Ifrane and Rabat

Breakfast is always late here. Always after the start of the daily tours. Kind of annoying. The tour I booked for today goes to Ifrane. A town in the Middle Atlas founded by French settlers. The first stop on the way is a cave that once served as a home for the Berbers. The man there was supposedly born in the cave and lived there for the first years of his life. The Berbers were semi-nomadic, living in the cave during winter and practicing agriculture and livestock farming in the mountains for the rest of the year, for more than 1000 years. It's really cold, and it rains a lot. Ifrane is very small and looks like a European town. I'm not too impressed, except the monkeys don’t quite fit in the picture. There are even more of them after lunch. We drive into a national park, and there are dozens of Barbary macaques. And huge, old cedar trees. I like it there, but I should have packed a sweater. These tours here are rather, well, you know. In the evening, I meet with Tristan from Quebec for dinner and chatting. He is a developer working on an alternative to Couchsurfing, speaks 7 languages, and will soon be spending a month in Berlin. Maybe we’ll see each other again. The lamb tagine with plums was incredibly good.

I found night buses to Merzouga. But now it’s too late and too stressful. So how should I spend the remaining days? I intended to take it easy. I’ll briefly visit Rabat and then spend the rest of the time in Tangier. Although Rabat is the capital, there isn’t much to do there.

Before breakfast, I go to the Jnane Sbil park. What’s wrong with me? It used to be a royal garden that is now open to everyone. This Wednesday, it rains off and on. The weather is generally getting worse and cooler. No matter what I wrote about ONCF before, today the train to Rabat was an hour late. Rabat gives a very clean and tidy impression. Much more modern than Marrakech and Fes, there is a tram. The hostel was even harder to find, but a nice man saw that I was struggling and helped. Outside the tourist centers, people are really nice. There isn't much time left until sunset, I head to the Kasbah of the Oudaïas, the oldest part of Rabat on the coast. Many small white houses and a kind of fortress. Next to it, you can also see the Andalusian gardens. Everything looks nice. Mohamed picks me up, and we sit in a park and chat. He brought camping chairs. To top it off, we have some cake.

Day 2 in Rabat. Riding the tram is really easy. I visit the Hassan Tower and the mausoleum of Mohammed V. There is a lot of national pride on display. Wax soldiers on horses and in costumes, huge flags, and school classes in matching uniforms. He was the first king after independence from France. Should someone be revered like this just because they were born into such a position? No. I set off for the historical museum, where there are exhibits from the Romans and Carthaginians. But surprisingly few. I expected more.

Apparently, I booked the wrong train and started at the wrong station. I had to cover half the distance to Tangier with a regular, overcrowded train. Only then did I switch to the high-speed train. In Tangier, I tried the app inDrive, something like Uber but not entirely legal. But it works. The hostel is once again well hidden, but a hashish dealer is happy to help. Tangier seems even more modern than Rabat, with many new skyscrapers. And you can see the Spanish influence. Again, in the evening, I meet someone: Omar from Tangier. And again, we finish with some sweet pastries. They really like those here. All the younger people from the cities have plans to go to another country. That’s quite noticeable. I arrange to meet Omar the next day.