Breaking the fast
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2008
1
42
219
Trip End
May 27, 2010
Rabat,
Morocco
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Hotel Dhormi, Rabat
Warm and noisy
It was only 40kms to Rabat today, which was good because we were both a bit tired. The guys were up all night with their 'disco' and it was VERY loud. However, I woke up at about 1230, noticed they were still going but went back to sleep almost immediately. Next thing it was 7am, but still didn't get out of bed till 8!
So off we went at 9 in glorious sunshine, leaving Medhiya Plage behind us. It's a shame really, because I guess that it's either absolutely heaving or dead as a dodo, with nothing in between
Boys by the Kasbah
. I noticed as cycling out there were a number of very nice villas at the back of the main beach road that wouldn't have looked out of place on the Lisbon coast with all the other designer places we spotted. It's commutable to Rabat, so perhaps that's why. The scenery from Medhiya to where we joined the road to Rabat was lovely, the nicest we've seen. Woods either side of the road and with no traffic, it was bliss. Just before we joined the main Rabat road I noticed lots of Pepiniers (small garden centres) displaying their wares all along the road. This continued for several kilometres along the road to Rabat and made the whole place seem very lush and 'up market'. Then we hit the suburbs of Rabat and it was everyone for themselves. Traffic-wise, generally speaking, Moroccans aren't too bad. In fact we agreed today that the Portugese are still up there in the top 5 of worst drivers we've come across. When you hit a town or city though, it is all very chaotic as there just don''t seem to be any rules. So having nearly been wiped out several times we eventually arrived in Rabat.
Firstly you go through Sale, with it's lovely Medina and port with some rather large boats moored up. Then literally over the bridge and round the corner and you're in Rabat. There's even a cycle path into Rabat along the estuary, which we followed up to the Medina. Some workers were doing some work along the way and had a very large hose strewn across the cycle path which I should have hit square on but didn't so the bike went one way and I went the other. How embarrassing, sprawled across the ground like a 6 year old, grazed knees and elbows to boot
girls
. Still, haven't had a tumble for a while so one was due.Lonely Planet have come up trumps again with our accommodation. The hotel is clean, cheap (130) and right in the thick of things. We are opposite the central market, in the middle of the Medina. We've just got back from wandering around, having our shwarma (bbq'd meat in bread, with onion, cumin and hot pepper) bought from a little stall in the Medina, it was delicious. Lunch was a great big salad made of avocado, tomato and cucumber we bought at the market. We're both a bit dehydrated today, because the weather was so horrible yesterday we probably didn't drink enough, so we're drinking plenty today.
I wish I had a recording device of some kind so I could record the noise outside at the moment. Between sundown (when everyone breaks their fast) and 8.30 nothing much happens here. Then bit by bit, the Medina fills up with people selling their wares. There are people selling food such as snails, popcorn, shwarma along with a Moroccan version of a hot dog. There are lots and lots of patisseries, they really like their sweet things here. Then there are women selling round bread, some with sesame, that they've made at home and brought in to sell. They also sell different types of roti, chapatti type bread, pittas of all sizes and good ole fashioned baguettes. The counterfeit business is alive and flourishing in Morocco, and there were plenty of stalls tonight selling games, dvds etc.
Rabat is definitely the most cosmopolitan and cleanest place we've been so far. We're going to stay here for 2 nights then decide where to go next.
Laters
