Exploring Morocco with Ovi Maps

This story is about another “Ovi Maps Acid” similar to Jan’s cross-European road trip that was covered here at the Ovi Blog last week. Recently my wife and I decided that it would be a good time to have an adventure as we used to have when we were young(er). We ...

This story is about another “Ovi Maps Acid” similar to Jan’s cross-European road trip that was covered here at the Ovi Blog last week. Recently my wife and I decided that it would be a good time to have an adventure as we used to have when we were young(er).

We looked at the last place we wanted to go before we found out that we are going to have a child. And that was Morocco. First we asked our daughter if it’s OK that she will spend a couple of days with her grandparents and she said yes without any hesitation

We quickly started the planning of our trip. We calculated how much the driving would take by planning the routes with Ovi Maps on the web at maps.ovi.com. We would fly into Fez, stay there for 2 nights, drive across the country to Essaouira and from there to Marrakesh, which would be our final destination.

We packed just like we used to do years ago: The essentials in one backpack. When it came to the equipment, I decided to take only a Nokia N86 loaded with Ovi Maps (and a great 8 megapixel camera for the photos) with us. I pre-loaded Moroccan maps and synchronized the routes I had just created. We were good to go. This way we could use Ovi Maps in offline mode and not have any data roaming charges.

Arriving in Fez, we went straight to our guest house in the middle of the medina with the help of the owner who waited for us at the airport. Fez medina gives another meaning to the expression “old city”. The moment that you enter behind the medina’s walls, you feel as if you have traveled 1000 years into the past. Narrow winding alleys, packed with shops, restaurants, mosques and a constant movement of people, donkeys and mules. The first thing we noticed was how fast you lose your sense of direction. The owner of our guesthouse pointed out that we will for sure be lost and advised us not to talk to young men but to ask help from shop owners instead. To get an idea of how complex Fez medina is, check out the  map below (click to enlarge):

5 minutes later we were off to explore. Before we left the guesthouse, I opened Ovi Maps and saved the location. 5 minutes later we were already completely lost. And that was good! Getting lost in Fez medina is one of the best experiences I have ever had during any of my travels. We continued walking for a couple of hours, constantly amazed by what we were seeing. Then we decided to go back and Ovi Maps was put to the first test, getting to the guesthouse. And it worked like a charm. I got the GPS fix, selected the saved location of the guesthouse and pressed “Walk to”. I also activated the N86 built-in compass to point us in the right direction… and off we went.

The Fez medina maps in Ovi are incredibly accurate, with every small alley covered. 15 minutes later we arrived at the guesthouse, all the time walking with the confidence of a local. The owner asked us how it went, we explained and showed him Ovi Maps. He was amazed. We spent a couple of minutes and he helped us save the locations of the medina hidden treasures.

The next day, we used Ovi Maps to walk from one place to the other and get back to guesthouse. No worries whatsoever, just enjoying the sites.

The following day we got our rental car and started driving all the way to Essaouira. A whole day of driving, N86 guiding us all the way. After spending one day in Essaouira we were off to Marrakesh.  N86 got us to the rental car drop point with no glitch.

We met the owner of the Marrakesh medina guesthouse and we repeated the learnings from Fez:  marked the location of the guesthouse and main sites to see. But we also checked the free Lonely Planet Marrakesh city guide in Ovi Maps (one of the 1000+ locations that we cover) and we saved the location of a couple of recommended restaurants. We did this over WLAN in the guesthouse to avoid data roaming charges.

Then we were off to explore. Again we had the same feeling of it being totally fine to get lost. Same great detailed maps of the medina, with every little street charted.

After one more day, our adventure was over and we headed back home.

Looking back, the Marocco trip was one of the best trips we ever had, and Ovi Maps played an important role. It gave us the freedom to focus on what we were seeing, and not be concerned with getting lost or how to get to the next location. It contained incredibly detailed maps and it worked in offline mode so, like mentioned, we were not concerned about the data roaming charges. It guided us on foot or in the car with dedicated navigation modes. It provided us with the information of the best places to see with the help of the free Lonely Planet city guide service.

N86 with Ovi Maps. Our guide, our camera, our PND. And we were able to focus on what we were exploring, not on how we explore.

Download Ovi Maps with free worldwide drive and walk navigation and free premium services from nokia.com/maps. Start using it now. You will enjoy your next adventure even more.

Source : http://blog.ovi.com/2010/05/13/exploring-morocco-w...