AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures
Morocco 2025
Morocco 15th to 28th April 2025
Small Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Morocco:
Kuala Lumpur>Casablanca>Rabat>Asilah>Tangier>Chefchaouen>Fez>Merzouga>Erg Chebbi>Rissani>Dadès Gorges>Marrakesh>Essaouira>Casablanca>Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur>Casablanca>Rabat>Asilah>Tangier>Chefchaouen>Fez>Merzouga>Erg Chebbi>Rissani>Dadès Gorges>Marrakesh>Essaouira>Casablanca>Kuala Lumpur.
(See day-to-day blogs for more detailed routes)
When friends mentioned visiting Morocco, it sounded mysterious to me. I envisioned a hot, hot place consisting mainly of desert. As it turns out, the country is much more than that. Yes, the desert is there, a beautiful one with glorious sunrises and sunsets peeking out from amazing dunes. But there are also colourful medinas, scenic, lush and cool countryside, stunning architecture and a whole town that's blue! It's also our first time in Africa, so yes, we are eager to be "discoverers".
BLOGS
Below are the daily blogs of our tour. click on the respective photos to read. Further below are some travel trips for this region. It was an interesting and awesome tour, so come and have a look:
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MORE BLOGS COMING!
STAY TUNED!
(Next... Laos-China?)
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Morocco 2025 Days 1-7 Overall Travel Route Map:
Kuala Lumpur>Casablanca>Rabat>Asilah>Tangier>Chefchaouen>Fez>Merzouga>Erg Chebb.
Kuala Lumpur>Casablanca>Rabat>Asilah>Tangier>Chefchaouen>Fez>Merzouga>Erg Chebb.
(Click here for Days 1-7 Morocco 2025 Tour Route Map)
See respective daily blogs for detailed daily route maps.
Morocco 2025 Days 7-13 Overall Travel Route Map:
Merzouga>Erg Chebbi>Rissani>Dadès Gorges>Marrakesh>Essaouira>Casablanca>Kuala Lumpur.
(Click here for Days 7-13 of the Morocco 2025 Tour Route Map)
See respective daily blogs for detailed daily route maps.
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Related Morocco Blogs:
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TRAVEL TIPS FOR MOROCCO
Below are some general tips on travelling in Morocco:
1. Traffic Directions!
Driving in Morocco is left-hand drive, and driving is on the right-hand side of the road. Do look to the correct side when crossing roads.
Speed limits are between 60 km/h within urban areas, 100 km/h outside urban areas, including expressways, and 120 km/h on highways. Do adhere to these limits, as often police are monitoring with radars; our driver-guide was careful about this.2. Getting to & around Morocco and Tour Costs .
Morocco is easily accessible by air as most major airlines serve Morocco and have flights to major cities such as Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech. We flew return via Emirates to Casablanca with transit in Dubai at a fare of MYR4,430 per pax. Do note that Emirates now charges for seat selection.
For ground arrangements, we booked a 13-day guided tour through Tenere Tours at €1,350 per pax. This included stays at comfortable hotels and riads, and a night a caravanserai luxury camp in the desert. Breakfast was included, and also dinners at the Dades Valley Hotel, Merzoga Riad and Desert Caravanserai Luxury Camp.
The guided tour included a 9-seater van with a driver-guide to take the six of us to/from the airports, and from city to city. And also the camel ride to the desert camp. We paid extra for walking tours at the Fez Medina and Marrakech Medina at €85/group/city.
The guided tour included a 9-seater van with a driver-guide to take the six of us to/from the airports, and from city to city. And also the camel ride to the desert camp. We paid extra for walking tours at the Fez Medina and Marrakech Medina at €85/group/city.
For out-of-pocket spending, we exchanged Euros to Moroccan dirhams (MAD) at local money-changers in Rabat and Rissani. As a contingency, we brought along our Wise debit cards, do note that this may not be acceptable at many places.
3. Immigration & Customs Requirements
For Morocco, citizens of Malaysia do not need a visa to enter for travel purposes and can stay in the country for 90 days without a visa. Click here for visa requirements for other countries.
4. Places & Things of Interests
There were many scenic and interesting places of interest, but one should not miss the following:
a. The medinas in various cities of Morocco.
a. The medinas in various cities of Morocco.
b. The blue houses of Chefchaouen.
c. Camel riding in the Sahara Desert at Erg Chebbi Dunes, Merzouga.
d. The Jardin Majorelle Gardens (GPS: 31.64120, -8.00323) in Marrakesh.
e. The Bahia Palace (GPS: 31.62170, -7.98196) in Marrakesh.
f. The Hassan II Mosque (GPS: 33.60822, -7.63266) in Casablanca.
c. Camel riding in the Sahara Desert at Erg Chebbi Dunes, Merzouga.
d. The Jardin Majorelle Gardens (GPS: 31.64120, -8.00323) in Marrakesh.
e. The Bahia Palace (GPS: 31.62170, -7.98196) in Marrakesh.
f. The Hassan II Mosque (GPS: 33.60822, -7.63266) in Casablanca.
g. Moroccan Argan Oil, which is renowned for consumption and cosmetic purposes, but get it from the departmental stalls where they are much cheaper than those at the cooperative farms that show ladies making it manually. The "manually made" ones are just for show, and one pays much more for this "show". We bought some at the cooperative, but are unsure how much the ladies receive. Buy the oil at Essaouira, it's cheaper there as the farms are nearby.
5. Food
Moroccan Food is touted to be one of the best in the world with a wide range of dishes. Their tajines are renowned, but unfortunately, after taking it for 3 days at almost every meal, we were on the lookout for other food. Perhaps were were spoiled by the diversity of Malaysian Cooking. Seafood is not available in inland cities. Food from other countries is not easy to come by, so whenever we got the chance, we tried them for a change.
6. Accommodations
Accommodations were mostly at riads, which were the stately city homes of the wealthiest citizens, such as merchants and courtiers who were able to build mansions which included beautiful interior gardens. The rooms of riads of the smaller cities were much larger.
7. Communicating with Each Other
When travelling in a group, it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest.
Upon arrival at Casablanca Airport, booths selling pre-paid sim cards can be found just before exiting the luggage reclaim area. There were booths selling Maroc, Orange, and Inwi pre-paid tourist phone sim cards. We opted for the Maroc sim card as it provides better coverage even in remote areas, which I found to be true, and it only had poor or no signal at remote stretches far in the hills or desert. We got the 15 Gb card, which is valid for one month for 100 MAD. Should this be inadequate, memory can be topped up at any phone shop.
8. Communicating with Locals
At favourite tourist destinations, markets and medinas, many locals speak fairly good English, some French and Spanish. At the smaller towns, locals speak some rudimentary English, and our local guide was most helpful in translating for us.
9. Dressing
I brought two long pants along and four shorts. In the end, I didn't wear the shorts as the weather can get quite cold in the morning and evenings, especially with stronger winds at the seaside.
When entering mosques, men can wear shorts, but ladies have to cover up their legs and heads. Scarves and long pants are recommended; if wearing shorts, bring a sarong or something to cover one's legs.
10. Weather
The weather in Morocco in April is typically mild and pleasant, with warm temperatures during the day (averaging 24°C) and cooler evenings (averaging 12°C). Travellers can expect a delightful mix of sunshine and occasional showers.
Useful weather forecast sites for Georgia & Armenia is AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.
11. Navigation
I used MapMyRide to track our routes and stops. Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook or Google Maps.
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