Getting Off the Tourist Path in Morocco. Live Q&A

DM Live Q&A #8: Getting Off the Tourist Path

TED: [00:00:00] Okay. Well, we're going to have some fun today. So, we thought we'd focus today's session on what we're calling essentially lesser known sites in Morocco, getting off the tourist path type thing. Um, yeah, people get, send us questions about this from time to time. Well, What else can I see?

Maybe they've already been, or maybe, you know, they want to see some of the famous, uh, things to see as you do, but maybe they want to try to see something [00:01:00] else, or get off where there's not quite as many of the crowds, and, uh, maybe be getting the chance to see something that other people haven't seen or don't get to see as much, if that's the type of, like, traveler that you are.

And the great thing, of course, with your tours are very customizable. People can easily ask to, you know, add a different kind of attraction. And a bit of it depends on logistics. I think, you know, how far you might have to drive and how it fits in, but a lot is certainly possible. And what we're going to do today is a little bit of a combination of some of the things that Some ideas you guys will share, things you can see if you're already in a city, so if you're in Fez, Rabat, Marrakech.

And the point with that being that, that's a bit easier, you know, to maybe go and see a museum for an hour or two. It's not a long drive, right? You can probably squeeze that in. But we'll also talk about some places that are further out, further out in the countryside. in nature, mountains and stuff like that.

That would take a little bit more organization for sure, but I'm sure you guys can integrate that at least with enough, uh, you know, notice and planning. [00:02:00] So it's really a chance for our listeners and people to start making lists and come back to you guys with, yeah, here's some ideas. I heard it on that show that you guys did, and I'd like to go and check that out.

So that's what we're going to focus on today.

AZDEAN: Absolutely.

TED: Sounds good. Um, now we're going to do some fun screen sharing here too to help us, uh, navigate. So let me pull this up. So these are our list of lesser known sites to visit in Morocco. Uh, what else can we do here? Oh, nice little banner. There we go. I mean, we're going to start with the north, then start moving south.

So the north, well, you can see, as you can see Fez around that area, I think Chefchaouen, um, then heading south Rabat down towards Marrakech and out to Merzouga, and that's kind of itinerary that will generally follow the route. And we'll try to pull up some maps here as well and, uh, find some of these places.

So this is the point where I start to defer, of course, to you guys, cause you're the [00:03:00] experts. So you gave us this list and you can explain what some of these places are. So if we're in the north. Uh, I think you mentioned this maybe on an episode or two, but the actual waterfalls, can you tell us a bit about what that is and where it is?

Hmm.

AZDEAN: so drive in the reef inside the, the Rif Mountains. It's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful site and it's really, really, uh, very scenic drive. Uh, the Rif Mountains, they, they don't look nothing like the Atlas Mountains.

They are very beautiful, really, really nice. And then the Akchour Waterfalls, um, it's, it's, it's a big site. It's a really, really, really big site. And it has parts, or if you would, portions. So, uh, for a lot of people, um, like this one, the one you're showing, this is very easy.

TED: Hmm.

AZDEAN: It's the hike is not really that hard.

It's [00:04:00] not difficult and most people can enjoy it. But then there's a little bit of rocky, a little bit more dangerous. Uh, or you need to have a lot more experience because those rocks, they can be slippery sometimes and you have to have, uh, So this is what you're showin right here on the left hand side.

It's really, really nice, and this is the first part. You can, you can do it. Anybody can do it. They can come in here, they can enjoy it. But then for the, the, the thrill seekers, um, you know, they, they wanna go see the, the, the God's Gates, which is the last, uh, part of it. part, uh, or the last destination if you were in the, in the waterfalls, um, which is, it's, it's about an hour and a half hike.

It's, it's, uh, it's very tricky, a little bit dangerous, not recommended for everybody. Um, and this is one of the ways to do it. Um, this is the short way to do it. The other, the other way to do it is it's a three to four hour hike, uh, and you go on the back end of it. And, um, [00:05:00] the hike is not difficult, but it's lengthy.

So it's, it's going to take you some time to get to it. It is definitely worth it. Um, and definitely recommended, but it just depends on who's going, who's traveling. If it's youngsters, if it's teenagers, people in their twenties, thirties, forties, then when you look at the fifties and above, then you really, really have to, to proceed with caution because it can be really dangerous.

And that's what we noticed when we, when we visited Akshour. Uh, we went all the way to, to, to the God's Gate. Imran was with us and his eight year old kid. And it was challenging. It was even challenging for me, uh, you know, to walk through those, those, those walks. And, uh, I've seen some kids, you know, 18, 20, they just, they fly.

I mean, it's just like, wow, it must be nice. But for me, it was, it was a bit challenging. So

TED: Is it a lot of uphill and up and down and

AZDEAN: yeah, yeah, there's, there's definitely uphill. Yes. Yeah. Uphill, downhill. [00:06:00] Um, and, uh, there's no restrooms. So just, uh, prepare. So

SAM: Yep.

TED: So this gives you a sense of where it is. You can see Chefchaouen's here. How far is that outside of Chefchaouen then?

AZDEAN: I would say about an hour, 15 minutes.

SAM: fifteen minutes drive, yep, so,

TED: if people wanted to go and a lot of your tours, you stay overnight in Chefchaouen. So maybe they could request to do that for, I guess it depends how much hiking they want to do. Is half a day enough? Do you need like a full day?

AZDEAN: Oh, you definitely need a full day, Ted. Um, but also I want to ask Sam, um, you know, for his recommendations as well.

SAM: Yeah, and I want to add, because many people, they just stay, for example, for two nights or spend two days in Shefchaouen. In Shefchaouen, you can do it, like, for a half day. So, if you arrive in the afternoon, you can do Shefchaouen. Uh, the city tour of Shefchaouen, it takes, like, between two to three hours, more than enough to explore Shefchaouen.

Then the rest of the day, the next day, for example, you don't need to stay in Chefchaouen for a full day doing nothing. So I suggest to go to Akchour  [00:07:00] Waterfalls and it's amazing, especially for, as I still mentioned, for sports people, for example, for, um, like, uh, and the 50s, for example, they can just, uh, walk to reach the bridge because there is a natural bridge on the top of the, of the waterfalls where you can enjoy an amazing and breathtaking view, uh, from, from the, from the, above the bridge.

TED: Interesting.

AZDEAN: Yeah. And that's the exact same thing we did. Uh, we did two days. We did a city tour, but the thing that I have to add, you know, Chefchaouen during the day is very different than the night. So you really have to see Shefchaouen by night as well. And that's why we, we were very lucky. Um, so we, a lot of memories, we made a lot of memories.

I mean, I still remember, you know, there you go. That's the God's bridge. When we, we stopped. You know, we, we had some snails. It sounds kind of yucky, but that's, you know, in our culture, it's snails that are really, really popular. So, and for us, it was just, you know, [00:08:00] childhood memories and that's, you know, we, we did so many stops.

The street food was incredible. Uh, we stopped at the guy with, you know, the crepes, if you remember, with the bananas.

SAM: Yes. Yeah.

AZDEAN: it was, it was a lot of fun.

SAM: Yeah. Amazing. That's totally different than the day. Yeah.

AZDEAN: Yeah. So yeah, Chefchaouen by night is just, it's incredible. It's a fun city. It's very festive city. And I think. By coincidence, there was a music festival that we went in and we watched for a little bit, and it was, it was a lot of fun.

We filmed it as well, and it was,

SAM: Yeah. Yeah.

TED: couple more of these, uh, to see where they are. So there's Moulay Idriss Zarhoun.

AZDEAN: Yes. Moulay Idriss Zarhoun, um, it's, this is a really, really, really important religious site for, for, for Moroccans. And, uh, it's a small village in, in the hills, uh, in the outskirts of Fes. Um, Moulay Idriss Zarhoun, uh, [00:09:00] It's definitely a must see, uh, must stop. And I'll talk about it in, in, in one way. Then Sam will talk about it in, in a different way, more, more, more intricate, more, a little bit more historical.

I remember when we made the stop at Moulay Idriss Zarhoun, it's, it's, it feels, um, I'm going to just say it. It's kind of a little bit weird, but it feels like Fresno, California for me. I mean, that's the feeling that I had, you know, it was just laid back city. The food was incredible. The people were nice and it just felt like, you know, um, Like you're in a village, um, very pretty, very nice, the food was amazing, the

SAM: Yeah.

AZDEAN: of fun for us, yes,

TED: we, we didn't go there, but it's near Volubilis. And when you go to

SAM: You've been, that's right. Yeah, you've been there. Yeah.

TED: this weird kind of looking city on this hill, this mound, right? And that's it, half the distance on the side of the hill. Yeah, it's cool.

SAM: Uh, in, in green is, is the strain. The strain of Mo Mo [00:10:00] is first.

AZDEAN: the founder of us,

SAM: Yes, that's right. Yeah.

TED: It seems pretty small, isn't it? Basically, that's, that's the, the town, the city, like just on top of this hill? Or does it spread out more?

AZDEAN: yeah, it is pretty

SAM: It's very small. Yeah.

AZDEAN: yeah,

SAM: And you can drive to the top of the hill and you can stop the car. There is parking. This is the last, the last driving point, and then you can walk through the small, at least visit, for example, the screen is from outside, by the way. Except during the summertime, there is a festival of Moula Idris first, or Moula Idris Zarhan.

Or you can, for example, for the people visiting Morocco during summertime, they can enjoy the festival. There is so many things to see and to discover there. Also, this is the place where Moula Idris, when they came to Morocco from, when he escaped from the Caliphate, Umayyad Caliphate, and he moved to Morocco, this is the place where he stayed.[00:11:00]

Before he found it fast because, um, why he took this place, because of the fertile land near the IES and the top, uh, on, on the top Hills because he escaped from the, the attacks of the Umiyyah, Umiyyah dynasty at that time.

AZDEAN: Yes.

TED: Yeah, you can see that in some of these pictures, like the, I remember quite green

AZDEAN: Yeah. Yeah. The pictures, when you drive, you're going to see it on your right hand side. It is breathtaking, uh, just like this. And, and then you see the bottom of the hill. Um, you see the wildlife, you see the forest. It's just incredible the way that it sits on the top of that hill.

TED: Yeah.

AZDEAN: So it's, it's, it's definitely a must see.

So this is, this is a very popular religious site, uh, for, for Moroccans.

TED: Okay. Let's see. All right. Um, yeah, so that's, that's gotta be something that's, it's so close to Volubilis. If you're going there anywhere anyway, Meknes, you can probably stop in.[00:12:00]

SAM: 10 kilometers from, from Volubilis. Yeah,

TED: All right. And next we have, Asilah

AZDEAN: Asilah is a small coastal city, uh, built by the Portuguese. Uh, it's very laid back. Um, it, it reminds me a little bit of Issaouira, but it's different than Essaouira. Um, Essaouira seems a little bit high, if you know what I mean, than Asilah. So, uh, it's, it's, it's definitely worth it. Uh, it's very close to Tangier as well.

Um, it's a beautiful city, very laid back, relaxed. Um, you know,

SAM: So, uh, uh, I, or, uh, it's called in, in ber, it's a ber word, which ala or Israeli, which is the ACO ACOs place area, uh, in, in, in, in local language, in Berber language. Uh, by the way, it's founded 1,500 BC. [00:13:00] When they were in Morocco, they took it to place for their commerce. And then they occupied Portugal for like a century, uh, from, uh, uh, 1471 to 1580.

Uh, and then, uh, when the, when the, the dynasty of Alawit came by Muhammad ibn Abdullah, he took it back from the Portugals. And, uh, if you are interested in the galleries and you want to take amazing pictures, especially, It's, it's, it's, it's amazing, especially the galleries inside the Medina and the painted walls, especially in blue and white.

It's, yeah. Also, if you want to, for example, during the summertime, uh, for the beach there is, it's just, it's just amazing. It's very clean, small city, and you can do like a city tour in an hour to two hours, enough to, to, to do the, the, to discover the, the, the old Medina or the city of, of Azila or Asila[00:14:00]

TED: Is that a reasonable stopover then if you're coming maybe from Tangier, you're heading back south towards

SAM: it's 19 kilometers, by the way, it's 19 kilometers from Tangier. It took like 40 minutes to drive from Marrakech, yeah.

AZDEAN: also I remember last summer when, when we visited, I mean, people were extremely hospitable. Um, we were walking late at night. The streets are safe. Everywhere you go is safe. Um, people were very hospitable. We, we had some really, really good food and very nice popular restaurants. So we really had a good time.

We enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun.

TED: Okay. Well, let's see. We had some sites in Fez. Maybe we can touch on these quickly. The idea being, if you're already in Fez, right? And, uh, these could be things you could, you know, pop into for an hour or two, if that's the case. But what have we got here? There's a gardens. It looks like the Jardin Jnan Sbil.

AZDEAN: Yeah, Jardin Jnan Sbil, yeah, Fes is just, it's, it's really, really amazing city, uh, there's so many things to see, uh, so [00:15:00] when, when we said three days, four days, I mean, it's, it's, it's just, it's beyond incredible, so, uh, and this list is really short, but there's so much more to see in, in, in Fes, um, so. Some are popular, some are not popular.

Uh, but these, some of the, these are the ones that a lot of people miss. Um, you know, when they visit Fez.

SAM: That's right, because first is not like Marrakesh there is there, there is no lot of gardens, like for example, Marrakesh or, or, or, or robots for example. First, this is one of the best places where you can hang out or relax. If you have like free time, especially after the city, during the afternoon, you can go there just to, to hang out and,

AZDEAN: And it doesn't even feel like Fez.

SAM: yeah.

TED: Right. So it's here, just kind of, um, I guess the edge of the old city, essentially. Yeah.

SAM: the, um, yeah. Next the walls of the, of the old city. Yeah.

TED: Right.

AZDEAN: But also, just to [00:16:00] give people a Jnan, what does Jnan mean? Jnan means courtyard. It means garden, big garden. It means, you know, so that's what Jnan means. Greenery, you know, vegetation. So Jnan means, you know, like a big space of trees. So

TED: Okay. I see. Um, now we had Azrou , is that a city?

SAM: As

AZDEAN: yes. Azrou . Azrou  in Amazigh means rock. In my Amazigh, I'm not sure what, you know, Sam's Amazigh because I know he can go on.

SAM: No, it's same. Same as roll stone or rock.

TED: So this is a bit south of Fez.

SAM: Yes. It's um, I think one hour, one hour and, uh, 20 minutes to, uh, one hour, one hour and a half drive from fast,

AZDEAN: And also, uh, when we talk about Azrou , it's the same in a lot of the tours that we, we do, um, going from Fes to Merzouga, we [00:17:00] break in the middle, and we pass through Ifran, and then we pass through Azrou , and this is well known for those, for the, for the monkeys. So a lot of people, they just take a little break, uh, they feed the monkey, take monkeys, take pictures with them, and, and it's a really popular site, very crowded, uh, but this one is the lesser known sites, so, and it's definitely worth it.

TED: I feel you've talked about this forest too, the Cedar Forest.

SAM: that, yeah. Gorod Forest, where there is like, uh, uh, 500 old, um, cedar forest trees. And the, the, the, the wild Barbary Macaque, which is one of the monkeys. It's called Macaque, I think. Yeah. Uh, so you can meet them and feed them if you want. Yeah. This is, depends on, and you can have a horse ride, horse ride as well.

If you're interested in a horse ride, yeah.

TED: Okay. So that's good. Yeah. All these things are fairly close to Gadifran and, uh, the forest Azrou, Azrou. So, [00:18:00] I mean, maybe that's a day trip from Fez or maybe you're heading that way

AZDEAN: be.

TED: Yeah.

AZDEAN: be both.

TED: route because a lot of people, you take them on the expressway, right? But if you were to go kind of this way to Marrakech, let's say then a bit longer, but you see some things along the

AZDEAN: Yeah. When you see it here, when you look at it first, and you can see it on top, and then Ifran, and then down to the right, you'll see Midelt. So Midelt, that's where we will stop on the way to, to, to the desert. Yes. Because it's just, it's a long drive to do it in one, in, in, in one drive. So, and in Midelt, you know, on the way there's so many places that we, we stop.

Um, and this is one of them. So there's some sites that are really popular and some sites that are really unknown to the tourists But they are really popular amongst the locals. So and this is one of them. Yeah, so

TED: Um, we're straying a bit from Fez. There's a couple more things I think we wanted to possibly [00:19:00] do. Michlifen , is that, what's the story of that?

SAM: is a place, a ski station and there is a beautiful resort there which is called also Michlifen . Michlifen  resort is one of beautiful five star resorts. in, in Ifren, yeah. Ifren is, is a small, clean city and one of the expensive cities in Morocco, by the way. This is why it's called small Switzerland of Morocco. Yeah, because the land there is, is very expensive. Sometimes it's reached like 10, 000 for a meter square. Yeah, it's very, yeah, very, very

TED: and here's a ski resort. I see. Eh, Monkey Forest. Yeah. Okay. So that, again, it's all in that same basic area. Yeah.

SAM: if when you have, like, when you stay in France, for example, for two days, three days. Um, if you don't do, for example, you can do a day trip to make less vulnerabilities or you can do day trip to, to Chefchaouen or you can do like [00:20:00] combine off Azrou and Ifrane and come back to us in the afternoon because it's not far from, from phase.

Yeah.

TED: that's true. That's a good idea. Cause yeah, it's pretty similar, you know, Meknes, Vali Bedis around here or go down here. It's about the same distance relatively. Interesting.

SAM: And through the road there is, for example, a, a spare. There is, for example, in Raf, there is a far forest there and, uh, the villages where you can, uh, take photos, enjoy your time, and there's many stops. It's not just driving.

TED: Okay. Now let's see, we had, uh, what's the next one here? Dayat Aawwa.

SAM: Dayat Aawwa is, is, uh, a lake or dam near, um, it's, uh, the opposite road from Sefrou. If you go to, for example, you as you live as like, uh, the outside of the desert of, there is two roads. One they take you to different and another one they take [00:21:00] you to to to straw and then to, to, to diet wall.

TED: Oh, down around here.

SAM: Yes. Yeah.

AZDEAN: But also if, for example, when we talk about Sefrou, which is, this is, this is a popular destination for locals, for Moroccans, uh, for tourists, not so much, but it's, it's a very small city, uh, well known for its, um, festival, I believe, uh, uh, Cherry Festival. Uh, and then they choose a queen, which is the Queen of Cherry, uh, once a year.

But also, it's a, it's a very rich city when it comes to, to Jewish, uh, culture and heritage and, and history. Um, so, uh, again, this is really popular amongst the locals, but not in, in terms of popularity with the tourists. So, the thing that I wanted to add, To this topic that we're discussing today, when we look at, for example, the U.

S. market, when we look at, you know, uh, the itineraries that are being created, this is, uh, you can see that's, that's the, you know, those are the cherries,

TED: [00:22:00] Ah, of course, yeah.

AZDEAN: so yeah, so the best ones in Morocco are from Sprawl, and then, when we, when we look at, um, popular itineraries, Um, those, they, they don't represent not even 15 or 20 percent of the possibilities of things to do and see in Morocco, um, you know, and we'll talk a little bit more about this in details down the list, because just because one itinerary is popular and that's what everybody wants to see, but they're really, uh, leaving so much more that they can see, that they can discover for themselves.

And it's just as beautiful as, Whatever that on the itinerary is but in different parts of Morocco. So

SAM: Absolutely. Yeah. There is a hidden, hidden gems that you can discover. Uh, yeah,

TED: yeah, yeah. That's why we want to do this episode to start talking about it. We could do a further episodes too, you know, with a little more detail, some of these places, but it's a bit of an introduction here and overview.

AZDEAN: yes.[00:23:00]

TED: Uh, on that note, let's try to go quickly through Rabat because these have got. A few things here, I think within the city, you kind of get the sense there's museums, there's gardens, there's a zoo.

Is there anything particular that stands out, if you were to pick maybe one of these, uh, uh,

AZDEAN: I would, I would, I would say the gar, the gardens, because it's, when people think of Rabat, they don't think of of gardens. Um, last time we visited, we had an amazing, amazing tour experience in Rabat, but unfortunately that day the gardens were closed. I think it was a Monday and they closed on Monday. I could be wrong, but the day, uh, we just saw it through the gate, uh, it's beautiful, beautiful.

So the gardens are really not expected, uh, in the Rabat, but it's absolutely worth the visit. So, we missed out,

SAM: Yeah, there is also the, um, the archaeological, this is the gardens, yeah, near to Kasbah, the Udaya

TED: up here,

SAM: Yeah, that's right, yeah, this [00:24:00] is Udaya Kasbah from the 12th century.

TED: Right.

SAM: This is the

TED: orange trees? Oh,

SAM: yeah, yeah.

AZDEAN: yes, yeah,

TED: when we go back to the map, so, well, it's next to the Kasbah, so everything's very close together. When on the standard tour, you know, you see the Hassan Tower, the Mausoleum is over here, and then

SAM: Mausoleum,

TED: quick drive, uh, over to the Kasbah area and along the waterfront, the ocean, and there's the garden.

So that's an easy

SAM: Yeah, it's next to the Kasbah. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. For example, as you'd say, if you, uh, for example, an overnight in Rabat, you can just, for example, because most of the accommodations in Rabat is just near the Kasbah, where there is the old Medina of Rabat. So, uh, you can just, for example, after the city tour of Rabat, you can just Hang out and go to the Andalusian Gardens, for example.

Enjoy a cup of tea, for example. Overlooking the, the, the, the ocean and the Oued Bou Regreg River,

AZDEAN: yeah,

SAM: [00:25:00] there. Yeah,

TED: Yep.

SAM: River. And overlooking the Sela, or Seli, the old Medina of Rabat.

TED: right? That's over here. It says

SAM: that's right. The other

AZDEAN: yes, they're divided,

TED: over here.

SAM: yeah,

AZDEAN: they're divided by the river, yes,

TED: Okay. Yep. Uh, right. So yeah, so you can see the list there. I mean, there's a couple other museums. Um

SAM: especially Rabat Archaeological Museum. It's very interesting because most of the archaeological stuff that found in Morocco, uh, during the last century, they put it all together in that archaeological museum, including from the Romans era, from the old Berbers, uh, stuff. Especially, for example, we talk about the stuff they found in volleybillies.

They, they, they put it there. The old jars, jars from the, from the Phoenicians era, for [00:26:00] example, they are, you can find it in that, in that museum, Museum of Archaeology.

TED: I see. Yeah, I mean, well, Rabat's the capital, so it's going to have a lot of those museums and kind of national sites, right? So yeah, that's a great stop if you're interested in those kinds of things. Okay, let's see here. Well, let's keep heading south. So we've, uh, as I say, we've come from the north and Chefchaouen area, Fez, around there, Rabat.

Now we're heading towards Marrakech. So I know there's some interesting sites here, lakes and waterfalls. Lalla Takerkoust.

AZDEAN: Yeah, Lalla Takerkoust. Yes. Um, you know, all these sites that you have here, uh, they're really, really, really popular amongst the locals. Lalla Takerkoust, uh, I remember when we were kids, uh, we used to do a yearly, uh, day trips through school, uh, which is a lot of fun. The same thing with, uh, the Waterfalls Ouzoud, which is the highest.

[00:27:00] Waterfalls, I'm living in Morocco or in Africa. Um, it is a day trip as well. So, um, you know, it's maybe four and a half hours one way. So you can see that, you know, you need to live early, then do what you need to do by, you know, mid afternoon, you need to head back to Marrakech or wherever you're coming from.

So it's, uh, but it's a lot of fun. Uh, it's definitely worth it.

TED: on, the waterfalls are that far, or the lake?

AZDEAN: No,

SAM: lake. It's lake. The dam. Dam.

AZDEAN: yeah,

TED: Is that this here then

AZDEAN: Lalla Takerkoust is, yeah, is, is a dam,

TED: but it seems fairly close to Marrakech

SAM: 45 minutes drive.

AZDEAN: yeah, I was talking about the, the waterfall Ouzoud, it's farther down, so Lalla Takerkoust is a little bit closer to Marrakech, yes,

TED: Okay. Yeah, near Agafai. You could be staying at Agafai, I would think, and then stop over at this lake if you wanted,

AZDEAN: also, the, the way that we travel, you know, for example, we camp more than, than we stay in, in hotels and stuff like that.

So as kids, [00:28:00] teenagers, when we go to those sites, you know, we just, it's just us and nature. So nothing luxury, nothing. It's just, um, so, and it's a lot of

SAM: for the, yeah, for the luck you can, for example, there there is a jet ski. You can do a jet ski there, you can have a lunch on the, there is many restaurants there. At the end of the luck, you, after the luck for example, there. Exactly, there is, this is a jet ski JI ski station. There. Yeah. And the other side, there is a restaurant.

If you, you can enjoy lunch overlooking the, the, the, the dam or the lake. Uh, also you can do like, um, a booklet. It's called a booklet. For example, you can go to Lalla Takerkoust and on your way back to Marrakech, you can stop on the Agafay desert. Desert. If you want to, for example, to enjoy a car ride, for example, or a sunset in the Agafay.

TED: Yep, yep, yep, that is all pretty close. Okay. Huh. Yeah, I hadn't heard about that lake. [00:29:00] Interesting. Um, okay. That's, uh, Ouzoud Waterfalls. Maybe, I don't know if we'll be able to find this. It says it's hidden. Let's see.

AZDEAN: No, no, it's, it's, it's really, really popular. Um,

TED: Ouzoud  Falls. Okay.

AZDEAN: Yeah, it is a very popular site, destination, and you can do a day trip, or maybe two days,

TED: And that's the one you're saying is like a four hour drive from Marrakech?

SAM: Three hours, three hours, especially three hours. It's like, uh, 171 kilometers from Marrakech.

TED: oh wow.

SAM: It takes three hours drive one way, but it worth a visit.

TED: Yeah, that's beautiful.

SAM: yeah, there is also wild, wild macaques there. if you miss it in Azro, you can see it in the other side. And all the waterfalls.

AZDEAN: But in both destinations, they are thieves. Be careful.

TED: Yeah.

SAM: yeah, there is, there is, uh, there is, um, [00:30:00] an activity there in the, in the, in the waterfalls. We can do it. A boat. Boat trip.

AZDEAN: teams.

SAM: Yes. Boat trip. Yeah. Maybe you can see it somewhere. The pictures. Yeah.

TED: Well, let's take a look here. So this gives you some sense as Marrakech is over here. So there's the, the falls. I see.

SAM: It's in the, in the High Atlas Mountains range. Yeah.

TED: Right. And it's fairly close to the lake. I know that, uh, yeah, that's

AZDEAN: That that's a, that's a different one. Yeah. That's the third one. Yeah, that's the one. Yes.

TED: Right. So let's say here's the Bin Elwiden, Elwiden, Bin Elwiden Lake. Uh huh.

SAM: Yes.

AZDEAN: Bin el Ouidane.

TED: Yeah. got an episode of this. It's coming up soon when he did a live recording there. Cause you guys

AZDEAN: Yes, we did. Yes. Um, we did, we were very lucky, uh, [00:31:00] um, in the last tour that we did, um, we were supposed to stay in Bin el Ouidane, we then go to. Ouzoud Waterfalls as the last day for the tour, then go back to Marrakech. But unfortunately, when we get to Bin el Ouidane, we were just super exhausted. And, um, we couldn't do the additional day in Ouzoud, so we missed it in a way.

However, the, the stay, the experience at Bin el Ouidanewas just beyond incredible. Um, it is, we were very fortunate, we stayed at, um, I believe, Widiane Resort.

SAM: This, this is the picture. If you can go back to the pictures that, the pictures, yeah. Yeah. This is the resort. It's called

AZDEAN: a five star, five star resort. Um, the service, I mean, everything was just beyond, um, what's expected. I mean, I remember the food, the food is just, it's, everything was just above and beyond.

I [00:32:00] mean, it's, it's definitely, it is, if they say a five star, it's probably a six or seven star because everything

SAM: I I, I, I agree on that person. I, I give them seven stars. . Yes.

AZDEAN: Yes. I mean, I remember the beds. Um, even a single bed, uh, could fit four people. I mean, I've never seen any, any beds that big. This is not king. This is like, it's like too many Kings. I mean,

SAM: yeah.

AZDEAN: yeah, yes. The beds are just, wow. It's just beyond incredible.

SAM: room. It's like my room. Yeah. Overlooking the lake.

AZDEAN: Yes, the site, the view, um, and also this is where the royal family, you know, vacation sometimes when they, they go to, to this resort, but they have, they also have, uh, private villas a little bit up in the mountains.

So this is where we stayed exactly. Um, and like Sam

SAM: This was, this was my room. Yeah. Oh my

AZDEAN: I mean, I [00:33:00] mean, the guests, the management, the owner, they just, we did not expect that hospitality, to be honest with you. Um, because

SAM: Yeah.

AZDEAN: incredible. I mean, I, I, I, sometimes I get really speechless because there's no, no words to express what I really feel when it comes to the hospitality that we have received from those, you know, the front desk, the management, the restaurant, the staff, you know, it was just beyond incredible.

Um, and the place is pretty big. So they, they'll pick you up if you want to go eat, uh, they'll take you on golf carts.

TED: hmm.

AZDEAN: They have swimming pools, they have a helicopter, you can do a helicopter ride. Um, you can do boats, you can do jet skis, you can do so many things. And we were lucky enough and we did a tour.

Uh, the lake was just, was so, so nice and so beautiful, so clean. Uh,

TED: is this, uh, maybe not the biggest, it's gotta be one of the biggest lakes in Morocco.

AZDEAN: it's, it's definitely one of the [00:34:00] biggest. Um, yeah, but in terms of hospitality, this is, you know, like they say, we save the last for last. This was the, the top notch service all around. Um, so, and I'm, I'm, I'm glad we, we, we, we stayed here because,

TED: Mm hmm.

AZDEAN: beyond incredible. And we were very lucky.

I believe we sent them some, some clients that they were just amazing. over the moon. I mean, they just love the place. So these are really the gems when we talk about, you know, places that are really unknown because the road to the  Widiane, uh, hotel, to Bin el Ouidane as we say, which is the region, uh, it's not a good road.

It's kind of rocky, it's kind of hectic, a little bit challenging, but once you get to the resort, you forget everything about that road. But they're working on it, it's going to get better, and it's definitely worth it. So,

TED: like a place that might explode in popularity, you know, in the

AZDEAN: oh, for sure, for sure. Yes, for sure. This [00:35:00] place, yeah, Bin el Ouidane has always been popular for us locals, even when we were kids.

You know, back then we'd have a bicycle. So, you know, as kids, we'll, we'll take the bicycle all the way. And it's, it's, it's very challenging, but then you camp and it's, it's a lot of fun. But then as adults, and when I, when I came, you know, to, to here, it was just like, this is mind blowing. Um, so

SAM: Yeah,

AZDEAN: this is the best

SAM: all that, there is, yeah, there is, there is many activities that you can still do around. You can just hike, for example, you can just take a boat and have, um, uh, lunch on a restaurant. By the way, this, this resort, they have, uh, they have their own private restaurant. Uh, on the top hills, they are only on a place where you can take a boat and then they just, you

AZDEAN: Yes.

SAM: take the stairs, climb the stairs to see the restaurants.

Yeah. Yeah.

TED: huh? Okay. Are any of these sites close to there [00:36:00] or are we going off in a different

AZDEAN: Okay. When we talk about Ourika Valley is in the outskirts of Marrakech, it's a little bit closer to, to, to Marrakech than any other city. Most of the other destinations. Uh, it's really popular in the summertime and it gets very crowded. Normally it's, it's about an hour drive, but with the traffic, sometimes it can take you maybe.

Uh, three to four, maybe five hours one way, uh, because it gets really, really popular, especially during the summertime. And when we talk about busy, when we talk about popular, when we talk about hectic, uh, it's two different hectics. There's, there's the touristic areas where full of tourists, and then there's places like this one where they are full of locals, then Moroccans from Europe, then the tourists.

So it's kind of a buffet of a lot of people. And it gets really, really, um, hectic sometimes. Uh, it's worth the visit. Yes, yeah, a lot of it is hiking, there's a little bit of, you know, water, there's a small river that runs through the [00:37:00] mountains and there's many places that you can, you know, inside the water you can be served tea, lunch, everything.

Um, but then there's, in eight, uh, in Ourika there's other places that are next to it, you know, Sifat

SAM: is Stefad Malouf, yeah, you can visit the waterfalls. It takes like an hour walking to visit the waterfalls. It's a very interesting and a must see place. when you are there. It's called Stifatma Waterfalls, you know.

TED: hmm.

SAM: Uh, on your way, there is many stops, many stops, especially the Berber villages. The way they build the villages is different than the other sites, for example, in Imreil or Wyrgen, and you can just enjoy the, the, it's like, the fields and, and, and, and the villages, the houses just look like the steppes. The way they plant the houses.

TED: Right, cause then, uh, I think, whoop, not quite as far from there, there's, uh, Wirigan Valley. Yeah, [00:38:00] that was under this. So that's kind of the same area by the looks of it, kind of. Part of the same mountain range, obviously, these are the high Atlas mountains, but it's a different road.

AZDEAN: Yes,

SAM: is a different road. Yes. The the Ika. The Ika is the, is like, uh, east and, uh, GaN is, is is West.

TED: right. Huh. And, but, well, okay. Here you can have a bigger lake by the looks of it,

SAM: Yeah, there is a lake where they bring the water, the drink water to Marrakech is from that lake. It's called Virgen. Yeah, the water we drank right now in Marrakech. They brought it from there.

TED: Wow.

SAM: Yeah, it's it's not famous for unfortunately for for tourists and it's it worth to visit. It worth to stay. There is accommodations.

There is Uh, many things to do, especially, um, uh, you can come, for example, there is like, uh, there, for example, you can see there is luxury, uh, accommodate hotels and riyads near the, near the [00:39:00] lake. By the way, it's a dam, it's not a lake, it's an artificial dam. Uh, there is, for example, you can do like one day, half day, to two days, to three days, uh, walking and hiking tours around the Bergen Valley. It's very interesting, yeah.

TED: how far would that be from Marrakech? Like an

SAM: From Marrakech, two hours.

AZDEAN: bit more.

SAM: Two hours, yes. It's, um, 95 kilometers, but through the mountains.

AZDEAN: It's a very scenic route.

TED: slows you down.

SAM: Yeah.

TED: And then we have the

AZDEAN: And then, then, before I do, please forgive me, I do apologize. When we talk about outside Marrakech, we forgot to mention, uh, this is a little bit more popular during the winter. for skiing and ski resorts than the summertime, which is in the same, um, uh, area, you know, uh, in the outskirts of Marrakech, uh, Oukameden, um, it's,

SAM: is a ski station, yeah.

AZDEAN: yeah, [00:40:00] ski resorts, ski station, uh, really, really popular, yeah, um,

TED: wow,

AZDEAN: yeah, so, this one again, it's a little bit more popular with the locals.

And this is one of the really, really famous areas. And again, um, a lot of schools, most schools or all schools in Marrakech, they do, uh, have organized day trips to, to Oukamden during, you know, either February, March, and April because When snow still there as well. So and again, this is one of the hidden places that a lot of tourists don't get to see So if you're talking, you know, like we talked earlier You know, Ifran, you know, we're talking we're talking similarity to Aspen You know, Colorado, for example, but it's very beautiful, very luxury, and definitely very pricey.

Ocampdon is a little bit more on the low end. It's very casual, not as expensive, but it's still a lot of fun. So I remember as kids going with the family, with school, we always had fun. We always had a lot of [00:41:00] fun.

TED: Okay. Yeah, it's really right out there in the middle of the mountains. Nice.

AZDEAN: Yes. So Marrakech is just like Fez. Marrakech, it gets very, very cold in the winter because it's surrounded by, by the mountains from all sides. For, you know, sites, uh, and that's why, and again, during the summertime, it gets that really, really dry heat. It's because of, everything's kind of closed up. So,

TED: I see. Okay. And then there's a Zat Valley, which is more to the east.

SAM: that's right, yeah, on your way towards the set, that's right, yes. That's right, that's right, yes. Yeah, Zad Valley is more popular also for tourists, for Moroccans, for locals, especially during the summer time. Because it's, um, it's only two hours drive from Marrakech as well. And it's worth a visit, especially that valley called Zad.

Zad Valley, and there is many villages, many restaurants. You can, for example, have a lunch on the river. For example, you can camp. There's local restaurants as well. [00:42:00] Um,

TED: Hmm.

SAM: two days, you can do two days, for example, and you can, like, do three hours, a hike, or walk, walking tour, each day, and it's, it's, it's, it's worth a visit, so you must see a destination, both for tourists as, as, as local.

TED: Hmm. Yeah, there's quite the valley here that goes all the way out, so a lot of hiking up in here.

SAM: The advantages, being in Marrakech, there is many, many means, and several day trips. And activities that you can do for one day and come back to Marrakech if you want, for example. You don't want to have another night. For example, Imlil is very popular, it's very famous. This is why we didn't talk about it. Uh, for example, yeah, but for example, Zad Valley is a hidden place for tourists. Yeah.

TED: If you were to go hiking then, uh, you know, if [00:43:00] you were there in the summer and especially to do some hiking, like the places like Imrit, which we should find here on the map, like it's, uh, it, does it get really, really busy? You're trying to hike and there's just people all over the path? Like how busy would it get?

AZDEAN: doesn't get busy. I mean, the mountains are big and there's so many options. 

Emily is, is, is a little bit closer to Marrakech. 

TED: But that's busy. We're trying to keep people away from the busier

AZDEAN: yeah,

SAM: it's very famous, it's very famous for tourists as well, because it's the starting point for the, for all the, of, for all the trekking tours, including the the Mount of Toubkal, which is the highest peak in Morocco. Toubkal, it's four thousand, uh,

AZDEAN: six, six hundred

SAM: hundred, yeah, six hundred seventy, seventy five. Yes, meters high.

TED: Yeah.

SAM: uh, also for a day trip from Marrakech, there is an amazing tour [00:44:00] that you can, you can do from, from Marrakech for one day. Uh, also you can do two days, three days. This is the best place. For example, if you want to enjoy trekking, you know, in, in, in, in Morocco. This is this place 

TED: Cool. Well, we're uh, at the top of the hour here.

AZDEAN: I know, I know.

TED: much we get through. We didn't get to the Sahara really yet. Um,

AZDEAN: yes,

SAM: We, yeah, can talk about

TED: kind of area is if you're heading out towards like Merzouga area, right?

AZDEAN: yes, yes,

TED: and looking for some extra stuff to do. Well, is there any one thing maybe we can talk about before we sign off here?

Anything that jumps out?

SAM: . We have the Casbah Amredil inside the oasis of the palm grove of Skoura.

And also hidden south, uh, towards the, the, the Merzouga desert, we visit like the mausoleum of Moulay mausoleums that you can visit in Morocco, by the way. Because the others, for example, in Rabat, you can, for tourists, you can't visit it. [00:45:00] But for Moulay Ali Sharif, you can visit the mausoleum. By the way, Moulay Ali Sharif is the founder of the Alaouite dynasty, which is running in Morocco right now.

He's the grandfather of the, of the king of Morocco. Uh, so the markets of Rissani, why Rissani, for example, it's the old name, it's Sijli Mesa, and used to be one of the oldest places, oldest cities. I can see city in Morocco, besides, for example, we can talk about Marrakech. We can talk about first, but Rissani, for example, Rissani, uh, used to be in the past, Sij El Messah, one of the oldest cities in the southern part of Morocco.

Why the markets is very interesting because used to be, for example, the meeting of the caravans, coming from Sudan, from Chad, from Mali, in the past, they brought, for example, salt, gold, and ivory from the southern part, and they meet [00:46:00] the other coming from the north, bringing like, for example, what's called, um, clothes and stuff. the Mediterranean and they met there in Rissani for example. This is a purification of the entrance of the city. The market is, it's just, oh, a day worth visit or must see. For example, when you are there in, uh, in, in, in the southern part of Morocco. Also, uh, I want to talk about air food. For example, the people are interested in fossils, for example.

Air food is a must see, and you have to stop there to visit, for example. There is many factories, for example, where you can find, like, we can talk about millions of years ago, of the fossils they found in the mines of the fossils in the area.

AZDEAN: Okay. I just

TED: These are all quite close together. Yeah.

AZDEAN: Yeah. And, you know, um, I remember the visit when we visited the [00:47:00] Khameliyah, before the Khameliyah village, we stopped, you know, it's right there in that small mountain when, you know, the French colonization, they had those mines. And, you know, even when we did the episode with Mahmoud, his grandfather worked in those mines.

So in those, in those mountains, I mean, any rock you pick, That's a fossil, 100%. I mean, you just pick it, you crack it, then you'll see a fossil. So there's, there's abundance of fossils. And then, um, I've seen in museums fossils, you know, 300 million years, sharks we've seen. I mean, it's just, it's just beyond incredible.

And this is one of the, the lesser known places. They do, they do not get enough credit. So you can see, you know, in U. S. museums, you know, Uh, whether it's a Houston, whether it's DC, whether it's New York and in London and museum you'll see fossils from Morocco and this is the region where they come from, uh, and it's just beyond, uh, it's, it's just, it's, it's amazing.

So,

TED: So again, if you're staying in Merzouga, then [00:48:00] how far would that be from, like, kind of this area to drive up

AZDEAN: uh,

SAM: from Merzouga, from Merzouga to Erfoud, it's 45 kilometers, less than one hour drive. Yeah, for example, from, uh, Merzouga to Rissani, because it's like, it's the meeting point between them. For example, it's only like, uh, 25 minutes drive from Rissani to Merzouga.

And from Rissani to Erfoud, it's 20, 20 minutes drive. It's less than 16 kilometers. Yes.

TED: Okay. I bet a lot of people just kind of drive through on their way and they don't stop, right?

AZDEAN: they don't,

SAM: The roads are good. The road is good nowadays. In the past, it was an off road, but now it's, it's asphalt, uh, road, so it's good.

AZDEAN: And by the way, some of the, the, the, the oldest dinosaurs in the world were found in Morocco. Um, the oldest. was founded in Morocco a few years ago. So, uh, you know, when we talk about not,

SAM: Yes. In that foot.

AZDEAN: yeah. So when we talk about a history, we're talking [00:49:00] thousands and thousands and thousands of layers, um, of, of history.

So, um, there's different regions, you know, in the, Outskirts of Agadir, Tafra, Tahrudan. There's so many archaeological sites that are just as incredible. So in Morocco, when it comes to hidden gems, they're everywhere. You'll pass by them, you don't see them. And again, you know, this is for the people that travel to Morocco on their own.

You will have a lot of fun. But you will miss 95 percent of the real Morocco, for real. You're still gonna be a lot of fun to view. Um, and that's the benefit of, you know, hiring somebody. This is what we do. This is who we are. Uh, we do this 24 7 for years and years and years. Um, you'll get to experience Morocco like you have never seen before.

will live with memories that will last you a lifetime. 

SAM: , we are here to design some unique and exceptional experiences and exceptional tours and trips in Morocco, which is not available [00:50:00] with the other companies or the other, tour operators.

Because we as locals, we are natives and we know what we are doing.

AZDEAN: absolutely.

TED: That's what you guys are good at. Cool. All right. Well, maybe we'll leave it at that. yeah, that was fun. So we'll see you next time.

AZDEAN: Thank you.

SAM: Yeah.