Searching for a Dinosaur in Rabat (Day 3)

We woke up into a gloomy, rainy morning. The first one like that in Morocco.
We didn't know it yet, but it was also going to be our first pursuit of a nonexistent attraction from our trusty Lonely Planet Bible.

Originaly our plan was to catch the first bus north to the town of Asilah for a one day photo session. It is supposed to be a picturesque little town by the coast. We decided that we don't want to go there in rain and that this day was just perfect for a slow day.


Asilah is supposed to be a cute little beach town surrounded by some picture-postcard city walls. The weather was the number one reason why we chose to stay in Rabat for another day. Unfortunately this ment skipping Asilah altogether.
If we wanted to complete our trip around Morocco in three weeks, we didn't have much time to spare. One of the things M. and I agreed in the beginning of this trip was that we had no intention of running from one city to another. This time we decided to take it a bit slower instead.


We took our time getting up. By the time we agreed on our itinerary for the day, we were quite hungry. We already found a bakery with loads of delicious things to try ne the previous day but it unfortunately didn't open until midday. One of those Ramadan things, I guess.

After an hour of surfing and email writing later, we went back to the bakery and opted for different salty things. They put it all in a paper box. We decided to enjoy our brunch in the privacy of our hotel room. It seemed a right thing to do with everybody fasting around us.


In the afternoon we decided to visit one of the few museums in Rabat. We decided to check out the Science and nature museum. According to our Lonely Planet guide it was supposed to be tucked away in the Ministry of energy and mining building, somewhere in the administrative part of Ville Nouveau. We chose this particular museum because it houses a huge dinosaur skeleton.

Since we had lots of time to spare, we chose to walk to our destination. Unfortunately the museum itself wasn't marked on our LP map. The only thing marked on the map was a rough direction.
After a couple of hours walking and asking for directions we finally found someone who was kind enough to escort us to our nearby destination. After a 10 minute walk we got to our destination at last. That's what we thought anyway. When our unfortunate guide found out he lead us to a completely wrong destination, he was so embarrassed that he insisted on paying us a petit taxi. The taxi driver finally delivered us to the right destination.

By that time we were not even annoyed with the situation anymore. We were way beyond that phase.


After entering the Ministry of energy and mining building, everything looked more or less deserted. The people were on the Ramadan working hours of course (i.e. much shorter working day). After a couple of minutes we found someone who spoke at least some English, just to learn that we can't take a look at the museum. Not because it was closed but because it was there no more! It was relocated altogether with the giant dinosaur , not just to another nearby location, but to another city a few hundered kilometers away.

We really didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. After a short moment we chose the first option.

I guess a small group of employees that gathered around in the meantime seemed a bit concerned about our mental health, but we couldn't care less. We thanked them and left the building laughing.

Still laughing we found a taxi to our hotel. We really didn't feel like walking back.

This event didn't stop us from spending an interesting evening in the city Medina and relaxing over a pot of fresh mint tea afterwards. We got quite used to that part by now.

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Culture Shock in Morocco (Day 2)

The first night in Morocco went by without anything special. The only thing bugging me was a mosquito, desperately trying to whisper something in my ear.

When we got up, we packed our stuff and walked to the CTM bus station. There are many bus companies operating in Morocco. CTM or Compagnie de Transports au Maroc is one of the better ones. We weren't expecting it but their buses are quite new and well kept. We could easily compare them to European ones.

At the station we bought two tickets and after ten minutes we were already on our way to Rabat. No, that wasn't part of a plan, we were just lucky.

Today Rabat is the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco. It has been like that since 1912, when French invaders moved the capital from Fes to Rabat. In the new part of the city there are many administrative buildings and foreign embassies. It is quite well kept and like Casablanca relatively hassle free.


That is one of the main reasons why we chose to visit this city in the beginning of our trip. We hoped that this time we would make it without any substantial culture-shock. After all we have been to Egypt only a year ago. Well, nevertheless it hit us.

We were over it in a couple of days, but while in Casablanca and Rabat at some times we felt a bit disoriented and confused. Luckily we didn't have any shopping plans during that time. Generally it is a good idea to save your shopping for the last days in whatever country you are. If you do that you won't have all that stuff to carry around for the rest of the trip and you also have time to figure out what is a good price for that bag of spices/oriental rug/trashy teapot you need so desperately.

When we arrived in Rabat we first had to get to the city center. Five kilometers was a bit far for us so we decided to try local city buses. It turned out to be a very cheap, moderately uncomfortable, quite crowded and dirty option.


We spent the rest of the first day in Rabat wandering around the Medina and admiring Kasbah des Oudaias.

On our way to the Kasbah we were approached several times by locals offering help or priceless advice we didn't really need. We got rid of the vultures quite easily and found our destination without any problems.

Once we got there, we were approached with a local again. He told us that it was not appropriate to walk around the Kasbah during the time of Ramadan. We didn't know whether to believe him or not, but after a bit of hesitation decided to carry on with our wandering around despite his warning.

It turned out to be the right thing to do - there were lots of other people around and the locals didn't seem to bother at all. We couldn't figure out what was that man up to. This thing really got to M. and she was grumbling about it for the rest of the day.

Besides that event we found the Kasbah with it's surroundings very interesting and picturesque.

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Casablanca - City of Contrast (Day 1)

When we arrived to Casablanca we were met by a driver from our first hotel (Oued-Dahab Hotel). Because of the time of arrival we chose to book a room for our first night in advance, preferably with an airport-pickup option.

There are other options to get from Casablanca airport to the city (the most reliable is the train line), but during the night the only one is taking a Grand Taxi. That is just fine, but when you are fresh in an environment like Morocco it is highly unlikely that you would find a ride like that for a reasonable price. Compared to the train price (35 MAD per person), the pickup was rather expensive (250 MAD for both of us). I think Grand Taxi would not come much cheaper, if at all.

Oh, and one more thing. Because booking in advance via email, the hotel even gave us a "Lonely Planet customer" discount.

The hotel itself is centrally located, reasonably cheap, quite basically furnished but clean. For those of you out there who are not traveling on such a tight budget, the same family also runs a bit more expensive hotel in the neighborhood which is supposed to be extra nice for the price. Check out Hotel Guynemer.

When exploring the city of Casablanca it is hard not to notice the extreme contrast. Various parts of the city look completely different.
You can find expensive shops in the city center. Locals walking around are clearly influenced by European style and fashion and a working woman in an European-like business outfit is not an uncommon sight at all.


When we walked from the better kept city center to the Hassan II Mosque, we also passed by some very poor suburbs. Those parts really look like slums. It seems residents mostly have to worry about getting enough food on the table on the day to day basis. Unemployment seems to be a huge problem.

Surprisingly just next to all that poverty stands the famous mosque. Not many mosques around the world are opened to non Muslims. Hassan II Mosque is one of them.


It is a remarkable sight, mostly made of marble and similar expensive materials. The amount of details and sheer size of the structure (it is the third largest mosque in the world) is simply amazing. It is speculated that some $800 million were spent on the project. It is not hard to imagine, why not everyone is happy with that.

It took us quite some time to take a good look at the mosque and its surroundings.

Afterwards we went to the nearby beach, which was quite a disappointment. There were loads of garbage to walk and swim amongst, but locals gathering there didn't seem to mind. We didn't like it much.

Our exploration of Casablanca was influenced heavily by the fact that it was the time of Ramadan (the ninth month of Muslim calendar marked with fasting).


During that month a good Muslim should eat and drink only before sunrise and after sunset. During the daytime nothing should pass his lips. Besides food, that also includes water and cigarette smoke. Not everyone we saw obeyed that last smoky part.

Well, as I was saying this meant that we had to put more effort in finding food. As we found out working hours also change during this time. Most shops, restaurants and offices stayed closed during daytime.

Immediately after sunset everything became alive again. With every hour streets were getting more and more packed with people. Quite a change compared to daytime.

We weren't too impressed with Casablanca, so we decided to move on in the morning.

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