A Riad inside the Medina at MAD996 is luxury for £72 for two people including breakfast and parking. We ate in the central square but soon beat a retreat back to the roof terrace as the persistence of the shop-keepers is quite stressful.
It is legal to be on the road without lights when travelling at less than 20kmh. You will quickly become aware of this as the silhouettes of mopeds, bikes, donkeys, hand-carts, skateboarders and pedestrians loom or rather swarm across the windscreen. Whilst waiting to turn left across traffic, other road users waited behind me [as per UK etiquette] and some drew alongside, port and starboard, pipping horns until there was enough of a gang to psyche the opposition to give way then we all made a bid for freedom in a lemming-like exodus. At first it seemed chaotic but that is a mere sensory response, the logic seemed to be the same as on the piste in a winter resort, concern yourself with what is in front of you and let those behind do the same.
Manchester - Marrakech,
easyjet £375 for 2 seats, 3 hour flight, arrived 16:40 local time [they're an hour behind in summer]. 20kg each [you can pre-book more], we averaged less than 17kg including double ropes, rack, harnesses, helmets and La Sportiva Nepal boots (which I wore but Jenny packed hers. If you book well in advance and are flexible with dates you can get flights for less than £80 for 2 peop's.
Sixt Car Hire pre-booked online MAD3,980 for 10 days (£30/day). Get diesel for off-road torsion as some crags are accessed by rough sump-threatening tracks [fine in a 2x2 if you go ginger and don't get all macho]. When you collect the car at the airport they need a card that will allow the pre-authorisation of MAD9,000 [£740] as collateral. This does not debit your account and is cancelled immediately the car is returned in acceptable condition.
Get a map of Marrakech at the airport.
