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Dakota's Moroccan Travelogue
Hi my name is Dakota Smith & I work for Travelers Digest. Recently I decided
to take a trip to Morocco with my girlfriend Jasmine, & this is my account of our
trip. I had been living in England with my girlfriend when we decided that it
would be interesting to visit Morocco & experience some of the North African
magic made famous in so many countless films.
Due to our schedules we would only have one week in March to visit all of
Morocco. So careful planning was a must. Thankfully travel planning is more or
less what I do, so I quickly devised a plan that would have to serve as out
itinerary while in the nation.
Firstly we flew to Marrakech from London on EasyJet for the low fare of 59
Pounds per person. It was definitely a deal. Arriving in Marrakech we took a
taxi to the famous town square Jemaa El-Fna which is where my walking directions
to our accommodations started. However taking a taxi from the Marrakech airport
isn't as easy as it sounds. First you have to negotiate with them, according to
every guidebook I had read before coming to Morocco a fare price for a taxi to
the city centre is about 60 Dirham, or $8 US Dollars. The first taxi driver I
asked at the airport quoted me the outrageous price of 180 Dirham. Three times
the recommended amount! Eventually after some haggling we found another taxi
driver who was willing to take us to town for 80 dirham. Not a great first
impression of Morocco.
We decided to stay at a riad while in Marrakech, a riad is a traditional
Moroccan house with an interior courtyard open to the sky. Finding the riad was
no easy ordeal, it took us 30 minutes, & involved asking more than a few persons
for direction. Eventually one nice man walked with us to show us where it was
at. The streets of Marrakech's medina are mostly pedestrian only consisting of
small muddy alleyways with the occasional cart pulled by a donkey clonking it's
way through. It was on one of these streets our riad was located.
I had booked the cheapest one I could find online the Riad Medina Azhara
which was about $68 US Dollars a night, what I didn't realize is how nice it
would be, it was amazing! The central courtyard was beautiful with a small
little pool, there were couches lining the walls where they would serve amazing
mint tea. And our room was also beautiful. Jasmine was ecstatic with our
accommodations. What can I say, I know how to treat my women.
After getting settled we went for a walk around the medina. Medina is the
terminology used to describe the walled portion of Moroccan cities. Marrakech's
focal point is the Jemaa El-Fna square. It's a large open space in the day,
filled with fruit stands selling cheap orange juice, & everything else from
snake charmers to story tellers. At night however the area transforms with dozens
upon dozens of food stalls being set up offering seating & all kinds of food
dishes.
The rest of the medina has an understated beauty, the smell of spices, &
bazaars selling everything you could ever want. Towards the southern end of the
medina is Palace el-Badi, which was reputed to be one of the most beautiful
palaces in the world when it was first constructed in the 16th century. Now it's
only a shadow of its former self, however it is still beautiful. Climbing to the
top of one of the palace's walls affords you a stunning view of the city as well
as the snowcapped Atlas mountains in the background.
During the rest of our time in Marrakech we kept a low profile other than
visiting the El-Bahia Palace, which I thought was slightly disappointing.
After our few days in Marrakech were up we headed by bus to the Atlantic
Coast & the town of Essaouira (pronounced essa-wera). Arriving at the bus stop
just outside of the city gates we met a man advertising studio apartments so we
followed him to his guest house, & the apartment was more than adequate, more
importantly it was cheap. Just $15 US Dollars for a double.
Essaouira is famous as far as the Moroccan tourism industry's concerned. It
has a very different look than that of Marrakech's, the buildings here instead
of being a sand colour are whitewashed in true coastal style. However one
drawback to the city is it's incessant wind, which unless you're a windsurfer is
a bad thing. As a quick walk down the beach taught us, don't walk down the
beach.
We didn't do much while in Essaouira, I think relaxing was the epitome of our
Moroccan journey. After two days in the city we departed by bus back to
Marrakech, & then walked to the train station which was conveniently located
nextdoor & boarded our12 hour train to Meknes. We had decided to bypass both Casablanca & Rabat after having read about
them both being modern European-esque. And modern is not a reason to come to
Morocco.
Our train tickets were 2nd class, what we didn't realize was just how 2nd
class a Moroccan train can be. It was packed! Not only was there no place to
sit, each car had dozens of people standing in the aisles, so it was almost
impossible to walk. Finally when the train reached Casablanca the majority of
the people exited the train allowing us time to find free spaces to sit, but
just as the people had left the train more came on, meaning we once again had a
full house.
It was an interesting trip, & shared our train compartment with some
interesting characters, with the most attention-grabbing being the older veiled
woman who loved the sound of her own voice, & insisted on talking to us albeit
we didn't understand as she was speaking in Arabic, but that didn't seem to
deter her much. Thank logic, science, & reason for iPods.
After Casablanca the landscape started to change from a desert scene to a
more forested green landscape with rolling hills. On the downside, the weather
also started to change from a dry sunny day to a cloudy rainy day.
Our two days in Meknes were completely ruined by torrential rain. Well not
quite torrential, but it was raining. Eventually we had to give up on the city
as our itinerary could not wait, & we embarked on the hour-long train journey to
Fez.
Fez is world renowned for its large medina & as being the cultural capital of
Morocco. Personally I preferred Marrakech better. But Fez was okay, it didn't
blow my mind or anything like that. The streets were small & narrow, dominated
by shopping, & everything of the sort.
After one whole day in Fez we left for the airport where we were to catch our
Ryan Air flight back to London. Normally this is where I'd sign off & remark on
my overall thoughts on Morocco, but things weren't to end so easily. We showed
up at the airport for the flight on time, we checked in, boarded the plane,
everything was fine. But then the plane didn't take off. Turns out they couldn't
get the plane's hatch to close so they decided to disembark the passengers back
to the single room terminal & let them wait it out. This wouldn't have been so
bad had we not spent our last Dirham, meaning we had to wait in the airport with
no food or water. Six hours later they fixed the plane & we flew to London much
later than we had originally anticipated. But hey who am I to complain, that's
what happens when you pay $76 Dollars for a flight.
Overall I'd say Morocco was a fascinating country, the language barrier
became a problem as neither of us spoke French but it wasn't insurmountable. I
was most pleased with the southern portion of the country, it was what I had
anticipated before I came, the northern part I felt was too atypical, & didn't
exactly fit my pre-ordained notion of Morocco. Our entire weeklong expedition in
Morocco had only cost me $1100 US Dollars for two people including everything.
On the negative aspect, two weeks after we left, Casablanca was struck by suicide
bombers exposing the shallow realm of calm that exists in kleptocratic
Islamic societies.
-Dakota Smith
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