Well, back home at last. Morocco. Will I go back. Possibly. I'd still like to see Agadir, Essouira and over the Atlas mountains into the Sahara proper and Berber country. I'd go back to Marrakech and Chefchaouen, certainly the latter is worth a couple of nights.
Casablanca - not much to see, not the most pleasant of cities - its big, brash, mostly poor with pockets of extreme affluence.
Rabat worth a couple of nights of anyone's money but get there quick because its changing fast with massive new investment over the north bank of the river, so it'll be swamped by US and US wannabees in the new hotel complexes in a couple of years.
Fes I was disappointed with after all the hype - maybe a victim of the massive investment and change going on. Getting to the stage where the have nots will take it anyway, especially the yoof.
Marrakech is proper Africa - you get the feeling of being in an alien place (in the best possible way) and doesn't have the grime of Casablanca, the hassle of Fes or the money of Rabat.
Didn't see one camel and had two days of pouring rain. Desert. Really?
Overall it's a country going through massive and rapid change. Never felt threatened, the people were almost to a man (or woman) some of the friendliest and most genuine I've come across travelling. Food is ace and interesting - very different flavours to european tastes, but mostly very healthy stuff.
If you can deal with the alcohol restrictions then its well worth a visit. There are places where its easier to buy and smoke hash than it is alcohol.
The railways are punctual, clean and cheap, even if most rolling stock is a bit dated. New stuff is slowly being rolled out, stations are being refurbed or rebuilt and are clean and safe.
We came back via one Spain's Gibraltars, ie Melilla. Train from Fes down to Nador, cab up to the border and walk across. I was expecting all kinds of hassle crossing the border but it was a piece of piss - hardly anyone there waiting to cross contrary to the chaos of a couple of years ago - all sorted and on Spanish ground in ten minutes flat. And that with a big lump of pollen secreted away.
Melilla as you would expect is odd. Very spanish, but mostly deserted. Where was everybody? Two nights was plenty. There's not much to see past the castle, which to be fair could have been Santa Barbara in Alicante but smaller.
