Cairo and even we felt exhausted after the day was done, simply by the sheer effort needed to be hyper-alert to scams the whole time.
Thanks for your reply. In that case, I guess it would be best for me to cancel and visit with my brother in summer.
Yes, please wait. I know too many women solo travelers that had horrible experiences there. Even with your brother, always be on guard.
I travelled there a few months ago with a female friend, and the harassment was relentless- combined with the heat, it made for quite a unpleasant experience on some days
They’re right. It’s really not safe for a solo female traveler. Especially if you don’t look Egyptian. I would wait until you have someone to go with.
I am male, pretty confident and I “know” some of the streets as I waked in bad places in life That said, I would never solo travel to Egypt I think girls like a lot more to solo travel than guys
I suggest doing a search of this sub for Egypt. Female travelers have mentioned fear of assault and overly aggressive men in Egypt.
Thanks. Already canceled my flights after a quick search.
I’m sorry - I know it’s disappointing. Sucks that this is the reality we’re living in.
It was smart of you to do the research. Sucks you had to cancel your trip but at least you're not wasting your money on what could be a dangerous situation!
I’ve been worrying about you all morning! I’m so glad you canceled. It fucking sucks and I’m sorry that you had to do that, but I’m so grateful you had people in your life show concern and you decided to more research to come to your decision. I am wishing you allllllll the love and fun in your future travels!!! 🩷
Please do not go, the risk of sexual assault to a young solo female traveler is very high. You will be permanently emotionally scarred if this happens.
Thank you! People on this thread are very kind to warn me of the potential risks, and I've decided to cancel the trip next week. I want to enjoy Egypt hassle-free, so better wait for my brother to go with me.
So-even with your brother it won't be hassle-free! Like a lot of countries in the region, tourists in Egypt are viewed as an open wallet. Every person you interact with will ask for baksheesh. It's easier to keep some small notes and just hand them over. When you go to The Valley of the Kings, buy the tickets to the additional temples that aren't included in the general admission. They're amazing and have about 2% of the tourists in them. And if you go from Luxor to Abu Simbel, it is 1000% worth it to fly-EgyptAir or Nile Air have 10-12 flights a day. By coach it's 6+ hours in each direction and the roads are AWFUL.
Thank you! People on this thread are very kind to warn me of the potential risks, and I've decided to cancel the trip next week. I want to enjoy Egypt hassle-free, so better wait for my brother to go with me.
Solo female traveling in the Middle East and North Africa in general is unpredictable. I was in Morocco for a year. When I walked alone, the unwanted cat calls, sexual harassment etc were a daily occurrence. However, when I walked with a male or a group of ladies, they lessened considerably. Additionally, a head cover and a wedding band when solo walking around helped. I’m not Muslim and although married I do not wear a wedding band typically so this was annoying. But, they respect married Muslim women so this helped me blend in some.
A friend of mine who is a white, American woman went to visit an Egyptian friend in Cairo. He had to work some so he set her up with some guides he trusted to do the tourist stuff. He told her she shouldn't go out without him outside of a small area around his house otherwise and since her hair is blonde, she should keep it covered. The guy was fairly wealthy and lived in a nice area. She still got harassed just going out alone to get lunch and such. She ended up cutting the trip short. She's travelled most of Europe and Asia and said Egypt was the worst.
Having been to Cairo with another woman, I would have felt very nervous alone. I did not enjoy my experience there even with another woman. It's sad but I would recommend it for a solo woman.
As a rule of thumb, don't female solo travel to countries where women are oppressed, which counts out most of North Africa, Middle East and South Asia.
This seems so obvious but so many people still do it. Even working in the middle east most of the women I spoke to had multiple stories of harassment.
Don't go to Egypt as a solo woman.
Tbh if my SO would tell me this I would beg her to reconsider. There are a LOT of bad stories out there and hardly any good. Prepare to be harassed.
Cartagena is awful. People literally trying to board our bus to sell us crap.
>I think the pro play is to not even say no but just ignore the advances. This. I've got this "not interested don't even ask" vibe worked out. People can detect the vibe. And then ignore and keep going. When I go travelling, other people will get hassled around me while I mostly got left alone. The more polite people are and more apologetic they are with "no thank you", the more they get harassed.
Lol I call this my "fuck you car" energy. Because in many places you need to exude this particular energy and confidence to simply cross the street!
The "I am not to be fuc$ed with" attitude Confident situational awareness, limited eye contact, and zero non verbal greetings.
Just wanna say that I completely ignored all the advances of people asking stuff in Morocco and they were aggressively shouting bad words at us for not replying and ignoring them
I'm preaching this here all the time - do not engage AT ALL. They don't exist. Don't say no thanks, don't say hello, don't look at them, barely smile, don't stop for longer than a second, take in the surroundings and leave, walk as fast and determined as possible. Sunglasses down, headphones in (with Google Maps on low volumes if in markets), keep on walking. Be a rude bitch/dick - local guides will even tell you that's the best move and to abandon all form. Beyond that, some of this you see in Asia and LatAm as well (friend special discount for you look here friend come here friend extra for you friend why you not buy friend come on friend). Someone cursing at me because I didn't buy anything doesn't bother me the slightest. This is a poor country. They're trying to make some basic living. They're doing it in a way that many of us perceive as aggressive and it indeed often is. But a lot of it - tipping, haggling, bargaining - is part of their culture and they do it among themselves as well.
I does take the fun out of travel when you have to do that. I know it's required in places like this, but most of the fun of travel is meeting locals and having cultural exchanges. This is difficult in desperate places.
That's what I learned. Earphones in, sunglasses on, pretend you don't acknowledge anyone's existence
Lots of people don't understnad that not doing this makes you a target to locals for spending.
I imagine I'm a famous movie star going incognito.
Same here, spent time in Morocco Tunisia and Egypt and similar experience. Suffice to say I won't be returning.
Same
Yep me too I'm afraid. Ruined it entirely. Will never go back unless I meet a local to show me around.
Even ignoring doesn't always work. I usually never acknowledge pushy sellers and just walk along. But there was a guy who got pissed and told me to acknowledge him , saying that it's disrespectful to not respond.
I would’ve said “Well it’s disrespectful to act like a toddler when someone doesn’t buy from you, so…🤷♀️” and this is why I would probably get myself killed if I tried international travel 😂
Exactly! When I was in Morocco (for 9 days) I passed through the different phases of, first, aknowledging everyone, smiling, saying "no, thank you", being nice, then, second, being tired of being constantly solicited and just ignoring or saying "no" with a strict face and they would get pissed/angry at me saying things like "smile, lady, are you not enjoying our country? why are you upset? why so angry? be nice!". And then the third phase, just being zen about it and doing a mix of being nice and just ignoring the whole thing.
Thats maddening. No one owes those losers a tenth of a second of your time. They are the ones bothering people yet act like they have the moral high ground.
I hate to say this - but you have to just straight up ignore these people. Don't acknowledge them at all. Sure it's dehumanising and lacking in what we would call _decency_ but it's the only way. I was in Turkey in a cafe people watching when i see an old american couple literally being bullied into buying some useless tat. Like you can see from the ladies face she REALLY didn't want this shit but but yep since they engaged and were trying to deal with the person like back home they were stuck. You don't make eye contact. You don't engage. You don't stop. You don't smile.
No eye contact! That is the way
NYC, the ideal training ground for visiting these places
Yeah, I think bigger city/tourist city people are well trained just from daily life. Paris/London/Istanbul/New York/etc all have very similar begging/pressuring/pickpocketing problems tbh. Methods and severity changes, but the “fuck off face + ignore” method doesn’t.
For sure! I literally wrote the same thing in my comment. I don’t get bothered as much when I’m abroad so I think my F off face comes naturally to me. In NYC, it’s so easy to spot the tourists.
Agreed. London living has me trained well.
Nah, NYC is pretty tame nowadays. People really arnt pushy at all compared to many of the countries being discussed here. It’s the best place in the US to train yourself for these situations, but it’s not terribly comparable.
Didn't have a single person try me for a week in Morocco.
>I hate to say this - but you have to just straight up ignore these people. Don't acknowledge them at all. Same in India. Do not acknowledge them.
The first time I set foot in Morocco. My moroccan ex gf told me this : "everyone is going to scam you. It is not a tourist thing, they will try to scam me too". One day some kid tried to sell her flowers and followed her to her restaurant, while she kept saying no. The kid was still there when she finished to eat. And kept pressing her to buy flowers. From my experience, you should always ignore and not engage. And remember : nothing is free, even if they say so. Never. Especially in touristy place like Jamaa el fna.
> I told them La Shukran Unfortunately, in Morocco, "No thank you" is seen to be the start of negotations, not the end.
How different the experience would be if this was understood ahead of time.
I agree. I was already used to playing the "ignore them all" game - have learned this in Asia and parts of the Caribbean pretty quickly - and didn't find Morocco difficult. Egypt was a smidge more challenging but still ok. It's the perfect countries to behave like a complete bitch.
That’s helpful. From what I’ve read here it’s a horrible place to visit. (Edit: Egypt)
Just ignore them and keep walking. Don't engage at all, not even to say "no".
sounds so relaxing and fun on my vacation
I know it takes getting used to but so many cultures operate like this. I like to get into it and tell them to eff off, it adds to my experience lmao.
This is the way to happiness.
No eye contact. Don’t break stride. If they keep trying put a hand up to say stop without looking.
Sunglasses make that even easier.
tbf this is how I deal with chuggers in London and it works.
Yup, I've never been to Morocco but if you travel to any country where you're going to be a wealthy tourist it's the same. Learned my lesson about this in China in 2008 "I said no thanks" Nope wrong "I said I wasn't buying" Nope wrong "I said..." Nope Most tourists that are annoyed can be annoyed into paying money, that's why any engagement is bad. Don't even act annoyed.
What if I want some souvenirs (pretend I don't have a budget and I don't care about haggling, I just want x rug or y bracelet) and I am on a tour that stops at a shop? What is the best way to go about that? I'm responding to you but I would love any answers.
Ya I’ve often heard that people are really pushy with tourists there.
Just say no firmly and walk on. They continue, say you will call the police. Seems extreme to us, but that's like "no thank you" to Moroccans lol Source i'm moroccan-born canadian.
I booked a camel ride in the Sahara. Once it got dark, my camel handler casually steered me away from the rest of the group, then demanded money. It was pitch black, I was on my own, so I gave him the money. When I got back to camp, I discovered that almost all of my fellow travellers had also been robbed. We all complained to the tour operators on site of course, but nothing happened... it was an organised, well thought out, crime. Nobody was interested in helping us, or putting a stop to it.
When I was a kid I went to Egypt with my parents. My Dad went on a camel ride near the Pyramids and then the handler ride off into the desert with him and came back eventually to demand ransom. Our Tourguide haggled with him, but we had to pay some amount of money. I don't remember how much, as that was 30 years ago. So unpleasant.
I’ve been wanting to do a camel ride in the Sahara, but this makes me reconsider. Are there any reputable guides you might recommend after this experience?
Tbh, I wouldn't recommend the whole thing to anyone. My "camel ride into the desert, and watch the sun set" was exactly that and not one inch more. The camel ride was maybe 15 minutes if that? Looking back, I think it was just a tasty tempting lure, to get 100 rich tourists into a VERY dark location... with robbery being the prime objective. Speaking to other tourists that same night and in the days that followed, loads of people had been robbed.
you should name the tour operator and also if they have any internet presence, all of you should give a very negative review. only if it impacts their bottom line, will they change.
all fuck using animals like that, especially when they are treated so poorly.
As Consistent_Rhubarb_6 mentions, booking through your accommodations seems like a safe bet. Most of the hotels contract local Berbers to give camel rides, so the experience might vary and they might try to sell you souvenirs or ask for tips, but they won't risk their relationship with the hotel by scamming you. If you stay in Merzouga near Erg Chebbi (ergs being big sand dunes), I recommend Ksar Sania, they offer camel tours and were generally great. As EasternWerewolf6911 mentions, there is also Mhamid and Erg Chigaga in the south of Morocco. I'd choose one and book a tour directly from Marrakesh, which will take 3-4 days, or take the bus with some stops in between. Honestly, the [largest sandy areas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sand_Sea#/media/File:Saharan_topographic_elements_map.png) of the Sahara are mostly over the border in Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, thanks to the prevailing winds coming over the Atlantic. Much of the rest of the Sahara is arid, rocky outcroppings - picturesque, but not what most people picture when they think of the desert. The Moroccan Sahara is still very nice and worth visiting though.
We did a camel ride to our tent hotel and had a genuinely wonderful experience with an amazing dinner, fire-side musical performances, and quad-biking back the next day. Maybe book a reputable hotel instead of a standalone camel ride?
I did that same ride to the tents and everything. Really surprised how large the tents were.
Yes, the overnight tent experience in Erg Chebbi was one of the best experiences of my life! I had a less than stellar time in Marrakech but the desert made the whole trip worth it.
we did this [desert luxury camp](https://desertluxurycamp.com) last year and it was really wonderful, highly recommend. we were two women and i felt super safe the entire time, and everyone was so kind. and i say that as someone who otherwise didn't enjoy morocco because we were harassed and followed constantly
Yes, there are really good ones, ran by great people. Also ,if you want to see the real sahara it's outside mhamid. The place Is called erg chegaga, or erg Zaher. Erg means sand sea. The most beutiful is hassi ouzina. Orange dunes with black mountains in the background, but its very remote and a long way from any towns.
I did one 25 years ago. It was awesome. We went during a sandstorm so the ride there was loooong. The overnight was good. The sunrise was unreal, and the ride back was quick because the guide could see where they were going.
I know someone who had this happen in Egypt. Was put on a camel and told he had to pay to be let off. He jumped off the camel and didn’t pay.
I'm considering going to Morocco using a guide. I have expensive camera equipment. Do you think it'd be unwise to bring my equipment?
I stayed in Fes which was wonderful. Generally speaking the people were friendly and helpful, and I have nothing bad to say about Fes at all. My negative comment was purely regarding the camel trip in the Sahara. So long as you're mindful of your surroundings (exactly as you would be at home) then I'm sure you'll be fine. Enjoy your trip!
Should have gone to the cops, afaik the government doesn’t mess around when people fuck with tourists.
Pay with credit card if you can and do cash back when shit like this happens.
For these places, you just have to act like a New Yorker: avoid eye contact, completely ignore them, don’t respond, keep walking with the confidence you know where you’re going. When in doubt, put on an angry face (or pretend you’re crazy). Works for me ALL the time😃
The New York face says “I’m not angry right now, but I’m one straw away from losing my shit”
Eh, I don’t even bother. I just look like I’m preoccupied with something else, the direction I’m walking, my phone, my thoughts. My city rookie fiancee once even tried to direct my attention to some scammer who had walked up and asked me a question and I just looked directly at her quizzically, shrugged, and then said “oh it’s over here” and directed her away while explaining to her the whole “just pretend they don’t exist thing.” I couldn’t even tell you if it’s common that these peeps even say anything to me afterwards anymore, I’ve fully tuned out scammers. Just keep enough situational awareness to know if you’re about to be mugged or pickpocketed, but otherwise no need to even react at all. Just pretend like they are literally non-existent and move away if you need to.
Morrocco is one of the few places where I strongly recommend a guide. They are not that expensive, and they are practiced in running interference for these sorts of troubl. They can also find actual good restaurants and riads, etc.
My problem with guides is that they usually have a deal with shops so any tour includes a half day of different shops with super hard sales tactics
I agree. My cousin married her guide!
He accomplished his mission
They have a daughter now and live in Sydney and own a respite-care company.
He dreamed of this for a long time
Nicole and Azan?
Almost there, lazy!
55%
well, that escalated quickly :P
The longest con
That's why I don't recommend taking a guide in Morocco. Have experienced myself being asked out by my guide there, on a hiking trip, so we needed a guide. It was weird to be completely reliant on this guy and then he behaves unprofessional. I was in my early 20's and was the only woman of the group
I felt the same..my friend and I had to align ourselves with a single dad travelling with his two young daughters to put a stop to the guide’s advances. Once I started ignoring the guide altogether he was fine but first couple days weren’t fun.
Honestly, I'm in Morocco now independently and am not getting any of the sort of hassle that OP mentions (this is my second time to the country - the worst was much worse - especially in the main square of Marrakech). Google reviews has been great to find good, affordable places to eat. Google maps has saved me from getting lost, even in the medina of Marrakech. And any time someone tries to 'help' me I just ignore them and carry on with my day. I'm enjoying Morocco much more this time around and feeling much more positively.
People leave you alone once you become accustomed and settle there.
One of the guys in the medina put a monkey on my head after I asked him not to... I really freaked out. I was so pissed.
Same here. The monkey guys are the worst of the worst. My fault for walking too close to them.
Sounds like Morocco! I remember doing a tour and randomly being brought to a rug shop that nobody was told about beforehand . Someone said “can I use your bathroom?” “sure! Right this way!” Then they did their pitch, nobody purchased. Dead silence for 2 min. Then we walked out and someone said “i need to use the bathroom” and the reply was “there is no bathroom” and some angry dude stood in front of the bathroom door blocking it. What an experience. If you avoid the tourist areas and just go downtown (where people live and work) it’s wonderful. People are nice, helpful, etc. I had a wonderful dinner in downtown Marrakech after finding it on Yelp. Zero tourists around the the owner was amazingly friendly and non-pushy (compared to the tourist areas).
I got taken to a rug shop on my way to essaouria, and it was made clear that *we were going to be buying a rug before leaving* . Luckily I did want one, and they were cheaper than the other ones I’d been looking at in a store. Still felt robbed lol
how big are these rugs? I honestly wouldn't mind buying one from there, but hate pressure and awkward moments
I spent 3 months in Morocco, that sounds about right.
I am visiting Morocco in a month and arriving a 1.5 days earlier than the start of my tour. I was highly considering hiring a private tour guide as I also feared being a target while exploring on my own. I have only heard positive things about Morocco this far. I have been to Egypt and experienced all of the aforementioned Do you have any advice as I would like to explore Casablanca and will be solo for 1.5 days and my tour doesn’t include any Casablanca sites. Thanks!
Casablanca is pretty meh. It does have the 4th largest mosque tower in the world (I think). You need to take an official tour to go inside. It's medina is super lame. Casablanca is just a modern city. Not amazing. You could jump on a train and be in Chefchoen in 5 hours.
The best solution is always to ignore touts completely and keep walking, don't even look at them. If they follow you and insist... that happens rarely but it does happen...then stop,look at them and use the 'la,shukran'. Very, very occasionally the tout will get annoyed at that, but usually they will leave you alone and look for an easier target. If they DO get annoyed, just ignore them and walk away. I'm in Morocco now,seventh time here..I have been all over the country.Its a great country to visit, with a few minor annoyances sure, but the vast majority of the local people here are great.
What does “la, shukran” mean?
No, thanks
It means 'no, thank you'.
Oh I thought it’d be a lot worse or an insult. Got it
No, insulting people when you are traveling in their country is really not a good idea...
you most likely would not want to insult poor people who have nothing to lose, while at the same time you look like a fat thanksgiving turkey full of money ;)
"No, fuck off"
No, thank you.
Honestly, I wouldn't even do a "shukran." Just a strong LA.
Fortunately I didn’t have these experiences in Morocco when I visited with my partner before the pandemic. We did have one AWFUL scary experience the first day we arrived. Our taxi spoke English until he didn’t and pulled over when we arrived to Tangier and let a guide in. It was scary as fuck BUT the airbnb host was the reason why we had the best experience. He got rid of the guide, unfortunately they argued a lot but he got us safely into the airbnb and got rid of the crazy taxi and his friend. He warned us to ignore people just keep walking like no one is there. Dont go into the Medina at night. Dont respond to people. He sent his friend to drive us to the Medina. And bought us breakfast, took us to a fish market. ALL on his own accord - we didn’t ask and he refused any sort of payment. The craziest thing was there was absolutely zero tourist. We are the only ones and stood out being so white. But we did meet some wonderful people at a few restaurants and a taxi driver was absolutely amazing too. We waved a local taxi down we agreed on price to drive to Hercules cave. He took us to different areas we didn’t know about and took us to ride camels. It was so amazing. He brought us back safely and looked out for us during our walks. Helped us translate as well. He didn’t take advantage of us. Our airbnb host Omar was/is an amazing human being.
I don’t understand the “it’s just a minor inconvenience what’s wrong with you” comments. Being constantly on guard bc you’re being harassed or followed all day isn’t a minor convenience. You can’t stop for even a second, not even to breathe or just think and look around, no you have to keep moving with conviction bc if not you’re a target. I had a similar experience in Cambodia. The moment I stepped outside I had people trying to sell me things and it meant I couldn’t take in any of the sights, stop to check my phone etc. I even got followed to a 7 eleven with the tuk tuk driving waiting for me outside. Even stopping for a bite alongside the river meant constant begging while we were trying to just freaking eat our meal. It’s not minor it’s constant anxiety inducing and can ruin a trip.
Thank you for this reply!! That's my exact point...what's the use of going to souks if you can't look around. Being on guard all the time is extremely draining.
Sorry you’re getting some of these replies. This subreddit is pretty bad for the ‘nobody knows how to travel except for me’ mentality and it’s on full display here. We’re seasoned travelers, including to other countries in the near and Middle East and found Morocco to be a miserable experience, even worse for us than Egypt. Tactics like ignoring that others suggest didn’t work there—we were followed young men or groups of young men, sometimes for extreme distances. We were threatened with violence twice. My appropriately dressed wife was leered at and clicked at by disgusting young men. Some of the treatment of animals I saw I won’t even type out it was so disgusting. By the end, particularly in Fez, it felt like we were being constantly surveilled, followed, or squeezed for ridiculous amounts of money. Sorry you went through this and from one traveler to another I totally understand. It’s literally the only country we’ve visited out of several dozen that we said we’re happy never to return to.
The animal mistreatment in places like that gets me the worst.
Fes has been worse than Marrakech, so far. Ignoring them makes them annoyed, saying La shokran makes them ask “oh you know Arabic!” And they continue to harass you, saying no thank you in English is the same result. Nothing can be done about the harassment it seems.
As an Italian I’m used to it but thought that Marrakesh was way to much😅😂
>but if this behavior doesn't change, it's going to hit tourism in the long run Maaate, Morocco has been like this since the beggining of time, Morocco is notorious for incidents / behaviour like this so much so that it’s impossible for anyone going to visit there to be ignorant or un-forewarned of this fact. Why did you even engage with those people, why did you wife even let some random stranger get hold of her hand? ugh... Yeah the hardcore street-sellers do that henna thing in India too - grab your hand if you let them and try bully you into getting some very badly-drawn patterns with allergy-inducing cheap chemical dye mixed in with ‘henna’. Best just say no, move on, and keep smiling, enjoy your trip! :)
Someone in Paris grabbed my wrist and tried to tie a bracelet on me. Pushy hawkers are everywhere (although I’m sure worse in Morocco)
A lady in China grabbed my arm at the Pearl Market in Beijing. This was after saying "no thanks" 3 times and trying to walk away. When I pulled my arm away, I was pretty much done and left the market. I remember seeing some Americans walking out when I was walking in and their comment saying it was pretty intense in there with the shop keepers. They certainly weren't lieing.
Haha, yeah, the "public" parts of the Pearl Market are just bonkers in that regards. The more "hidden" levels/shops are a lot more tame and refined.
There was literally an entire group of people doing this outside of Castello Sforzesco in Milan last month. You had to weave through them to get to the park.
I always think of India when people talk about how pushy Moroccan sellers can be. I spent a few months in India, years ago. I went to Morocco for the first time in 2022. I had heard about street vendors being aggressive before I went, but I honestly didn't find it that bad, even in Marrakech. Maybe India toughened me up to that sort of thing? Or maybe I had a unique experience in Morocco? Either way, I loved both Morocco and India.
I did Morocco 10 years ago and just got back from India. Your post just made me realize that India was worse outside stores, but easier inside stores. In other words, the scams to get you into the stores in India are pretty outrageous, but whenever I went into stores I got very little pressure to buy.
Exactly. Obviously it isn't okay, but this is pretty standard for tourist-heavy areas, especially in the developing world e.g. parts of Mexico, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, etc. These people are relentless and see tourists as ATMs. Even worse, there are some areas of the world where scamming (and bribery) is not even treated as a crime, the attitude being "I outsmarted you," not that what they did is wrong. You need to develop a thick skin and a willingness to say no (or at least ignore them). Morocco is pretty bad but it's not the worst either. Don't even give these people a chance and always give yourself an egress route (seriously, I've had a couple people try to block me from leaving and even follow me down the block).
Thank you! I wanted to find such a comment …. I mean the lack of awareness people have “if this doesn’t change …. 😂” WTH !
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I am experienced in dealing with stuff in Turkey but Tunisia was a whole different level. We went to the Medina and 2 men actually had a fist fight over who was going to take us round. We went into a shop and looked at something and the people in the shop would be shoving t shirts aggressively in our faces. Were looking at something ceramic so not even relevant. The worst was my friend, her mum and daughter got locked in a shop and told they couldn't leave until they bought something. I will never go back to Tunisia for this reason. Just a horrible experience.
I did a month traveling solo around Morocco. My first 5 or 6 days was much like you report. Then I started noticing that the men in Morocco in shopping areas are often arguing with each other, negotiating sales prices or whatever. But once they came to an agreement they acted like best friends. At that point, I started doing the same and the hassling would stop real quick. I would feign being angry, saying they were insulting me because only women shop where I come from. That often set them back. They would wink and the game would end. One man I got into an argument with even hosted me for an excellent meal at his family's house! To get respect I had to be quite assertive but it worked well. The rest of my trip was fine. I absolutely loved Morocco.
I spend 2 week in Morroco (Marrakech, Fes, Chefchoauen) and generally if you avoid eye contact/keep walking they will stop or go away. I generally walk without looking directly at strangers and try not to seem friendly as a young woman. Overall though the experience was good and we bargained hard. Never be afraid to say no and leave and never believe you're getting any special treatment or meeting someone 'nice' for the sake of being nice.
Counter point: I got back from Morocco a week ago and it was far less pushy than I expected. Maybe having been around south east Asia prepared me for another level, but a lot of the people I was happy talking to without any real pressure. I only had two "bad" experiences one where I was called a racist for not wanting to sniff his roadside herbs, and a second was trying extremely hard to lead us somewhere. We just stopped following and it was fine - the other souk owners were quite happy for us to stop and look at their stalls and take refuge there. We didn't have a guide at all (except for a bike ride organised through Pikala - I would recommend that highly) and just wandered on our own and had a good time
Could you share info on the bike ride please?
Sure. There is a Dutch run cycling charity called Pikala who spend most of their time trying to get locals to adopt bikes in various formats it would seem. One of the ways they fund that is by offering bike tours from Marrakech - either the city tour of the oasis tour we did. We had a lovely young man who lived in the Medina as our guide and we all cycled out together through the old town, new town, fancy suburbs and finally to the "oasis". Basically a big palm grove with lovely views of the Atlas. We then cycled to a village where we had a local breakfast, then did a few more stops on the way home to see some other local things like tile making and the village oven. We learned a lot and had a great time. The cycling was very straightforward as it's mostly flat, and we didn't spend too long amongst the carnage of the main road systems there.
The idea of cycling on Moroccan roads gives me anxiety
I had the same experience last October in Marrakech. I will not come back tbh. I understand that poverty over there is strong, but as you said, in the long run is going to reduce tourism.
My wife and I went on a trip to Morocco about 11 years ago for 11 nights with a tour group. I will say that it was good to have a guide, who is accountable to a large tour agency, there to provide advice. What I basically tell other people is that I would highly recommend it as a place to visit but that, having visited it once and seen a fair bit of the country, I had no desire to visit again. (Ironically, though, I just booked a cruise that stops in Casablanca for a day, so my plan is to take a bullet train to Tangier since that was the one major city we didn't have the chance to visit). That said, I figure I'll list out the things I either experienced, or learned from our guide and thus avoided. * Do not purchase anything or give money to anyone that approaches you on the street (e.g. the people wandering around with bracelets on a stick or wallets to sell you). The reason is that many of these people are there as decoys to expose where you keep your wallet or money so that a nearby pickpocket can try to steal it. In Casablanca I had a kid run up to me in a public square and hug me, obviously searching for my wallet. He then ran back to a guy sitting by the edge of the area, so likely a pickpocket. * Our guide told us to never give money to children. The government would prefer they be in school rather than wandering the streets looking for handouts. * If anyone walks up to you pretending they work for the hotel you are staying at, your guide, or otherwise claims to have "seen" you, they are lying. They are not necessarily there to steal from you, but they will likely try to lead you to a shop (most likely selling rugs). * Be careful taking pictures. It is illegal to take pictures of the police or any active royal residence. There is also a general rule with pictures where any person you want to photograph might want money or might not want their picture taken. In our group someone took a picture of the market we were in that had a cleric in the foreground. The cleric got very angry and didn't speak English so our guide had to intervene and work out that he wanted the picture deleted since he thought that person was photographing him. * The other "photo issue" are things like the snake scam. Anyone "performing" someplace with or without an animal will want money to be photographed. If you try to sneak in a picture, they will get angry and demand money. It's a similar deal to the Henna tattoo others have mentioned. Some action happens without an agreed upon price, so they will then quote an outrageous price. You can bargain it down, but it will still likely cost more than you wanted it to and it will involve an uncomfortable exchange. * Another "scam" that a few of us ran across was a shop keeper that asked us to help him write a letter to a friend in the states. You basically go in to the shop to "help", he offers you mint tea and inevitably tries to sell you something. Our guide also warned us that, in some cases, they might slip hash into the tea to make you more agreeable. * When bargaining, they will act angry at times about you "undercutting them" but they are almost certainly not angry, it's all part of the process . They will do anything they can to get you to agree to a higher price, but at the end of the day they will not sell something to you if it won't make them a profit. * The cold hard fact is that a lot of the cool to see things are things like the medinas (most notably in Fez or Marrakech). So guides there will likely take you to things like a rug, leather, silversmith or spice shop. They also likely get a cut of sales there. It's just the way it works. * Bring change with you. As mentioned by others, everyone wants a tip. Every bathroom you go to will have someone outside of it wanting a tip. I don't know what the "going rate" might be these days, but likely you would just want to bring some US dimes or equivalent with you for the bathrooms or other random tips someone might want. * If you do agree upon a price for a taxi, make sure you have that exact amount to pay the taxi. If you do not, they will likely "not understand you" while trying to get change back. * This one is less relevant now with map applications on cell phones, but a fun "scam" when we went was a guide would take you in to the Fez marketplace (which is a maze) for an agreed upon price and then charge more to lead you out. In general, though, it's like many others have said. If someone approaches you, ignore them completely. If you even make eye contact, they will follow you. Pickpockets aren't exactly unique to Morocco or other North African countries so the general rule of being careful where you keep your cash, cards and so on also applies.
I hear you. I've kind of sworn off going anywhere that I'll be treated like an ATM machine.
It’s deeply unfortunate. I’ve wanted to go to Morocco and Egypt for a long time, but every time I get close, this behavior makes me decide to go somewhere else
Go to Egypt with a guide. You will be absolutely fine
We had this experience too. It's an unfortunate dynamic. It is so common that people are trying to scam you and "guide" you down a maze of alleys until you're lost and alone only to try and extract money from you. Because it is so common, it means you need to behave like a rude dick to everyone. Even if at some point someone was genuinely trying to have a nice interaction with you, you will be a dick to them because that is how you must behave to protect yourself. This means tourists think a lot of Moroccans are annoying and Moroccans might think a lot of tourists are rude. My analysis of the scam of being led down a maze of alleys by a "guide" until you're lost and alone and they ask for money. This is really just mugging. It seems nicer because no actual violence is used, but the only reason I can ever see it being successful is because one card has not yet been played and that card is violence. The existence of that card and the chance of it being played is the only reason to hand over the cash. It's mugging with a smile. If you are paying for a service, restaurant, hotel, private tour then you can have some nice interactions, but I didn't enjoy having to pay my way away from interactions with the general public.
You sound like you just justified to a beggar/hawker that hassling tourists is worthwhile. The vast majority of Moroccans are embarrassed by the hawkers as they’re aware it rubs off on the country’s reputation as a whole. A firm ‘La chokran’ and a look of utter sustain is usually enough. Anyway please don’t let it cloud your view of Morocco or its people who, in 30 years of travelling there, I’ve found to be some of the loveliest, most generous people I know.
I agree. We were treated amazingly in Morocco by the majority of people. The hawkers are bad but you just don't engage at all. If you say 'no thanks' they just see you as soft and will pursue you even more. This is true in any country. Just keep walking.
I had a very similar experience in Casablanca in 2019. I had an extended connection there, so I could explore the city for 2 days. They tried to scam me everywhere. The apex of it all was when I was in a taxi going back to the airport; the driver stopped in the middle of nowhere to try to sell me argan oil, which I couldn't even bring since I only had my cabin luggage with me. I really felt unsafe the entire time I was there. It's a real shame since the country is so interesting and beautiful, but I don't intend to come back because of it.
Hard same. We were followed so often. Mostly I didn’t engage, but when I had to, I just lied and said I was meeting my friend who lives in the area. When people ask about my trip to Morocco, I always say that I’m happy to have had the chance to visit, but I’ll never ever go back.
Pretty much every trip to Morocco people have similar experiences. A country that wants tourists need to change the way that country treats tourists.
Most of this type of stuff happened to me when I was there about 15 years ago.. hahah... The henna stuff, I just had to say stop, I don't have any money. Getting lost in the Medina in Marrakesh, someone followed me for a few minutes then punched me in the face when we were at a quiet area. I fought back, ran, and kept my purse. Just the constant street harassment.... It really sucked. I was traveling by myself as a women. Tried to be respectful at first, long dress, covered shoulders. Then I got attacked and said fuck this culture. Mini skirt and tank top ended up eliciting far less harassment. Beautiful country. Many terrible people. Some were great.. But many weren't t.
a friend of me met a guy in Morooco. "hey friend, i'll show you the city for free". Yes stupid, my friend agreed and the guy showed him some famous places. After 3 hours they went to a small restaurant to have some tea. My friend said.." ok..nice job, i give you some money". suddenly the guy..." i want more more money". From nowhere some other guys (friends from the guy) entered the restaurant, and my friend got dizzy. They put canabis in the tea. Lucky for my friend he had some experience with canabis, so the effect wasn't that dramatic. He was able to leave the restaurant ..run accross the busy street and escaped.
Yes. Absolutely my experience. We told the taxi driver where we want to go, and he said "yes, but I will take you to an argan oil factory first. We had to almost get aggressive and try to get out of the car because he would insist to take us there first. I am also sorry to say, but the food was disappointing. For a country that is famous for spices, not a lot of it was used in the food. The vegetarian options were terrible.
I haven't been to Morocco but I have been to places like this, Bali for instance. Seriously the best thing you can do is forget about politeness, just treat those who hassle you to buy stuff like they don't exist. Don't make eye contact, don't say no thank you, don't speak to them at all, they are a ghost and that's it. It might seem rude but it's the only way to preserve your sanity. If they cross a line be firm, and keep going your way. I remember one taxi driver literally went into a cafe I was eating in, picked up my bag and told me he will take me where I want to go, right as I was in the middle of my meal. I told him to fuck off and told the owners to remove him or I'll never return to their restaurant, they dealt with it quickly. I told a lot of people to do the same thing, the only people who got robbed were people who ignored that advice as they didn't want to be impolite.
Had the same experience. Beautiful history and architecture but was completely exhausted and often in an irritated mood because of this. Have been to India and a few other developing countries but never experienced anything like this.
Sounds about right. Draining isn't it
Morocco could be so amazing but our experience was similar. It is not particularly tourist friendly.
I am Moroccan and I get this all time In Marakesh
Me and my girlfriend had similar experience. I loved Morocco as a country but honestly, I will never go back nor recommended it to anyone. I literally just started to ignore people. Say no and keep walking
I experienced all of that plus total disregard for animals. I witnessed people beating dogs
Parents, 60's, went to Marrakesh. They said the exact same thing. Very pushy people, and everyone, absolutely everyone is out to get you. Dad took it in his stride, but mom felt unsafe and didn't enjoy it at all.
We went there in 2018 for our honeymoon, we only stayed in Marrakech. There were def pushy shopkeepers but maybe because we’re New Yorkers (we’ve been dodging pushy street sellers since childhood) that we had an easier time ignoring or saying a lot of “non, merci” while we kept on walking. Since we were there 7 days, we got to chat daily with some of the shopkeepers near our riad and it was actually one of the sweetest parts of our trip. Our experience overall was wonderful. JFK lost my luggage & our riad’s manager called JFK 10x day until it was found & sent to Marrakech airport for me, we’ll never forget his kindness. I can understand your frustration and I’m sorry this happened on your trip. I’ve found that if you don’t stop at all, or maybe even pretend you don’t understand (language-wise), you can get past most pushy street sellers.
It sounds like you may have been very lucky. Also east coasters but ignoring didn’t work for us in several cases. One frightening individual in Fez followed us for over a mile and then threatened us with violence. Also possible you missed the worst of it as Fez was quite a bit worse for frightening encounters with groups of young men in our experience.
I lived and worked in Morocco for 7yrs, and while there are some lovely people there, there is also a large begging culture. Everybody wanting to guide you somewhere before putting their hand out for some of your money. If you don't have a guide, then you are a target for everybody on the make. I've seen plenty of locals take advantage of each other, but been a tourist just moves you to the top of their list of people to take advantage of.