Casablanca

 Fri 9/2/24

After breakfast at Guest House Imdoukal, we made our way to Casablanca, a long journey of 325km. The stretch of road from our guesthouse to Demnate was better compared to yesterday, although we did have to drive a bit slower than on a national road. According to Abdul, the area from our guesthouse towards Demnate is located in a different municipal, hence there was more budget allocation for road repair and maintenance. 

It was also forecasted to rain today, after a long time. According to Abdul, his village was on drought since the last few years, less crops were cultivated and hence more villagers left to the city to look for jobs, including Abdul himself. It already started to rain when we left the guesthouse at 10am and continued on for the rest of the day until we reached Casablanca.

leaving the High Atlas

leaving the high Atlas

drizzling

leaving the high atlas

arriving at Demnate, at the foot of High Atlas mountain

picnic area near Demnate

arriving at Demnate town

We drove through a mix of village and national roads today before going into the highway at Settat, just a short stretch of about 90km to Casablanca from the total journey of 325km. Toll cost 22 MAD which we paid by cash. Thankfully we were not stopped by any gendarmerie today, perhaps also as it was raining. We stopped twice today to get coffee at a petrol station and to copy the recording of our dashcam halfway through our 7.5 hours journey. The view for today's journey was not really interesting after Demnate, plus it was also raining so there were no stops to take photographs. 

flat terrain after Demnate

flat terrain after Demnate

toll ticket

We finally arrived at our hotel Premier Classe Casablanca at 5.30pm. We booked thorugh booking.com which cost MAD 850 (RM 412) for 2 nights with breakfast and free basement parking. 

room at Premier Classe Casablanca

It was still raining that night, so for dinner we didn't walk too far and had tagine kofte (30 MAD) and brochette viande (skewered beef with rice for 45 MAD) and water (5 MAD) at a café nearby. We also bought some oranges and banana from the opposite fruit stall for 24 MAD. Then we walked back to our hotel to rest for the day.

tagine kofte and brochette viande (skewered beef with rice) 

Sat 10/2/24

Today's breakfast at the hotel was buffet style, which starts from 7am to 10am. We had scrambled eggs, croissant, bread, mint tea and coffee (from the coffee machine). After breakfast, we walked along the tram line route, first stop was Central Marketplace (Marche Central) where there were seafood and nuts stalls, United Nations Square, Mohamed V Square, Arab League Park and Sacred Heart cathedral.

buffet breakfast

United Nations Square

Casablanca tram

Mohamed V Square

Arab League Park

Arab League Park

Marche Central entrance

food stall at Marche Central

vegetables and fruits at Marche Central

Then we walked back towards the United Nations Square to go to the medina market where I bought a scarf for my mom.  From the medina, we walked towards the Hassan II mosque by the Atlantic Ocean via the seaside route. 

Casablanca Medina entrance

Casablanca medina

Casablanca medina

We performed our prayers at the Hassan II mosque which was free entrance for those who came to perform prayers. Tourists would need to pay an entrance fee to visit  the mosque. 

It was a total of 7.3 km of walking one way! Our legs were feeling tired already so the visit to the mosque was a welcoming rest for us while we also get to sit and perform our prayers.

Hassan II mosque by the Atlantic Ocean

Hassan II mosque by the Atlantic Ocean

Hassan II mosque

male prayer hall

male prayer hall

female prayer hall

female ablution room

Atlantic ocean

After prayers, we went back to the medina via a short cut from La Sqala into the maze of the medina. We had lunch of a local dish which we didn't know the name and just showed it to the waitress. It only cost 25 MAD. At the next door Petite Tarte boulangerie we bought some croissant, pastry and local desserts for MAD 56.5 We also bought coffee latte (MAD 10) and iced coffee (MAD 10) for takeway from a small coffee joint.

"Rick's Cafe" from Casablanca movie (although it was not filmed in Casablanca)

park near La Sqala

lunch peas and chicken

Petite Tarte boulangerie

Petite Tarte boulangerie

coffee stall

After that, we went back to one of the stalls at the medina to buy local Moroccan robes and back to Central Marketplace to buy walnuts and almonds. I suddenly felt thirsty and wanted to have mint tea, so we went to the nearest café there at Boulevard Mohamed V while watching the finals of the football Asia Cup with the locals. 

watching the finals of the football Asia Cup with mint tea

After a long day of walking (about 15 km total!) we finally went back to our hotel to take a short rest and unload the stuff we bought. Then we walked a bit more to the boulangerie Antouki to buy some local almond biscuits (65 MAD) and then had dinner at Dar Al Mashawi for 95 MAD. 

last dinner in Morocco

It was then a wrap for the day to pack our bags as we would be leaving Morocco tomorrow.