La Mer, le Canal & les Pyrénées

[kpc]

I have been to Morocco once....we won't be rushing back!

Thread 'Morocco: Casablanca, Fes & Marrakesh'

Feb 6, 2010

Ever since I first went to Europe 20 odd years ago, I have always wanted to cross the Mediterranean Sea, and visit Morocco in North Africa. Last November, I attended a conference in Barcelona, and decided to take some leave and I visited Morocco with my partner. After a lot of research on the web and indecision, I finally decided to spend 1 night in Casablanca, 2 nights in Fes, and 3 nights in Marrakesh. As there are not many trip reports on Morocco, I have decided to post a short (that was my initial intention!!) pictorial report here.

We flew Royal Air Maroc for the 2 hour flight...

• kpc
• Replies: 18
• Forum: Trip Reports

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[Jacques Vert]

I received an email from RAM inviting me to complete a survey about our flight from BOD to CMN. Oh yeah Baby! What perfect timing.

Let's just say I was exceedingly generous with my feedback and advice.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Casablanca

Like every city in Morocco there are many mosques, including the grand mosque...








and a medina where you can buy anything and everything...














We found a nice restaurant along the corniche for lunch...






we had a pleasant afternoon watching the waves roll in:

 

[Jacques Vert]

After dropping our main bags off at the Onomo Hotel we headed to the airport for our flight to Marrakech.

As noted above I had booked J seats mainly for the extra luggage allowance which we now didn't need but what the heck. At check-in we asked if there was a lounge; yes there is one for international but not domestic was the answer. As it turned out there is a small lounge at the domestic departures area but apart from more comfortable chairs and free tea or soft drinks it wouldn't be worth visiting.




Departing the lounge we saw there was an economy bus and a business class bus. So we hoped on the business bus and off we went following the economy bus out to our aircraft, an ATR72, where the economy pax received priority boarding and those on the business bus boarded last. As most members would know, the ATRs load from the rear so we had to fight our way through the fully loaded Y cabin to reach our seats at the front of the plane. It's hard to imagine how you could get it more wrong.

Our seats:




We did get a small drink and 3 small pastry things and then it was time to land.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Is that an abandoned sea pool complex? Left over from the French colonial days?

 

[Jacques Vert]

Is that an abandoned sea pool complex? Left over from the French colonial days?

Yes; looks like it was possibly part of a small resort or similar. Only the restaurant is still trading from what I could see.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Arriving in Marrakech was a strange experience as, although we had arrived on a domestic flight from Casablanca, we had to pass through immigration again along with everyone who had arrived from another country! As we entered the terminal we were asked three times whether we had come from Casablanca but were still directed to join the immigration queue.

There was no fast track and the queue I was in moved very slowly, especially when the girl in front of me couldn't find her boarding pass, accommodation booking or pretty much anything the agent asked her for. Eventually I got to the desk and he asked me where I had come from, what was my previous flight, how long I was staying, etc. Strange situation considering I had been in Morocco for a week and a half already.

So finally we left the airport and caught the shuttle bus into town (30 MAD one-way, 50 return). Took about 40 minutes into Jemaa el-Fna; overall a pretty good service.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Riad Mabrouk

We had made a booking at another riad some months ago but when QF Hotels put out a 9 points per $ promotion I decided to review our accommodation, cancelled our previous booking and booked a room for 5 nights at Riad Mabrouk instead.

What attracted me to Riad Mabrouk is that it is only a couple of minutes walk from Jemaa el-Fna. It also has a rooftop bar and restaurant. Our room was small but adequate; only downside was that the hot water was lukewarm at best. The place is a bit of a rabbit warren but overall it was OK, if not great. I was surprised at the cost of accommodation in Marrakech; I guess as a 2nd/3rd world country I was expecting things would be cheaper










The rooftop bar:






and the view from the roof:




Snow on the Atlas moountains:

 

[FlyingFiona]

I stayed in a small boutique riad (which was EXCELLENT) in the medina when I was in Marrakesh this time seven years ago. I was surprised at how cheap the accommodation was, so I wonder if the events of the past 5 years have had a big impact on prices.

(The riad has since undergone extensive renovations to make it ultra lux and so its pricing now will have no baring on what it was in 2017 so I can't offer a comparison.)

 

[Jacques Vert]

Marrakech

We had 5 nights/4 days in Marrakech; unfortunately I had picked up a heavy cold and spent a good part of the first two days resting on the bed. However, you will be pleased to know that I did make it to aperitivo each afternoon:




Jemaa el-Fna

As noted previously, our accommodation was only a couple of minutes walk from the main square: Jemaa el-Fna...










On the other side of Jemaa el-Fna is the medina...






The motorbikes are a real PITA:






I found the medinas in Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech to be very similar in that they all had the same types of shops/stalls, selling the same stuff, although the one in Marrakech is probably the biggest of the four we visited. (The medina in Fez, which we missed after cancelling our visit so we could retrieve our missing bag, is the world's largest.) The medina in Tangier has a different feel as it is built on a hillside overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar.

 

[RooFlyer]

Is that an abandoned sea pool complex? Left over from the French colonial days?

When I visited Casablanca a few times abt 10 years ago, there were 'beach clubs' dotted along the foreshore. Maybe JV saw them too, but if not I wonder if they have closed and now just rotting away?

As noted previously, our accommodation was only a couple of minutes walk from the main square: Jemaa el-Fna...

The square and souq looks less manic than when I was there - downturn too? (But maybe you have the night to come!)

 

[Jacques Vert]

When I visited Casablanca a few times abt 10 years ago, there were 'beach clubs' dotted along the foreshore. Maybe JV saw them too, but if not I wonder if they have closed and now just rotting away?

View attachment 424345

That certainly looks like a possibility. The place where we had lunch would have been one of those, could even be the same one. The pools are abandoned but the restaurant was operating and the food was reasonably priced, plus a pleasant view. Of course, no alcohol.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Cascades d'Ouzoud

For our last day in Marrakech we booked a day trip to the waterfall at Ouzoud. Turned out to be quite a long day; we had to be at the place to meet our bus at 8AM and by the time they fluffed about picking up other passengers and we were on our way, it was around 9AM. After a three-hour drive we arrived at the waterfall. One of the disappointing things about the drive was the amount of rubbish strewn about, not only in the towns but in between towns as well.

In fact, for the first couple of hours the roadside was strewn with rubbish, most of it plastic bags...






It wasn't until we started the climb into the Atlas Mountains that things improved...






The waterfall at Ouzoud is the highest in Morocco and the second highest in Africa. (The highest are, of course, Victoria Falls and while Ouzoud are not nearly as spectacular, they are certainly very picturesque and worth a visit.)

 

[Jacques Vert]

There's quite a bit of accommodation around the area and at the top of the falls there is a 5 star resort that looks nice: Borj des Cascades.






There are lots of monkeys around:








Wherever there are tourists there is someone selling trinkets...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Lunch was included in the price of the tour but I forgot to take photos. We were fortunate to have a good friendly group on our tour and we enjoyed the day despite the long bus ride there and back. That night we had a light meal and a bottle of wine at our hotel and prepared for our flight the next morning.

We again took the shuttle bus to the airport. AT402 was a B738 for the short 45-minute flight to Casablanca.








The shuttle bus to the Onomo Hotel arrived shortly after we walked out of the terminal so we were soon reunited with our bags and had a nice lunch before spending a relaxing afternoon at the hotel.

 

[FlyingFiona]

That first photo of Borj des Cascades makes it look like a painting! Stunning views from the plane too.

 

[Jacques Vert]

AT910 CMN - IST

Of course we started in the lounge:







As we were there around 8AM there was no alcohol in the lounge although being Morocco there may not be alcohol at any time of day.


Then to our aircraft, a 789...












The Canapes. Sorry about the photo quality, we were bouncing around a bit




We both had the chicken which we enjoyed:




and the cheesecake:



Finally, the important stuff:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Istanbul

We were arriving and leaving Istanbul on different tickets: Royal Air Maroc from CMN on a classic award using QF points and SQ to SIN on a J Saver using KrisFlyer points. When arriving and departing on separate bookings I like to allow plenty of time, preferably at least 24 hours, in case of delays/cancellations. In addition, we have never been to Istanbul, a city that I have always wanted to visit, so we decided to stay for five nights.

Having a stop-over in Istanbul can be a little expensive; first you need a visa and although the online process is very easy it set us back $206.50 for the two of us. Then the airport is 50km from the city and while there is a train, I understand you need to change trains a couple of times to get to the city. See this thread for a discussion of the metro from IST to Istanbul: Istanbul metro from IST to downtown.

We ordered a taxi through Uber (cost $66.62). Interesting experience: apparently Ubers are not allowed at the airport so when you go onto the Uber App you get the option of various taxis with a range of prices for each type. We chose a yellow taxi and headed to the pick-up point shown on the App. Soon we received a message from our driver asking us to make our way to the very end of the drop-off area near gate 7 and to be ready to jump in. When our driver arrived he very quickly threw our bags in as we got in the cab and then took off saying he didn't want to get a fine.

Our Digs:

I had a $100 voucher from QF Hotels that had a minimum spend of $500. Our stay in Istanbul was an opportunity to use the voucher and I booked five nights at Villa Sphendone Suites, about 10 minutes walk from the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia.










While we were quite comfortable at the Villa, I should point out that there are four suites but the breakfast area only has two tables so that if they are fully booked you have to go to breakfast at an appointed time. Breakfast was nothing great: a boiled egg, some slices of devon-like sausage, some cheese, tomato, a few olives, tea or coffee and a basket of bread which on one morning was quite stale.

While we were there, +1 was unwell and suffered from asthma. Towards the end of our stay I noticed that there was some mould in the bathroom and in one of the corners of the bedroom. Interestingly, +1's asthma cleared up about an hour after we checked out and it didn't return.

While the Villa is conveniently located for visiting the old city, I wouldn't stay there again.