I can never truly understand the curveballs that life throws us. How the hell did we end up in Morocco? We made plans, good ones might I add, to explore the sunny island of Cuba. I was mentally prepared to experience social detox, physically ready for the dozen mojitos and cigars... but alas, hurricane Irma happened. Fortunately, we always manage to hit the curveball out of the park.

After meeting up at Roissy, we had less than an hour to decide on a “plan B” and went with Morocco almost immediately as it was on our initial shortlist. However, we didn't have anything planned so we had to beg, borrow and steal itineraries from friends who have been there (thanks Azzza!) Fast-forward 24 hours and we were on a flight to Rabat, the capital of Morocco and our first order of business was to get some dirhams and camels (a nice Jeep, really.) Car rental was probably our highest single cost, around EUR150 per person for 9 days. Our stays were also quite value-for-money, ranging from EUR65 to EUR120 per night for the entire place. If you are frugal-ish, like us, changing MAD4,500 (approximately EUR400) for expenses would probably suffice.

Our journey started from the North, we drove around four hours from Rabat to the beautiful town of Chefchaouen, also known as the Blue city which was part of Spanish Morocco. This was the only place where the street signs said “calle's” instead of “rue's”. The myriad hues of blue made this place very grammable but it was also flocked by tourists and and we all decided that one night was sufficient.

Typically, most cities in Morocco have a medina (old city) in the middle and these medinas are normally walled. While modern shops and restaurants fill the old city, most of the buildings and streets are in their original form. More often than not, large vehicles are not allowed inside the medina as the streets and alleys are too narrow, the locals use donkeys and horses as a mode of transport (poor animals!) During our stays in the various medinas in Morocco, we chose to walk because exploration on feet meant more things to see.

Quick tip! Moroccans are quite friendly but most of the time they approach you to “help” then ask for a tip, if you don't need their service just turn them down politely and continue walking. Some will tell you you're going the wrong way but based on our experience, Google Maps and Maps.me hardly go wrong.

When it came to food, we soon discovered that the Moroccans love their tagines (clay pot) and serve everything in it. Our riad host recommended a “non-touristy” restaurant, Bab Ssour, where we had our first meal and we were pleasantly surprised. The olive chicken and lentil soup were exceptionally tasty but I do recommending visiting early because we soon had the company of many tourists!

Since Chefchaouen was our first city, we were very fascinated by the different Moorish arches of the doors. They were everywhere. Also, because Morocco is a Muslim country, the salat could be heard pumping through the loudspeakers throughout the day so if you ever plan to visit, be prepared for that. Personally, I feel that Chef was too touristy for my liking but I guess it was a been there done that kind of affair.

After a night in Chef, we moved South to the city of Fes where we learned what death smelled like. Stay tuned for the next Tale of Morocco!

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