Leaving the desert behind us, we travelled back through the Atlas mountains we now know so well. These are roads that feel familiar, so the journey felt quicker back to Marrakesh. We did a stop for one night in Ouzarazate and on a short walk to the shop from our hotel, Gaz bumped into Ibrahim, the guy we helped in the mountains when he was broken down. This is typical of Morocco. Again Ibrahim was keen for us to go to his place for tea, but Gaz made excuses and we were able to just hit the hay and recover from a long day travelling.
The next day should have been relatively straight forward, but things always work a little backwards in Morocco.
We made it back to the city in good time and checked into a place we'd stayed at before. Edouane the manager had been looking after our Landy so we decided to check in to his place for one night's simple relaxation. We then needed to take the hire car to a car wash before returning it to the airport. We wrongly assumed this would take 15 minutes, but no.
They don't seem to do automated car washes in Morocco, but most large established service pump garages have a section where someone will jet wash your car for you, So the local car wash was queued with a couple of cars in front, and unsurprisingly the workers weren't particularly happy or chatty, so it took a while to figure out what's what. In the end after being told that it was only 30 dirhams (c. £2.50) to have a full wash and valet inside and out, we were sceptical but decided to leave the car with them while we went for a slap up meal in the rather lovely restaurant next door. An hour later and Gaz popped over to see how they were getting on, the car was gleaming and ready for us to collect. And yep, it was only 30 dirhams. We couldn't believe it. THe interior and exterior was brilliantly clean despite it initially looking like we had been offroading for the past week. Amazing value. These guys really do a good job for not a lot. Left me pondering the automated £10 wash and wax we get at Sainsburys in the UK.
We drove across the city to the airport and got lost in the airport one way system trying to find the hire car drop off but we eventually got sorted. If you've ever hired a car from Hertz in Morocco, you'll know how particular they are about their cars. The guy spent a good 10 minutes walking around the car and checking it and taking photos. This is in contrast to the Hertz at Perth Airport in Australia who were so relaxed about everything, they didn't even bother to come out and look at the car when we dropped it off.
It was nice to be back in the Landrover again tho. Just us and our car. Our world all in one place. I drove us back to our digs for the night, but managed to attempt driving down a street the wrong way. I swear it was Gaz's fault lol.
The next morning we started a new journey; so far we have seen city life in Morrocco and Rural town and village life in Morocco. We've also seen what it's like to live in extremely remote areas in the mountains and as far as the Sahara. I feel like we're really getting to know this country, not just the instagrammable beautiful parts, but also the every day reality. Now it's time to see coastal Morocco.
We drove to the South West coast and checked into a Surf hostel in the surfing village of Taghazoute, a few kms north of Agadir. Agadir is a sizeable city which has a very seaside resort feel. Lots of investment going on to the road network, and new attractions appearing (a new cross city cable car recently opened) to appeal to the holiday crowd.
Taghazoute is a tiny place which looks and feels more rustic - there are a few small local hotels and hostels, but in general the place is largely under construction as the demand is increasing.
We stayed in the Lunar Surf House - probably the best hostel you're going to find in the whole of Morocco. We stayed in a double room which had a very cute private balcony with built in seat. The shared toilet and shower were right next door, so it wasn't like we had to go far. Communal breakfast was included and served on the roof terrace, and for £5 a head we could opt in for the communal dinner at night. Both were great quality and really friendly social experiences. This was our first opportunity to really chat easily with other travellers from all over the world and it was really nice to be able to tell them what we'd seen so far and help them plan where they might go.
The Sunset from the terrace was beautiful and a lovely way to end the day. The next morning after breakfast, Gaz joined some of the others heading down to the beach to
go surfing. I had to drive to another town on the hunt for a cash machine; there isn't one in Taghazoute and the hostel card machine isn't working (same story in a lot of places). After, I spent time in a cafe overlooking the beach writing and researching online, and watching the surfers, before joining them for a bit of sunbathing. One thing I'll never get used to seeing is a giant camel plodding past on the beach, but they are lovely creatures even if they are smelly.
We had a chilled few days at Taghazoute and in many ways would have liked to stay longer, but it wasn't possible this time, so we enjoyed Lunar Surf House while it lasted and hope to find another place as chilled and nice sometime.
Reflecting on our stay there, we chatted with a lot of people in their late teens or early 20s who were just setting off travelling or who were only in Morocco for a couple of weeks before heading home. Some people had booked for 2 weeks as they only had 2 weeks before college or before work started. It was interesting listening to them - their ideals of seeing the world, but at the same time they didn't want to leave the hostel because they liked it there or because it felt safe. Why leave your home to visit Morocco and 'see the world' and then decide to forget your original intent and only see one tiny part, which if I'm honest, didn't reflect the rest of Morocco in any way. The hostel and surfer beach could have been anywhere really.
Maybe that's just the mindset of young people? Maybe I'm just forgetting how easy it was to have an ideal and then just shelve it? I understand the pull of that hostel and that lifestyle, but I'm pleased we left as we get to experience something different and new.
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