Author Archives: The Traveller

The Berbers 柏柏尔人

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Said is a mountain guide. If you want to have some trekking experiences in the mountains of Morocco, you could contact him to arrange for the trip.

I took the train from Casablanca and arrived in Marrakesh. Getting out of the train station was like walking into an oven. The weather during August was more than 40 degree C. Luckily, I have made arrangement to stay with the Berber family in the mountain. The weather in the mountain is cooler.

Said took me to the small town for some food before we proceed to the mountain.

This man post for me to take pictures and later he asked me for money.

Finally we reached Said’s house. I had the chance to taste the home-cook traditional Moroccan food.

Said took me out to show me the surrounding area.

In the late afternoon, I followed Said up to the mountain and watched a football match.

Casablanca 卡萨布兰卡

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Falling in Love in Casablanca
Drinking champagne and eating caviar
Watching the world goes by

There are so many broken hearts in Casablanca
Throwing away champagne and unfinished caviar
The world still goes by

A kiss is not a kiss in Casablanca
A kiss is not a kiss if I am alone in Casablanca
Please come with me to Casablanca
I will love you more as time goes by

Arrived in the romantic city of Casablanca on a sunny Saturday afternoon. From the airport, I took the train to the Gare de Casa Voyageurs station and changed to the impressive metro to get into the city.

I only stayed 3 days and 2 nights in Casablanca but I managed to visit some interesting places.

This market place is full with people. It sells almost any things, such as fruits, clothes and others. With my limited French, I managed to get myself a pair of slipper after some bargaining.

The second day, I walked around taking pictures and I reached the Grand Casablanca. I did not manage to get it as it was closed.

I walked further and took more pictures.

I found a restaurant called Chinatown. I also saw McDonald’s and Burger King.

I passed by the beaches and hotels.

I met up with my contact Mahdi at the cafe. I stayed in his apartment for 2 nights.

I took the unpleasant train ride to Marrakesh. I think they might have over sold the second class train tickets as many people couldn’t even get into the train when it reached the Casa-Oasis railway station. I had to wait for 2 hours for the next train. Moreover, the train was delayed for 30 minutes. I had a tough fight with the other passengers to get myself, my 28 inches luggage and haversack up into the train. The cabins were just physically full and many of us had to stand along the narrow pathway for 3 long hours. Next time, I must get first class ticket so that I could have a secured seat and a more comfortable ride.

Marrakesh 马拉喀什

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I had an interesting chat with the Berber on the public bus from the town in the mountain to the city of Marrakesh. My seat mate was so helpful that he asked his friend to drive me to the hotel, in the Marrakesh square.

I had a delightful night in the Marrakesh square with Moroccan kebab, pea soup, green salad, mint tea, belly dancers, charming snakes, mischievous monkeys and Arabic music.

My Spanish contact could not meet up with me and he asked the 2 locals to show me around the city.

Sahara Desert 撒哈拉沙漠

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From Marrakesh, I took a 3 days and 2 nights magnificent tour to the Sahara Desert. It was a long 2 days drive from the city to the border of the desert.

We stopover for a mountain view. We also visited the mountain pottery making place.

We had another stopover at a cafe for lunch .

We had dinner in the hotel and stayed there for a night. I shared the room with another 2 people.

The next day, we visited the carpet making place.

We proceeded for more sightseeing.

Aït Benhaddou (Arabic: آيت بن حدّو) is a historic ighrem or ksar (fortified village) along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in Morocco. It is considered a great example of Moroccan earthen clay architecture and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. We visited this place.

Movies like The Mummy and Gladiator are shot here.

Finally, we reached the border of the desert in the late afternoon.

We rode on the camel into the desert for about one and the half hour before we reached the camp side at about 8pm. Dinner was well prepared for us. We were entertained by the locals with songs and dances under a wonderful Arabic starry night. We left the desert in the next morning at about 6am.

Tanger 丹吉尔

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Reached Tanger in the late afternoon. This Melting Pot Hostel is difficult to locate if you do not have someone to bring you there.

When the taxi dropped me at the entrance of the Medina, this man rushed to me saying that he will bring me to the hostel. This looks like I have made arrangement with the hostel to pick me up but I did not. After a few turns of corners, I asked the man do I need to pay him. He said 5 Euro. I stopped. He also stopped and looked back. I said 10 Dirhams. He said okay. We continued for another few more turns before we reached the hostel.

Normally, I will book a hotel that provides breakfast when I am travelling.

After I have settled down in the hostel, I went out for dinner in this expensive petite restaurant.

The next morning, I saw the man waiting outside the hostel. He offered to show me around but I refused. I walked alone and got lost in the maze again. However, I managed to find the way back to the hostel after a few hard tries of turns.

The next day, I took the ferry and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain. The immigration and customs checks were easy to pass through with a Singapore passport.

Morocco 摩洛哥

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Morocco is a tourist destination and it is clean and safe. When I was in Marrakesh, I could see armed police and soldiers patrolling the city. The things are rather cheap as compared to Singapore. One Morocco Dirham (DM) equals to Singapore 14 cents. 

Marrakesh 马拉喀什
Casablanca 卡萨布兰卡

One glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in the  square of Marrakesh is 40 MD which is about S$0.56. One meal could cost about S$5 – S$9. The issue is that from a small city to a big country, we could find that travelling is such a pain. I spend more than 3 days waiting and travelling on the bus/train/coach during the trip.

The Berbers 柏柏尔人
Sahara Desert 撒哈拉沙漠
Fes 非斯
Chefchaouen 舍夫沙万
Tanger 丹吉尔

Taiwan Attractions

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Monster Village (妖怪村)

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 Summit-resort (新社古堡莊園)

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CheCheng Train Station (車埕火车站)

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Tai Yi Ecological Farm (台一生態休閒農場)

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 Ching Jing Farm  (清境農場)

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