How do I send a postcard / use the post office in Morocco?

Sending a postcard home is one of those small rituals I still encourage guests to do, partly because it is genuinely lovely and partly because Moroccan stamps are little artworks. The national post is Barid Al-Maghrib, branded "Poste Maroc" or simply "La Poste," and you will spot the offices by their distinctive yellow signage. Every city has a central post office (often a handsome older building) plus smaller branches around the neighbourhoods.

The process is refreshingly analogue. Buy your postcards from a souk stall, bookshop or hotel; then either buy stamps at the same spot or take them to a post-office counter, where the clerk weighs and prices them by destination. Stick the stamp on, and drop the card into one of the yellow postboxes mounted on walls outside offices and on some streets. If you cannot find a box, the post-office counter will take it directly — that is what I usually do to be safe.

Set your expectations on speed, though. A postcard to Western Europe typically takes one to two weeks; to the US, Canada or Australia, reckon on two to four weeks and occasionally longer. It is the journey, not the express delivery — so write and send early in your trip rather than from the airport on the way out. I have had guests beat their own postcards home by a fortnight more than once.

For anything that actually matters — important documents, a parcel of ceramics or a rug you bought — do not trust ordinary post. Use the international courier services (DHL, FedEx and Aramex all operate in the main cities), or let the carpet or pottery shop arrange shipping; the reputable ones do this constantly and insure it. Keep the postal route for postcards and lightweight, sentimental things where a slow, charming trip across the Mediterranean is part of the appeal.