Day 263 : Goodbye Morocco…

After a late night out, I struggled to pull myself out of bed, before quickly packing up my bag to check out.  My luggage was absolutely full to the brim and bulging from its seams!

While waiting for the airport bus at the medina, a taxi driver approached to offer me a ride to the airport.  I told him I couldn’t afford to pay for a taxi and only have enough to pay for an airport bus at Dirham 30.  He tried to ask for more, but seeing that I wouldn’t budge, he agreed to send me in a taxi for the price of an airport bus.  I guess competition is tough! 

Goodbye Morocco!

Night Out in Marrakesh

I met Jamal at the main square, and before we went for a night out in town, he showed me around the 2 hotels he is managing, one of which is recently completed renovating and meant to be rented out as an entire house, while the other had rooms themed in different colours and furniture completed in the same.  It was all very nice! 

We stopped for an ice-cream while walking in the twists and turns of the medina.  I was surprised that while halfway through our ice-cream, a guy walked up to him and asked if he could have his half eaten ice-cream and Jamal just gave it to him.  Jamal must have caught my surprised look and he explained that it’s typical for Moroccan to share food or similar with the less fortunate – this perhaps explained why one old lady looked at me in disgust when she approached and spoke to me in Moroccan while I was in midst of finishing my orange juice earlier in the day!

 

Day 262 : More Marrakesh and Moroccan tea ceremony

After having a quick overview of Marrakesh yesterday, I zoomed in on the highlights closer to the old town which was worth a closer exploration.

Palais Bahia

This place is completely breath taking!  Comprising a number of courtyards all nicely tiled and decorated Moroccan style and extremely lavish.  It was built in the late 19th century,with a 8000 sq.m garden with rooms opening onto courtyards, and was intended to be the greatest palace of it time.

Day 261 : Exploring Marrakesh

With only 2 full days to explore Marrakesh, I decided to check out the explorer bus, which goes on both an “Oasis” route as well as a “Historic” Route, while allowing you to hop on and off at numerous fixed stops. 

I paid 145 Dirhams for a 24hr pass and was given a set of earphones which can be plugged into a audio console on each seat, providing various language options to listen to the tour narrative as well as description of the key highlights along the route.  Most of the seats on the Explorer Bus were located on the open air upper deck, and with the blazing Moroccan sun and a burning 38 degree celsius, I was very hot!

Day 260 : Enroute to Marrakesh, the vibrant city of Morocco

It’s off to Marrakesh after my last minute shopping in the morning!

I made my way to the train station and got ready to board the train.  Standardisation doesn’t seem to be the norm here in Morocco, as the train that I took seemed extremely run down, as compared to the nice comfy train I had taken from Casablanca to Rabat.  With no seat assignments, I was lucky enough to get a seat in one of the cabins which holds 8, of which half was occupied by a family of 4.

Day 259 – 260 : Rabat

Rabat is a 2hr train ride from Casablanca and is the capital of Morocco. 

The train ride to Rabat was very pleasant in a modern looking train, and upon arriving into Rabat, was greeted by clean and modern looking town. 

As usual, accommodation was challenging.  Prices were much steeper here as compared to the other cities, and most of the more affordable ones were already taken.  I visited a few hotels, before finally settling into a room at Hotel Central, located a short distance from the train station.

Day 258–259 : Casablanca

I arrived into Casablanca yesterday and it was the 1st time I experience cloudy weather since arriving in Morocco.  It got worse towards the evening, such that I wasn’t sure if it was due to the weather or if it was actually dirt or fog. 

Casablanca is the largest city of Morocco, and probably made famous by the 1942 romantic movie named after the city.  I was expecting more out of this city when I arrive, but it turned out very different to what I expected and everywhere within Casablanca seems to be under construction of some kind. 

Day 257 : El Jadida

I packed my gear and got ready to leave Aziz’s apartment in the morning.  Aziz suggested that I take a Grand Taxi to El Jadida, which leaves almost every 30 mins, rather than relying on a bus, which comes through Oualidia 2 times a day. 

A Grand Taxi is an old school Mercedes car, and for the route to El Jadida, it was usual for them to squeeze 7 people including the driver – 4 people in the back and another 2 in the passenger seat in the front.  I had previously took one for the route from Ouarzazate to Ait Bin Haddou, but that was just a 20 mins ride and without luggage. 

Day 256 : Last Day in Oualidia

I spent some time with Carmen in the morning, and explored some of the roads we have yet to explore around Oualidia, before Carmen made her way to Casablanca at noon. 

I have decided to stay an extra day to relax in the pleasant town of Oualidia, and also to spend more time with the company of interesting and hilarious people such as Aziz and Hissham. 

Day 255 : Oualidia and Seafood

Carmen and I woke up in the morning and decided to explore the town of Oualidia while Aziz went to work.  Oualidia is an extremely modern town, very clean and absolutely empty.  It’s located along the coast line and has a beautiful lagoon in the vicinity. 

Unfortunately it was too windy and as the wind blows, it was really chilly, that there was no way to spend anytime by the beach.

Enroute to Oualidia

I got in touch with Aziz, a friend whom I was staying with in Oualidia.  He suggested that we take a bus to Safi instead, a town next to Oualidia, as he will be going towards Safi that afternoon with another friend, and will be able to travel together to Oualidia from Safi. 

Carmen and I arrived much earlier in Safi than expected, so we found a place near the bus station and had an enjoyable conversation over a meal.  Both of us had similar impressions of Morocco – from the locals and the behaviour and their concept of time.  We also exchanged a number of funny stories, based on our encounters we had so far in the country, and it was interesting to finally hear a female’s encounter and impression. 

Day 253 - 254 : Essaouira

I had originally planned to stay 2 nights in Essaouira and this was shortened to 1 night due to my extended stay in Agadir, and was I glad it worked out well, as there was not much to offer in Essaouira.

Essaouira is a 4 hour bus ride along the coastline from Agadir.  The town’s activities are centred around the small medina, with a big fishing port located next to the medina.  The fishing port is characterised by the numerous blue fishing boats in the waters, and is bustling with activity during the day. 

Day 252 : Extended Stay in Agadir

Many whom I have met along the way, have said they did not like Agadir because it is a modern city.  But after experiences in the desert and the gorge , it felt good to be in a modern environment again.

It was also a huge reprieve to have no one hassling you continuously, or the feeling of being cheated by strangers along the way. 

In fact, people in Agadir are much nicer – I had put up my guard a few times at the beginning when people offered to show me the way, as I thought they would take the opportunity to ask you for money.  But all they wanted to do was just to help.

Day 251 : Agadir Beach and the Souk

While at the coast, I wanted to check out the beach of Agadir and took a 15 minute walk to the beach.  The shoreline was extremely wide and long, and I decided to walk from one end of the beach to the other. 

As I was walking, one guy approached me and started speaking in French.  I replied in English saying I don’t speak French.  He subsequently asked “Spanish?”, and although I could speak some, I said I couldn’t and can only speak English. 

Day 250 : Coast of Morocco – Agadir

Finding accommodation online outside of the main cities of Fes and Marrakesh was challenging, and it was even more challenging when there were no internet access in the places I had been over the last few days.  Not wanting to be caught in a homeless situation, I flipped through the travel guide at Hotel Marmar and took down the address of a hotel in Agadir (Hotel Tiznine) which looked decently priced, before catching a taxi to the bus station to catch the bus to Agadir.  And I was right, I had been ripped off by the taxi driver yesterday, as the taxi back to the train station only cost 4 Dirhams!

It was a 7 hour journey, and the view along the way although was rather barren, there were some impressive landscapes.  There was also a really beautiful sunset as we approached the city of Agadir. 

Day 249 : Ouarzazate & Ait Bin Haddou

I got up early and checked out to catch a taxi back towards Tinehir, in order to catch my 8.45am bus to Ouarzazate.  As I reached the bus station, guess who I saw!  The same irritating guy from yesterday waiting at the bus station.  I happened to catch a glance of him and immediately just ignored him, and caught him saying something smirk about going off without him.  He gives tourists a bad impression of Berber and Morocco, such a disgrace!

The bus journey towards Ouarzazate was about 3.5 hours, and on the way, I met a lady from Netherlands who had spent the last few years travelling in Morocco whenever she has leave from work.  She shared with me about her experience in Morocco and the people – very similar stories of what I have heard from others as well as my personal experience till date.  The locals will constantly hound you and will rip you off where they can, which is a huge turn-off for tourists. 

We soon arrived in Ouarzazate, and hopped on a taxi and asked the driver to take me to a hotel which I had pulled off from a travel guide.  I was surprised when we arrived that the taxi driver demanded 10 Dirhams for the short distance as the people at the bus company had told me that it should cost only about 5 Dirhams.  Being in a foreign land without the ability to argue my way through, I had to pay him the 10 Dirhams. 

Day 248 : Torda Gorge

My alarm woke me up at 5.30am while I quickly packed my stuff and got ready to leave the camp site at 6am, so that I could catch my bus at 8.30am.  Everyone was still asleep when I got out of my tent.  My guide got my camel ready and walked me back to the lodge.

While enroute, the sun slowly peeked out from the sand dunes and started warming the atmosphere, and in the distance, one can see tiny figures on top of sand dunes eagerly waiting to watch the sunrise.  Other than the sound of the camel trotting away, there was dead calm in the desert.

Day 247 : Sahara Awaits

I have seen many famous movies set in the Sahara desert, and never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would visit the Sahara desert in person. So it was something I had no intention to miss when I am in Morocco.

My trip to the Sahara along with the travel plans for the next couple of days had been arranged by the Fes Riad owner, and all I had to do was to get my bus tickets to each of the towns.

After a 10hr overnight bus ride from Fes to Rissani, I finally arrived at 6.30am, and boy… was it cold!  Rissani is the bus point closest to Messourga, one of the entry points to the Sahara desert. 

Day 246 : Ripped off!

My plans in Morocco has been changing on an almost daily basis.  Up till this morning, I was still undecided if I will head to Chef Chawan or to the Sahara desert, but since Betty leaves in the evening, and I wanted to time my departure from Fes around the time she leaves, the best option was to take the overnight bus trip to Sahara! 

Day 245 : Discovering the Medina of Fes

It is back to the hustle and bustle of life in Medina, lined with opened shops and crowds in the narrow streets. 

We headed out in the morning with a key destination in mind to visit the famous tanneries, visit the sights along the way and to see what the shops has to offer.