thanks for your reply edgerswife. A lot of websites and contributors on TA are saying that if you want to avoid getting accosted, then you should look on from a cafe/restaurant terrace. Any good place you would recommend where we could have a nice meal/snack? thanks.

You are no more (and no less than) a target for the occasional hassle visitors can experience. Moroccans are genuinely interested in your background and will be plied with questions about your background. A few may even attempt Urdu or Hindi with you to engage in conversation whether you are speaking in Cockney or Estuary English ! Keep a smile on your face and a good sense of humour.

Also just to correct a little misconception here - "locals" are of an incredibly mixed racial background: the original Berbers, the early Arabs, the results of the sub-saharan slave trade and wave upon wave of European traders and colonists. Skin and hair shades vary from black to freckled redheads. It's one of the things I love about Marrakech.

For the record I am a brown skinned Caucasian.

There are many terrace cafe/restaurants surrounding Djemma al Fna and the streets that lead from the square. You would be extremely unlucky to be "accosted".

@ pilobolus my choice of words (and may be topic) seem to be rubbing you up the wrong way. No offence intended.

To be honest, we found wandering around the square and souks not too bad. Most people stopped when we said no thank you (granted with some people you had to say it a few times!).

We found shopping in the souks to be quite full on but after being ripped off over my first purchase (not by much but it dents your pride a bit!) I decided what I was happy to spend on something and stuck with that.

The restaurants around the square all seemed to be fine so we just found the ones with the best view.

The food stalls in the evening were manic and easily the worst for hassle but it was all good natured!

You may well find you get a monkey thrown on your shoulder in the square during the day but please don't entertain them.. Some of the monkeys were clearly distressed and it's really not fair.

Don't worry, you will blend in. Most Moroccans dress in western clothing, so until you speak, they will not know where you are from. If you put on a Islamic/Mosque hat, you will almost be invisible to the shop keepers.........LOL (trust me, it works).

If you want to haggle hard, speak in Urdu/Hindi first, when you get asked, tell them you are from Pakistan/India, then speak broken English, you will find prices are cheaper and fall quicker.........

You will get hassle from the food vendors at Jemma el Fna, this cannot be avoided, even for the locals, but take it in your stride, make a joke of the situation and just move on.......it can be great fun if you don't let it get to you. You will find that each salesman on the foodstall can only go to a certain distance, then the next food stalls salesman will move in....if you walk quickly then they tend not to follow you..........

Remember than the Koutoubia Mosque is open for prayers to Muslims, sometime the caretaker will even open up for you outside prayer hours, the design inside the Mosque is a must see if you are in Marrakech (as it is a working Mosque, it is only open to Muslims).

Have a great time

Hi,

"hassled" is an emotive word. One persons hassle is anothers amusing banter.

Having had several Pakistani friends visit over the years I can say that the locals never guess Pakistan, always Indian (Moroccans love Bollywood films) and part of the nature of Moroccans is to guess where you are from and try to find a common language.

Disguising yourself in traditional dress would only work if you also pretended to be mute/deaf ;-)

Come with an open mind, a big heart and a huge sense of humour and you'll be fine.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the lack of hassle we experienced in Marrakech this year. Of course we got approached by people continuously, but a polite 'no thank you' and a smile worked every time. I was expecting to be pestered on the level of Luxor but it was nothing in comparison. I found wandering round the souks and square really enjoyable, and felt completely safe at all times. It's a lovely city and I hope to go back again soon.

Pilobolus and Shimmin have both given definitive answers as they so often do. "Hassle" does not depend on where one's from or how one looks or even the type of clothes people wear including women wearing Western dress such as skimpy t shirts or shorts. It's much more a question of the way one handles oneself, one's attitude and bearing. And it's also a question of what is considered "hassle", of course.

People visiting Morocco are - presumably - doing so to try something different from trips to Europe or N America. The way of life and the way people conduct themselves are completely different. Thus "hassle", a part of life in Morocco, may include forceful persuasion, raised voices, gesticulating wildly, insults - as well as what people might conventionally think of as being hassle, that is being addressed/accosted by people when one does not wish to interact with them. Moroccans out to make a quick buck can spot those foreigners who would deal with "hassle" badly a mile off. These are the people who get the most attention from chancers and some of whom have their holiday ruined because they cannot adjust to the culture shock or cannot be assertive in their dealings with people in the street.

The solution? I'm aware that some people will be quite incapable of this as it is not part of their character or personality. But foreigners need to look confident at all times when they venture out - and this goes for anywhere, not just Morocco of course. One has to be assertive. Don't feel you have to engage with someone you don't like the look of or who is offering services/goods in which you don't have the slightest interest - Western European politeness and dissembling are useless here. People need to be assertive (not aggressive) by uttering a firm "I'm not interested" or a "No thank you" and sailing on serenely subsequently ignoring the hassler. They'll try someone else if they are sure you're not an easy prospect. And NEVER give in. Don't buy a carpet you don't want. Don't let yourself be led or firmly invited into a carpet shop if you have no interest in buying one. Don't give a persistent beggar coins - s/he'll only come back for more. Remain good-humoured, don't let this get you down or you'll be the one whose holiday is spoiled or whose vacation expenditure in terms of flights/hotel expenses and so on will be wasted - the chancers don't give a toss!

I am always saddened by people who come onto the forum and say that they wasted their money or that they would never return; some of these posters even advise others never to visit Morocco. It is clear to me that they have been unable to adjust to a markedly different culture or treat their experiences as an adventure or a source of wonder or an educative training. I should like to make it clear that this is a marvellous country to visit or live in. Adjust, learn, observe and enjoy!