Day one - Day two - Day three - Day four - Day five - Day six - Day seven - Day eight - More on Morocco
Day one, October 22
Marrakech and Ouarzazate
Plan:
Meet the tour group at the hotel in Ouarzazate in the evening.
Well... For me, meeting the tour group at the hotel was not that easy because I flew into Marrakech, not Ouarzazate. I arrived in Marrakech at about noon, and proceded to change some travellers cheques into Dirhams... But the airport exchange desk does not take travellers cheques, so I changed the sixty dollars cash I had saved for my return trip and had it changed. There are approximately 7.2 Dirhams to each Canadian dollar (about 10 for a US dollar, and about 15 for the pound Stirling).
After changing my money, I had the task of getting into the city of Marrakech to what I thought would be a bus terminal to take a bus to Ouarzazate. Another lady from France also needed a taxi to town, so we decided to share a petit taxi. The driver offered to charge us 60 Dh each, and we agreed - I had expected to pay more like 80 or 100 Dh for the ride, so 60 was OK (about $8 Canadian).
The driver dropped off the other passenger at her hotel, then proceeded to find me a place where I could exchange my travelers cheques. The banks were closed, and no hotel would change them. Because I had already changed a bit at the airport, we decided I had enough to pay him and my trip to Ouarzazate, so we made our way to the gare routiere to make arrangements for Ouarzazate. When we got there, he insisted on charging me 100 Dh for touring the city!! I was able to talk him down to 90 Dh, and he found me a taxi to go to Ouarzazate.
The taxi to Ouarzazate was 70 Dh, and it was in a grand taxi this time. There were six passengers where there was only room for three, and we drove for almost four hours through the mountains between Marrakech and Ouarzazate!! It was quite an experience... I was so tired and glad to find a way to get there that I didn't mind being so squished in the back seat. I chatted with the other passengers and found out some interesting things about Morocco! The couple who rode with me took care of me a bit and said they'd help me get to the hotel in Tabounte, Ouarzazate. Surprisingly enough, we encountered snow as we drove through the mountains, and I was freezing when we made a pit stop about half way to Ouarzazate!
We arrived in Ouarzazate, at the new gare routiere. From there, the couple and I took a petit taxi to the old gare routiere, and that cost us 3.50 Dh (50 cents in Canada!!). Unexplicably, the driver who dropped us off at the new gare routiere was now at the old gare routiere haggling with me for a price for the taxi to get to the hotel!! I started with 2 Dh, and he just laughed and said "Who told you it would be 2 Dirhams?" I insisted that it was the correct fare. He said it wasn't, that it should be 2.50 Dh. I wasn't going to haggle over a few pennies... so it was settled! I arrived at the hotel at about 5:30pm in one piece and with all my luggage!
The Hotel La Vallee was not bad, but there were cockroaches in the bathroom. I took a cold shower before having a bit of a snooze to catch up on my lack of sleep. The tour guide, Andy McKee, knocked on my door at about 9:30pm and introduced himself. He came back a little later with a bottle of water to drink and with which to clean my teeth... Do not drink the tap water in Morocco unless you're a Moroccan!!
My roommate, Lucy Dalrimple-Hey, and her group arrived around 11:30 or midnight and they all went straight to bed I think...
Last modified on November 9, 2000