Famous Tourist Attractions in Morocco, and their Entrance Fees

Welcome to the Destination Morocco podcast, the show that takes you away to the beautiful country of Morocco. I am your host, azadeen Al-Mustakim. In each episode, we explore Moroccan culture, history, attractions and activities real and practical information coming from experienced travelers and native Moroccans like myself. And now let's go exploring.

Welcome back to another episode of Destination Morocco podcast. In today's episode we have Sam from Headquarters in Morocco. We're going to be talking about the things, the must see places when you visit Morocco, and we have different cities and we have the top 5 attractions or places to see in Morocco and Sam is going to go through all of them and explain to us and also how much time it's probably going to take to visit all of them maybe one day, maybe two days, maybe three days and also if there's any entrance fees included in those visits. So, sam, welcome back.

Thank you very much, azadeen, and my pleasure to be with you again. Thank you very much.

You're very welcome, so we're going to start with Marrakesh. It's a beautiful city. It's a must see when you have your itinerary formal local. Definitely it's a very popular destination. What are the most places that you would recommend, sam, for people to visit when they are staying in Marrakesh and visiting Marrakesh?

So people visiting Marrakesh, I highly recommend, if you have one day, for example, I recommend to visit first Bahia Palace, majoreal Gardens and Jamal Fina Square. If you have two days, you can do Majoreal Gardens, bahia Palace, the Koranik School, ben Yusef, the Kutubiya Mosque and also Jamal Fina Square. We will talk about Majoreal Gardens. This is a beautiful botanic gardens with a very interesting museum to visit. It's called Berber Museum Art Gallery. It's created by Eves Saint Laurent and it's opened three years ago for the visitors. When you go to Bahia Palace, it's a beautiful, one of the beautiful places in Morocco. It's built in the 19th century by the visitor Bahmed. And the Jamal Fina Square, of course, it's the life-hearts of Marrakesh. The Kutubiya Mosque is a 12th century mosque. Unfortunately, we can't visit it from inside, only from outside. You can so visit and take pictures from outside. When it comes to the Koranik School, ben Yusef, it's a 15th century madrasa and mosque as well, with a beautiful and amazing architecture. It's gathering beautiful, beautiful, beautiful architectures of Moroccan art and decoration.

That's excellent, sam. So when we did the Morocco tour, obviously we did Marrakesh. We stayed in Marrakesh for quite some time and for us to really explore Marrakesh, we were very lucky. We spent, I would say, about one week to ten days, rightfully so, because we had to film a lot of things. And it stops the Jamal Fina Square. It is definitely popular, but also we didn't put the market or the souks, but it's really included because it's right there next to it. So when we say Jamal Fina Square, the Souk and marketers are included in that visit. So just to clarify that, the next stop that we have is Isawar, which is a small coastal city. It's very beautiful. It has its own culture, its own vibe. What can you tell us about Isawar? What can you tell us about the places to visit in Isawar and also, just like you mentioned, the length of time that it would take to do Isawar? Also, I forgot to ask about entrance fees in Marrakesh, and we will ask the same thing for each city moving forward, if there's any entrance fees.

Sure For Marrakesh, we have entrance fees for Bahia Palace, around 70 dirhams equivalents of $8, around $8, depends $7, $8, and for Marjoryl Gardens it's $15, 150 dirhams and for Madrasa, ben Yusuf is 70 dirhams as well, and Jamal Fina Square and Dukutu-Biyamosk is free. Okay.

Okay, perfect. So what can you tell us about Isawar? What are the best places to visit Isawar?

So Isawar is a beautiful, as you say, the beautiful coastal city in Morocco dated back to the 5th century before Greece, discovered by the Phoenicians when they are trading in Morocco. When you are in Isawar, you can visit it for one day, for example, just taking a day trip from Marrakesh. So you start from the port, you visit Skala Dupur, then the Medina of Isawar, which is a picturesque Medina and fall of calories, and the color, the blue Marjoryl color, is just amazing. Then you visit the Mellah. The Mellah or the Jewish quarter. Then from there you move to visit the Bait Dakira or the Jewish museum Bait Dakira. Then you have a walk through the small alleys of Isawar to reach the Bab du Qala. Bab du Qala is one of the main beautiful gates of Isawar. Now are there?

any fees or entrance fees involved in the visits for Isawar.

No, there is no fees. Before this was Skala Dupur the visited, but right now it's free for everybody to visit.

Okay, perfect. So now you said the color, but also there's the color in Marrakesh, not?

to get confused.

So this is the gate of the color in Marrakesh.

Okay, perfect, so the next stop that we have. I know we have talked about this many, many times and we're going to have an episode dedicated specifically to Kazablanca, and we have Khalil with us at that time probably a couple of months. Hopefully we'll have it ready. What are the most popular places to visit in Kazablanca? I know the mosque is definitely Hassan II mosque is on top of the list, but what else can they see, for example, in Kazablanca? Also, how much time will you take them to visit Kazablanca completely? And again, any entrance fees that they should be wearing?

Yeah, sure, as you know, Kazablanca is the economic capital of Morocco and the largest city in Morocco. So one of the main attractions, as you said, in Kazablanca, and the landmark of Kazablanca, is the Hassan II mosque. The entrance fee for this mosque is 130, 130 dirhams, it's equivalent to $13. So when you are in Kazablanca, by the way, you can do it in one day. One day is enough to explore the city. For example, if you have just one day in Kazablanca, you can visit the Habos quarter it's called the Maghzen quarter, or the old residence of the French and the sultans during the French colonial Morocco. You can visit the church Notre Dame de Lourdes in Kazablanca. You can visit the Kurnish in Dieppe as well. Those are the most interesting landmarks and the places to visit in Kazablanca, beside the Moroccan Judaism Museum, which is a gallery or museum for the Jews of Morocco, and discovering items and many beautiful pictures. And that is the memory of the Jews in Morocco and the interest for the history of the culture is 50 dear homes, equivalent to five dollars.

OK, the next question that I have. I'm going to go back to Hassan the Second Master, because when we did Hassan the Second Master, it definitely took us quite some time. It's really abnormal to take that length of time. For us it was about two hours, two hours and a half, because we were doing a lot of things. Now, normally, how much time does the Hassan the Second Master visit take?

Yeah, Hassan's Second Master take between 30 minutes to 45 minutes to visit.

Yes, OK. Now the other question that I have is I saw the museum, so people can. You can just be outside and it's free. You can take pictures, you can visit, you can walk around, which is perfectly fine, but then when you go and pay, there are different times for visitation and the visitation changes between winter and summer.

I was going to explain that to the audience in the view. Yeah, sure, sure, this is a very, very, very good question. For summertime we have four visits. The first one starts from nine, we have another one at 10 am, we have another one at 11 am and they have another one at 3 pm. Then during winter time there is only two in the morning. There is one at 9 am and there is the second one at 10 am and there is the third one at 2 pm After the second prior of the day.

Yeah, ok, Now, on Friday, it's a religious holiday for us. Is the time still the same in the winter time and summer time?

No, yes, this is a very good question During the Friday in winter time they have only two visits in the morning. Yes, one nine. So no visits in the afternoon. No visits in the afternoon, there is only one in the morning and nine, and there is the second one at 10 am in the morning, so 9 am 10 am Now.

the other question is how can people find local guides for the mosque there is?

local guides in front of the mosque. So when you buy your tickets there is local guides there. We have, for example, Khalil, which is an amazing guide and very knowledgeable guide. But if you need a guide, you take the guide from the office. There is an office for guides there, just next to the place where you buy tickets, so you can hire a guide there to visit the mosque. Okay, perfect.

So basically, what you're saying is you don't need to prearrange it, or you can if you want, but when you go you can hire a local guide for the mosque on the spot. So there's not an issue. Okay, perfect. So now we move from Kazablanca. Obviously, we're going to go to the next stop, which is Robots, which is one of the imperial cities, and if you can tell us a little bit of information about Robots, if you would, and also the places to see, the attractions to visit Again in Robots, the leather farm can people do it in one day? Can they do it in two days? And also any entrance fees that are involved that people need to pay to visit one side versus the other.

Yes, robots is the capital of Morocco, the actual capital of Morocco, the Robots, as you say, is the imperial city of Morocco. It's the third one. If we get back to the history. There is Fes, deir, marrakesh and Robots the animicness. Okay, so in Robots you can do the city tour of Robots in one day and you can split it to two days, because there is a lot of things to see in Robots, including, for example, you can see the Hassan Tower, which is an unfinished mosque, unfortunately from the Al-Mu'had dynasty era. Then next to it, just beside, you have Muhammad V and Mausoleum which includes the terms of Muhammad V, his son, hassan, his son and his second son, moli Abdullah. Then, from Hassan, you move to Udayas-Kasbah Udayas-Kasbah also, we talk about a beautiful Kasbah, dated back to the 12th century as well, which is built by the same dynasty, al-mu'had dynasty. By the way, there is no entrance fees in Robots, Unlike the other cities. There is no entrance fees to get to the monuments of Robots. There is another interesting museum in Robots, which is the Museum of Art Contemporan of Robots, which is a beautiful gallery People or tourists can visit and it's gathering all the photos from different dynasties of Morocco. Yeah, there is also the Archaeological Museum of Morocco where they put all the archaeological stuff they found, for example, in the volubilis, in the air food, in the telsines, all the stuff they put there in that archaeological gallery, including some parts of the dinosaurs.

Very interesting.

So it's very interesting to visit all these historical monuments in Robots.

That's amazing. Thank you so much for sharing, sam, but I do have a quick question maybe a couple of them about the Muhammad V Mosul. It's very tricky because sometimes there's delegations, sometimes there's government officials, sometimes there's visits from other countries and it's close to the public. So can you tell us, are there any specific times for the visitation, especially on Friday? The hours does it change? Does it not change? How does it work?

Sure, for the Muhammad V Mosul it depends. For example, sometimes without warnings, there is some visits and when you come there they just close all the area. During Friday's, especially during the praying time, it's not allowed to visit. So just to add to what they said about Rabat, for example, the Muhammad V Mosul is closed. There is a necropolis, kasbah, which is called Kasbah Salah, or many people Shilla, or Shilla the same name, which is back to the Roman time, even built before Volubilis. Yes, it's under restoration right now. Will be open to the public by January 2024.

Yes, 2024, that's amazing. Now I just want to add a little bit to what you have been saying, sam. For us we are very familiar with the prayer time the first one, second, third, fourth and fifth, but a lot of people that have visited in Morocco may not be so. When we say Friday after the main prayer the main prayer, just to give you an idea in terms of time, it can be between, depending the winter and summertime, it fluctuates, but sometimes it's between 12.30 pm to probably 2.30 pm and it just fluctuates depending on winter or it's summer. Then sometimes they add an hour, sometimes they deduct an hour, but that's basically what it is. So if you want to visit it, it's best to do it in the morning. Luckily for us, we were in the afternoon. I don't really remember the exact day, but it was a lot of fun for us.

Absolutely, that's right Now.

The next question that I have and, as you can see, we're moving as in an itinerary we did Marrakesh, we did Sawerah, we did Kaza'banaka. So the way that we're doing this episode, it's just like we have an itinerary and we'll go into the itinerary from city to city. So the next stop is one of my favorites personal favorites is fast. There's so many things that can be said about fast. What can you tell us about fast, please, sam? And also the same thing how much is it going to cost if there's any entrance fees? And also, what are the top five destinations?

or attractions. Fes is just an amazing city and you can spend one day, two days, three days, even a week, in Fes, still exploring the labyrinth city. When we talk about Fes, we talk about the first imperial city in Morocco, back to the 9th century, founded by the Idrisid dynasty the first, and it has a capital by many dynasties, including the Al-Mu'had, the Al-Murabids and the Sadis, and also Al-Awit. So all of them, they took Fes as capital just for a short period, a far-along period. So when we go to Fes, first of all we talk about the Teneriz of Fes. Teneriz of Fes is free admission. It's the largest Teneriz in Africa, yes, and from Teneriz, for example, you can visit the pottery or the ceramic area. If you remember, we visited that last time and we spent around half-day exploring that area. It's just unbelievable. You can see the decoration, how they make tiles, zilij, and how the guys working in the cooperatives there. It's just amazing. So first you can visit also the royal palace. Also the pottery, ceramic is free. So the royal palace of Fes is one of the visited palaces in Morocco, beside the one of Rabat. So there is the one of Rabat and the one in Fes, so you can visit Rabat from inside, by the way, and Fes from outside, only from outside the gate, from the palace. You walk through the Jewish quarter, if you remember. You walk there and see the architecture, the beautiful architecture of the quarter. From there you go to Madrasa, madrasa de Boinania. Madrasa de Boinania is the Quranic school. It's back to the 15th century. It's like the one in Marrakech, but more beautiful than one of Marrakech. And for the fees to the Madrasa it's only 10 dirhams, one dollar, just to tell the audience, fes, when the minister of culture they are, raised the entrance fees of the monuments. Fes, they didn't, because the people of Fes they don't want. They say, just keep it as it is. One dollar, two dollars, that's it. So from Madrasa, boinania, you go to Najarin, najarin Museum. From Najarin Museum is only one dollar as well. So from Najarin Museum you go to another Madrasa, which calls it. It's two dollars as entrance fees. So from there you walk through the labor entrance fees, fes, you can visit it for one day, you can split it to two days, you can split it to three days, even four days. From there you move to the panoramic view, if you remember the, the mirinid, the mirinid thumps, where you can see all the old Fes city. It's an amazing, a breathtaking view.

It is, it is. So this is really, really amazing. I know, when we spend four days in Tass, it was really not enough. So the next stop that we're going to talk about is definitely in Kness, which is a beautiful, beautiful, imperial city that's closer to Fes, but there's a little bit of similarities, a little bit of differences as well. So what can you tell us about Meknass, please?

Yes, meknass. Meknass is the fourth imperial city if we count from the, the oldest city in the new west. It's founded by Moli Ismail in the 17th century. Moli Ismail is, I think, the seventh sultan of the Alawi dynasty. He's the founder of Meknass. So when, when you are in Meknass and you want to explore Meknass, there is like five top attractions that you can see. For example, you can visit the Madrasa Buanania, which is under restoration for now, for like two years. It's like the one in Fes and the one in Marrakesh. So if you don't want to go to Fes or Marrakesh, you just stay in Meknass. You can visit this Madrasa. It's beautiful, the architecture inside is just amazing. So from there, you go to Moli Ismail, moli Ismail Mosulium it's where is the terms of Moli Ismail, moli Ismail and his wife, his favorite wife, right? You remember that time? The tiles inside and the architecture inside, the beautiful decorations, it's just breathtaking. Then from there, you go to Hriswani, which is the royal, the royal stables where Moli Ismail used to put his horses. Yes, that's right. Yeah, from there, staying in Meknass, not far from Hriswani, there is Darjam'i. Darjam'i Museum, darjam'i Museum. Unfortunately, it was a beautiful museum in the past and right now it's only the museum for the music. Yeah, for the music. It used to be that, a beautiful music for Moroccan art, and right now they change it only for music instruments and some stuff. So there is people that are interested in the museum. This is the best place to visit. From there you go to Bab Le Mansour. Bab Le Mansour is the gate and the symbol of meekness. It's a very big and amazing gate. The architecture there is just amazing. I can just imagine how the people I don't know exactly how much time it took the people to build that gate, but it's just amazing.

It is. It's a bit picking really.

To add for the entrance fees of meekness Moulaysmail Mouzolium is free, the Royal Stables is $7. The Madrasah of Bo'anania, as well, is $7. And the Darjem Mouzium is $5, equivalent to 50 dirhams. And for the gate the main gate of meekness is free to visit.

Yeah, because it's right there. It's like by downtown or a square similar to. Jamal in a square but on a smaller scale. It's a beautiful location. The area is just amazing. I do remember our time in meekness. We had a really good time, absolutely Okay, awesome. So can everything be done in one day today?

So yes, meekness, you can do it in one day. One day is enough to visit one day, that's right.

Okay, perfect. So now the next stop that we're going to have, as you can see, we're moving from the north. Now we're going to be going towards the south, and one of the stops that we're having in the south obviously is Wazazet. What can you tell us about Wazazet and the places or attractions that you would recommend for people to visit in Wazazet, please?

Wazazet is the gateway to the desert. Thank you very much for this question as well, because I like Wazazet and they like the southern Morocco. It's not my village where I was born, but I like it because the architecture there, the Kasbahs there, is just unbelievable. So in Wazazet you can see the Kasbahs mostly. You can see, for example, the Kasbah Tawir. It's in the center of Wazazet. The age of the Kasbah there is different stories about it but it's like four centuries ago. It's about four centuries ago by the Pasha, the Hamil Glawi. It used to be his palace during his period ruling this southern Morocco. So in Wazazet as well you can see the Kasbah Ait ibn Hattu. It's 27 kilometers from Wazazet, kasbah yes. Kasbah Ait ibn Hattu. As you see, it's very famous worldwide. It's a world heritage site and it's a place where many international and famous movies were filmed, including Gladiator, including Games of Thrones, including the Mommy, many other movies. So as well, not far from Wazazet, you see the Kasbah Amridel in the square Waziz. It's only 25 kilometers from Wazazet. Kasbah Amridel is a 17 Kasbah. Many movies as well, especially Moroccan movies, are there. It's just amazing. Kasbah is beautiful from outside and from inside, especially from outside. The architecture and the verbal designs from outside is worth visiting. In Wazazet as well, you can see the cinemas to use, cinemas to use, atlas to use, or KLA, cla Studios in Wazazet where many, as I said, many movies took place. Wazazet is called the Hollywood of Africa due to a huge of movies, more than 150 movies filmed in this area, including Games of Thrones. As they say, the studio of Games of Thrones is the Atlas Studio. You can visit it when you are at Wazazet as well. So for the entrance fee is to do Kasbah Kasbah Tauret is $7. $7. Kasbah Amridel is $2. Twini-dirham is equivalent to $2. Cinemas to use is $8. It's a little bit expensive. By the way, for the Kasbah Ait ibn Haddu, ait ibn Haddu is free, so it's free to visit. You need a local guide, by the way, to visit the Kasbah Ait ibn Haddu, because you need to walk.

It makes sense because sometimes, when we did the visit last time, it was really, really windy. So I highly recommend the local guide, just to be on the safe side, because there's a lot of history. You can climb up and you can see, but if you don't know the ins and outs and the history, you're really missing out. So definitely a local guide brings a lot of value as well. So we're going to move from Wazazet and now we're going to go to Merzouga. That's where we head, to the greater Merzouga area, which is the desert in Sahara. So what can you tell us about Merzouga and the surrounding areas in terms of attractions or recommendations for people to visit?

Merzouga is my favorite desert to visit in Morocco. There are other deserts, for example Erkşegaga. There are other parts of Western Sahara, moroccan Western Sahara. When you are in Merzouga, I suggest you to visit the capital of the capital. There is a beautiful waziz there. It's the capital of the fossils. If you are interested in fossils, for example, this is the best place. There is also the Khattarat, which is you will explain to Mr Azdim.

Yes, khattarat means in the old days, because of the heat, they have a different irrigation system, so they dig holes in the ground. They look like wells but they are empty. But there's many different wells, let's say, maybe a couple of hundred yards away from each other, and it goes for miles and miles. There's a pathway that it's set up for the water to pass through. That way it doesn't get evaporated. It's amazing. That's how a lot of people get their water, by the way, and you can see miles and miles of the water coming from under the sand dunes and it gets to the village and that water is worth it. Yes, it's amazing, it is incredible, the area that we have visited, just to give the audience an idea. There's still water in this drinking water and it's coming from under the sand dunes. There's no sand in it. That's how it's filtered. It's very natural and it tastes really good, very healthy. It did not rain for about six years, but there's still water coming through those sand dunes, so it's just incredible. A few days ago last week it rained quite a bit in that area, so they're really really, really old water they can get. But I just want to add to what Sam was saying. Also, in terms of the distance between Alfords and Mirzuga, the airport is the closest city or village, if you would to the desert, if you can be camping or having a camp in Mirzuga Desert. So, sam, if you would please again, just continue.

So the airport has accommodations and luxury hotels. There is like five-stars, four-stars luxury accommodations in the airport as well. So, moving from the airport, we go to Rizani. Rizani used to be the capital of Morocco during the Alawid dynasty, because it's the start of the dynasty that is running in Morocco right now from the 17th century. So at Rizani there is also the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Sharif, the founder of the dynasty. This is the only landmark that you can visit there and it's free to visit. So, moving from Rizani to Mirzuga dunes, there is only 46 kilometers. It takes half an hour to 40 minutes to get there. So in Mirzuga, mirzuga is just unbelievable, it's incredible. There is so many many things and activities to do in Mirzuga, including like come ride quad bike, camping, spending a night in the luxury desert camp, visit the nomads, visit the mines the mines, for example. Also next to Mirzuga, there is Hasil Biyat, if you remember. As we visited Hasil Biyat, as you explained right now, there is underground water coming from the sand, since it's filtered. It's just incredible. It is very tasty, so you can drink it and it's healthy. So Mirzuga we mentioned the Rizani, we mentioned the air food In Merzuga. You will need more than one day to explore Merzuga, including the village as well. Sorry, khmaliyah. If you remember, we visited the Khmaliyah village, the village of Gnawas. They have a special spiritual music so you can spend just a half day listening to their music. It's just amazing, and the hospitality there is just incredible. The people there is just incredible. So this is it for Merzuga. As I said, you can do it one day, two days, even more, four days or three days.

Okay, a lot of people normally spend one night, maybe a day and a half, in Merzuga, but I can actually spend easily being bored for days, five days in Merzuga. There's so much stuff to do it's not just the dunes, it's not just the co-advice. There's so much stuff you can do. Like you said, we did, our members stop in the village, khmaliyah, and I remember maybe this is for another episode when we talk about Gnawa music. So when the Gnawa music it's not originally from Morocco but it came from the sub-Saharan countries and it came in through the slaves. And the slaves came to Morocco through the Europeans, from Mait Africa moving north. So when they got to Morocco, that's one part of the original culture of the Gnawa music. Then the other ones, they came through ships. They stopped in Isawia. So when we talk about Gnawa music there's two different varieties and variants of it. They are both original but they are also different and no one can say, well, this is the original or that is the original. But they share a lot of similarities and they are 99% the same. Similar. The one in Isawia obviously developed quite a bit. But then the Khmaliyah village for me it was a breathtaking experience. It was amazing because I did not even know that it existed. I only thought that Gnawa music you know from Sawera. So I learned so much from their experience. I learned so much from Mohammed, which is the Jelanda we did the podcast episode with and we filmed everything with and the culture, their culture, their heritage is just beyond incredible. They have their own city. Then they have their own music festival every year in August. It's really amazing to experience it. I remember there's three different groups in Khmaliyah that do Gnawa music, and the one we talked to is definitely one of them. They're super nice people.

I totally agree, totally agree with you.

So the next stop that we're going to talk about, sam, if you would please, is the canyons in Morocco. A lot of people, when you say canyons, they don't think that Morocco has canyons. It's just Morocco is extremely diverse when it comes to canyons. They tell us a little bit about the canyons, the different canyons that are in Morocco, and how to prepare. I know some people they lack the trekking and it can be easy. In some cases it can be probably difficult. So what can you tell us?

please. So, talking about the southern Morocco, we can pass by without visiting the canyons or the gorges. We start from two draw gorges. In two draw gorges, there is the Greek canyons in Morocco and next to it there is like two draw ases. So you can spend one day, two days or three days just working through the canyons and the gorges. It's free to visit, no entrance fees, not far. There is like an hour and 20 minutes drive. You reach the deadest gorges or the deadest canyons. The deadest canyons is just unbelievable. The road, the landscapes and the scenery is just breathtaking and it's an amazing experience. You can stay there for one day, four to days, four to days, four to days as well in the gorges and you still need to discover more and more about this area. From the canyons, there is the canyons of Middalt. All of them two draw and they are in the range of high Atlas mountains. Middalt is in the middle Atlas mountains. The canyons in Middalt is called canyons of Jaffa and it's worth visiting. The working through those gorges is just amazing and the unforgettable experience, especially for the people they were. They're looking for working tours, hiking or trekking. This is the best place to do it. Also, there is the Mssmirir Mssmirir gorges. They are the top of the high Atlas mountains with an altitude of 2,200 meters, and the gorges there is a breathtaking. I showed you the photos last time. It's just unbelievable. I say they're like just staring at all those canyons is unbelievable.

Yeah, it is amazing, for sure. And also, just to point Middalt, middalt is a really major stop. I mean, those are all incredible stops, but I'm talking specifically about Middalt. The reason is because when we do itineraries, when we do them, let's say, from fast, going to the desert, middalt is always the stop. That's where we normally we would recommend. That's when you do the stop it breaks the 10-hour drive or 8-hour drive and stuff like that. So Middalt is where you need to be staying overnight, just to add another day and also to relax for a little bit. Then it gives you between Middalt and the desert is about four and a half hours, maybe five, depending on the stops. Then you go through the gorges and stuff like that. So the next stop that we have, sam, is basically Tangier. We're going all the way to the north. We should have had Tangier earlier, but so Tangier, what are the best stops for Tangier?

Tangier is the gate to Morocco and the bride of the north of Morocco. It's one of the beautiful cities in northern Morocco, besides Shifshawen and Tituan. So when you are in Tangier you can spend one day exploring Tangier. I think one day is not enough because of the distance between the attractions in Tangier and in Tangier, when you drive, you drive through the hills and you come down again. It's not a flat city it's built on the hills, so in Tangier you can visit the Capspartal. Capspartal is the meeting of Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. There is a beautiful lighthouse there where you can take amazing pictures over the sea and sometimes when you go there, when it's clear, there is no fog, you can see the Gibraltar and Spain Al-Husayrat from that area.

When you said, the lighthouse, the lighthouse. You have to pay a fee.

Yeah, sure for the lighthouse, you have to pay 20 dirhams. 20 dirhams equivalent to $2 per person if you want to go up to the lighthouse. That's right. For Erkulis caves, erkulis is not far from the Capspartal. There is Erkulis caves, erkulis caves. There is many stories about those caves. We don't know exactly which is the real story and back to what time and which century, because the Bokseflos tree telling many stories about this and this and this. So it's a beautiful place where you can spend time and we can visit, take pictures as well. The entrance fees for Erkulis caves is $5 per person. So, moving, they are all on the ocean, on the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean. So, moving to the Medina of Tangier, there is the old Medina, or the Kasbah, where the Kasbah of Tangier overlooks all the city and the Kurnish of Tangier, and the new part, which is called Tanjel Jadida, or the new Tangier. Yeah, and also, when you are in Tangier, don't forget to visit the American Legation, american Legation use. There is a very interesting gallery and the museum inside this amazing building.

So, as you can emphasize on this, on this legation as well, the information is about this building, yeah this building is the only American property that it sells in the United States and it was gifted to the United States by the Sultan himself at that time. And also Morocco was the first country that recognized the independence of the United States of America. So we have an incredible relationship with the US since 18th century and so forth. So also I want to add something to Erkulis caves. You know, when we visited it was summertime, but it was always really really crowded. So just give yourself a little bit of time if you can get there early. Hopefully it's not in summertime, because it's really hot and it took us, I would say, maybe 30 minutes to 45 minutes to get in, but just time at rate, because there's, like Sam said, there's a lot of driving between one attraction to the other attraction. I also want to talk about the food. In Tangier. The food was just really, really incredible. We sat at a restaurant. We had some really really sweet and seafood was just incredible and then just the regular food, just the street food was just amazing experience. Now we're going to be still in the north side of Morocco and now we're going to go to. It's not really the last. There's many, many other places that we can include, but it's just not enough time in one episode to do all of them, and we left Shevchewan. The last but not the least, shevchewan is just. It's also called the blue pearl, the blue city, and it is just an amazing, amazing destination to visit and it has a lot of attractions. I believe we stayed for two or three days in Shevchewan. We had a really good time. So, sam, if you will, please let the audience know what are the top attractions that they can visit in Shevchewan and also, the same thing, are they in the entrance fees and how much time would it take them to see all Shevchewan, if possible?

Sure, sure. So we can't visit Morocco if you have time on, if you visit the northern Morocco without visiting Shevchewan. Some people they say is it worth to visit? Yes, it's an amazing, beautiful, small city nestled in the mountains, the reef mountains of Morocco. So when you are in Shevchewan, if you want to explore all the city and the outskirts of the city, you will need more than one day. If you want only to explore Shevchewan, only the city, maybe one day is enough. In Shevchewan you will visit Otal-Hmam. Otal-hmam is the main square and the heart of the city. It's like Jamal-Alfina in Marrakech. Also, you can visit the Kasbah, the Kasbah, or the mosque. It used to be the mosque in the past and now transformed to Kasbah. There is a gallery inside and the museum inside the Kasbah. So the entrance fees for the Kasbah is two dollars for tourists. In Shevchewan as well, you can visit Raslimah, the source of the water. If you remember last time, as in, we visited this place. It gives you another look of the Shevchewan city. So if you use Instagram, I recommend you to visit Shevchewan because you're going to take lifetime pictures there. Also in Shevchewan you can visit, like for one day trip. You can visit Akshore, where you can spend the fall day working, hiking. There is different levels of freaking. You can just take it from easy to moderate to challenge. And there is the waterfalls as well. There is a big dam in French called Baraj it's the same name. There is a restaurant before you get to the Akshore waterfalls. There is many restaurants there where you can enjoy lunch after hiking visiting the area. So that's all about Shevchewan. So one day to two days to three days is enough in Shevchewan.

I would like to add some more to Akshore. We visited Akshore and I have mixed feelings about it in terms of difficulties, in terms of trekking. We had an amazing local guide, but there was a group of us, different ages, different health status. I mean, I have a knee issue. My knee hurts, my ankle hurts, so I can walk for a little bit, but doing something like we did in Shevchewan in Akshore, I would not recommend it. So there's three different types of Trek or trails, if you would, to get to the destination, the main destination they call it Gates of the Gods, which is an amazing, amazing area. So I would, you know it's. It's very difficult. It took us about over an hour to get to the location because of our movement we were kind of slow, but an hour and a half probably to get to the bridge. It was worth it, but for a lot of people it is dangerous. So if you're going to go to Akshore, I would say stay on the first layer of Akshore, which is, you'll see it. You'll see this coffee shop set up, you'll see there's chairs, there's tables, inside the water, just like Sam said, there's a little bit of a damp, there's plenty of water and you can swim, you can do a lot of things and have fun, but you're staying away from the danger. We've seen areas where the locals they jump from, you know, five, six meters high into into the water and it can be very dangerous. But the danger for me was that the slip in the rocks. You know, moving through the water some areas are a lot more slippery than others. It just was very difficult for me to move around. So I'm thinking, if somebody has, you know, mobility issues, that I do, this is not a good shade for them. They can still enjoy Akshore. It's it's. The weather was beautiful, the drive was just incredible, the reef mountains they're very different than the Atlas mountains and everything was just incredible. So you can still have a lot of fun, but just don't go all the way now. This is one way to explore it. Then this is one of the easiest way and in terms of short time, there's two other ways that you can explore it, but it takes a hike in the. It'll take you the whole day six hours to get to the location, then six hours back, then another one, three hours one way, then another three hours back. So the one we did was the quickest, but it was also the most difficult. Also, if you were to do it, the weekend may be the best time to go, because it gets really, really crowded. Now, if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday, just try to go early. It's best to do it early because around 11, 12, 1 pm to pm, it looks like a madhouse. It just it looks very better crowded. So, sam, as we're getting closer to the end of this episode, there's so much to see and explore. But again, we know a lot of travelers. They maybe have one week or eight days, 10 days, so we try to maximize everything and those the time that they have for their visit. So that's why we recommend, when going to Morocco, you know we straight into, we can do the north side, we can do the south side, you can book with us. We take care of everything for you, from A to Z, including car driver, accommodations, attractions, experiences, okay. So this this concludes our episode today, but also I want to talk about the next episode. Sam, I want you to give the listeners, the audience, an update on a separate episode about your visit to the mountains. I know we, we have collected some funds. I know you have been there with you know delivering the relief from Moroccan earthquake. How was that experience for you?

so honestly, I can't describe it. I can't describe how the people are happy with the help we provided them and the support we gave them during this period of relief are after the earthquake and from here I want to thank everybody who is supported, who is donated to support the locals in the villages during this period of time, and thank you very much thank you the villages, we donated the people, we we reached some villages which is unreachable by the road and we walked for two hours, even four hours, to reach those people and they are really grateful. Thank you very much, really thank you very much, for everything thank you. Thank you, sam so it's emotional, it's emotional thank you for listening yeah, really emotional, yeah, oh 100.

Yeah, yeah, sam, thank you so much for being with us today. You really appreciate everything you do for us as a company, for us as a community and as a team.

So thank you very much thank you so much welcome. Thank you very much, thank you, thank you.