Remember, the only difference between disaster and a good story is time.....

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It all began well....

We took a taxi to the beautiful train station in Marrakech, and the taxi was less expensive than we'd been told...we met up with Harrie and Ans, a Dutch couple staying in our Riad and who happened to be traveling to Fes on the same train. We got window seats on the train, and pleasant traveling companions....We chatted, watching the scenery go by and having our questions answered by our friendly Moroccan fellow passengers.

Then, during our stop in Casablanca, we began our descent into train travel hell....

1. We were told to leave the train and go to track 4. (two flights down and two up)

2. We told to leave track 4 and go to track 7 and get on the train. (two flights down and two up)

3. We sat in this train with locked windows for two hours as it filled up with irritated passengers and heat. We got off in shifts to cool off. Babies were crying, people grumbling.

4. We were told to get off the train and go back to track 4. (two flights down and two up) The train there was already packed so full that people were hanging out the doors.

5. We went into the station (two flights down and two up)to figure out what do (taxi to Fes? $400...so no). Decided to see if we could get on the 6:15pm train and change to first class (we couldn't, but it took 15 minutes of fighting our way in the crowd to get the answer...)

6. Went to track 4 for 6:15 train. Sign said Fes @ 6:15.(two flights down and two up)

7. Told to go to track one. This time we walked across the tracks!

8. Train came, got on, found three seats for the four of us...and soon another seat opened up. Had tasty train vendor cheese sandwiches for dinner.

And then came the good part: I had great conversations in French with the Moroccan passengers seated around us: a mother of five with her youngest, a baby of nine months, a university student studying engineering and wanting to change to perfumery, and young father-to-be traveling home for his one weekend a month with his wife. They all do "Face" (Facebook) so we will stay in touch...

Got to our riad (the wonderful Dar Hafsa, thank you, Blythe! They remembered you...) very late, slept....

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Photos

"You think this is funny!!!!?"
This was yelled at me by the girl in the center of the photo. We were all fighting to get to the ticket counter at the Casablanca train station. I told her we might as well laugh....

Plains
Mostly wheat fields, with lots of prickly pear cactus being grown in between.

Riad Dar Hafsa
A high school friend of mine recommended this wonderful place...Blythe, I think we had your room...But we could only stay one night, as they were booked up....off to another riad today...