Morocco 2025 (Portia & Jin Adventures)

Hey Crew! We did the Paris 2025 leg of the trip together so thought you might like to hit Morocco 2025 with us? Usually Jin and I spend some time whittling down our choices for the next adventure. This time I asked if I could choose. Morocco has been on my radar for decades. That Yves Saint Laurent took so much inspiration from Morocco through his designing career has had it front and center for me since studying fashion. Jin had never been to Africa so he hardly hesitated. His only worry was about the anti LGTQIA+ laws. I already had that answer ready.

We had travelled an almost exact version of this 12 day Turkiye with Ciconia Travel bus tour and had loved the experience so much. It’s another place we were worried about traveling alone together. The ease, 5* hotels with breakfast and most dinners included. All our sights were prepaid. Maximum 25 people on a 40+ seater bus and having a guide to tell you what you are seeing and why it’s important made it feel like a true holiday. We saw loads but it never felt rushed or onerous. So Morocco 2025 it was.

Just FYI, this post is really long. You might like to go get a beverage before you start. Still, I have ruthlessly culled the photos. Also, there were also things we saw that we were just too engrossed in to take pics.

Morocco 2025 (Portia & Jin Adventures)

Day 1 (Arrive Morocco)

We arrived Casablanca in the afternoon before the start evening of our tour. The world’s plane dramas worry Jin so he thought it better to give it an extra day’s grace. So glad we did. This is the view from our lovely hotel room

Across the road from our hotel was a local restaurant, Lora. It was chock full of workers and a couple of families. The prices were so cheap and the staff could not have been friendlier. There were even a couple of grandmas in the kitchen! While most of the food we had in Morocco was good, Lora was by far the best and it felt like we were being taken care of by a family. Jin was in foodie heaven. We had Moroccan mint tea, Jin with sugar, mine without. We shared Chicken Tagine and Chicken Pastille. The Pastille was a freaking revelation. Lightly spicy Chicken and Veg Rissole wrapped in Filo Pastry and drizzled with Honey, Nuts and Pepper. O M G!

 

Back to the hotel, we bathed and slept like dead people.

Day 2 (Explore Casablanca)

Up bright and early because Jin wanted to explore the Casablanca not included in our tour. Breakfast was unbelievable! Wish I’d taken more photos. This was just half the the hot food selection. Seriously fabulous. Jin was so happy but a little overwhelmed by its enormity.

It was decided we would be doing a walking tour. Little did we know. 37,000 steps! HA! Worth it.

This is Casablanca’s largest Christian Cathedral. It seems to have been decommissioned. The gardener let is in to have a look. No Jesus, altar or any pews. Very eerie. The gardens attached are beautiful.

We were SO HUNGRY! Found a McDonald’s. Very satisfying.

Rick’s Bar

No visit to Casablanca would be complete without going to the recreation of Rick’s Bar from the movie (which plays on a loop upstairs in the bar!). The story goes that the family that has owned it for all the years since it was founded were so upset when the original building was being demolished to build the huge new state of the art mosque that they rebuilt it as exactly as possible. It has original fixtures, features and includes the piano from the movie. Whether or not you choose to believe the hype, it’s still really interesting. Jin had his first ever martini. He’s a cool kid.

You can book to have food but we chose to just have a ceremonial beverage and keep going.

 

Then we found Notre Dame de Lourdes Cathedral. The most extraordinary way of making stained glass. Maybe 2cm thick pieces of glass layered like oddly shaped bricks into black cement. It is also enormous. The work to create these walls of magic must have taken decades. Still in use and meticulously clean. Mind blowing.

 

We saw so much more but I was overwhelmed and forgot to take pics.

That evening we met our Morocco 2025 traveling companions and had the trip explained. Some simple rules and things to avoid.

Most of the group went off to a dinner event to get to know each other. We grabbed a couple of the women who decided not to go either and we all headed over to Lora. Colleen and Warene were a bloody delight. They were so fun and we spent quite a lot of time in their company. Colleen had some health and walking troubles so Jin (who is a freaking gem) would often hang back to make sure she was OK. There will be pics but I totally forgot this night.

Day 3 (Rabat, Chefchaouen)

On the bus after an early seat and spectacular breakfast. Jin and I scored the back seat. So cool! We had heaps of room. One major drawback was our inability to hear the guide very well but swings and roundabouts right? It tuned out to an absolute godsend. We could both lay out and nap, we could spread our crap out and when people would make the trek back to stretch their legs and chat it didn’t bother anyone else.

First stop was Morocco’s capital city Rabat. I think this was the Chellah Ruins (happy to be corrected)

 

Hassan II Tower is an unfinished Mosque from the 1100s and within this precinct is also Mohammed V Mausoleum. The work on creating it is astounding. Such delicate and intricate tile work.

I have an admission to make. We befriended a couple whose political stance was so completely opposite our own and I was discussing it with Mark so missed quite a lot of the guide’s comments. Both Mark and I were often chastised by our spouses during the trip for discussion instead of paying attention. To be fair, I’ve never had someone who can talk this rationally about their completely opposing political beliefs. Though it often got heated we weren’t trying to change each others stances, it was a free sharing of information and I really appreciated Mark’s bothering.

Mohammed VI Tower, which is the butt of many Moroccan jokes.

 

Chefchaouen

We arrived in Chefchaouen, Morocco’s blue city. The most persistent and widely accepted reason the city is painted in 1000 shades of blue is that Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition brought the idea with them. Walking through the Medina, past the original fortifications and over the watercourse we wandered through the curved blue washed streets. We arrived just as twilight was hitting and it brought new meaning to the idea behind L’Heure Bleue. I wished for a decant of Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue big time.

Here are Mark and Katie with Jin.

The view from our hotel room was breathtaking.

We had a little wander before dinner and caught a glimpse of sunset.

Day 4 (Chefchaouen, Meknes, Fes)

It was up and at-em very early because Jin wanted to wander up the hill to se the Spanish Mosque at the top before breakfast. It was a fairly full on upward journey and I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. The view though, SO worth it.

Then we still had an hour or so. Off we wandered through the Medina to the base and found ourselves a spot to have a cup of Moroccan Tea and so Jin could have a piss.

 

Here is our crew. Aren’t we all gorgeous? I think we had 24 on a 40 seater bus. It was very comfortable.

Goodbye to Chefchaouen

Meknes

Into the bus and off again. We saw Bab Mansour Laleuj’s monumental gate and the Berber ruins of Volubilis.

 

Fes

Here I am with my Mardi Gras 2026 headdress! HA. We stayed in the Marriot Fes.

The only real drama of the trip was dinner in the Marriot Fes, both nights. It was a terrible shermozzle and there were a lot of very unhappy people. It took them three hours to get the food on our tables. This photo taken while Edward, Aiping, Jin and Warene were still in good spirits.

Day 5 (Fes)

Woo Hoo! Day 5 of Morocco 2025!

We went to a scholarship school built to teach the best students from every area of Morocco. To get in you must be able to recite the Koran and answer enormous amounts of questions about it. This picture is the entrance courtyard. Incredibly detailed work in the building.

This is the Bab Bouloud Gate of the Royal Palace.

Day 6 (Erfoud)

Spent most of today traveling through the Atlas Mountains. Beautiful scenery. Wandered through the Erfoud ruins and some other interesting stops along the way.

We stayed in some astonishing hotels but the Kasbah Hotel Xaluca Erfoud on the edge of the Sahara Desert was the one that really surprised and delighted us. Like being on a movie set. Jin and I walked to a nearby clear desert space at night and looked up at the stars. He has an App on the phone that showed us what we were looking at. It was a very happy hour stargazing as the desert night got so cold.

 

Day 7 (Erfoud, Rissani, Tinghir, Ouarzazate)

The absolute highlight of the tour. Out of the hotel in the teeth chatteringly cold dark, sped across the Sahara in a 4 wheel drive to a group of camels, jumped on board and wandered through the Sahara desert, over the sand dunes from pitch black to morning gloaming. We arrived at the top of a dune about 2km in, dismounted, and not 5 minutes later the sun crept over the horizon to applause and high fives. I get that it is an utterly touristy thing but it really was so monumental. One of the older gents was openly weeping and I too felt moved by the experience. Who would ever have thought that we’d be riding camels into the Sahara for sunrise?

On this day we also went to the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif, the founding father of the Alaouite dynasty – the current Moroccan royal family. Sorry, no pics.

Photo below was taken in Todgha Gorge.

Afterwards we headed off to Ouarzazate and I was super annoyed that I’d not brought my CdG Incense Ouarzazate to wear. Tried looking for local incense in the markets to compare but by the time we got to the town the local markets were all closed and the supermarkets didn’t have such things.

Day 8 (Ouarzazate, Ait Ben Haddou, Marrakech)

This was a really big day. We got to wander through Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, a traditional fortress-town built in curving alleys up a hill. It has been repaired so many times over the years and you can see the different technologies used through the centuries. Also, we went into a traditional house of Moroccans that still live on site and had Moroccan Tea on their rooftop overlooking the lower steps of the city. That was pretty spectacular too. I am not sure why there are no photos. Sorry.

Then we hit another highlight (for me, Jin was only moderately impressed). Atlas Studios is where they made bunch of movies I love but the most exciting was that parts of  The Mummy (1999) were filmed here. Also streets scenes in Disney’s live action Aladdin (2019). GAH! Colour me hyper. I was like a kid in a candy store.

Arrived in Marrakech! That night we saw the traditional Berber show with dancers, horse riding, gun shooting and all sorts in a huge arena. It was such an obvious tourist trap. Food beforehand was pretty mediocre and the performers decidedly lackluster (some of them looked like their family was ransomed and they had to perform or lose them) but we enjoyed the fun of hanging with the crew and the whole experience. Again, no photos.

Day 9 (Marrakech)

We had a city tour in the morning seeing Koutoubia Mosque, Saadian Tombs and the Bahia Palace! These are just two pictures of the work inside the palace.

After the tour we were given free rein to wander the markets around Jemaa el-Fna square. So this is Jin’s favourite part of every tour. Street food. We were walking through the markets and saw a couple of much older, very working class Moroccan women eating at this tiny little cafe. As we passed by in only about one minute we also saw a few workers come collect their lunch. Jin figures if workers, students or ageing people eat somewhere then it’s good and cheap. The fact that these men were super cute had NOTHING to do with it. So we ate there. Pockets of spicy mixed meat, egg and veg with very spicy chips with Moroccan tea for just a couple of dollars each. This was Jin’s favourite meal on the trip.

We spent a couple of hours just wandering the markets. Jin heaven! I enjoyed it too.

That evening we were supposed to go to the night markets. They’re a really big deal and part of what Marrakesh is so famous for but it looked in the photos and online like a bunch of drunken tourists being awful so we decided to set out on our own and wander a bit of the city. The only photo I have of our excellent adventure is the Gare de Marrakech. It’s a beautiful public building and we had KFC there. So satisfying.

Day 10 (Essaouira)

Off to Essaouira today. On the way we stopped at an Argan Oil manufacturing plant. Yes, super touristy BUT also really interesting. I’d heard of Argan oil but had no idea about it. Having come home and talked to people about it I find it’s the real deal beauty superfood. Glad I bought some.

We also saw the goats in the trees! I know. It’s all staged but it’s amazing to see in the place that is famous for it.

Then we arrived in Essaouira. A beachside town on the Atlantic Ocean. We wandered the UNESCO World Heritage Medina and marina around lunchtime but while buying some souvenirs the group went on without us. YAY! Jin and I stayed for HOURS! We got back in time that it was nearly sunset.

We had a few drinks with two of our favourites from the tour, Robyn (Aussie) and Trish (USA) then wandered down the beach to get our toes wet.

They were two seats short at the dinner table inside so Jin and I had a most romantic dinner watching the sun set and just enjoyed being on this incredible journey together. We know how lucky we are and are super grateful for living lives of such opportunity. It was also nice to just have a little magic moment to ourselves.

Day 11 (Casablanca)

Our last full day of the tour. Bussing back to Casablanca.

We did a really interesting Casablanca city tour. Jin had left the sights we’d be seeing hereof out of our earlier rambles. We saw the United Nations Square, Anfa Residential Quarter, and visited the Medina. There was a stroll through the markets and a full, amazing tour of Hassan II Mosque – the largest of Africa. The second photo is where the faithful wash themselves before prayers. It’s so over the top fabulous, you have no idea.

 

After our full day of sightseeing Robyn and Trish needed to do laundry. So did we! All four of us trooped off, miles away by taxi, and got it done. All of us were totally clueless and a couple of uni students from next door (also washing) helped us work it all out. It was a lovely way to spend a little quiet time with the girls.

PHEW! There you have it. I know, it was bloody long. Sorry about that. This is SERIOUSLY only a snapshot of all we did.

Next installment will be back to Paris, South Korea and Uluru in Australia.

Hope it didn’t bore the shit out of you.
Anyone else holidaying soon?
Portia xx