Tonight I walked outside and looked up. High altitude clouds, like waves in the sand, stretched in all directions, veiling the brilliant full moon and dispersing its halos across the sky.
After a day of big, thick, low hanging clouds, the sky felt so open and so far away.
I was out in the suburbs of Cupertino, but for a moment I recalled the open skies of Kashmir. There the mountains were a little taller, the sky a little darker, and the people a little more hospitable.
In August I piggybacked a trip to our company's Pune office with a photography workshop by VII photographer Gary Knight.
I really had very little idea of what the workshop was like. Other than that it was in Kashmir, and had something to do with photojournalism and storytelling, and it was not for beginners. When I saw the website in May, I just thought "Damn, this is f!@#ing cool", and filled in the registration without too much thought.
A few days later, I got a reply regarding the registration, was out $1000 in deposit, and I emailed the coordinator (whom I later discovered was Gary's wife) with a few more questions. I got this as a reply, and although initially I felt like this description still left a lot of holes about workshop, in retrospect I'd say it's perfectly accurate:
"With regard to an average day I'm not sure there's any such thing with Gary's workshops. They're not structured in a classroom style and a lot will depend on who the participants are and where they are with their photography.
The way it normally works is that everyone has a meeting with him when they arrive (it's to your advantage to arrive the evening of the 22nd as you could then see him either pm on the 22nd or am on the 23rd and be out shooting the same day. Before you arrive you should research some story ideas. Often what you end up photographing is not what you set out to do but it's a really useful exercise in getting you focused and off the starting block.
Gary talks with everyone individually and gets an idea of their photography and what they hope to achieve in the week. You'll then work with a fixer on your story (if necessary) and go out and start work. In the afternoon/early evening there's an editing session followed by dinner with the group. It's all fairly convivial and open to change."
Unfortunately, I slacked off with the preparation for most of June and July, and by August I found myself scrambling preparting for the work part of the trip, that I really didn't have much preparation at all for the photo part. I did use the trip as an excuse to get some new gear (Canon Rebel XTi, and a the 10-22 EF-S lens). I had thought, maybe when I'm in India for work, I can catch up on my research on Kashmir, but really, that didn't happen.
The one interesting tidbit I picked up was an Indian Express (delivered daily to my hotel) about independence in Kashmir. Another editorial expressed desires of reunification between India and Pakistan (it was approaching the 60th anniversary of India's independence from the British Empire.
So as the plane headed through the mountains towards Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, I had a great sense of trepidation. The greenery below and the blue skies above were a far cry from the vast stretches of slums in Mumbai and the brown-grey haze over Delhi. The Kingfisher airline flight landed in the small airport, alongside military jets and helicopters. It's one of those airports where attendents roll a staircase on wheels up to the door of your plane, where you disembark and entire an empty hall, guarded by men in army fatigues and submachine guns. While you wait for someone to cart in your luggage, you fill in registration forms for foreign nationals, as locals pester you with offers of beautiful houseboats that are cheaper than the one you already have booked. At this point I was still a little hesitant to mention why I was there. I didn't want to be accidentally mistaken as a journalist, who tend to be less welcome than tourists.
I had email confirmation that Gary had arrived. I had the address of the houseboats I was supposed to head to. I had a fair bit of Indian currency. I had the expectation that there would be a driver to pick me up. But as I walked out of the single building arrivals terminal, along a long driveway to a gate thronged with rickshaw drivers, I really felt like I had absolutely no clue what would happen next.
Nov 24, 2007
Aug 27, 2007
Let me take you there
I don't know if one flies to the other side of the planet to find oneself. It was never really my goal.
What I did find though, was the end of routine.
Hopefully I'll remember enough to share it later.
Aug 18, 2007
Thoughts on flying
I think it's the relative efficiency of travel in North America - great highways and extensive air coverage, that you would never think of travelling for more than 24 hours at a time. Even flying from Toronto to Hong Kong, practically the other side of the planet, only takes around 18 hours.
So I didn't really expect that it'd take more than 36 hours to get to our Indian office. I think it didn't seem quite as long last time, since I stayed in a hotel overnight in between flights in Delhi. This time it was an 8 hour layover in Hong Kong, followed by a 3 hour drive from Mumbai to the office.
The highlight really was Hong Kong. I landed, got through customs quickly (it was 5am), got some HK dollars at an ATM in the airport and got on the Airport Express train to Central. The ticket is about US$20 for a single day round trip ticket (unfortunately, if you're not coming back on the same day, then it's the same price for a one way ticket). I was intending to go grab some wonton noodles, but ended up cabbing over to my uncles' place for a quick shower, hung out with my cousins for a while, and had a Shanghainese "brunch" with my grandmother before getting back on the Airport Express and getting back to my gate with plenty of time to spare.
Oh, and there's free wifi in the departures area in the Hong Kong airport.
On the topic of free wifi at airports, it seems like Northwest lounges don't secure their wifi, so hanging out around their lounge will get you free internet access. You can also find free wifi by the Fairmont Hotel located inside the Vancouver airport. I haven't found anything in the Toronto airport yet though.
So I didn't really expect that it'd take more than 36 hours to get to our Indian office. I think it didn't seem quite as long last time, since I stayed in a hotel overnight in between flights in Delhi. This time it was an 8 hour layover in Hong Kong, followed by a 3 hour drive from Mumbai to the office.
The highlight really was Hong Kong. I landed, got through customs quickly (it was 5am), got some HK dollars at an ATM in the airport and got on the Airport Express train to Central. The ticket is about US$20 for a single day round trip ticket (unfortunately, if you're not coming back on the same day, then it's the same price for a one way ticket). I was intending to go grab some wonton noodles, but ended up cabbing over to my uncles' place for a quick shower, hung out with my cousins for a while, and had a Shanghainese "brunch" with my grandmother before getting back on the Airport Express and getting back to my gate with plenty of time to spare.
Oh, and there's free wifi in the departures area in the Hong Kong airport.
On the topic of free wifi at airports, it seems like Northwest lounges don't secure their wifi, so hanging out around their lounge will get you free internet access. You can also find free wifi by the Fairmont Hotel located inside the Vancouver airport. I haven't found anything in the Toronto airport yet though.
Aug 11, 2007
A Good Day
Fly into YYZ, get picked up by my sister, have Shanghainese food for lunch, and a 3 hour pho dinner. It was a good day.
Wake up and chat with a reporter for 2 hours about journalism and photography, get some work done, pick up my shoes, dumplings, opera in the park, and dessert at Blowfish. It was a good day.
Climbing in the morning (although, I feel like I should have done better), where they played the entire Shins album, smoked salmon sandwiches for lunch, watching M&D pledge their undying love for each other, Congee Wong, wedding banquet, watching Garden State before going to the airport and (hopefully) getting my visa approved (again). It was a good day.
Thank God for good days.
Wake up and chat with a reporter for 2 hours about journalism and photography, get some work done, pick up my shoes, dumplings, opera in the park, and dessert at Blowfish. It was a good day.
Climbing in the morning (although, I feel like I should have done better), where they played the entire Shins album, smoked salmon sandwiches for lunch, watching M&D pledge their undying love for each other, Congee Wong, wedding banquet, watching Garden State before going to the airport and (hopefully) getting my visa approved (again). It was a good day.
Thank God for good days.
May 24, 2007
He says this is us
I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
-U2
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
-U2
May 16, 2007
May 9, 2007
Mar 20, 2007
I Bet Your Baby Drives Better Than You Do
Dear Lady,
Just because you had one accident, that "Baby On Board" sign won't save you from another. Let's think for a second what that sign really means. It suggests that you're carrying something valuable in that death-mobile of yours that careens wildly down the expressway. Obviously that nine months of your life (give or take a few is worth) more than the decades invested into that scientist, engineer, doctor, lawyer, sales clerk, or general miscreant you plan to wipe out of existence, without a mere glance to your mirrors, let alone blind spot.
Really, what do you expect that sign to accomplish? It's far too small to warn the world of either your 4-lane wide lane ego or lane change. You'd think flashing lights and a siren on a tank would be more appropriate to protect both your little bundle of joy and warn your fellow drivers to get the hell out of your way.
I would even go as far as to recommend putting some eyes and a brain on board that grinding metal box of destruction that you send flailing through the streets of California. On the other hand, maybe not. You know, just in case Jr. there miraculously survives to adulthood and wonders "what the heck was Mom thinking with that sign?"
Sincerely,
A Concerned Driver.
Just because you had one accident, that "Baby On Board" sign won't save you from another. Let's think for a second what that sign really means. It suggests that you're carrying something valuable in that death-mobile of yours that careens wildly down the expressway. Obviously that nine months of your life (give or take a few is worth) more than the decades invested into that scientist, engineer, doctor, lawyer, sales clerk, or general miscreant you plan to wipe out of existence, without a mere glance to your mirrors, let alone blind spot.
Really, what do you expect that sign to accomplish? It's far too small to warn the world of either your 4-lane wide lane ego or lane change. You'd think flashing lights and a siren on a tank would be more appropriate to protect both your little bundle of joy and warn your fellow drivers to get the hell out of your way.
I would even go as far as to recommend putting some eyes and a brain on board that grinding metal box of destruction that you send flailing through the streets of California. On the other hand, maybe not. You know, just in case Jr. there miraculously survives to adulthood and wonders "what the heck was Mom thinking with that sign?"
Sincerely,
A Concerned Driver.
Feb 18, 2007
Roast Suckling Pig
Unlike woe, I don't recall the fortune of experiencing the Chinese New Year festivities in Hong Kong. Miss CoolBeans asserts that her childhood memories of the celebrations are highly memorable.
I must have missed out in Toronto, but I can't complain here. Sizzling 74F/23C weather seems to be just the ticket to spur on a whimsical Saturday. Rock climbing, dim sum, and hanging out with the old crew. There was a celebratory air in the crowds at the taiwanese Ranch 99 supermarket, and the visible traffic and street parking around dinner time.
Really, I can't think of anything more to ask for... hm, maybe some red pockets? Must remember to ask for those tomorrow!
I must have missed out in Toronto, but I can't complain here. Sizzling 74F/23C weather seems to be just the ticket to spur on a whimsical Saturday. Rock climbing, dim sum, and hanging out with the old crew. There was a celebratory air in the crowds at the taiwanese Ranch 99 supermarket, and the visible traffic and street parking around dinner time.
Really, I can't think of anything more to ask for... hm, maybe some red pockets? Must remember to ask for those tomorrow!
Jan 18, 2007
Clouds
As I left an all-afternoon meeting and walked between buildings on our campus, I was shocked by the deep blue sky and the glowing pink and purple clouds.
It's frickin beautiful.
Sad thing is I'm sure they're there almost every evening. I just rarely go out and see them.
It's frickin beautiful.
Sad thing is I'm sure they're there almost every evening. I just rarely go out and see them.
Jan 17, 2007
Jan 14, 2007
Reflections
I haven't really penned (or typed) down any real reflections in the last while. Occasionally something worth writing about will come to me; a fit of inspiration, a sight, a sound, a sermon, or a revelation. But invariably, by the time I find some time to blog, it's fled from my mind. You need a certain environment to think and write, and that just hasn't come up much lately. Either that, or the brief moments where I do find myself reflective, it's just too far away from a computer.
In some ways I miss the BlackBerry.
I have a very short memory span these days.
Either that or something like this happens, I start blogging and then get distracted by IMs for an hour and lose my train of thought.
So I guess I'm just teasing.
In some ways I miss the BlackBerry.
I have a very short memory span these days.
Either that or something like this happens, I start blogging and then get distracted by IMs for an hour and lose my train of thought.
So I guess I'm just teasing.
Jan 10, 2007
Happy 200,000
The Camry was fairly underutilized when I got it from my parents, but I've put it to good use since!
Jan 6, 2007
COOKIES! COOKIES! COOKIES! part deux
I thought they would be good
I mean they looked good
but I didn't expect them to be this good
like heavenly
mmmmmm butter
I mean they looked good
but I didn't expect them to be this good
like heavenly
mmmmmm butter
Dec 31, 2006
Happy New Year!
It's January 1st, 2007 in Hong Kong.
Resolution for this year is to move on.
Figure out where I'm going.
And go.
Enough dawdling and status quo.
Resolution for this year is to move on.
Figure out where I'm going.
And go.
Enough dawdling and status quo.
Dec 19, 2006
Dec 1, 2006
I admit I'm homesick
I don't feel homesick too often, but 6 weeks seems to be enough to make me really, really want to get home.
Over the last two days I've just had too many aggravating incidents with touts in Delhi that I'm ready to just get out of here.
I spent the afternoon hiding out in the lounge of the Delhi Shangri-La, which was an awfully tranquil retreat.
I love 5 star hotels. High tea and wi-fi cost me about $20. It was enough to leave me stuffed, and I can't complain about the plush couches and live pianist either. With the other option being wandering outside with a backpack and a laptop bag, with touts and salespeople hassling you (and more damn konnichiwas), it was money well spent.
I realized that although I've had a fresh lime soda almost every day, a haven't had a Limeca at all on this trip.
Also, Jet Airways, a domestic carrier in India, has pretty stewardesses (like asian airlines) and they remember your name, even if you're just in coach! That impressed me.
Ok, we're boarding!
Nov 27, 2006
Alien
I feel a stranger in this land.
Where every step the gods command.
I breathe and children wander fatherless,
Through fields that spent their happiness.
I grieve.
Take them away to a higher place.
Give me a day 'cos I'm losing (face)
And I've never felt so alien.
Yes I've never felt so alien.
I feel danger every day,
With every stone we throw away.
Careful it's falling,
And who will sing a difference song?
I hope to God it won't be long.
Believe.
Show me a way to a higher place.
Why is there sunshine on my guilty face?
Yes You are brighter than the sun.
Only Your love can make us one.
Jesus You're brighter than the sun.
Only Your love.
-Delirious
Where every step the gods command.
I breathe and children wander fatherless,
Through fields that spent their happiness.
I grieve.
Take them away to a higher place.
Give me a day 'cos I'm losing (face)
And I've never felt so alien.
Yes I've never felt so alien.
I feel danger every day,
With every stone we throw away.
Careful it's falling,
And who will sing a difference song?
I hope to God it won't be long.
Believe.
Show me a way to a higher place.
Why is there sunshine on my guilty face?
Yes You are brighter than the sun.
Only Your love can make us one.
Jesus You're brighter than the sun.
Only Your love.
-Delirious
Nov 19, 2006
Final Thoughts and Travel Suggestions
So after leaving Fes, we went to London where J hosted us for a few days in her serviced apartment, and Woe joined us from Toronto for the weekend. It was a fairly low key affair, we didn't do too much except for a one day bus tour of Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath.
It was interesting to note that one day for a car and driver in Morocco cost only about 25% more than the price for 1 person on the bus tour.
I've actually switched over to the new Blogger Beta, and went through the old articles and inserted photos, so if you haven't read up on them, they're a little more interesting with the photos. I've also uploaded a couple more from the UK onto my flickr. I've had some people ask about travelling to Morocco, so I've put down some thoughts here.
So the original fantasy trip would have been a budget trip from Spain, across Gibraltar to Morocco, then across the northern coast of Africa to Egypt via train or ferry. However, given the amount of time we were going to spend in Spain, and wanting to spend some time in London, I pretty much decided to cut down the scope to Morocco only. Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya also require visas for entry, so staying in Morocco avoided having to deal with that.
Destinations
The next decision was really what to cover. There's a fairly wide range of things to see and do in Morocco. We wanted to stay with some people for some time, and elected to stay in Casablanca for four days, leaving us a week to travel. It really isn't much time to cover Morocco, but it is enough for an interesting trip.
The original plan was to cover the major cities, Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Fes and Marrakech, and possibly all the way down to Essouaira. These are all connected by train, and the train system is fairly easy to use and reasonably priced (but more expensive than say, India). This would have been a fairly easy trip to plan on the fly. We had bought a first class ticket from Casablanca to Fes a day in advance, with no problems. It might be more difficult in high season. This was the compromise plan, which was compromising my being able to go with the limited time budget.
However, after a few email exchanges with Jeff Wilson of ExperienceIt! Tours, I realized that I could in fact cover a lot more variety of geography, see the Middle and High Atlas and the Sahara, all within a week. This was something I'd much rather do. I originally decided against this, because these areas aren't well serviced by trains, and buses are prone to delays. On a 1 week trip, a bad delay on the edge of the Sahara could mean I'd miss my flight home. The alternative we got was the private grande taxi. Although I have a few minor complaints with this experience, I'd certainly recommend this route if you want to cover a lot of area with a limited time. The main drawback of the route we took was that more time was spent on the road than really exploring. More on the grande taxi later.
If you want to cover the more remote areas like the High Atlas or the Sahara, I would not recommend local buses unless you really don't care for comfort and you have a lot of time on your hands in case of contingencies. The bus we saw in Erfoud looked old and beat up, more of a school bus than a coach you'd find in North America or Europe. The majority of the other western travellers we saw out there were either on private cars, or organized tours in 10-seat vans.
The 2002 edition of the Morocco Lonely Planet I had covered a bit on trekking in the High Atlas, but I probably would not have managed it on my own. It's definitely a true backpacking affair, with tents and sleeping bags and now showers. In most of the small villages out there, there are no hotels or even hostels. If you want to be housed, you'd have to find a local Berber family who would be willing to house you. And out there, not everyone speaks French. The driver told us that the suggested way would be to hire a local guide, but I really have no idea how you'd find one, other than to search for one in Fes or Marrakech.
The other interesting thing I saw were organized bike tours. Some of these actually had SUVs that would pick people up along the way so that they wouldn't have to cover the entire range by bicycle.
Of all the places we stayed (Casablanca, Fes, Erfoud, Merzouga, Tinghir, Marrakech), I would suggest that perhaps Erfoud and Tinghir could be cut out, but that basically means you take a long drive, without seeing anything to get to Merzouga and the desert (which is cool, but the dunes of sand get repetitive pretty quick, although it's good for peace and tranquility), and another long drive to Marrakech.
Casablanca is good for about a day, it's not really a tourist city with a lot of tourist sites. In fact, most of the tourist nightlife is in the Corniche, which we didn't really cover much of. We felt like we covered Fes pretty well in a day with our guide. You might stay longer if you wanted to do shopping. After a day in Marrakech, I felt like there was potentially a bit more that we could see, but I was still fairly satisfied. Of the 3, Marrakech was definitely the most interesting in terms of atmosphere, and Casablanca the most dull and modern.
We didn't notice too much happening in the mountains, except for the scenery you see while driving through and little stands and villages where locals sell honey, fossils, or minerals/gemstones. The main draw would be the trekking. The villages are mostly Berber, and even the french out there seemed a bit limited. Having an Arabic or Berber speaking guide was the way to go.
Of course, there's tonnes of areas we didn't cover (a bunch of the main cities, the Rif mountains and the north (although it sounds like the main draw there is the weed), and the balmy south.
In Country Transportation
I already mentioned that the trains are pretty good (for the cities they connect), and that I like the grande taxis. We didn't actually go on any buses, but the ones I saw made me uneasy, and I'm willing to go the ghetto route. The other way seems to be organized groups, which is the way we saw most western travellers doing it. I think you can book a van at some of the hotels, or book a tour in advance. Depending on your personality, you might like to go with that; it's not really my thing.
My main complaint on the taxi was that it seemed like the driver had his own agenda and suggested shops, and if we wanted things our way, we had to really push for it (although we did get our way in the end, which you're just not going to get on a tour bus). In retrospect, a solution might be to offer a "tip" up front and make it clear that you don't want to be taken to the average tourist spots.
It's a bit expensive, but if you have two or three people, the cost is not overly extravagant. As I mentioned, compared to the price of a bus tour in London, it's actually pretty cheap. You get the benefit of being on time, setting your own schedule (although at some points, your schedule might be dictated by weather or safety, i.e. avoiding driving through the treacherous mountain roads at night). The route we took covered a good deal of ground, and to be honest, we did spend a lot of the daytime in the car. I'm not sure if it's possible to arrange for the driver to drive at night, I haven't tried that.
In City Transportation
The petit taxi are very inexpensive. The drivers seem to mostly be native Arabic speakers, but there's a range of how much French they know. Occasionally you'll find one who can speak some English. About half our taxi experiences involved some kind of rip off, from taking the scenic route, to not resetting the meter and trying to blackmail us with the high meter reading. Keep in mind that the extra we paid (or refused to pay) was in the order of $0.50 to maybe $2-3, but the fares themselves are in that range.
First I would recommend that you make sure the cab driver resets the counter before you close the door and the cab starts moving. In our case, we had noticed the counter, but the cab was already moving and the cabbie, good naturedly waved it off and said it was fine. Don't let this happen to you. The other thing to be aware of is occasionally taxi drivers will take a second (or third) passenger if your cab is not full, and if the passenger is on the way. In this way, they make a bit of extra money, since the meters handle this. The first passenger pays for the full cost of his trip from when he got on to when he got off, the second passenger pays for his/her portion of the journey. The cabbie hence gets double for the section covered by both. I'm skeptical of this, since if the cabbie has to make a detour, someone ends up paying extra, but it's part of the system.
Hotels
Originally, I didn't plan to stay in nice hotels, but in the end, the 3 star hotels were worth it for the washroom facilities which were quite useful. Within the bigger cities, it seemed like there was plenty of choice in terms of food, and the hotel dining is not recommended (unless you're at one of the 5 star places, they supposedly have very good food). Out in the boonies, the main restaurants are in the hotels, and the ones we had were pretty decent. The alternative restaurants in the towns/villages looked risky. Especially out in the boonies, I recommend sticking with at least a decent hotel. You either eat at the restaurant so to avoid any problems, or you take your risks and enjoy the convenience and luxury of the clean and private bathrooms when the gamble goes the wrong way.
The unfortunate side is that most reasonable clean restaurants in the boonies cater to tourists, and they all feature a variety of tagines, couscous, omlettes and brochettes (kebabs) that get repetitive after a while. The more adventurous street food is more interesting, but you know how that goes.
We didn't book any of the hotels personally, so I'm not sure about the price. In Marrakech we were housed in the Riad Omar, right by the square. I'd recommend staying at a nicer Riad close to the center of the medina just once during the trip, the experience is worth it. Note that most Riads are older buildings, and while they may be decorated nicely and air conditioned, there will be issues like poor sound insulation or poor drainage. If you need privacy, you ought to specify it. I noticed the Riad Omar had some suites that were not facing the main atrium and hence were much quieter.
The nightlife in most cities seem to be centered around hotel bars and discos in the nicer hotels. And in almost all the cities, these tend to be in the hotels in the ville nouvelle instead of in the medina. If you want to stay up, you should stay near these places. Our timing was low season, so the two bars we tried checking out were both pretty dismal. I recommend just not planning for this. Walk the medina till it closes, and then go to bed.
Hammams
Yes, these are an intrinsic part of Moroccan life and not to be missed. I put it off until the end of the trip, and by that time I was a little weary and not too adventurous, so I skipped out on the public bath experience.
Culture
If you've been to another developing nation, Morocco isn't too much of a shock. If you've only lived in develop nations, it could take a bit of getting used to. Note that the main languages are Arabic, French, and in the rural areas, Berber. It seems like you can get almost anywhere with Arabic, and all but the most rural places in French. At tourist destinations, you'll find that a number of locals know Spanish, and a good deal know a few words of Japanese, at least enough to try to sell you something. I highly recommend on brushing up on the French. It's absolutely worth it. You'll find a decent number of English speakers in tourist areas, but even there you may occasionally find English useless. Once you're out of a tourist hotspot, English is rare.
If you're Asian, you'll likely get pestered unceasingly with "konnichiwa" and "arrigato", especially in more commercial tourist areas. I've noticed that I got less attention travelling alone than when I was with Jason (greater spending power between 2 people?). You'll also notice yourself being stared at a lot, especially from kids. I got used to being a novelty.
My impression of most Moroccans are that they carry themselves with a very stern and almost angry face, but that is merely a facade, and most everyone I've talked to was warm and welcoming. If you find yourself lost, often you can smile and ask a stony faced old man, and he'll break into a smile and give you all the help he can. You'll find a lot of people will approach and talk to tourists. I started out suspicious of everyone, but it seemed to come down to some people wanting to sell you bring you to a friend or family member's store, sell you drugs, beggars or just want to have a friendly conversation. Of all of these, I found the drug dealers the most amicable. They'll start up a chat, and after getting friendly, they'll offer drugs. If you turn them down, they'll let you go in a most friendly way. Beggars, Conversationalists and salesmen are much more difficult to get rid of, and it's hard to tell the difference between latter the two. I have been wary about pickpockets trying to distract me with conversation while working, but I have usually had my hands in my pockets and never run into problems here.
Getting In and Out of Country
For the sake of expediency, we flew in from Malaga to Casablanca, and for cost, we took EasyJet from Marrakech to London on the way out. Orbitz featured some really cheap fares from Malaga on Regional Air Lines. However, you can't actually buy them on Orbitz, and in reality these fares no longer exist. It's actually quite pricey to fly from Malaga to Casablanca.
I talked to a number of people who drove down to Gibraltar and took the ferry over. Apparently the ferry cost of a car with two people is almost equivalent to two people travelling without a car. I found that hard to believe. It's also possible to bus down to Gibraltar and take the ferry, but I've had numerous people recommend me against taking the ferry from Gibraltar to Tangier, unless you know what you're doing. Apparently there's a lot of frauds at the station, and it's easy to get onto a fake taxi or what not and get ripped off.
The best prices for flights to Morocco from North America seems to be via some European city where you can find a discount airline that flies to Marrakech, Tangier, or Casablanca. There's a number of discount airlines in Europe. EasyJet and RyanAir, based in the UK, seem to be really big ones, and Atlas-Blue is a discount airline that services Morocco (mostly Marrakech) to a few other European cities including Paris. Note that the discount airlines usually offer flights from a secondary airport, so, for example, if you travel to London Heathrow, you'll need to transfer over to Gatwick or Stansted which takes a significant amount of time. I'd recommend staying a day or two in the European city of choice just to make it worthwhile. This part does take a deal of research, especially if you end up planning a multi-hop vacation (but I think it's worth it).
It was interesting to note that one day for a car and driver in Morocco cost only about 25% more than the price for 1 person on the bus tour.
I've actually switched over to the new Blogger Beta, and went through the old articles and inserted photos, so if you haven't read up on them, they're a little more interesting with the photos. I've also uploaded a couple more from the UK onto my flickr. I've had some people ask about travelling to Morocco, so I've put down some thoughts here.
So the original fantasy trip would have been a budget trip from Spain, across Gibraltar to Morocco, then across the northern coast of Africa to Egypt via train or ferry. However, given the amount of time we were going to spend in Spain, and wanting to spend some time in London, I pretty much decided to cut down the scope to Morocco only. Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya also require visas for entry, so staying in Morocco avoided having to deal with that.
Destinations
The next decision was really what to cover. There's a fairly wide range of things to see and do in Morocco. We wanted to stay with some people for some time, and elected to stay in Casablanca for four days, leaving us a week to travel. It really isn't much time to cover Morocco, but it is enough for an interesting trip.
The original plan was to cover the major cities, Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Fes and Marrakech, and possibly all the way down to Essouaira. These are all connected by train, and the train system is fairly easy to use and reasonably priced (but more expensive than say, India). This would have been a fairly easy trip to plan on the fly. We had bought a first class ticket from Casablanca to Fes a day in advance, with no problems. It might be more difficult in high season. This was the compromise plan, which was compromising my being able to go with the limited time budget.
However, after a few email exchanges with Jeff Wilson of ExperienceIt! Tours, I realized that I could in fact cover a lot more variety of geography, see the Middle and High Atlas and the Sahara, all within a week. This was something I'd much rather do. I originally decided against this, because these areas aren't well serviced by trains, and buses are prone to delays. On a 1 week trip, a bad delay on the edge of the Sahara could mean I'd miss my flight home. The alternative we got was the private grande taxi. Although I have a few minor complaints with this experience, I'd certainly recommend this route if you want to cover a lot of area with a limited time. The main drawback of the route we took was that more time was spent on the road than really exploring. More on the grande taxi later.
If you want to cover the more remote areas like the High Atlas or the Sahara, I would not recommend local buses unless you really don't care for comfort and you have a lot of time on your hands in case of contingencies. The bus we saw in Erfoud looked old and beat up, more of a school bus than a coach you'd find in North America or Europe. The majority of the other western travellers we saw out there were either on private cars, or organized tours in 10-seat vans.
The 2002 edition of the Morocco Lonely Planet I had covered a bit on trekking in the High Atlas, but I probably would not have managed it on my own. It's definitely a true backpacking affair, with tents and sleeping bags and now showers. In most of the small villages out there, there are no hotels or even hostels. If you want to be housed, you'd have to find a local Berber family who would be willing to house you. And out there, not everyone speaks French. The driver told us that the suggested way would be to hire a local guide, but I really have no idea how you'd find one, other than to search for one in Fes or Marrakech.
The other interesting thing I saw were organized bike tours. Some of these actually had SUVs that would pick people up along the way so that they wouldn't have to cover the entire range by bicycle.
Of all the places we stayed (Casablanca, Fes, Erfoud, Merzouga, Tinghir, Marrakech), I would suggest that perhaps Erfoud and Tinghir could be cut out, but that basically means you take a long drive, without seeing anything to get to Merzouga and the desert (which is cool, but the dunes of sand get repetitive pretty quick, although it's good for peace and tranquility), and another long drive to Marrakech.
Casablanca is good for about a day, it's not really a tourist city with a lot of tourist sites. In fact, most of the tourist nightlife is in the Corniche, which we didn't really cover much of. We felt like we covered Fes pretty well in a day with our guide. You might stay longer if you wanted to do shopping. After a day in Marrakech, I felt like there was potentially a bit more that we could see, but I was still fairly satisfied. Of the 3, Marrakech was definitely the most interesting in terms of atmosphere, and Casablanca the most dull and modern.
We didn't notice too much happening in the mountains, except for the scenery you see while driving through and little stands and villages where locals sell honey, fossils, or minerals/gemstones. The main draw would be the trekking. The villages are mostly Berber, and even the french out there seemed a bit limited. Having an Arabic or Berber speaking guide was the way to go.
Of course, there's tonnes of areas we didn't cover (a bunch of the main cities, the Rif mountains and the north (although it sounds like the main draw there is the weed), and the balmy south.
In Country Transportation
I already mentioned that the trains are pretty good (for the cities they connect), and that I like the grande taxis. We didn't actually go on any buses, but the ones I saw made me uneasy, and I'm willing to go the ghetto route. The other way seems to be organized groups, which is the way we saw most western travellers doing it. I think you can book a van at some of the hotels, or book a tour in advance. Depending on your personality, you might like to go with that; it's not really my thing.
My main complaint on the taxi was that it seemed like the driver had his own agenda and suggested shops, and if we wanted things our way, we had to really push for it (although we did get our way in the end, which you're just not going to get on a tour bus). In retrospect, a solution might be to offer a "tip" up front and make it clear that you don't want to be taken to the average tourist spots.
It's a bit expensive, but if you have two or three people, the cost is not overly extravagant. As I mentioned, compared to the price of a bus tour in London, it's actually pretty cheap. You get the benefit of being on time, setting your own schedule (although at some points, your schedule might be dictated by weather or safety, i.e. avoiding driving through the treacherous mountain roads at night). The route we took covered a good deal of ground, and to be honest, we did spend a lot of the daytime in the car. I'm not sure if it's possible to arrange for the driver to drive at night, I haven't tried that.
In City Transportation
The petit taxi are very inexpensive. The drivers seem to mostly be native Arabic speakers, but there's a range of how much French they know. Occasionally you'll find one who can speak some English. About half our taxi experiences involved some kind of rip off, from taking the scenic route, to not resetting the meter and trying to blackmail us with the high meter reading. Keep in mind that the extra we paid (or refused to pay) was in the order of $0.50 to maybe $2-3, but the fares themselves are in that range.
First I would recommend that you make sure the cab driver resets the counter before you close the door and the cab starts moving. In our case, we had noticed the counter, but the cab was already moving and the cabbie, good naturedly waved it off and said it was fine. Don't let this happen to you. The other thing to be aware of is occasionally taxi drivers will take a second (or third) passenger if your cab is not full, and if the passenger is on the way. In this way, they make a bit of extra money, since the meters handle this. The first passenger pays for the full cost of his trip from when he got on to when he got off, the second passenger pays for his/her portion of the journey. The cabbie hence gets double for the section covered by both. I'm skeptical of this, since if the cabbie has to make a detour, someone ends up paying extra, but it's part of the system.
Hotels
Originally, I didn't plan to stay in nice hotels, but in the end, the 3 star hotels were worth it for the washroom facilities which were quite useful. Within the bigger cities, it seemed like there was plenty of choice in terms of food, and the hotel dining is not recommended (unless you're at one of the 5 star places, they supposedly have very good food). Out in the boonies, the main restaurants are in the hotels, and the ones we had were pretty decent. The alternative restaurants in the towns/villages looked risky. Especially out in the boonies, I recommend sticking with at least a decent hotel. You either eat at the restaurant so to avoid any problems, or you take your risks and enjoy the convenience and luxury of the clean and private bathrooms when the gamble goes the wrong way.
The unfortunate side is that most reasonable clean restaurants in the boonies cater to tourists, and they all feature a variety of tagines, couscous, omlettes and brochettes (kebabs) that get repetitive after a while. The more adventurous street food is more interesting, but you know how that goes.
We didn't book any of the hotels personally, so I'm not sure about the price. In Marrakech we were housed in the Riad Omar, right by the square. I'd recommend staying at a nicer Riad close to the center of the medina just once during the trip, the experience is worth it. Note that most Riads are older buildings, and while they may be decorated nicely and air conditioned, there will be issues like poor sound insulation or poor drainage. If you need privacy, you ought to specify it. I noticed the Riad Omar had some suites that were not facing the main atrium and hence were much quieter.
The nightlife in most cities seem to be centered around hotel bars and discos in the nicer hotels. And in almost all the cities, these tend to be in the hotels in the ville nouvelle instead of in the medina. If you want to stay up, you should stay near these places. Our timing was low season, so the two bars we tried checking out were both pretty dismal. I recommend just not planning for this. Walk the medina till it closes, and then go to bed.
Hammams
Yes, these are an intrinsic part of Moroccan life and not to be missed. I put it off until the end of the trip, and by that time I was a little weary and not too adventurous, so I skipped out on the public bath experience.
Culture
If you've been to another developing nation, Morocco isn't too much of a shock. If you've only lived in develop nations, it could take a bit of getting used to. Note that the main languages are Arabic, French, and in the rural areas, Berber. It seems like you can get almost anywhere with Arabic, and all but the most rural places in French. At tourist destinations, you'll find that a number of locals know Spanish, and a good deal know a few words of Japanese, at least enough to try to sell you something. I highly recommend on brushing up on the French. It's absolutely worth it. You'll find a decent number of English speakers in tourist areas, but even there you may occasionally find English useless. Once you're out of a tourist hotspot, English is rare.
If you're Asian, you'll likely get pestered unceasingly with "konnichiwa" and "arrigato", especially in more commercial tourist areas. I've noticed that I got less attention travelling alone than when I was with Jason (greater spending power between 2 people?). You'll also notice yourself being stared at a lot, especially from kids. I got used to being a novelty.
My impression of most Moroccans are that they carry themselves with a very stern and almost angry face, but that is merely a facade, and most everyone I've talked to was warm and welcoming. If you find yourself lost, often you can smile and ask a stony faced old man, and he'll break into a smile and give you all the help he can. You'll find a lot of people will approach and talk to tourists. I started out suspicious of everyone, but it seemed to come down to some people wanting to sell you bring you to a friend or family member's store, sell you drugs, beggars or just want to have a friendly conversation. Of all of these, I found the drug dealers the most amicable. They'll start up a chat, and after getting friendly, they'll offer drugs. If you turn them down, they'll let you go in a most friendly way. Beggars, Conversationalists and salesmen are much more difficult to get rid of, and it's hard to tell the difference between latter the two. I have been wary about pickpockets trying to distract me with conversation while working, but I have usually had my hands in my pockets and never run into problems here.
Getting In and Out of Country
For the sake of expediency, we flew in from Malaga to Casablanca, and for cost, we took EasyJet from Marrakech to London on the way out. Orbitz featured some really cheap fares from Malaga on Regional Air Lines. However, you can't actually buy them on Orbitz, and in reality these fares no longer exist. It's actually quite pricey to fly from Malaga to Casablanca.
I talked to a number of people who drove down to Gibraltar and took the ferry over. Apparently the ferry cost of a car with two people is almost equivalent to two people travelling without a car. I found that hard to believe. It's also possible to bus down to Gibraltar and take the ferry, but I've had numerous people recommend me against taking the ferry from Gibraltar to Tangier, unless you know what you're doing. Apparently there's a lot of frauds at the station, and it's easy to get onto a fake taxi or what not and get ripped off.
The best prices for flights to Morocco from North America seems to be via some European city where you can find a discount airline that flies to Marrakech, Tangier, or Casablanca. There's a number of discount airlines in Europe. EasyJet and RyanAir, based in the UK, seem to be really big ones, and Atlas-Blue is a discount airline that services Morocco (mostly Marrakech) to a few other European cities including Paris. Note that the discount airlines usually offer flights from a secondary airport, so, for example, if you travel to London Heathrow, you'll need to transfer over to Gatwick or Stansted which takes a significant amount of time. I'd recommend staying a day or two in the European city of choice just to make it worthwhile. This part does take a deal of research, especially if you end up planning a multi-hop vacation (but I think it's worth it).
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