ITINERARY
September 2017 - 2 days in Casablanca, Morocco (Brown City) @ Airbnb
3 hour train ride through Casa Voyageurs to…
September 2017 - 4 days in Marrakech, Morocco (Red City) @ Airbnb (most accommodations listed as an Airbnb in Marrakech are usually bed and breakfasts, which is wonderful because not having to worry about breakfast in the morning is amazing!)
MARRAKECH HIGHLIGHTS
Spending time with Adam. Had a wonderful catch up session with him over a three hour train ride from Casablanca to Marrakech (even though he wouldn’t let me sleep).
Being pampered at Heritage Spa. A hammam is a traditional steam bath-- including a full body exfoliation, facial and massage. Of all the places I’ve gone for a spa (including Korea and Budapest), this was by far one of the best! For $65, I had a full body scrub with honey scrub, almond and rose body mask, a facial, followed by a rose argan oil massage.
Feeling refreshed with fresh squeezed juices. If you stay at any bed and breakfast, you’ll come to enjoy the fresh squeezed orange juice (by far some of the best I’ve had!) in the morning. Also, worth trying is the fresh squeezed pomegranate juice; it’s amazing how sweet it is!
Catching the sunset on a camel ride through the desert. Wish I had time to have done the camel tour through the Sahara desert, but couldn’t complain with the convenience of a three hour tour, and not having to drive 8 hours from Marrakech to get to the desert. It was a small and intimate tour (with just two other people), and the tour guides were really nice, offering to take photos for us, and joking with us– one even stopping the car to show us his favorite comedian. After the camel trek, we stopped by a house and had moroccan mint tea.
Sipping Moroccan mint tea (iced or hot) with my all my meals. But don’t be fooled– it’s mainly delicious because of all the sugar they put in.
Witnessing snake charmers in action. They are everywhere in the souks. Be careful not to get too close, and if you take a picture you always have to pay. I will say be careful of certain snake charmers, many of them don’t treat the snakes very well, and supporting certain ones just fuels the treatment more.
Shopping for anthropologie-styled home goods at a huge discounted price. Whether in Casablanca or Marrakesh, there are amazing souks where you can buy leather goods, tapestries, blankets, carpets. Moroccan style is so beautiful, and you can haggle to get a good deal.
Personal highlight of mine was buying a carpet (LOL, and trying to ship that back to the states– started off with just a backpack and came back with that plus two check ins hehe) at Lahandira. Even when I had originally left because we couldn’t meet on the price, they had one of their assistants chase me down while I was in another store to try and get me back! Also came back with a lantern and two pillow cases. I got a double sided Berber rug (probably valued $600+ in the States for $150!) but the cost of my blood sweat and tears hauling it back to the States… #priceless
Making friends from around the world, but really more so my backyard. Met friends from New York, and even one from San Francisco who owns a pop up restaurant!
Enjoying cuisine that isn't as accessible in the US:
Roti D’or for delicious and incredibly cheap falafels (trust me, if you stay in Morocco past 3 days, this will be a nice break from tagine)
Bazaar Cafe for one of the best places for tagine, along with wonderful drinks, and mint ice cream!
Touring Ouzoud Falls in Morocco. Amazing waterfall, where at the bottom of the hike there is a small marketplace/city where small shops are held and you can have a boat tour that comes close to the waterfall.
Note, no highlights for Casablanca. See below:
LOWLIGHTS
Getting food poisoning. Be careful of any water you come into contact with (including those from showers and sinks). Also, be sure to thoroughly wash your hands every time you eat. In Moroccan culture, it is tradition to use your left hand for impurities (going to the bathroom, handling cash, etc) and using your right hand to greet people, eat food, etc.
Getting from the Casablanca airport to the Airbnb. Took almost an hour and a half to get into the city because of all the traffic, and the pin location was wrong on the Airbnb. Stranded in the streets at night, I found refuge at La Kitchenette (delicious Vietnamese food) with wifi, until the Airbnb owner’s son found me (he calls me Kitty instead of Cat) LOL
Being harassed while walking through Medina of Marrekech. Definitely off putting how aggressive some people in Marrekesh were to make a sale.
Seeing all the poor monkeys that are chained for photos in Medina. It’s so sad because these men will actually steal the monkeys from Atlas Mountains, and chain them to their wrist for photos.
Getting to the riad (traditional Moroccan house/palace). All riads are located in some dark and twisty alleyway.
Not seeing much in Casablanca. Overall, I didn’t think Casablanca was worth the trip or extra nights. Recommend for those visiting, scrap Casablanca (albeit its very famous name, there’s not much else to see there) and spend some time in Chefchaouen! (If you disagree, please let me know what I could do to have redone the experience!)
FOR NEXT TIME
Expoloring Chefchaouen. They call Casablanca the brown city, Marrakech the red city, now I just need to visit Chefchaouen (the blue city!) Couldn’t figure out logistics this time around, but if I’m ever back in Morocco, think I’ll do the night train from Casablanca to Fes, and then spend 2 days in Chefchaouen.
