Morocco – Casablanca & Rabat – 15/10/16 – 16/10/16

Day 1 and 2
So after a 1h 50m flight from Madrid we landed in Casablanca flying with Iberia Airlines, Spain national airway. A great flight and a very easy self check in system all went smoothly, even passport control at either end was relatively trouble free. So at Casablanca we needed to catch a train from the airport to the town centre. This wasn’t so easy as we followed the crowd outside to realize the train station was on the lower ground floor of the airport. The problem was that to get in the airport you have to go through the first check in scanner machines. So our bags, jackets etc were thrown on a conveyabelt and we again were scanned. An airport security man asked for our destination as we had gone through to departures. So funny as we had only landed 15 minutes prior. We explained we were looking for the train station and instantly he called for a policeman! Shock horror as they spoke to each other in Arabic, (we had no clue what was said), until the policeman said in English, “follow me”, ???##***!!//. Gulp no idea where he was taking us – he said nothing else to us but talked in his language into his walkie talkie. He escorted us to the other side of the airport and down an escalator to a very dark lonely corridor. Gulp again! where was he taking us. We finally arrived at another escalator where he said in English, “down there”. We did as asked and were finally at the train station – panic over. We were able to get our 1 way tickets to the city centre from a self serve ticket machine, and had to wait around 30 minutes for it to arrive. The cost was MAD 46 which equates to just under NZ $6/£3 pp for a 30 minute ride. Then into a taxi to our hotel. The taxi was an old Ford Focus dating back to the 1970’s, complete with fluffy dice hanging from the rear view mirror. Tina’s case was thrown onto the roof, and mine went into the boot of the car, (once he had moved around a bottle of petrol, a jack, spare flat tire and a few other bits and bobs. We read that you have to haggle a price for everything here beforehand, so negotiating a fare was quite funny. We asked how much and he said MAD 80, but we had been informed by our tour operators no higher that MAD 25. We did get the price down to MAD 30 so off we went. What a ram shackled vehicle it was, no seat belt, ripped vinyl seats, oiled stained carpet, this car had certainly passed it’s retirement age but was going strong, however its brakes needed some adjustment! It didn’t appear to have any. Oh and the driving here is hilarious, 2 lanes but the drivers made the roads into 4 or 5 lanes at traffic lights, that is when they bothered to stop at a red light! It wasn’t long before I had my eyes closed for the journey, I just couldn’t watch anymore as I was in the front seat.
Our city centre hotel was lovely. I even think we got a suite, it was huge. Traditional Moroccan styled with ornate plaster, bathroom with mosaic tiles and high ceilings – lovely. Casablanca on the other hand was a bit of a let down, not at all what we expected. We went out for a walk and everything was closed, it was like a ghost town. We did manage to find a “corner shop” so was able to buy water and juice before going back to the hotel.
We met our other fellow travellers at 6pm at a pre tour meeting before heading out for dinner. The restaurant was lovely, and we tucked into a traditional Moroccan Tagine which was superb. However this restaurant was alcohol free, we couldn’t even buy any and take it in with us, so had to have lemonade!!!!
The following day, after breakfast we all got into the minivan and were dropped of at the train station where we boarded the train to Rabat, Morocco’s capital, where after lunch we had a couple of free hours exploring. We were also joined by another couple on our trip who had arrived after our meeting last night. They had arrived from Canada making our group total 16, the maximum amount of people for our tour. Our guide gave us all a map of the city which pointed out a certain route to walk to take in its sights. Rabat is so different to Casablanca, this had a style we had imagined Morocco to be. Terracotta sand blasted buildings, huge archways, mosaic tiles everywhere what a fab place. Our route took us through a souk, then onto the sea front. Wow this was a magnificent sight with a lovely cool breeze in the air. Looking left and right we saw old parts of the city, huge medieval walls as far as the eye could see. Further on our walk, following the map, we walked into the walled old sector. What we came across amazed everyone. The houses were painted white with blue windows and doors, (just like the villages you find anywhere in Greece). It was amazing with the sun shining down giving everything a clean, whitewashed fresh look. The cobbled street, the architecture of each building, and even the laundry drying on lines made this an unmissable place to visit. We then walked through the old town to Mohammed V tomb, (the current kings grand father’s buried place). This was even more glorious, it even had the last remains of the Roman Era with stone columns everywhere. Very ornate buildings, it had guards at its walled entrance who were in traditional clothing sat atop horses. A great place to visit. Then our walk led us back to our starting place, where we boarded another train for a 2h 15m ride to Meknes. Once there we were packed into taxis, (when I say packed, I mean squashed in like sardines, 6 people in 1 taxi, with luggage thrown in a box on the roof). Quite fun really. We then arrived at our hotel, again a lovely ensuite large room, ours had a great view across the city as we were on the 5th floor, and wow what a great sunset. We all met 30 minutes later to go to a restaurant for dinner. Again this restaurant was alcohol free, and the food was medioka, 3 courses for MAD 75, but for dessert we had a choice of creme caramel, (from a packet), yogurt (in a pot – like you have for breakfast), or fresh fruit (which when it came was an orange and a banana on a plate), pretty poor really. The best thing about tonight, our guide showed us a bottle store/off licence where a few of us bought essentials and once back in our hotel, we didn’t waste any time opening our recently bought bottle of Gordons gin and Schwepes Tonic Water – BLLLIIISSS.