Our last trip of the year took us to four destinations in Europe and Africa, they were: Turkey, Portugal, Morocco, and Spain. This post will mostly focus on Morocco, the two cities and third location we went to, probably because it is what I have developed and scanned the most of.

We flew to Morocco from Portugal after originally planning to take the bus train bus ferry bus train, but as we had little time, we opted to just fly, the cost being about the same and to spend more time actually in Marrakech and around there. We flew into Casablanca and took the train to Marrakech, which was actually a nice ride and uneventful. The train was not particularly nice, though it did come all the way to the airport, and then let us out in Casablanca until we were able to catch the next train to Marrakech.

We took this time to spend walking around Casablanca, and see what we could see. The city was drab at best, wanting a nice cleaning and very active, though, not overly chaotic. We had read that the city was a epicenter of sorts for business with not much to do otherwise, and the hotel prices reflected this, as they were quite high, this being the reason we did not stay here. There was a nice tram system, and the few people we interacted with while here were friendly enough.

I bought some bread and coke while here, and my lady got some of the same, and we headed back to the train station after about 2 hours walk in the city. The train station was pretty busy, and fairly ruleless, which I've found most train stations in these types of places to be, which is much nicer than a station with massive amount of rules.

After a four hour train ride, we arrived in Marrakech around 7 or 8, sometime when it was dark, who knows, evening time. Our Riad was a few miles from the train station, and though we were told "there is no way to walk here, get a cab" we decided to leg it anyway. The walk took about an hour and a half, and was not bad. It did take about 30 more minutes to actually find out place, as nothing was labelled and it was on some weird back road. Some old gent helped us find it and he was given a handful of coins, that was a thanks you. 

Riad La Porte Rouge

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We spent the evening walking around a little bit, but after a day of travel, we stayed in our room. The Riad we stayed in was one of the nicest places we have ever stayed on our many travels. The staff was friendly, attentive, and not overbearing, nor too far away when we needed. I would suggest staying here if you ever feel the need to go to Marrakech.

The next day we ventured out into the market, which was a whole other world. Tight alleys, lots of people, chaos, and the worst of it was scooters everywhere. I was expecting a lot more from Morocco, I suppose that would be because I hold Muslim countries to the standard that Egypt and to a lesser extent, Turkey have set for me. I must say, I was a bit let down. While there were a lot of friendly people, most of them seemed overly rude or just wanted something from us. And while I understand that they have lives and businesses to run, I do not need a t-shirt from every single person selling a t-shirt, I do not need a cell phone from everyone selling a cell phone. 

The Market

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Fuji Astia

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Fuji Astia

The whole day in the market was a long walk, with lots to see. I enjoy the large market atmosphere, usually, the hustle and bustle, and the way that other's lives are different from ours. I think we had pizza that day.

The following day we arranged to take a mini-bus to the desert to see the D'ouzoud Wasserfall, which is the largest waterfall in Northern Africa. The ride was about 3 hours or so, and was not that bad. Upon our arrival, we were approached by someone who just started to walk us in the direction of the falls, and was telling us things. He slipped in "oh, if you like it, it will be 50 or 60 dirhams a person". He was a tour guide, which was fine, but he didnt even give us the option to not take his tour. We walked away and went where we felt the falls were. They were not hard to find. 

The guide, who we naturally ran into a few times more, as there were few groups, and we were all going to the same area, would not look or talk to us. It was strange. 

The falls were a decent sight, but not the best, after one sees Iguacu, not much compares. 

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To get to the falls, you walk along the river to the top of the falls, where there is a precarious overlook with no railing, then you walk down the hill, crevace, mountain, hold, whatever term is used. At the bottom, there is a bunch of camps that one can camp at, there is a small restaurant as well. You then walk to the base of the falls where there is a pool and some paddle boats. You can pay a Euro to ride in the boats, or just walk across. We just walked across. 

Then the walk up the mountain, hill, etc is paved on the other side, and lines with small shops. We were not overly sold to here. At the top there is a market, which was fun to walk around in. 

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The ride back was equally uneventful, and we were let off at the market. That basically ended our time in Morocco. That night we ate at a vegan place we had eaten the night before, which was amazing. We went back to the riad, enjoyed our time relaxing, and went to the airport the next day. 

While Morocco was not my favorite place, nor would I go back, I do think people should go to experience what the country has to offer, much like I think people should all go to any place before writing it off. Moroccans are supposed to be some of the nicest people when it comes to tourists, I did not see that, though you might. 

Portugal, Spain, and Turkey are up next.