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Morocco

            Morocco - Was planning for sometime. Since I love persia/sufi/arab stuffs I knew that it would be my kind of place. Booked ticket almost 2 months back and got it for around 46k. (Bangalore 》Mumbai 》Egypt 》Casablanca ) . Bangalore - Mumbai , I had to pay extra (4k return). Just 8 days before the trip I got the usual no mood syndrome and was planning to cancel the trip. But applied for visa 7 days before the trip. Because of janmashtami etc embassy was closed and you know what, I got the visa on the same day am leaving to Morocco. Yes on the way to airport I collected visa from Cox and Kings. 

Converted around 1200USD worth of ruppees from airport. I should not have done that. But yea I was super late. Reached casablanca at around  1pm noon. Took the train from casa voyageours to Marrakesh. I had booked train tickets via ONCF website. Since it was first class train ticket, seat was assured. If I would have taken second class, I would have got fucked. Morocco people randomly sit on the seat and you have to fight for the seat. But train was vintage , colorful and the journey was awesome. Colorful skies ,deserts and everything was like a quentin Tarantino movies cinematography. Reached Marrakesh around at 8pm. After 30 hours of continuous journey I reached the vibrant city Marrakech.

From the train station I could see that taxi drivers running towards me with some random offers. NOTHING IS CHEAP IN MOROCCO FOR INDIANS. If you are eating from a small street food joint you will end up paying 500rs for a basic kebab and coke. If it's a normal hotel it would be 1000rs and for pub/bars its 4000rs per head (If you are having beer). So Morocco is not cheap for middle class people like me. I did not see any Indian tourist in Morocco through out the trip. I was the only one. 

Trip highlights were 1) Merzouga deserts 2) Amazing friends 3) Morocco hash 4) Morocco medinas in fez and marrakesh. 5) Moroccan kebabs 6)Moroccan girls (like just  seeing them). They are the best I have ever seen. 7) Chefchouen the blue city 8) the Egyptian bonus trip by egyptair and hash in Egypt. 9)and listening to TINARIWEN throughout the trip.

Moroccan fruits are amazing. You will get dates, ffigs, pomogranette, orange etc. Moroccan riads are other highlight. If you are staying in Morocco, make sure you choose a nice colorful riad. Riads are the colorful old houses in Morocco with brilliant interiors. All the houses in fez and Marrakesh looks brown and normal from outside. But once you get inside it's a different scene. Brilliant mosaics amazing colorful lights and you will be served with nice hot mint tea. I love the morrocan mint tea. 

Morrocan music or the sahara music is trippy. I was going for the nomads music performance which happens in the night almost everyday. You pay 300rs and you will get a chair. Sit with them, dance with them. For me the desert music is everything. T INARIWEN is super popular in Morocco. Moroccan guitars are also amazing. I don't know how to.descrobe. it sounds vibrant.

If you have lot.of money you can consider buying Berber rugs. Berber are the people from desert. They are different from Arabs. They are not radical like Saudi Arabs. They believe in nomadic life . Enjoy life with nice music , amazing art and spreading love everywhere. Moroccans hate terrorism so they closed borders with Algeria. Most of the people on Morocco speak French and Arab. English is very rare.

Taken on: September 13, 2018

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Sets appears in: • Moroccan diaries

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, f/2.0, 1/640 sec, 85mm, ISO 320 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens:	85mm F1.4 DG HSM \| Art 016
Aperture:	f/2.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	85mm
ISO:	320
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 7.3.1 (Macintosh)
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