Train leaves in 17 minutes.

4 hour ride in first class.  AMTRAC could learn something from these guys.  

148 Dinar or $14.20 USD.

Must take a ten minute train ride from central Casablanca to the connecting station for $1.00.

the train.  They’re taking me to Marrakech.

But not before a stop at McDo’s,

as it is called, for a banana smoothie.  Train leaves in about an hour.

Learning the ins and outs of the WordPress apps on the phone and iPad and should be able to make more posts with pics faster, easier.

Received great news this AM – the package from Egypt arrives in Portland on Friday!!  

But I am still hauling around the 3 pound stone carvings of King Tut, a scarab and Nefratiti!!!
Namaste

After the earlier CSN post on tomorrow’s train ride, I reflected on the night before I flew from Ankara to Kathmandu about a year and a half ago……..and my thoughts about going to a place that was in a song that I listened to hundreds of times.

A reprise post.is in order.

 

“Katmandu”

I think I’m goin’ to Katmandu,
That’s really really where I’m going to
If I ever get out of here
That’s what I’m gonna do

Kkkkkk, Katmandu
I think it’s really where I’m going to
If I ever get out of here
I’m goin to Katmandu

I got no kick against the west coast,
Warner Brothers are such good hosts
I raise my whiskey glass, and give ’em a toast,
I’m sure they know it’s true

I got no rap against the southern states
Every time I’ve been there it’s been great
But now I’m leavin’ and I can’t be late
And to myself be true

That’s where I’m goin to Katmandu
Up to the mountains where I’m going to
If I ever get out of here
That’s what I’m gonna do

I got no quarrel with the midwest
The folks out there have given me their best
I lived there all my life I’ve been their guest
I sure have loved it too

I’m tired of lookin’ at the tv news
I’m tired of drivin’ hard and payin’ dues
I figure baby I’ve got nothing to lose
I’m tired of being blue

That’s why I’m goin to Katmandu
Up to the mountains where I’m going to
If I ever get out of here
That’s what I’m gonna do

Kkkkkk, Katmandu
Take me baby cause I’m goin’ with you
If I ever get out of here
I’m goin to Katmandu

I ain’t got nothin’ against the east coast
You want some people well they got the most
And New York City’s like a friendly ghost
You seem to pass right through

I know I’m gonna miss the USA
I guess I’ll miss it every single day
But no one loves me here anyway
I know my plane is due

The one that’s goin to Katmandu
Up to the mountains where I’m going to
If I ever get out of here
That’s what I’m gonna do

Kkkkkk, Katmandu
Really really really I’m going to
If I ever get out of here
If I ever get out of here
If I ever get out of here
I’m goin to Katmandu

Ooh ooh ooh, ooh yeah

Katmandu
Katmandu
Katmandu

Katmandu
Katmandu
Katmandu

Written by Bob Seger
A ramble:

• I will be off on the Marrakech Express tomorrow. I doubt I will see any pigs, as the lyrics say.  I will do some fact checking and ask some Muslims if there are any pigs in Morocco.  Probably just like Egypt – pot and hash is available, but not an ounce of pork.
• I guess I need to think about soon humming the first cut on the album ‘Gaudi’ by the Alan Parsons Project.
• BTW, I forgot to mention that I wore my Roger Waters t-shirt to dinner on the last night of my Nile cruise, because I knew none of the Muslim staff would dare say anything negative to me.

  

About where the medina and all the souks were.  It was directly behind the hotel.  When I set out after the last post I went in the opposite direction from where I had walked earlier today…….and bingo….. I was in the heart of the souks.

Shoes, dresses, luggage, shirts and more.

It was a pleasant experience compared to the ‘Hey Mister’ harranging of Luxor.  There was little sales pressure and initial prices seemed reasonable, but a tad high.  The explosion of colors was like eye candy. Took pics with the iPhone (the ones in this posting) and with the 25 meg pixel mirrorless Sony, which I am starting to love.

It started to get dark.  Both my guidebook and the man at the hotel desk cautioned against walking in the souk area at night, so I started walking towards where I thought the hotel was.

It was like a maze and I was the rat. I was hopelessly lost.

I walked with more deliberation and confidence, something I learned reading Paul Theroux.  It is hard to ‘walk tall’ in sandals, but I tried.

Without the map app on the iPhone I would still be there, wandering helplessly.

Stopped where I had dinner last PM and bought a 16 ounce fresh squeezed orange juice, added 3 ounces of vodka in my room and sat in the lobby and made this post.

As I will be busy tomorrow morning heading south by train, I will add this now, but it would be a better post tomorrow.
Marrakesh Express

By Graham Nash
Looking at the world

Through the sunset in your eyes

Trying to make the train

Through clear Moroccan skies

Ducks and pigs and chickens call

Animal carpet wall to wall

American ladies five foot tall in blue

Sweeping cobwebs from the edges of my mind

Had to get away to see what we could find

Hope the days that lie ahead

Bring us back to where they’ve led

Listen not to what’s been said to you

Would you know we’re riding

On the Marrakesh Express

Would you know we’re riding

On the Marrakesh Express, they’re taking me to Marrakesh

All on board the train, all on board the train

I’ve been saving all my money just to take you there

I smell the garden in your hair
As performed by  Crosby Stills Nash

P

Next stop Marrakech

In the Casablanca medina

Ready for some serious cooking.

Abackpackandadaysack waiting for a ride from Moro to the airport.

Cairo airport.

Abackpackandadaysack in my room in Casablanca.

Dinner last PM.  $7.00

Rick’s

At Rick’s
Screaming inet in the lobby of Hotel Central.  Finally.  Best speeds in 32 days.

Will upload more after another walk to take pics.  Good light for pics time.

Wiki says:

Hassan II Mosque

Hassan II Mosque is located in Greater Casablanca 

Location within Casablanca

Geographic coordinates 33.60826°N 7.63292°W

Affiliation Islam

Municipality Casablanca

District Casablanca

Prefecture Casablanca-Anfa

State Casablanca

Region Greater Casablanca

Year consecrated 1993

Ecclesiastical or organizational status In use

Status Active

Leadership King Hassan II

Architectural description

Architect(s) Michel Pinseau (France)

Architectural type Mosque

Architectural style Arab-Andalusian, Moorish

General contractor Bouygues

Groundbreaking 12 July 1986

Completed 30 August 1993

Construction cost $400–$700 million

Specifications

Capacity 105,000 (25,000 indoors, additional 80,000 on Mosque’s grounds)

Dome(s) One

Minaret(s) One

Minaret height 210 metres (690 ft)

Materials Cedar from Middle Atlas

Marble from Agadir

Granite from Tafraoute[1]

The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan II (Arabic: مسجد الحسن الثاني‎‎; nickname: “Casablanca Hajj” (colloquial, microblogging and social networking language)[2] is a mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It is the largest mosque in Morocco and the 13th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world’s tallest at 210 metres (689 ft).[3][4] Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau and built by Bouygues. The minaret is 60 stories high topped by a laser, the light from which is directed towards Mecca.[5] The mosque stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean, worshippers can pray over the sea but there is no glass floor looking into the sea. The walls are of hand-crafted marble and the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque’s outside grounds.[4]

I say:

I could not go inside.  There was a tour in an hour and a half, but I did not want to wait.  I wandered around the medina streets back to my hotel, after a nice 3+ mile walk.

Wiki says:

Rick’s Café Casablanca is a restaurant, bar and café located in the city of Casablanca, Morocco. Opened March 1, 2004,[1] the place was designed to recreate the bar made famous by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the movie classic Casablanca. Set in an old courtyard-style mansion built against the walls of the Old Medina of Casablanca, the restaurant – piano bar is filled with architectural and decorative details reminiscent of the film: curved arches, a sculpted bar, balconies, balustrades as well as beaded and stencilled brass lighting and plants that cast luminous shadows on white walls. There is an authentic 1930’s Pleyel piano and As Time Goes By is a common request to the in-house pianist.

Owned by The Usual Suspects company, this Casablanca landmark is usually described as the real Rick’s Café, finally bringing the legendary “Gin Joint” of cinema fame to life in today’s Casablanca.

I say:

Will probably depart Casablanca for Marrakech tomorrow, by train.  Have read and heard it is much less hectic.  At 4 million, CB is more city than I enjoy.

In the hotel.  5/24 at 8 PM.  Working out the kinks on inet connectivity.  Will write and upload as I can.

Busy day. Moro’s car to the Cairo airport, then a 5 hour plane ride across north Africa,  then took the train to downtown Casablanca, then a cab.

Many stories to tell.  Stay tuned.