So, departure day finally came round after months of waiting and anticipation.
I stayed at a hotel near Gatwick the night before departure which was fortunate as there were issues affecting all the trains. Anyway all checked in with British Airways and I survived the ‘chemical assault’ that is the duty free perfume department.
A very pleasant flight lasting just over 3 hours and I landed in Marrakech. What I didn’t anticipate was the 1-2 hour queue through immigration but as I had no immediate agenda or time limit, it really didn’t bother me. There was a driver waiting for me and accommodation was booked so all was good. The drive from the airport was an eye opener but the manic driving chaos seems to work as they all do it. However seeing the district and streets where my riad was, my heart sank a little and I thought to myself what have I done. I wouldn’t walk down this street in day time, let alone after dark. It was scruffy to say the least, piles of building material left over, graffiti, rubbish here there and everywhere, people hanging around and certainly not a touristy area at all. Actually, this is great. This is a locals area living their lives how they do. Who am I to judge?
Once inside the riad though. Oh my god. What a difference, a real tranquil oasis away from the all noise, madness and heat.
This was a different world and the staff were so nice it felt more like I was staying at a friends house rather than a paying guest. They even arranged for a local guide to show me around Marrakech and showed my some of the palaces, took me through the souks and avoided a lot of the tourist tat traps. I was a really nice way to spend a late morning and early afternoon.
The pastillas were really tasty lunch treat (filo pastry with shredded chicken, herbs, spices, cinnamon and icing sugar).
It was a shame to check out a couple of days later, but being woken at 04.45 each day for a call to prayer from the loudspeaker outside the riad took me my surprise as I do like my full 8 hours…
Got a transfer to a ‘western’ hotel in the new town and despite its stupidity oversized swimming pool, which was lovely to cool off in, really it was not a patch on the riad. I had to switch hotel because I was meeting a new tour guide / group and this was the joining hotel. They all seem a very decent crowd and sure we’ll all get on well. The food has been ok so far but already a few days in and if I see another tajine…
So today we left the hotel in an air conditioned (thankfully!) minibus and drove about 3 hours to Casablanca. Have only scratched the surface here so far, but had a tour of Hassan 2 mosque which can accommodate 25,000 worshipers.
We also called at Rick’s Bar. If Casablanca were filmed here (which none of it was), Bogart would have been a sweaty mess wearing a dinner suit as it’s touching 40 degrees Celsius.
