Africa
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Road trip in Morocco: from M’hamid to Erg Chigaga, 2 Nights in Bivouac in the Sahara Desert (part 2/3)
Here we are in M’hamid, at the gates of the Sahara desert. If you hadn’t read the first part of our roadtrip in Morocco, I invite you to read it first Part 1: Travel Diary Background Well, let me explain the why and how of this trip in the desert. When I learned that Aurélien was going to join us in Morocco for the end of the year celebrations, I had to do the program in express mode (for him to buy his plane tickets) from my couch in Marrakech. JB and I wanted to go to the desert at the base, and with Aurélien’s arrival, we thought it was…
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Road trip in Morocco: Christmas in the middle of an oasis (part 1/3)
Today we take the CTM bus from Essaouira to Marrakech. If we come back to Marrakech it’s to go on a roadtrip for a week with Aurélien, with whom we already left last year to visit the temples of Angkor. One year later, we meet again to celebrate Christmas and New Year together in what we hope will be a memorable roadtrip to Morocco. This trip was entirely organized following the advice of Lonely Planet. Both for the itinerary but also for the hotels and restaurants. This is the first time that we blindly follow their advice, we will see if they are wise (we aren’t sponsored by them). Note:…
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Discovery of the traditional Ghita hammam in Essaouira (Morocco)
After Hungary, Japan, South Korea and Turkey, we continue our world tour of public baths in Morocco. It is in Essaouira, a few minutes walk from our accommodation that we go to the Ghita Hammam. This Hammam is far away from the tourist areas of the city, so get ready for a truly popular experience. The place isn’t used to welcome tourists and the staff doesn’t necessarily speak French very well, so here are a few indications so that you aren’t too lost like us the first time 🙂 1/ Come with your equipment Unlike the tourist spas where you can come with your hands in your pockets, this is…
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Visit of the surroundings of Essaouira (Morocco) in 4×4: Travel Notes #3
Today, we explore the surroundings of Essaouira with a 4×4. Our landlord gave us the contact of a rental company who (with a little delay anyway), dropped the car off just in front of our house. 400dh (about 40€) and a few signatures later, the case is heard, we have it for one day. Note: the contact details of the car rental company are marked at the bottom of the article. Part 1: Travel Diary Argan oil: Cooperative Kaouki We start with the visit of an argan oil production cooperative, whose great uncle JB’s (who lives here) told us a lot of good things. We cross a field of argan…
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Around Essaouira #2: Visit of Had Draa souk (Morocco)
As you may know, we are currently in Essaouira for 1 month. The owner of our apartment in Essaouira advised us to visit the souk of Had Draa which takes place every Sunday and is located about 20 kilometers from Essaouira. It is an authentic Berber market, far from the tourist attraction of the medina. Our owner advises us to go there in the morning because the cattle market ends quite early. Anh prefers to sleep in, so I’m going alone. The owner told us that collective cabs leave from the station to get there. So I leave at 8 am and go to the CTM bus station which is…
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Essaouira (Morocco) #1: First impressions
After 3 hours by bus with the company CTM (which we recommend), we finally arrive in Essaouira. We are welcomed by our owner of Airbnb, who comes to pick us up by car at the bus station, it’s too nice since the station is only 5 minutes walk from the Airbnb, we could have come by ourselves. Here is the video of our large apartment (F4, 3 bedrooms). The apartment is located in the modern part of the city. This apartment costs us only 20€/night for a monthly rental, a real bargain. Essaouira doesn’t cost much anyway, but having such a clean, big, well located one… we were lucky. Moreover,…
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Marrakech (Morocco): First impressions
After an express passage to Casablanca, we are in a bus to Marrakech (3 hours with the company CTM, which we recommend). We’ve heard a lot of good and a lot of bad about this city and want to make our own opinion. That’s why we book an Airbnb for only a week when we usually book for a month. If we don’t like it, we can quickly go somewhere else. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Our Airbnb The rates are so cheap that we opt for a privatized riad, with 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms. Just for us. 30€/night. In order to extend…
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Passing through Casablanca, visit of the Hassan II Mosque (Morocco)
After Egypt, we decided to continue exploring North Africa by going to Morocco. The cheapest ticket being Cairo – Casablanca. We stayed a few days in Casablanca to work, before taking the bus to Marrakech. It’s the very first time we visit Morocco, it makes us super weird that people speak to us in French everywhere 🙂 then, between them, they speak Arabic. Perfectly bilingual! Those who work in tourism speak Spanish very well in addition. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary The work As we were away for 12 days for our vacation in Egypt, our customers were waiting for us impatiently, and…
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Prepaid 4G SIM card in Morocco: how much does it cost? Where to buy it? What speed?
At the airport, you will see stands of telephone operators, including INWI and Orange. Contrary to most airports, these stands are at the level of baggage retrieval and not afterwards. Maroc Telecom may be in the area but we did not see it. Here are the rates that we have noted at the airport of Casablanca : Orange : 10dh (1€) per Go – free SIM card (at the airport only, otherwise 50dh) Inwi: 10dh (1€) per Go – free SIM card (at the airport only, otherwise 50dh) At the airport, we chose Inwi, by feeling Not having any cash and since they don’t accept payment by credit card, we…
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How to take a cab in Marrakech (Morocco) without getting ripped off?
Having arrived in Marrakech a few days ago, we are gradually familiarizing ourselves with the means of transport. Our lodging being a little out of the center of the city and the bus passing nearby isn’t regular, we have to face our friends the cabs 🙂 And of course, with my European head and Anh’s Asian head, we are targets! It is known, cabs are one of the scourges of Marrakech, they refuse to put the meter to charge you at least 2x the normal price, sometimes much more. When we arrived at the bus station in Marrakech from Casablanca, the drivers asked us 70 dh to reach our accommodation.…
