Traveling in Morocco – how to open the season in February. Part two
Continuing the story of February trip to Morocco on a motorcycle 🙂
In this part I will tell a little about Marrakech, motorcycle rental, the first day of the motorcycle trip and Essaouira.
The station in Marrakech was much nicer than Casablanca station and there are orange trees on the platforms 🙂
The city, unlike the gray Casablanca, has a sandy-beige color scheme and more pronounced Moroccan flavor.
We arrived in the evening and walked to the pre-booked hotel, including through the old town, but because of dusk the photos did not turn out well. In Morocco there is such a phenomenon as imposed services, even if they are presented as unselfish help. This is when children, teenagers or adults come up to you and offer to take you to the right place or show you something. If you have a smartphone with downloaded offline maps or a working mobile Internet – from such services is quite possible to refuse, it’s another thing that it can go on all the way 🙂 Only when it becomes clear that you ignore the “attendants” they’ll leave you alone, but most likely you will be scolded and say Fuck You! But do not be offended, take it as a part of the local mentality and just laugh at it 🙂 It’s always worth the money but always bargain, it’s the norm here!
On the way I met a pepelats that I couldn’t just walk by 🙂
The hotel was not in the center, but in a small fenced “neighborhood” with its own guards, cafes, a mosque. It was quiet and cozy enough, although in the photos at Bookings it looked more imposing.
In the morning, after breakfast, we called a cab and went to find the office where we booked the bike. Cabs in Marrakech are inexpensive and there are a lot of them. But everything is confusing with the addresses and our cab driver drove us in circles for a long time trying to understand where we should go, but after a couple of “calls to a friend” he still took us to the right place.
ContinuedIn the morning, after breakfast, we called a cab and went to find the office where we booked the bike. Cabs in Marrakech are inexpensive and there are many. But everything is confusing with addresses, and our cab driver drove us in circles for a long time, trying to figure out where we should go, but after a couple of “calls to a friend” still brought us to the right place. follows…
I took with me a steering wheel mount for a smartphone, which served as a navigator – it’s very convenient! Although it still makes sense to take a second smartphone for this purpose, and preferably with a long-lasting battery.
I recommend that you carefully inspect the entire bike, take pictures of any scratches and immediately point them out to the owner, check the tires for defects and be sure to check the chain – its condition and tension. I lost track of the chain and paid for it, but I will tell you about it in due time. I paid by credit card, plus a certain deposit is deducted from the card (it will be unblocked when the bike is returned). But all the formalities have been met, the paperwork has been checked and we’re on our way!
Avoiding the big highway A7, we drove through Chichaua to Essaouira, a port fishing town with an interesting history and unique flavor. By the way, in the movie John Wick 3 the main character arrives in Casablanca, but Essaouira is shown. The same way this city appeared in Game of Thrones as Astapor. The road from Marakech to Essaouira is unremarkable, it is a monotonous plain and small towns.
But the city – or rather its historical part and the port are very remarkable!
And here is the iconic tower on which Dionerys the Stormborn stood 🙂
The old town is a popular tourist spot with lots of hotels, hostels, souvenir shops and food shops. The menu naturally includes a lot of fish dishes – for example fish meatball tajine 🙂
We found an inexpensive hotel through a booking service, moved the bike closer to the guarded parking lot, checked in, and in the evening we went for a walk around the fortress.
We had a very nice dinner in a small open-air eatery in one of the courtyards in the maze of narrow streets. And then we went in search of alcohol, which we found in the only marginal bar in the backyard. The place was really trashy and even more colorful! We drank a bottle right there and took a couple more with us to our room.
The first day of the motorcycle trip, you could say, was a rollicking, but Essaouira we liked it very much!
To be continued…
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