Blogs from Marrakech, Marrakech-Tensift-El Haouz, Morocco, Africa - page 35

On February 3rd Dad and I flew the entire width of North Africa departing from Cairo and touching down in Casablanca, Morocco. To say that Morocco is an upgrade from Egypt would be a gross understatement. Smoothly paved highways led us from the airport into the heart of Casa and further onward to the doorstep of our hotel. From our window we could see the Atlantic Ocean and the unbelievably beautiful King Hassan II Mosque that towers over the city skyline. It’s the 3rd largest mosque in the world and given that it was in 1993, the detail and artistry of the tilework and architecture is fresh, clean, and really quite amazing. Two days later we boarded what was once famously referred to as the Marrakesh Express, the 3-hour train journey from Casablanca to our next ... read more

Thursday 31 January 2008 Exhausted after a 5:15am wakeup in Fes to catch the 6:50am train to Marrakech, and with disturbances during the night from rowdy locals outside our hotel, we were hoping to sleep for much of the journey. Unfortunately the locals had other ideas. Once again, the local women found it fascinating to be able to hold an intelligent conversation with a man, let alone a western one, so Michael ended up nattering with the women on the train for most of the journey. It was all very pleasant and entertaining but left us even more exhausted when we arrived in Marrakech 7 hours later (photo). Very weary, we trudged out of the railway station and followed our Lonely Planet map to our hostel - well that was the plan anyway, the Lonely Planet ... read more

Breakfast was more fun than usual because we had the company of lots of little birds which enjoyed our breakfast with us. We spent a while enjoying the courtyard and watching the birds and then headed into Djemaa el-fna in the medina. We phoned Hicham and he said he would meet us upstairs in café France in the square. We both ordered Jus d'orange and sat and watched everyone going about their business and dodging hustlers etc. When Hicham arrived we chatted a while and then followed him to his workplace. We walked through more of the backstreets and there was so much to see. We must have gone through a very poor area because the smell was unbearable in some places. There was a little street market where kids were selling fruits that looked well ... read more

Breakfast was surprisingly good with a huge glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. We sat in the courtyard and ate surrounded by orange trees. Whilst we ate we consulted our guidebooks to see where we should begin our explorations. Eventually we decided to stick to our routine for the first day in a city and just wander and get lost. We walked the correct way into the medina and suffered immensely in the heat. The main avenue Mohammad 5 leads straight from our hotel into the medina. The road in was crazy and just so chaotic with little observable regulation for traffic. Roads were impossible to cross and the dust and emissions from the vehicles clouded the air. This all sounds horrific the way I write it, but it was such a culture shock with so ... read more

Hello. Here I am in sunny marrakech. Apols in qdvqnce for qny typos- the keys on this board are all over the place. Flight from gatwick uneventful. Found a cab at the airport easily. Minor heqdqche when the hotel i thought id booked didnt have a room for me, but they found me somewhere else round the corner so all ok. Staying at the riad doha - there is a website if you want to look it up. Nicely furnished, quiet little riad, with a sunny roof terrace, where i sat and had breakfast and drank mint tea this morning- jealous yet? Just off now to try and find the train station to book a ticket on to somewhere else- probably meknes. Wish you were all here. Qctually, no I dont, because then we°d have to ... read more