A peaceful holy town
The Adventure of Arriving
Our Intrepid tour experience included traveling by taxi (old old old diesel Mercedes cars) to Moulay Idriss Zerhoune. I love this type of experience and is one of the reasons why I enjoy tours like this Intrepid tour. There is no way I would have hopped into an old beat up Mercedes taxi (the norm in this part of the world) and said ‘take me to Moulay Idriss and please don’t rip me off’. With Intrepid I got to have a local experience knowing that all had been negotiated and that these drivers relied on return business so there was unlikely to be any funny business.
As we arrived in the town, we found that we had five or six men astride donkeys surrounding our taxis in what appeared to be a race of some sorts. Having reached the top of the road, we discovered that it was a race to get our business. The ‘business’ was transporting our heavy luggage on the back of their donkeys up a steep paved pathway to our local riad at the top of a hill. I wasn’t expecting that! I’m accustomed to lugging my luggage everywhere, no matter the conditions. There was simply no way I was going to be able to carry my bag up this steep incline and I have to say that I felt a great deal of sympathy for the donkeys who carried 3-4 bags at a time.
Some scene setting information
Moulay Idriss is a small deeply religious city. The town is named after Moulay Idriss Al Akbar, a great grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and Moroccos most revered saint, who brought the religion of Islam to Morocco in 789. It is also the burial place of Moulay Idriss and the mausoleum is considered the holiest place in the Morocco. Six pilgrimages to Moulay Idriss during the festival honouring him, is equal to one pilgrimage to Mecca. Until 2005 non-Muslim visitors to the town were required to leave the town by 3pm until the king of Morocco the town open to non-Muslim visitors.
While Moulay Idriss is now open to non-Muslims, the Mausoleum of Idriss I is open only to Muslims.
Our Riad
Our accommodation in Moulay Idriss was a family owned riad high up on a hill. Again our riad would not have been the type of place I would have booked, but Intrepid make sure you have a local experience in a safe environment – this was perfect.
We were greeted with a wonderful tea ceremony before we headed out to a wonderful tour of the city by a guide who not only knew the intricacy of the city but also helped us to respect the religious traditions of the city as we passed through the never ending maze of stairs and ally ways.
Our hosts treated us with traditional food and even invited us into her kitchen to see the secrets behind the meals.
Family life behind those doors
The ornate doors of the home of people living in Moulay Idriss and the life of families behind them fascinated me. A traditional riad is often two stories and are built for privacy and for the protection of the women and their dignity. There are no outer windows but most have a garden or courtyard at the centre. Visitors to the house are greeted in a room directly behind the front door. They either remained in the room for their duration of their visit or are led to the open garden at the centre of the riad for tea and conversation. Women of the house remain sight unseen in other rooms in the home for the period of the visit. So traditional.
Out and About in Moulay Idriss
This is the tour I took with Intrepid
Just a note that I traveled independently on this tour. Intrepid were unaware that I would write a review of the tip. I thoroughly recommend it!
North Morocco Adventure.

