First Marrakech thoughts..
So, I had to fly to Marrakech from Munich, since I had a last-minute meeting that came up for the purposes of my internship. Maybe I should have seen the first signs of trouble when my Munich-Zurich flight arrived late. Then, once I arrived in Zurich, the Zurich-Casablanca flight was also late. When I arrived in Casablanca, I quickly ran to my gate, and saw that a fight was nearly breaking out at the gate. Not sure what the problem was, but probably something to do with the plane being late. It was wierd too - because when I arrived in Casablanca, I never had to pass through passport control, although I was boarding a "domestic" Moroccan flight.
I was supposed to arrive in Marrakech at 12:30am, and when my flight landed, it was about 1am. I got off the flight, and noticed that some passengers were staying on the flight. I thought, "maybe these guys are just waiting for everybody to get off first". As I stepped out to the tarmac and into the airport, I thought, "Wow, this is pretty primative, reminds me of landing in Jogjakarta, Indonesia". I waited in line for passport control, which was pretty simple, some guys (without uniform) stamping passports. As I'm waiting, an airline official comes through, says something in French about Marrakech. Then, he turns to me and says, "Are you going to Marrakech?", and I said yes. He said: "This is not Marrakech. Its the next stop"
I was confused.. where was I? Apparently, this flight I was on was one of these multi-stop flights, where they drop off a few people, then carry onto the next destination. Good thing he found me, otherwise, I'd find myself in the middle of nowhere in Morocco. (I think the city's name was Ouarzazate)
Finally, at around 2:30am, I arrive in Marrakech airport, which was completely renovated and looked great. I hung around to wait for my luggage (since I had to check-it, since they said they did not have enough cabin space). And guess what? No luggage!
No luggage = no maps or intstructions to my hostel, which was in a very hard to find location. I had placed all my things in my luggage, expecting to carry it on the flight. But now that it was "lost", I had nothing.
So, here I am, in Marrakech, very tired, in the middle of the night without clothes, hostel location, toiletries. I just had my camera, wallet, and passport. I debated what to do. Should I find a place to sleep inside the airport? Should I find a normal "hotel"? Should I try to "guess" at the location of the hostel, based on my memory, but without a map or any instructions or contact information?
Stay tuned for more answers and the next entry...
I was supposed to arrive in Marrakech at 12:30am, and when my flight landed, it was about 1am. I got off the flight, and noticed that some passengers were staying on the flight. I thought, "maybe these guys are just waiting for everybody to get off first". As I stepped out to the tarmac and into the airport, I thought, "Wow, this is pretty primative, reminds me of landing in Jogjakarta, Indonesia". I waited in line for passport control, which was pretty simple, some guys (without uniform) stamping passports. As I'm waiting, an airline official comes through, says something in French about Marrakech. Then, he turns to me and says, "Are you going to Marrakech?", and I said yes. He said: "This is not Marrakech. Its the next stop"
I was confused.. where was I? Apparently, this flight I was on was one of these multi-stop flights, where they drop off a few people, then carry onto the next destination. Good thing he found me, otherwise, I'd find myself in the middle of nowhere in Morocco. (I think the city's name was Ouarzazate)
Finally, at around 2:30am, I arrive in Marrakech airport, which was completely renovated and looked great. I hung around to wait for my luggage (since I had to check-it, since they said they did not have enough cabin space). And guess what? No luggage!
No luggage = no maps or intstructions to my hostel, which was in a very hard to find location. I had placed all my things in my luggage, expecting to carry it on the flight. But now that it was "lost", I had nothing.
So, here I am, in Marrakech, very tired, in the middle of the night without clothes, hostel location, toiletries. I just had my camera, wallet, and passport. I debated what to do. Should I find a place to sleep inside the airport? Should I find a normal "hotel"? Should I try to "guess" at the location of the hostel, based on my memory, but without a map or any instructions or contact information?
Stay tuned for more answers and the next entry...
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