Morocco - November - 2009 |
||
Introduction and Arrival Hello and welcome to my vacation travelogue for
Morocco 2009. I had visited Africa in 2006 and had a wonderful time,
so I was interested in seeing a different part of the African continent. I
wasn't disappointed with my Morocco trip. It was quite different from any other
country I had previously visited mainly because of the 100% Muslim culture. I
enjoyed the good food, perfect weather, fairly cheap tourist prices and
friendly people. As an english-speaking person, I had a language barrier during this trip.
The official language of Morocco is Arabic, which I didn’t know a single word.
The second language is Berber, which is the language of the original
inhabitants. The third language used is French, which I only knew a few words.
Most of the tourists I saw on this trip were French-speakers. The English
language is spoken much less than French, so I was limited to speaking to those
people who knew English. But these people were always friendly and polite to
me. Morocco offers a lot of variety to tourists. On the Atlantic Ocean side of the country, there are ancient cities and former capitals as well as nice beaches. The Atlas Mountains run north-south through the middle of the country. On the east and south parts of Morocco are the rural areas and the Sahara desert. My trip was only to the western part of the country - the big cities and coastal towns.
I flew in and out of Casablanca, with connecting flights in Paris. From
Casablanca, I took the "Marrakech Express" train to Marrakech. Then I
got a bus to the Atlantic coastal town of Essquira and returned on the same bus
route. I purchased a train ticket to Morocco’s old capital of Meknes. I had a
day trip to the City of Fes and spent two days in Meknes. Another train north
took me to the Atlantic coastal city of Asilah, which is just south of
Tangiers. I found a bus to take me to the city of Tetouan where I explored the
city’s famous medina. Another bus ride took me to the city of Chefchaouen in
the Rif Mountains. From Chefchaouen, I took a long bus ride back to
Casablanca. After a few days in Morocco's largest city, I was off to the airport for the US.
Arrival Information I flew into Casablanca and took the train from the
airport to the Casablanca Voyagers train station. I was set to check into the nearby
IBIS hotel, but they were full. Instead I walked across the plaza to the Hotel
Terminus, which had a single room for under $20 US. I was able to visit most but not all of Morocco’s UNESCO
World Heritage Sites during my trip. The entire list for Morocco is below. UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Morocco
A bit of background Photographs
My first full day in Morocco started with my train ride on the Marrakech Express to (of course) Marrakech. |
||
Introduction / Arrival Marrakech Essaquira Meknes Fes Asilah Tetouan Chefchaouen Casablanca MY TRAVEL HOMEPAGE |
||
updated May, 2010 |