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Hey barefoot walkers,
From the beginning it was a trip without a plan (as always).
It was Christmas time and I was with my girlfriend in Portugal to escape a little to the temperatures and rain of Netherlands (where I work). We wanted to escape the European winter for some time and almost on impulse we bought the tickets with Rumbo for the flight and chose a house on Airbnb only for 3 nights and so the trip was launched.
Like how i said we never have anything planned, we go from place to place without knowing what the next one, it’s the country and the people that we cross during the trip that’s define the route.
Is day to go to Morocco, I wake up very early, the Decathon bag it’s ready in travel mode, I take the bus, then the train and I am at Cologne airport. With 3.30 hours of flight we are in Marrekesh and the first objective is to find the house we had booked (during the whole trip we never had internet on our phones, only in the houses we were and asking someone in shops or even on the street), obviously at the airport there are many taxis but it is expensive and it is not part of our way of moving, we went by bus (you can catch at the taxi park costs about 3 Dirhams).
Arriving at the central square of Marrekesh (Jemaa el-Fnaa) was full of people from the most diverse countries a place completely turned to tourism. Finding out where the house was was not an easy task and the streets looking like a maze did not help but we managed after asking for internet in a butcher. Sometimes local people try to help but some of them want money in the end so before you accept help try to understand what kind of help it is.
We stayed in a poor place in the city (cheaper) but with a very good location and although the house doesn’t have internet but we could enjoy a terrace where we had incredible breakfasts ( we always try to rent a house or places to stay with outdoor space).
With the house presented we went out barefoot (of course we always walk BAREFOOT) to go eat something and buy basic food to have at home (I advise you to go to traditional stores and not supermarket because they are much cheaper). As you must suppose all or most of the people looked at our feet and then at us in amazement and some of them even make comments but then it becomes routine and the important thing is your freedom and your well-being.
Marrakesh surprised me by the positive but also by the negative follow the blog to read article Marrakesh, City of 2 faces.
After 3 days in Marrakesh we wanted to go to the seaside and try to surf, the big cities (Agadir and Casablanca) were not our option, we needed the authenticity of Morocco and the people who live there. We decided to go to Mirleft, I had never heard of this place but we found a good and cheap house and we went there.
Our idea was to hitch a ride to Agadir and then try to get to Mirleft somehow. It turns out that the next morning it was the day of going to Mirleft and I wake up with a toothache, what a beautiful place to have a toothache, the pain was getting stronger and stronger and I only had the option of going to a dentist and praying that he would take the pain away from me. So it was, I looked for a dentist on google maps and went to the closest possible that was still 4Km away. Getting there the receptionist says that they only attend by appointment and I almost begged and got them to see me tooth and finally be without pain, thank you Dr. Younes Chad.
After solving the tooth problem we write AGADIR on a paper and we went to a street that seemed good to hitchhike. Some cars stopped but either they wanted us to pay or they were not going to Agadir. The day was hot and after trying hard we gave up because it was getting late and we tried to go by train but arriving at the station imagine, there were no trains. So we were with no way to go and no place to stay ( in Marrakesh), in these moments the adventure begins and I feel comfortable with that. We had a hitchhiking application and tried our luck, after negotiating the price and getting a ride we had a problem because we only had internet at the train station and we could not go anywhere else because it was impossible to find the ride and to help in the situation the driver of the car speaks French ( we do not understand French).
The phone rang it was the person who was going to give us a ride, I answered but I did not understand what he wanted to tell me, I just understood “front of the station” . Well, we went to the front of the station without knowing if we should go there, we did not know anything, until after 5/10 minutes a man came to ask if we wanted to go to Agadir (in French, remember) and so we found the ride to Agadir (for 2 people we paid 300 Dirhams).
Was not possible to arrive in Mirleft that day because it was already late we stayed one night in Agadir with the aim to go to Mirleft the next morning.
The next morning we tried, of course, the application but the prices they asked were too expensive so we asked Claire (Claire (French) and her husband (Moroccan) have a guest house in Mirleft) who would receive us at her home in Mirleft (follow the blog and read article where she talks about the city where she lives, Mirleft), she sent the location of the bus station where we could buy tickets. We arrived at the ao station at 11 am and the next bus was at 18.15 h but we had no choice, we made a coffee table our office and worked there until take the bus and finally we go to Mirleft.
During the quiet trip we arrived well at night in Mirleft, we asked for internet this time in a store that sold cakes and we found Claire easy in her guest house, we spent good and relaxing days there always with the sea as a soundtrack.
After these we didn't know where to go, we asked Claire's opinion and she answered Taroudant and Tafraout. Taroudant seemed to us a city and we wanted nature in the middle of nowhere and decided to go to Tafraout.
We had no idea how to get there, we found a bus from Tiznit to Tafraout but from Mirleft to Tiznit we didn't know how to go. We went outside to ask and it was easy to find someone who informed us how and where we could take the bus to Tiznit.
We left home the next morning with our backpacks with the mission of taking 2 buses from Mirlift to Tiznit and then Tiznit to Tafraout. On the way to Tafraout it was night and it was not possible to see almost anything but I realized that it was a special place with narrow streets ( I don't know how the bus passed) mountains and endless rocks.We arrived we went straight buy food because we were hungry and then go to the house (it was easy to find).
The following days was to explore without knowing where to go, just walking through the “city” was not even a city it was more a place in the middle of the mountains. (Follow the blog and read the article about Tafraout, incredible place).
After a few days well spent in Tafraout we wanted to return to Marrekesh for relaxing and working near the airport. For this we had an 8h bus ride in front of us and then 6km walk to the house. We arrived exhausted, we wanted to eat and rest, it was complicated to get in touch to enter the house and this was one of the most difficult moments of the trip but everything was resolved and we managed to go to the house and then eat.
The next 2 days were very tasty, we returned to the central square of Marrekesh (Jemaa el-Fnaa) we said goodbye to our friend Hassan (a merchant) with a feeling of an incredible journey after all the places we went, the people we met and the places are always there with their specifics for the following travelers, you can be one of them.
Don't wait for the perfect moment to make your journey, choose where you want to start and then let yourself be amazed.
If you have any doubts, an advice to give or just say hello send a message.
During this journey:
we walk about 100kms in barefoot;
3 hours ride;
15 hour by bus.
Dont forget:
If you go there, walk barefoot.
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