Doc on tour, France, Spain, Morroco.

[Riverbankannie]

I swear the Moroccans have not a clue what the words peace and tranquil means .

This morning I visited chefchaoun...more on that later and photos .. but after the chaos and harassment of there i wanted somewhere quiet just to have lunch and unwind ..

I'm in a spot I thought I'd get peace and so far I've had 3 different guys who come past , walk around the van muttering , then calling monsueir monsueir, they don't take the hint so you've got to open the door to talk to them ....I know before opening they want to try selling me hash as its rife around here ....and each time I say no , then no I don't smoke and 3 ,4 times I say no and yet still they persist ....the last dude is standing there telling me its a tranquil place, free no dirhams no police but still trying to sell me a lump of something the size of an egg


I feel like screaming f e c k off I don't f e c in smoke . I almost wish I did as you need to be stoned in this country to survive the place.

And now in the distance I see about 15 bleedin kids on their way ..

Give me bleedin strength

You are getting me wound up just imagining it - unless you decide on curtains, I would cut your losses of non schengen days and return.

 

[Northernraider]

You are getting me wound up just imagining it - unless you decide on curtains, I would cut your losses of non schengen days and return.

I'm going to do tetouan tomorrow and then head to the coast unless I do find someone there to do curtains. But I can't see me lasting till 24th as I'd planned otherwise.

 

[daveclare]

Spain has warmed up nicely now. At least here you won't get anyone selling you weed until you hit Benidorm

 

[Al n Val]

Spain has warmed up nicely now. At least here you won't get anyone selling you weed until you hit Benidorm

I must be going to the wrong places as in going to Benni on/off over 40yrs i’ve never been offered weed anywhere

 

[daveclare]

it's because we look very young now after losing weight!

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[Al n Val]

it's because we look very young now after losing weight!

speak for yourself

 

[Northernraider]

Arrived in chefchaoun around 10.30am , I managed to find a parking spot on the roadside that had no psuedo guards and a 5 minute walk from the blue medina. This was another town I liked two years ago and whilst it is very touristy its kinda unique so well worth a visit , the downsides as always is the constant harassment to " view my shop view my shop" or if you are unlucky enough to look like the stereotypical maryjoanna user as I must do then it's constant " my friend you want weed/hashish/ ganja ?" And Arabic men do not understand the word no ....so you spend 5 minutes with each telling them you don't smoke ...... but that doesn't stop them either. I'd hate to be a woman in this country.

If its not hash then it's fcekin carpets, something you will never ever be caught short of in Morocco. And in chefchaoun every second shop has carpets for sale. There's a lot of art , and a lot of stunningly beautiful hand crafted wares on display, the smells are lovely perfumes and incense, the annoying thing is IF they'd leave you alone to browse and not pounce on you before you've a chance to look at anything there are things I'd buy .....but I'm not one for hard selling it just makes me rush by , as I've said before I'm anxious in crowds etc and often I don't want to engage I just want to stroll through and take it all In ....if there's things that catch my eye I will then ask the seller about them... but here you're just met then with pressure to buy even if after looking you decide its not what you want. I had this with goatskin today ...I'd saw a pile of them over a wall outside a shop.. the seller wasn't there .. I asked in the shop near to them and instead of pointing me to the seller he told me he had some for sale too ...only his were not soft the leather was hard and the skins were not the right shape .. he was asking 200dh

I paid 50dh each for 4 goat skins last time and they were lovely and soft so I said no thanks ....well he followed me about 50 yards still calling out prices .

I also wanted a nice macrame dream catcher. Found a shop selling hundreds of them but the seller was nowhere to be found , I can only imagine he had a good sale earlier and was celebrating with mint tea somewhere. So he lost a potential sale .


Saw a couple of sheepskins but they weren't the nicest so no good for uncle Lenny HB I'm sure I'll find him better in tetouan , so in the end I bought nothing but I took lots of photos and spent maybe 90 minutes to 2 hours looking around.
It's a nice town but it's hard work and very hilly , lots of stairs etc.

 

[Northernraider]

 

[Janine]

Beautiful pictures!

I bet the guy that sells blue paint is minted

 

[Northernraider]

Beautiful pictures!

I bet the guy that sells blue paint is minted

I wouldn't like the guy who painted it though to do my house lol.

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[jumartoo]

Beautiful pictures!

I bet the guy that sells blue paint is minted

It's a lovely colour, isn't it.

 

[cyberyacht]

And Arabic men do not understand the word no ....

My daughter worked in Cairo for a while and, upon visiting her, was coached in a few essential Arabic phrases. The one you require IIRC is "Laa" or for added emphasis "Laa aa"

 

[Outdoors Dad]

Yep the constant hassle would boil my head also. Nice place though if only the Moroccans could understand that they could sell more when not hassling you. I experienced a fortnight of it in Tunisia about 32 years ago after a week I despised them. They never hassled indigious people.

 

[Northernraider]

My daughter worked in Cairo for a while and, upon visiting her, was coached in a few essential Arabic phrases. The one you require IIRC is "Laa" or for added emphasis "Laa aa"

Yes laa chukran is no thanks , and no merci. No thanks ...doesn't matter what language I tell them in they still persist.

If you're here for a weekend or maybe a week you'd be tired of it . But 2 months you want to strangle them.


It just makes me not want to engage ever as everything starts friendly ...they'll pick anything to start a conversation, where you from? Or nice tattoos etc ...a few pleasantries and then bam hard sell whatever they've got . ...and some get really unpleasant when you tell them no , I might not understand Arabic but the facial expressions and hand gestures tell a lot.

I've just had the hash guy back trying to sell me rosemary, and then honey ... and then when I didn't buy he wanted 10dh for parking

In a fcekin nature reserve lol ....I gave him a cookie and sent him on his way , a small French camper has now turned up and I swear 2 other Moroccans just appeared out the bushes.

 

[Northernraider]

Yep the constant hassle would boil my head also. Nice place though if only the Moroccans could understand that they could sell more when not hassling you. I experienced a fortnight of it in Tunisia about 32 years ago after a week I despised them. They never hassled indigious people.

Yep they don't even approach other Moroccans ...but anyone that stands out as a tourist gets plagued . Even the dogs don't keep them away ....but ela gets stressed by them

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[Al n Val]

let the dogs loose

 

[tacr2man]

try "taghdab" pronounced tagadaboo its a bit more emphatic

 

[Puddleduck]

I'd hate the hard sell.

My friend travelling in that area

"You want girl? I have beautiful daughter."

"No"

"Ah, you prefer boy?"

"NO!!"

"You like goat?"

"No no no no no"

"Strange people you British"

 

[Northernraider]

So this is where I'm parked now ...a few miles from chefchaoun in a nature reserve....beautiful place and it would be very peaceful if not for the hash sellers . But between them it's lovely so I will spend the night.

I was originally parked closer to the entrance road but decided to move further back in the hope they'd not spot me but they still do .


I've had 3 different sellers but one of them has been back n forth 3 times now ...he brought me other herbs from the mountains apparently lol.
It does smell lovely here , lots of rosemary and other herbs growing wild .

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

We didn't really experience any constant hassles. Ok we had a few Moroccans trying to sell the honey or fish but a non or " no money: and they went away. We only had 2 youngsters ask for money. They were well dressed and we asked them why had they asked. They were just chancing thier arm . They laughed and walked away.
Overall we found the Moroccans pleasant and welcoming.

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[Barriesimpson]

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Everywhere is blue. I really don't see the attraction.

 

[Northernraider]

We didn't really experience any constant hassles. Ok we had a few Moroccans trying to sell the honey or fish but a non or " no money: and they went away. We only had 2 youngsters ask for money. They were well dressed and we asked them why had they asked. They were just chancing thier arm . They laughed and walked away.
Overall we found the Moroccans pleasant and welcoming.

Were you mostly on campsites ?


Because I don't understand how the folk on here who visit Morocco seem to not have the same experiences as everyone I've met here and the folk commenting on park4night etc , read the reviews on there and nearly every one talks about constant hassle

 

[15isto2]

I'd hate the hard sell.

My friend travelling in that area

"You want girl? I have beautiful daughter."

"No"

"Ah, you prefer boy?"

"NO!!"

"You like goat?"

"No no no no no"

"Strange people you British"

Girl, Boy or Goat.. that covers most interests I suppose

 

[Barriesimpson]

Girl, Boy or Goat.. that covers most interests I suppose

No, nowhere near

 

[15isto2]

No, nowhere near

Even if its a verry good looking goat

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[Onemanandhisdog]

Girl, Boy or Goat.. that covers most interests I suppose

Only if goats are the same as sheep!

 

[Barriesimpson]

Even if its a verry good looking goat

I would never drink that much......

 

[Barriesimpson]

Only if goats are the same as sheep!

They're not.

 

[Al n Val]

Only if goats are the same as sheep!

I think he was kidding

 

[Northernraider]

They're not.

Speaks a man from experience bahhaahhaaa

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