Morocco Tour

30/7 - 8/8

30/7 Marrakech

Weather: Superb Sunny

Mood: Extremely Excited

Temperature: Burning Hot!! It can get to more than 45°C under sunshine at mid-day.

Accommodation

Following the any-bed-would-do philosophy, I picked this one, right next to the central Djemaa square and cheap. 60Dh per night. Shared toliet, no electric socket in room, I asked the receptionist to charge my mobile and camera battery there. There is only one window in the room opening to the corridor, don't dream about air-conditioning in such a hotel.

(1Dh approximately = HK$1, 1Euro = 10Dh, 1GBP = 16Dh)

Sight-seeing:

The popular sight seeing points in Marrakech are the Djemaa Square, you can't miss this one. There are a number of palace, tombs and gardens if you fancy.

Highly recommended: Djemaa Square at dusk

My dinner from the food stall above.

Palais el-badi:

Local Culture:

Moroccans are good businessman. They always greet you with "My friend you want some food/water/hotel room but hearing a lot of them is quite irratating.

Bargaining is a must if you shop at the souq (market) otherwise you'll be badly rip-off. When I say badly i mean even you bargain you'll still pay higher than what the locals would pay, simply because you're a foreigner.

 A typical souq.

Banks and sightseeing points are closing from noon to 2:30pm, probably coz it's too hot to work. The best thing I can do in this period is to sit down and have a coke.

Transportation:

This is called globalization, right? I never tried the red bus in europe. I asked for the price in Marrakech, they charge 130Dh for one day unlimited travel. However, each taxi ride only cost Dh 20-40. I prefer taxi, there are plenty of them in the city. I tried to walk actually but I just feel exhausted after 5min, too hot!!

Water:

You brought it in terms of liters. Even though I drank at least 3 liters of water not including other soft drinks, I didn't piss until evening when I returned to hotel. So hot you urinate through the skin.

31/7 Sahara 3 days 2 nights Tour day 1

I joined a local tour recommended by lonely planet and also a backpacker's online forum. I compared price for a few agents. While others charge around USD $ 250 = Dh 2000 for the same 3 day 2 night tour the one I joined is only Dh 950. It's much cheaper probably because there's no tour guide but only a driver. He drops you at the sightseeing point and you manage the rest. Also the car is not 4WD, which is fine at summer but during winter snow covers the mountain roads and skiding could happen.

Our Van for the tour

The scenic and bendy mount road

The Atlas mountains

The first sight seeing point: Ait Benhaddou

It's the filming site for Gladiator, star war and mummy. Once you're at the entrance some young children come out and volunteer to be your guide. If you're familiar with moroccan tourism you know their ultimate aim is to earn tips from you. You can't drive them away and sometimes they do help you to navigate.

Look from the top.

Lunch at a decent restaurant. You don't have choice as the driver take you there. Reason to believe the tour receive a commission from the restaurant.

This dish is called Couscous, basically is semolina (kind of like rice) with vegatable and meat.

After lunch we head for Dades Gorge

At the middle of nowhere during the journey.

The other reason why this tour is cheap is the driver just stopped at the hotel and you've walk up all the distance to the gorge.

We walked all the way from the bottom of the gorge.

Hotel and dinner are included for this evening. It's quite nice, around 2-3 star with private bathroom. I shared the room with a Japanese guy who is travelling around the world.

Soup and couscous for dinner.

1/8 Sahara 3 days 2 nights Tour day 2

The first stop of the day is a town named Tinerhir. They have good irrigation system for plantation.

We walked across the farm and visited a local family. They treat you with tea and introduce to you their traditional carpet. What they aim to do is to sell you one, though none of us in the tour are interested to buy.

Then we head for the Todra Gorge.

The gorge is not as spectacular as the dades gorge yesterday, part of the reason might be there are no viewpoints at the cliff above. We can only walk around at the bottom. Locals gather here for the water, which make it become sort of a playing ground rather that tourist attraction.

Lunch for the day

This is Tajine, meat with vegetable stew. Then it's the highlight of the journey, Sahara desert.

Miracle of the Sahara desert?

Are u ready to enter the desert?

A 45 minute camel ride took us into the desert.

What you expect except from sand in a desert?

I really want a ultra wide lens, 28mm is not enough for the desert!

Our desert dinner, no folks and knifes, use your hand. Don't dream about washing your hand before dinner.

This is the super 5 star hotel in Sahara desert, rooms without boundary and unbeatable star sky view at night.

The next morning I woke up with a sweaty body and sand all over me.

There are some HK travel agent offering morocco tour including a visit to the Sahara. I guess most HK people couldn't bear with a toilet and shower so what these agents do is to arrange accommodation near the desert and go into the desert before sun rise, staying there for a few hours and come out. There are a number of luxury hotels on way to the desert, some of them even have advertise golf course! I don't really know how they can have a large piece of grassland near the desert...

2/8 Sahara 3 days 2 nights Tour day 3

Time to left the desert. Imagine you're already smelly, you didn't wash your hand after dinner yesterday and those oils are still on your figer. Your hair is loaded with sand but you can't do anything about it. And it's still a whole day before you go back to city and find a hotel to have a shower. No wonder those HK tours wouldn't stay in the desert for the night, and no wonder this local tour is so cheap.

I thought night in desert would be very cool but indeed it was like around 25°C. My jacket was useless.

Camel ride for leaving the Sahara.

The package of the tour is to return to Marrakech. The majority of us didn't want to go back all the way. Ten of us got two taxies from the nearest town and went to Fes. It took 1000Dh to rent the taxi for the 10hr journey to Fes, 1000Dh is really a lot in terms of morocco living standard and if I was alone I wouldn't rent it. Sharing with 4 other people made it only 200Dh for each and that's more reasonable. Though fitting 4 peope at the back seat is a bit crowded, the maximum capacity of the taxi is actually six passenger plus 1 driver. Two passenger at the front seat and 4 at the back and this is legal!! No one cares about seat belt.

Tajine for lunch again. Again reason to believe the taxi driver receive commission form the restaurant. Food in morocco is always Tajine and Couscous!

Six of us stayed at the Hotel Cascade recommended by lonely planet as "famous for its roof terrace with unbeatable views". It's true. For 50Dh you can sleep at the terrace (single room is 100Dh). Highly recommended and I promise you will get the best ventilation for your "room" at a hot summer night.

The view from the hotel roof.

3/8 Fes

May be I should introduce the other 5 "roommate". The guy in red T-shirt in front of me is just a hotel staff who jumped into our picture. The one next to me is a japanese guy doing a round the world trip. Behind me is a German couple. Behind the japanese guy is a british guy with his kazakhstan girlfriend.

Fes is a city you can't miss if you visit morocco. It's famous for its leather industry, it was the capital of one of morocco's ancient empire. The street in the old city is more complex than a maze, and a handful of unoffical gudies hang around looking for disorientated tourists.

Frankly speaking for nearly half of the time I was lost in the old city. The best is to walk following the crowd and you'll come to a landmark. You can ask the local and sometimes pay them a few dollars and they'll lead the way.

The tanneries in Fes. A teenager guided me there for 5Dh. The factory there are happy to let you go up their roof to see the dye pots, and in return they expect you to give tips or shop there.

They told me this is the largest tannery, well, in africa. The ingredients are all natural, such as pigeon shit which is acidic to soften the animal skin. The red colour is forom pepper flower. A number of other exoctic materials like cow urine, fish oil and animal fats are used which makes the area smelly. However I didn't find the smell too disgusting, probably because my chemistry laboratory is smelly also and I'm used to that.

Their leather shop.

Then visited a few museums about moroccan traditions.

Sightseeing points are hard to locate, I follow a group of tourist and went into the above museum, about moroccan carpet, and received a cup of mint tea as part of the group.

Another grand museum.

Simple lunch, you lose appetite in hot weather.

There are a lot of cats in morocco, and under such hot weather the best thing to do is eat and sleep!

I then went to see a mosque which I found out was closed for renovation. Around the mosque another guy come and say to me he can show me his carpet shop and terrace for 10Dh. The view from there is okay.

So many TV receiver, I am confused are they really poor?

I ended the day by going to Borj Nord, a view point at the north of the city.

The air pollution is actually series and the sky is quite foggy.

I also took the panoramic view at night, but the city is not light up well enough so the picture wasn't good.

This is the terrace that people sleep, and have dinner, drinks, dry their clothes, etc.

P.S. Since moroccans don't wear helmet on their motorbikes and scooters, the government put up such advertisment.

4/8 Casablanca

I have been told by some of the Sahara tripmate that Casablanca is not worth visiting. It's just another european city. It's quite true, especially in part of the new town where wealthy foreigners live. I'd say the single most important tourist attraction is the magnificent Hassan II mosque. The film Casablanca might give you another reason to come to this city, though I heard that actually "Casablanca" is not filmed in casablanca.

I always wonder, why the government spend so much money and manpower to build such a grand religious facilitie while so many population in the country is still poor. When the tour guide explain to us, she was very pound of the mosque and emphasize on the vast investment and short time the mosque was built. There are speakers around the hall and the top roof could be open electrically. I talked to some local and they have a very strong faith in muslim. I thought this is all about education. When you're told about one thing consistently since young, you then believe it without doubt, kind of like brain washing.

The interior of the mosque is very grand.

The above is the bath in the mosque, kind of like socializing place for the muslim.

I've been traveling in inland area of morocco which is extrmemely hot without the cooling effect of the sea. Casablanca is along the coast and due to its lack of tourist attraction points, I decided to go swimming in the afternoon. Lonely planet recommended a region located at the west of the city with cinema complex, fitness club, decent restaurant and beaches. It sounds like a westernized suburb. There's a beach called Miami Plage, and on my taxi ride there I saw this.

I wonldn't believe it is morocco if not for the flags. This part of the city is so modern, no wonder it's mostly foreigners living here.

It's worth mentioning about the taxi driver in casablanca. Like taxi drivers in all big cities, they tend to cheat tourist. I took quite a few taxi ride in casablanca and less than half of the driver used the meter. Most would agree with me a price that is over by around 30-50%. I know they're overcharging me but what can I do, even though you get another taxi that drive will also try to rip you off.

I have only took taxi once when I travlled in europe. For most part of the europe public transportation is easy to use but taxi is expensive. The only time I called a taxi in france was when the first bus is at 9am and I had to be at the ferry port before 8am. This time in morocco I always wave down a taxi in cities like marrakech and casablanca. Not only because taxi is not expensive (possibly cheaper than bus in oxford), but it's basically impossible for me to take the bus. I have no idea of what the route is, which bus to took and where to get off. It's hard to find a local who speaks english to ask for all these informations. In some well developed european countries you don't even have to ask anyone, the bus stop have all the information including the time, map and price.

And then here's the beach. I later learn from a moroccan (who is a graduate from casablanca university major in english now working in an international company, as a result speaks good english) that local people doesn't go to this beach. (I guess swimming is not a popular activity for those conservative moroccans.) It's mostly americans who when there. Anyway finally I can cool down a bit.

I am sure tourist who come to morocco is not looking for street sights like this. This is modern, fine, but I didn't come to see modern buildings.

I picked up this hotel near the train station, 100Dh for the single room, shared toilet. There is also a Hotel Ibis right next to the station, charging around 450Dh for a single room. Ibis was fully booked. Yes, most of the hotels in morocco are not bookable online and that's why Ibis is popular. It offers clean, secure rooms with your own toilet. 450 is really a lot in terms of moroccan standard, they are charging at the same rate as if the hotel was in europe. It's a totally different market strategy in europe and morocco. In europe it's just a budget accommodation and it turned itself into a high-end hotel in morocco. (And I think of body shop which is pretty basic skin and beauty care shop in UK becomes a brand name in HK.)

To me, having my own room is already a luxury. In europe I always stay in youth hostel.

5/8 Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen is a small town. It's a place the tour operators always miss. But it's definitely worth visiting. The old town is in a beautiful sky blue tone.

I took the coach (6hr) from casablanca to chefchaouen. When I was in the coach station I had no idea of which bus I should go onto. I asked at the ticket office but then a stranger suddenly comes and see my ticket. Then he took me to the bus, give me a seat and charged me 5Dh. Okay, moroccans just want tips.

The coach station is a bit like those in mainland china, with all activities like selling water, snacks and Koran (the muslim bible) going on. People shouting and the drivers sounding the horn.

The country roads on the journey. I have to say the road network in morocco is really good. I never see a broken surface on the road and in some scenic routes there are spaces for you to pull off. Speeding is not serious. I don't mean they don't speed, but they don't exceed the limit a lot.

This is the Rif mountain region. If you have time it's possible to do some hiking here.

The beautiful old town of chefchaouen. In contrast to Fes, the chefchaouen old town is easy to navigate and you still can find all the tradition of morocco here. Highly recommended.

A typical souvenir shop there.

Dinner was a bit crap. I ordered lamb but they don't have it. So chicken Tajine again.

I stayed at a nice hotel for 75Dh. The room and toilet is very clean and the whole hotel matches with the blue theme of the town.

6/8 The road to Spain

It was an unlucky day. My plan was to travel to Ceuta and cross the ocean to spain. Simply a coach and a ferry should bring me to europe, so I woke up quite late and have a leisure breakfast. Everything was fine until I get to Fnideq and try to cross the border to spain.

As the coach goes along the coast, I saw a lot of resort hotets and beaches. Indeed it is just like a small spanish colony. Yes it's definitely a holiday paradise, the things are cheap, the temperature is warm and the sky is blue.

Then I arrived at the border. I know they're going to confuse my HKSAR passport with the People of Republic of China passport. The moroccan custom checked my passport for half an hour, and then they gave me the most funniest reason I ever heard - You doesn't look like the photo on your passport, I can't let you through here!! You should go to the larger airport and they have the technology to verify you. On that moment I have already changed all my morocco currency to euro and I only have 100 euro (I planned to take out more cash when arrive in spain). I am already at the coast and I am not going back. So I told the custom I don't have enough money to go to an airport. He then told me to go to another ferry port, Tangier, 1.5 hour's drive from where I was.

I don't have choice. They don't let me go through and I can't do nothing. To follow my tight schedule I have to be at spain today. So I took a long distance taxi (the kind that I took with others from Sahara to Fes), but this time I don't have anyone to share the cost with. Lonely plant suggested for a shared taxi it should be 25Dh per person, I am in a hurry so I'll accept 20 Euro = 200 Dh. The first taxi driver I met quoted 40 Euro. I bargained at 20 Euro but he was firm on the price. Then I tried another drive and we deal at 30 Euro. There's not much money left in my pocket.

This is the sort of 70's Mercedes Benz they use for long distance taxi. The door is like about to fell off and it only have 4 forward gears.

The road from Fnideq to Tangier is supposed to be a scenic route. However, I wasn't really in the mood to enjoy the view, I was a bit worrying if they still don't let me go out of morocco. Anyway I still got some pictures.

I went to Tangier, got another local taxi to the ferry port, brought the ferry ticket to spain for 40 Euro. When you're travelling alone it's dangerous not to have enough cash in your pocket. Now I only got 30 Euro, figers crossed. Fortunately I successfuly passed the custom at the port without even a question. I saw my ferry and think all the hassle of the day was now over.

The sun set was so awesome!

The only thing left to do is to find a hotel for the night. I set off from Tangier around 7pm, the ferry should take around 2 hr to cross the sea, plus spain is 2 hour ahead of morocco I estimated I should arrive around 11pm. It will be too late to walk around to look for an accommodation so I made a phone call on the ship to book a hostel near the port, mentioning I'll be arriving late. I thought everything was done but there was actually one more trouble waiting for me at the other side of the ocean.

The story continues on the spanish side...