2015 Israel & Morocco trip No.9 Morocco drive starts, to Al Jadida and Marrakech

Local time: April 29, 2015

Finally, a rental car trip and meeting up with my wife.

I’m feeling better. I’m going to the airport again.

The fact that I repeatedly emptied my stomach after nearly ten rounds of vomiting did the trick, and by midnight my symptoms had settled down, my fever had dropped, and I was able to sleep well and deeply until morning. So, although I was weak and had some headaches due to the food poisoning the day before, I somehow recovered enough to be able to drive.

Breakfast is buffet at the hotel. My appetite came back a little. But I couldn’t eat much. After that, I checked out of the hotel, picked up a taxi, and went to Casa Voisierge station, which I also used on the way to the airport, and took a train from there to the airport. The departure time was about 10 minutes late, which is not so bad. By the way, it was very crowded in the train. Although my physical condition was recovered, I was not in perfect condition yet, so it was a little hard to stand on the train all the time.

Rent a car at the airport, the procedure is smooth

今回もrentalcars.com経由で手配しました。[highlight]AirCar[/highlight]という会社。もちろん聞いたことないし初めて。空港駅を出たすぐのところに複数社のレンタカー会社のブースがありました、今回手配したレンターは見当たらない…。そこで、このレンタカー会社のブースはどこかと適当なブースに入って聞いてみたところ、間髪入れず「うちのほうが安くできる！」と攻勢をかけられました。

相変わらずですな、とはいえ、[highlight]「当日キャンセルなんか出来るかい！お前がキャンセル料払うなら考えてやってもいいぞ！」[/highlight]と至極当然の理由で断ったわけですが、彼らもなんでしょう、根はすごく親切なんですね、自分のところが断られても、ちゃんと僕が予約したAirCarのオフィスの場所を教えてくれました。どうやら一旦空港に入って、到着ロビー一番橋の方にあるとのことです。

Once we entered the airport, there seemed to be a security check for all the luggage, and there was a queue of many passengers who came to the airport by train, so we had to wait for about 15 minutes. However, the check itself was not so strict. I passed through the security check without any problem, and went to the end of the arrival lobby as I was told, to the left direction after leaving the station.

rentalcars.comでの申込書（事前に印刷）を手渡し後は、パスポート、免許証の確認、クレジットカードによるデポジット決済、もちろんこれは無事に返却すればキャンセルとなります。全体的に非常にスムーズな手続き、10分もしないですべての手続を終えることができました。その後、係の方に駐車場まで案内され無事にクルマをゲットしました。

DUCIA Debut

Well, the car which came out was Dacia Duster, as specified in rentalcars.com. Morocco is not so good road, and we will go to desert area in the latter half of our trip, so I arranged a car which seems to have power just in case. It is slightly more expensive than usual, but it seems to have power.

Let’s go!

ちなみにこちらは[highlight]「カラ返し」[/highlight]、つまり燃料をカラにして返すのが普通のようです。ということで借りた直後は燃料はほぼカラ状態。ということで、はじめに近くのガソリンスタンドへ。場所はレンタカー会社の人から案内を受けましたので、すぐに見つけることが出来ました。ディーゼルであり原油安もあり、意外と安かったと思います。値段はごめんなさい、忘れてしまいました。

The fuel supply is completed safely, and it joins the expressway. The road is firm because it is near the capital and near the airport, but the speed of the car is slow. The speed limit is slower than Europe.

It is likely to speed inadvertently, but it doesn’t go so. There were police here and there on the road. I had heard rumor, but I heard that Morocco has a lot of police and crackdown is strict. So I tried to drive at legal speed.

Departing from the airport, we headed north towards Casablanca and then west on the high speed road that runs east to west along the Moroccan coastline.

Highways in Morocco

さて、そのモロッコの高速ですが、非常に整備されていて走りやすかったです。制限速度は120km、よい道路なのでもう少し早くても良い気がしますが、取り締まりが厳しいらしいので、とにかく法定速度厳守で。

However, although it was written in the guidebook, there was a person who crossed for sure, and the person who was maintaining the road was also working on the side of the road right away and was quite a near thing.

First stop: Al Jadida, a World Heritage Site

高速道路で向かったのは、[highlight]アル・ジャディーダ[/highlight]という小さな町。かつてポルトガルの植民都市だったようで、ここは世界遺産に認定されています。空港から1時間30分ほどで到着。

写真で見るとそうでもなさそうですが、正直言って、あまりおもしろい街ではなかったです。[highlight]わりとガッカリな感じ[/highlight]でした。見どころはメディナくらいですが、せいぜいポルトガル植民時代の貯水槽があった程度で見どころは殆どありませんでした。

How street parking works in Morocco

ちなみに駐車事情ですが、基本モロッコは路駐のようです。しかし、[highlight]必ず路駐を管理している係員が近くにいます[/highlight]。「ここに入れろ」等々指示されたりします。一見怪しそうで暇な地元の人っぽいのですが、どうやら正式に許可をもらった人らしく、要求すれば身分証明書を提示してくれます。[highlight]駐車料金は出発時に支払う仕組みのよう[/highlight]です。この係官が請求してきます。料金は[highlight]5から10ディルハム[/highlight]程度で、決まりはなさそうです。

Go to the airport again, meet my wife and go to Marrakech.

I left Al Jadida after noon and went back to the airport to pick up my wife. This year, too, we went separately because of both of our jobs, but unlike last year, we left separately and went back together. Actually we were going to meet in Istanbul, not Morocco, on the previous day, but Turkish Airlines cancelled the flight on the previous day, so we had to delay one day and meet in Morocco.

We arrived at the airport just after 2:00 p.m., just in time for our arrival, and we were able to meet up safely. We left the parking lot of Terminal 2 where we had parked our car, and got on the highway again. This time, we headed south in the opposite direction from Casablanca to Marrakech, where we would stay tonight.

Park at the Central Station, arrange a car, and head to Riyadh: your AirBnB debut!

空港からマラケシュまでは高速でおよそ3時間ほど。特にトラブルもなく順調なドライブ。そして、午後6時前に無事マラケシュ中央駅に到着。Googleマップでチェックしたとおり、駅のすぐとなりに公共の駐車場がありました。ここに2日停めておきます。料金は謎ですがまあ何とかなるでしょう。

It’s a very nice station.

さて、ここマラケシュではAirBnBにてリヤドを手配しておきました。

After I parked my car, I went to the station and contacted the host. He told me that he would arrange a car for me because the place was in the medina with complicated roads. The driver who was arranged by Riyadh came to pick me up.

Visit a riad in the medina of the old town

I was guided by the driver and arrived at the parking lot of the riad side in about 10 minutes while looking at the bustle of the big city Marrakech from inside the car. It seems to head on foot from here. However, it was a distance of less than one minute on foot. This is the riad.

※内部の写真が綺麗に撮れなかったのでAirbnbサイトより引用させていただきました。

First of all, we were welcomed with mint tea, which is also a Moroccan specialty. There is a nice terrace on the roof, so we had it here.

さてさて、既に何度か出てきております[highlight]「リヤド」[/highlight]ですが、これはモロッコの都市に数多くあるモロッコの伝統的な邸宅を改装したホテルのことです。噂では2000年くらいから流行りだしたそうですね。リヤドの詳しい解説は以下の記事がとても丁寧で雰囲気が伝わってきます。

We will stay two nights in this riad.

Dinner near Riyadh

リヤドで軽く休んでから夕食を食べに街へと繰り出しました。しかし、僕は前日の食あたりから回復したばかりでようやく食欲が戻ってきたところ、妻は到着したばかり。ということで、リヤド近くのレストランで軽めのお食事となりました。毎度おなじみTripAdvisorにて検索。

Marrakech is just a city and there seems to be various types of restaurants. This restaurant has Moroccan cuisine, but I think it was mainly a little French style arranged meal.

The terrace on the roof was nice, so we ate there.

いつもと比べると少し控えめの食事を終えてリヤドへと戻りました。そのままシャワーを浴びて就寝。長い一日は終わりました。翌日は丸一日マラケシュ観光です。（続く）