The Trip to Morocco and The Sahara Desert
Casablanca
Back from the 16 days Morocco and the Sahara Desert trip, also had a visit to Spain and Portugal on the way back. Arrived in the romantic city of Casablanca on a sunny Saturday afternoon and stayed with the locals for 2 nights before I took the unpleasant train ride to Marrakesh. I think they 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 more comfortable ride.
The Berber
Got out of the station in Marrakesh and I felt like I was walking into an oven; the weather was more than 40 degree C. I went up to the mountain and stayed with the Berber family for 2 nights as the weather is cooler up there.
Marrakesh
Back to Marrakesh, I had a delightful night in the Marrakesh square with the belly dancers, charming snakes, mischievous monkeys and Arabic music. The next day, 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 though we had stops for lunch and sightseeing and one night stay in the hotel. I found that I was like in the movie when I took the one and the half hour camel ride into the desert. We reached the tents at about 8 pm and had our dinner in the desert. We were entertained by the locals with songs and dance in a wonderful Arabic starry night. We left the desert in the next morning at about 6am. The actual stay in the desert was less than 12 hours.
Sahara Desert
From the desert area, I took an unforgettable 12 hours public bus ride with the locals to Fes. I was lost in the maze in Fes and I know that was normal. Nevertheless, I visited the remarkable sights of the Chouara Tanneries which is worth for the trip. After 2 days in Fes, which I think was too long, I took the 5 hours coach ride to the blue city of Chefchaouen.
Fes
This place is a must visit for those who are crazy of photography. This is an ideal place to take pictures as almost all the buildings have some forms of blue. I reached the final destination, Tanger, in Morocco after a desperate wait for the coach. Again, I got lost in the maze in Tanger.
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.
Chefchaouen
I was in Seville for a few hours before I took the 6 hours night coach ride to Portugal. Reached Lisbon at 5.30 am but realised that the Metro only starts operation at 6.30 am. I wondered around at the metro station like a strained stray dog in a foreign land for an hour before I managed to get the train to the Passport Hostel in Lisbon.
Morocco is a tourist destination and it is clean and safe. I can see armed police and soldiers patrolling the city everywhere. The things are rather cheap as compared to Singapore. One Morocco Dirham (DM) equals to Singapore 14 cents.
Tanger
One glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in the square of Marrakesh is 40 MD which is about 56 Singapore cents. 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.