Way to HK - Morocco Part 1

23 Mar 2017 . category: Travel . Comments
#WayToHK

Day 1: Arrival in Morocco

My flight was a direct red-eye from JFK to Casablanca aboard a 787. As a recent devoted reader of One Mile at a Time, I almost feel obligated to write a trip report, but the flight was largely uneventful aside from the aloof French lady who had just presumptuosly sat in my seat and couldn’t figure out how to work the tray table for the entire duration of the flight.

From there, it was a relatively easy train journey to Marrakech and a cab ride from the train station to vicinity of our hostel. The driver actually used the meter, took a direct route, and the ride was only $2! Fingers crossed that this taxi luck sticks around. We were staying in a beautiful riad in Marrakech’s medina. Though it had a lot of charm, it was also located down ridiculously confusing and twisting streets. Thankfully, some nice shopkeeper took pity on me in my confused foreigner state and led me there. The hostel itself was quite nice, here’s a picture from Tripadvisor of the courtyard:

Albert and I were hoping to do a three day tour from Marrakech the next day that would eventually get to the Erg Chebbi sand dunes in the Sahara. They’re the largest dunes in Morocco, supposedly going up to 150m in height. We had thought about booking this ahead of time, but heard that it was both easier and cheaper to find something locally upon arrival. So I asked the lady at our hostel, who after some false starts, summoned a guy who would’ve fit right in on the Jersey Shore, complete with slicked back hair and bling. He advertised a relatively standard itinerary, which included the all-important camel trekking and a night in the desert. After some negotiation, I was able to talk the price down to 700 Moroccan dirhams which is around $70. For three days with breakfast and dinner included, it seemed like a great deal to me. And though it was all arranged at the last minute, I was hopeful that things would go well the following day…

Marrakech First Impressions

After dinner, I went exploring in the souq, which was about as I expected. Around the Jemaa el-Fnaa (the central square) it’s mostly shops selling tourist knick-knacks that are constantly harassing you. Interestingly, it seems like Japanese tourists are much more common than Chinese ones in this area, as I got way more konichiwa’s than nihao’s. The souq really reminded me of Istanbul’s Sultanahmet area, and it was also similar in how quickly the touristy part gave way to areas used for commerce by locals. Just walking a little further out than the average tourist landed you around boring-looking shops that sold kitchenware and vegetables.

Finally, Albert arrived to Marrakech from Fez late in the evening, and we prepared ourselves for a very early morning departure for our desert tour!

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