Steph and Rob
Steph Duke, Rob Cridland Joined: July 15th 2007
Logged in: July 10th 2011
Logged in: July 10th 2011
Days left
Travel Blog Posts
We got up nice and late, and thoroughly enjoyed taking our time getting ready. We almost managed to successfully avoid the slightly sleazy hotel guy but at the last moment he came over for a chat. We went out in search of a cremerie where we could buy picnic items. We bought yoghurts, bread, cheese and fruit, including an expensive apple. As we were walking back through town towards the beach we saw a few cafes but it was too late for breakfast in any of them. We found a place that still had a couple of pain au chocolat left and we accompanied them with two tankards of orange juice. The walk to the beach didn't feel as long because we knew that it was reachable by foot. It took about forty minutes which means ... read more
Ok, so it sounds like we have an addiction to crepes, but we have only had so many because we had to buy our own syrup for the first lot. We sat and ate the crepes whilst waiting for other people to turn up for the collective. We only had to wait about forty minutes for the taxi to fill up and we were on our way. Strangely enough we didn't receive the whole you can buy out the whole taxi spiel which we normally do. When you are the first ones to arrive for a collective they will tell you the price of the whole car, almost expecting you to pay it. What is worse is when there are four or five of you waiting and they all look at you as if to say ... read more
The wind sounded entirely uninviting and too fierce to entice us out of bed. We willed ourselves to believe that if we stayed in bed long enough, the wind would disappear. The wind didn't disappear but the day was, so we did eventually get up. Whilst I got ready, Rob nipped out to see if the lady selling crepes was there, but she wasn't. Instead we had breakfast at our hotel which wasn't fantastic but at least it put food in our tummies. The beach was deserted with not even a fisherman in sight. We both thought this strange because although the wind was strong, this enhanced the ferocity of the crashing waves. We climbed up onto the rocks which had the biggest splashes and we both watched for ages. Rob tried to catch some of ... read more
We woke up this morning not entirely certain of how we were getting to Oualidia. Once we had packed up our bags, we sought out the CTM bus station in the hope that there would be a bus. We were lucky that there was one leaving at twelve thirty and that we could leave our bags there whilst we went for a walk around. I saw that there was a bookshop nearby that had a "small selection" of English language books. The selection was pitiful. There were all the usual classics and then four crime fiction books all by the same author. I did find one book that was slightly larger than the others but they were all English prices which is pretty steep. We haven't eaten much recently so we decided to look for breakfast ... read more
The walk to the train station took no time at all and we bought the tickets with no problems. The train was comfortable even in second class; it puts England’s trains to shame. We arrived in Casablanca slightly early and were the absolute last people to get off the train. We deliberately chose a hotel near the station so that we wouldn't waste the day looking for a place to stay. Unfortunately we walked around the block to get to Hotel Central but it was still worth it. It was cheaper than the price given in Lonely Planet and it was the first place in Morocco that actually felt like a hotel. The staff were really friendly and let us know that it was safe to walk to the mosque despite the warnings in the guidebook. ... read more
Thank god for Imodium. Today we decided to "do" Rabat so that tomorrow we can move on. We got up pretty early due in part to the day spent in bed and in part to the massive hole in the roof which lets in a lot of light. Our first port of call was to walk to the Kasbah of which I had good expectations but was actually pretty disappointed. It was pretty grotty in comparison to most others and pretty insignificant. On the other side of the Kasbah there was a view point where you could look across at either the city or the harbor and bay. The beach below us was intermingled with a building site, but this hadn't stopped locals using it as a football pitch. We walked towards Le Tour Hassan and ... read more
When I woke up this morning my tummy was making way too much noise to be good. We made it to our new hotel Centre when I was really ill in a way that eerily echoed the beginning of Rob's illness last time. At first I thought it would be brief and that a look around Rabat would be feasible, but I kept on being sick and decided that bed was my safest option. Luckily for me being ill so soon after last time had diminished my energy supplies so I Managed to doze throughout the day. Rob ran out to get food and drink etc and even returned with a rose. (Romantic despite the event) He spent some time at the internet café next door but then returned for a pretty dull day with me. ... read more
We managed a pretty decent morning start, but our efforts were thwarted by the lethargy of the hotel staff. We ordered a breakfast and sat around for ages waiting for them to eventually arrive with a basket of toasted baguette, butter and apricot jam. The best thing about breakfast was the OJ followed by mint tea. (Don’t think about the sugar content) We had a quick stop to say goodbye to Anthony as we almost certainly won't bump into him again; he is heading north for a ferry back to Spain. We wanted one last walk around the medina before we left, so we wandered around the blue streets that were a lot quieter than yesterday. We managed to find a few of the places that Lonely Planet had pictured and replicated them. We didn't have ... read more
We both actually managed to get up at six thirty and surprisingly our first argument wasn't until much later on. We caught a petit taxi to the station and the driver tried the usual tricks of 10dh each for baggage even though the journey only cost 10dh itself. Due to the early morning I wasn't feeling up to my usual heated argument, so I told him he could take 14dh for everything or nothing at all. Maybe he sensed that to mess with me first thing in the morning was a dangerous thing, but he accepted with little protest. With the taxi antics dealt with, we went inside for a breakfast of pastry and juice. The bus journey was longer than I had believed it would be, so we didn't arrive in Chefchaouen until nearly one. ... read more
Whilst I did my usual morning routine, rob got up and ate yoghurt for breakfast. Once we were ready to leave for the day Rob decided that he was in the mood for a Mcflurry, so off we went to McDonalds. It was because the sun was shining that we decided to visit the panoramic view of Fes, however we didn't really think properly about it. We had left the hotel without sun cream and neither of us was prepared for the heat. The walk should only have been a short one but it took us quite a while with frequent stops in the shade. Whenever you do sit down for a quick break there is always something to watch so you end up sitting for much longer than you intended. We saw a large group ... read more





































