TravelStream™ news feed for member beejey on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/beejey en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:00:04 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beejey/1/1216322940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beejey/1/1216322940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beejey/1/1216322940/tpod.html Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:00:04 -0400 Almost like Paris-Dakar / trip around north-west coast of Africa

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Rabat, Morocco

We arrive to Rabat around 4pm, that is heat time in Morocco. We planed to visit Rabat only because we need next day morning go to Mauritanian embassy to buy visa. In case of spending night in Rabat we decide to find hotel close to train station. We found hotel Central (price 170 dr per double room), nice, expensive, with bathroom inside (toilet on corridor), 10 minutes with heavy backpacks from train station, busy and noisy area, perfect for those, who only want to have on night and use next morning train, but not that good for those, who wanna save money or enjoy medina in the evening.



But we didn't want to waste an evening and decide to walk around the town. What can I say for sure - Rabat is MUCH MORE interesting city than Casablanca. Architecture, monuments, medina, or even kazba (fort). Our Hotel was in Nouvelle ville, where we can find lot of European architecture. We went to visit Kazba al-Udaja, old fort on hill next to seacoast. It was one of best things we saw in Morocco. Beautiful, colorful, magic... But first our bed experience is also connected with that place. We become victims of typical plague in Arabic counties - the trickster (you have whole story of him, when u click on the photo on the left). After that situation we decided to not going to Meknes and Fes, 2 tourist cities with lot of "guides" etc., and go straight to Western Sahara and Mauritania. That wasn't our day. This evening henna painter also cheat us for 5€ as a price of shity henna hand decoration. We were disappiointed about this city. Everything was against us. We were looking forward for tomorrow, when we will have Mauritanian visas and be able to go south. So we drunk some Moroccan tea (green or black tea, strong, with fresh mint, VERY sweet), and come back early to our room.
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Casablanca, Morocco

After Paris we had fly via Madrid to Casablanca. Famous name, huge city... but not worth of spending there a lot of time. We need to do it, coz we were planning to go to Mauritania and we were in need of visa. Till that day we were sure, like almost all tourists that u can have only visa in consulate of Mauritania in Casablanca. Procedure was easy: before 12am u r giving them 2 photos, 1 form, copy of passport, passport and 20€; around 3pm u had your visa and can go south. BUT NOT NOW!!! Because of that visa we stayed whole night in Casablanca, and next day we saw, that in place of consulate (still sign outside) we will have NOKIA office :( We were pissed off... We've lost one day...














We decide at least to visit only monument in Casablanca - the Mosque of Hasan II. That is something really impressive. It is good to go there in the evening (to see illuminations) and in the morning (to visit mosque inside with a guide / price 60 dr for students).

It is the second largest mosque in the world (after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca). It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's courtyard. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 metres (689 ft). Built on reclaimed land, almost half of the surface of the mosque lies over the Atlantic water. This was inspired by the verse of the Qur'an that states "the throne of God was built on the water". Part of floor of this facility is glass so worshippers can kneel directly over the sea; above, spotlights shine at night from the top of the minaret toward Mecca. These features were specifically requested by King Hassan II, who declared, "I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean." All of the granite, plaster, marble, wood, and other materials used in its construction were taken from around Morocco, with the sole exceptions of some white granite columns and the glass chandeliers, both of which come from Italy. Six thousand traditional Moroccan artisans worked for five years to turn these raw materials into abundant and incredibly beautiful mosaics, stone and marble floors and columns, sculpted plaster moldings, and carved and painted wood ceilings.


After visiting only interesting place we moved to Casa-Port train station, and catch a train to capital city - Rabat (1h / price 36dr)

ACCOMODATION: Auberge de Jeunesse. I recomande it. It's a hostel situated inside of medina (arabic old town), not far from train station Casa-Port. U can have there double room (no empty for us) or bed in 5-bed room (sex mix impossible, in effect i was with 4 other guys, and my gf Kasia was only one in her room / price: 60 dr per person, with breakfast)
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Paris, Île-de-France, France

Our african trip starts in Paris. Me and my gf were visiting there our friend from school, who was studing there. In our whole day we were walking around the town. Writing about Paris is worthless, coz almost everyone saw that city, or know something about it. My overal impression was good, and main point for me was Sacre-Coeur. Perfect view. Rest of Paris - overcrouded
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