The idea for the trip started with a combination of some easy TP's (SC for you QF folk

) and the fact that I had been to RAK several times but Mrs Flashback had not been - so we decided we would head over for a week and explore outside of RAK taking in the desert and Fes while we were at it. We certainly had a lot of ground to cover in a short time, but it was going to be fun and allowed plenty of time for a bit of rest... or so we hoped!
The flight over was in BA's Club Europe cabin; their standard European "business class" offering where the middle seat is blocked in an economy style (but slightly longer seat pitch). Nothing much to say about the flight really. We were sat in 1D/1F which offers good legroom for the bulkhead (there is no 1A/1C); 737-436.
Word of warning to anyone traveling in Club Europe on an A319/A320; 1A/C/D/F is available but the legroom on the bulkhead is a little restrictive IMHO.
It was good to see that the awful muck they had onboard (Pommery champagne) has now been replaced for good with Charles Heidseck. A noticeable improvement Mrs Flashback tells me on the former.
Anyway, after a flight time of roughly 3hr15mins we landed safely in RAK. I even think we were a little early! It was as if the airport wasn't quite ready for us. Each time I've arrived into RAK it's been a fairly easy process but today was slightly more confusing ... we ended up walking into the wrong building, before being shooed off and finally directed into the correct one. Going through passport control was probably a little quicker then my previous trips so that was a nice bonus and it was then a quick stop at the carousel to get one of our bags and off we went....... or so we thought!
After my first experience of RAK thinking it would be easy to find our own way to the accommodation in the Medina; I quickly learnt the best way would be to book a transfer with the Riad. That's all good and well... however unfortunately someone at the Riad seem to have forgotten, so we waited around for an hour doing laps of the arrivals area several times trying to find our pickup but with no success. Eventually I went to the Moroc Telecom shop and bought a SIM (150 Dirham or so for the SIM and 7 days credit) and called the Riad. Unfortunately this particular place spoke predominantly French and my wife's highschool French wasn't getting the point through!
I went back to the phone shop to enlist the help of the chap who sold me the SIM who was more than happy to let the guy know we had a transfer booked, no one was there ... and we needed that transfer to happen :shock:
Not an ideal start, but at least having been to RAK before I wasn't feeling stressed as I expected things like this! If it was my first time however, I think it would have been a bit messier.

Finally arriving at Riad Barroko it was an oasis of calm inside the otherwise busy Medina ; the pool was just the right temperature for a quick dip as it was quite warm outside.
We were not far from Jemaa el-Fnaa - the main square in the medina so we went for a little wander to take in the sights of Marrakech which during the evening is probably the best time to experience the madness and great colour.

One thing to be wary of... if you take photos of any of the performers (snake charmer, the monkeys, etc.) expect them to start hassling you for some money!
