Day 5 of Moroccan Vacation: Marrakech and Casablanca on February 9th, 2017
Fifth day in Morocco.
The plan of the day was to visit Jardin Majorelle, a private botantic owned by French fashion designer Jacques Majorelle and his heir, then take the train to Casablanca, take some photos outside Mosquée Hassan II while watching sunset by the Atlantic coast, and take the train to Rabat.
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This itinerary might seemed a little bit rushed, and at first we planned to spend a night in the city of Casablanca. At least that's what Morocco's famous for in modern days. But after some more research we found that as the financial center of the country, the city of Casablanca has few attractions other than Mosquée Hassan II, so we decided put that extra time saved today to Meknes two days later.
And as for the city of Marrakech, we visited most of its attractions in the Medina before our Sahara desert tour. However, one day was relatively short for this historic city, so we decided to spend this morning to visit Jardin Majorelle, located outside Marrakech Medina.
The taxi drivers in Marrakech never used meter for foreigners when they could bargain, and the taxis within Marrakech medina all called for 30 dirhams for a trip to Jardin Majorelle which wasn't very far away. Finally, we got on a taxi on a main street near Jemaa el-Fna that agreed to take us for 20 dirhams.
Jardin Majorelle
Jardin Majorelle offered half-price student tickets even for foreign students, one of the few sites in Morocco to do so. Is it because the garden was fundamentally French?
Before entering Jardin Majorelle, there was a security check:
(Frenchly dressed) workers: (searching through my bag) what's this?
Me: (Knowing this is a Muslim country and pork is forbidden) Beef jerks, beef, totally halal.
Workers: Can I taste a piece or two?
Me: ......
Workers: En, yummy, you are all cleared.
How French is that?
Jardin Majorelle was famous for its vast collection of plants from all over the world, especially in Cactus variants. However, I'm terrible with both Latin and Biology, so all I saw was: oh, Cactus, oh, more different Cactus.
Sadly, during my visit to Jardin Majorelle I learned that my camera no longer functioned properly in daylight after Sahara desert sand got into its lens, as it ceased to measure daylight exposure properly. So, I took the majority of the following photos with my cell phone.
OMG, Majorelle Blue (#6050DC) is a color.
With graffiti though.
The Islamic Art Museum of Marrakech was in Jardin Majorelle. However, it required a separate ticket and was filled with school boys on a field trip that morning, so we just skipped it.
So after spending about an hour at Jardin Majorelle, we went back to our hotel to pick up our bags. This time, it was standard foreigner taxi price of 30 dirhams back to Jemaa el-Fna.
I enjoyed the way light infiltrated the dusty Medina streets in this photo.
It was early in the day, and Jemaa el-Fna was far less bustling than at dusk.
Lovely shadows on the pavement and my friend's back.
Having picked up our bags, we found a taxi waiting not far from our hotel. Since this time walking could be inconvenient for us with bags, we negotiated a ride to the train station for 30 dirhams.
Marrakech Train Station
The second-class ticket to Casablanca from Marrakech was 95 dirhams. After purchasing our tickets, there was still time to kill. Since there was a pathetic few seats in the train station lobby, we decided to try out the local McDonald's.
There wasn't much to talk about the train ride to Casablanca, only that oversized luggage racks didn't exist on Moroccan trains, and we were too afraid to put our 26-inch luggage bags onto the tiny overhead storage to have them falling down onto people. So we decided that they only belonged to the aisles.
And that although we passed along some beautiful Morocco countryside, the train windows were too dirty for good photos.
And that the train doors didn't close when in motion.
And that the train was 10 minutes late, which wasn't really late based on Moroccan standards.
A very tiny train station.
Technically, the traveler gospel of Uber has spread to the city of Casablanca, but I guessed the gentile local taxi union has legislations blocking foreigners from using (foreignly installed) Uber there, so that they can continue to rip foreigners off.
So after getting out of the miniature Casa Voyageurs Train Station, there was no Uber, there were lots of taxi drivers waiting that we won't take. Google reminded me of a local bus that goes to Mosquée Hassan II from Place El Yassir, which was 750 meters away. But before that bus arrived, we got finally got onto a taxi that was willing to use meter.
Although that driver later charged us luggage fees out of nowhere.
For a moment I wondered why would anybody be in need of a mirror on a taxi.
Mosquée Hassan II
Not long after that, we arrived at Mosquée Hassan II.
Mosquée Hassan II has its fixed opening times to the public, but by the time we arrived it was already closed, and its nearby plaza was turned into a kids playground. With our luggage, we never planned to get inside. Instead, we just enjoyed ourselves in the refreshing winds from the Atlantic Ocean and treated outselves with views of sunset, and watched nearby local residents going for a walk in the Mosque plaza.
A stark contrast to the splendor of Mosquée Hassan II.
At first, we dreamed of watching sunset by Mosquée Hassan II over the Atlantic Ocean. Thick clouds that day meant fiery clouds were the most we could ask for.
After that, we took a taxi to Casa Port Railway Station (20 Dirhams) and headed for our next stop of Rabat, the country's capital.
Casa Port Railway Station
Casa Port Railway Station was a far cry from the old and tiny Casa Voyageurs Station, presumably because the Casablanca-Rabat Capital express departs here.
Several lights of the sign were broken. Just a sign of Morocco's not-so-well-maintained railway infrastructure.
I came into such a modern station, to find, something missing?
The 37-dirham train ride from Casablanca to Rabat represented the best of Morocco's railway system. It was a spacious double-decker carriage (although without oversize luggage racks) that was on time. What else could one ask for in Morocco?
So an hour later, we were at Rabat, and heading for its Medina where our hotel was located.
By our standards, it was still early in the night, so we found a road-side restaurant to finish our dinner.
Just like Marrakech's, Rabat's Medina was lined with vendors selling stuff. But unlike Marrakech's where there're only tourist souvenir shops, Rabat's Medina was more local. On our way to our hotel we passed by cell phone shops, butchers, vegetable stands, it's just closer to everyday livelihood.
After finding our hotel in a quiet back alley, we checked in and called it a day.
END