Dubai blew us away. It was such a fascinating place, this island of luxury and international business that is booming in the middle of the inhospitable desert in this part of the Islamic world. It is a place that invited more time and in-depth exploration. But unfortunately we were out of time as we had tickets on two different planes to get us to our next destination: Morocco.
After staying with such inviting and hospitable hosts with such nice situations in both Doha and Dubai it was a bit tough for us to get mentally back into backpacker mode but ultimately we were ready to move on to the next leg of our trip.
Reda and Samantha saw us off at the Ethiad Airlines office and we took a bus an hour and a half to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Our flight back to Doha only took fifty minutes and from there we settled in at the Doha airport to wait for the flight to Casablanca, which didn’t depart until 1AM. Once on the Qatar Airlines jet we were back in heaven. Tons of movies to watch, music to listen to, lots of leg room, pretty good food and less than full airplanes. Both of us slept well that night.
The next morning as we flew above Morocco on the way to Casablanca our new reality hit us. The dry hot desert that we had left behind us was being replaced by cold and rain. The plane flew through a rain storm and the ground below was green and dreary. It was less than ideal backpacking weather. Based on what we had read and heard from other travelers we decided to leave Casablanca immediately without visiting it and instead decided to move on to and stay in Essaouira. Once we got our packs we put on all the jackets we had brought with us.
On the train to the bus station a local suggested that we get off on the next station and go to Essaouira the other way through Marrakesh, which was quicker and more comfortable by train. He then invited us to stay with him at his house in Agadir. It was the first of countless times that strangers would invite us to stay at their houses in Morocco.
We got off at the next train station and bought a ticket for a train going all the way to Marrakesh. We sat down for a European style coffee and a croissant at a café. Although Morocco is an Islamic country it was much different from the countries that we had come from in the Middle East. Its language and culture is a mixture of North African, Islamic, Berber and European elements. There seemed to be more of a European familiarity to things and people dressed in a more stylish fashion. When we used many Arabic words we had learned in Arabic countries the locals explained to us that there were other ways to say those things in Morocco. French was the principal language used and Gaby saved us with her French as many people did not speak English.
Our train eventually arrived and we headed to Marrakesh. The train was relatively new, clean, comfortable and spacious. Outside the window the countryside was rolling farmland which was green from the rain. As we got closer to Marrakesh and the Atlas Mountains the land got less populated, more mountainous and wild. Four hours later we arrived in Marrakesh. There it was dumping rain and we managed to get pretty soaked while walking to get our bus tickets. After eating we got on our bus and headed to Essaouria. The bus was a dump. (From there we learned that whenever both were available to take the train) The bus ride from Marrakesh to Essaouira was 4 more hours and at that point we had been traveling for 30 hours straight. It felt like we had been traveling forever. Finally at 10PM we arrived in Essaouira.
Finally.
Steve
After staying with such inviting and hospitable hosts with such nice situations in both Doha and Dubai it was a bit tough for us to get mentally back into backpacker mode but ultimately we were ready to move on to the next leg of our trip.
Reda and Samantha saw us off at the Ethiad Airlines office and we took a bus an hour and a half to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Our flight back to Doha only took fifty minutes and from there we settled in at the Doha airport to wait for the flight to Casablanca, which didn’t depart until 1AM. Once on the Qatar Airlines jet we were back in heaven. Tons of movies to watch, music to listen to, lots of leg room, pretty good food and less than full airplanes. Both of us slept well that night.
The next morning as we flew above Morocco on the way to Casablanca our new reality hit us. The dry hot desert that we had left behind us was being replaced by cold and rain. The plane flew through a rain storm and the ground below was green and dreary. It was less than ideal backpacking weather. Based on what we had read and heard from other travelers we decided to leave Casablanca immediately without visiting it and instead decided to move on to and stay in Essaouira. Once we got our packs we put on all the jackets we had brought with us.
On the train to the bus station a local suggested that we get off on the next station and go to Essaouira the other way through Marrakesh, which was quicker and more comfortable by train. He then invited us to stay with him at his house in Agadir. It was the first of countless times that strangers would invite us to stay at their houses in Morocco.
We got off at the next train station and bought a ticket for a train going all the way to Marrakesh. We sat down for a European style coffee and a croissant at a café. Although Morocco is an Islamic country it was much different from the countries that we had come from in the Middle East. Its language and culture is a mixture of North African, Islamic, Berber and European elements. There seemed to be more of a European familiarity to things and people dressed in a more stylish fashion. When we used many Arabic words we had learned in Arabic countries the locals explained to us that there were other ways to say those things in Morocco. French was the principal language used and Gaby saved us with her French as many people did not speak English.
Our train eventually arrived and we headed to Marrakesh. The train was relatively new, clean, comfortable and spacious. Outside the window the countryside was rolling farmland which was green from the rain. As we got closer to Marrakesh and the Atlas Mountains the land got less populated, more mountainous and wild. Four hours later we arrived in Marrakesh. There it was dumping rain and we managed to get pretty soaked while walking to get our bus tickets. After eating we got on our bus and headed to Essaouria. The bus was a dump. (From there we learned that whenever both were available to take the train) The bus ride from Marrakesh to Essaouira was 4 more hours and at that point we had been traveling for 30 hours straight. It felt like we had been traveling forever. Finally at 10PM we arrived in Essaouira.
Finally.
Steve
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