Post by bgirl on Aug 12, 2010 11:11:45 GMT -5
I went to Morocco back in 2005 - was there for just under a week and stayed in Marrakech and Agadir.
We decided to take a bus from Marrakech to Agadir and back. We took a taxi from our hotel in Marrakech to the bus station, not realizing there were 2 bus stations, one for locals and one for tourists. Needless to say, we ended up at the one for locals, our taxi driver helped us buy a ticket and took us to our bus.
We climbed aboard and entered a bus which was basically falling apart inside! Most of the seats were no longer attached to the floor. One was pushed so close to the seat in front of it that there was only a couple inches available for leg room. The bus was packed as well.
Being tourists, we were the only ones who had to pay to actually have our bags loaded on the bus. Seemingly, everyone else was allowed to bring theirs for free, but not knowing the language, we didn't argue. The cost was very insignificant anyway.
The bus ride itself was insane, we took dirt roads through the mountains. There was no air conditioning and the windows hardly opened, the air inside was stifiling. The ride was about 5 hours long in total.
There were no real stops along the way, however, people would board/depart the bus in some of the various little villages along the way. It was amazing to watch... the bus would slow down and the people would start running beside it, someone from inside the bus would grab their bags and throw them on board then reach out to help pull the people in. A similar thing occurred when people were getting off. Truly amazing and I'm curious about how often that will actually backfire.
We made friends with a local on the bus, a guy who was in his mid-20's and spoke decent English. He was our saviour.
When we arrived in the bus terminal in Agadir, we were ambushed by children wanting to "carry" our bags for us (rather, try to steal them) and taxi drivers that promised to take us to our hotel for a good price. I couldn't believe the number of people crowding around us.
Thankfully the guy we had met helped us through the crowd and negotiated a good price from a taxi driver. He also helped ward off the countless children surrounding us, begging for money.
It was an interesting experience but not one I would like to go through again. On our way back to Marrakech, we located the tourist bus station and returned on a comfortable coach with air conditioning.
What we learned: do more research into transportation between cities before leaving!
We decided to take a bus from Marrakech to Agadir and back. We took a taxi from our hotel in Marrakech to the bus station, not realizing there were 2 bus stations, one for locals and one for tourists. Needless to say, we ended up at the one for locals, our taxi driver helped us buy a ticket and took us to our bus.
We climbed aboard and entered a bus which was basically falling apart inside! Most of the seats were no longer attached to the floor. One was pushed so close to the seat in front of it that there was only a couple inches available for leg room. The bus was packed as well.
Being tourists, we were the only ones who had to pay to actually have our bags loaded on the bus. Seemingly, everyone else was allowed to bring theirs for free, but not knowing the language, we didn't argue. The cost was very insignificant anyway.
The bus ride itself was insane, we took dirt roads through the mountains. There was no air conditioning and the windows hardly opened, the air inside was stifiling. The ride was about 5 hours long in total.
There were no real stops along the way, however, people would board/depart the bus in some of the various little villages along the way. It was amazing to watch... the bus would slow down and the people would start running beside it, someone from inside the bus would grab their bags and throw them on board then reach out to help pull the people in. A similar thing occurred when people were getting off. Truly amazing and I'm curious about how often that will actually backfire.
We made friends with a local on the bus, a guy who was in his mid-20's and spoke decent English. He was our saviour.
When we arrived in the bus terminal in Agadir, we were ambushed by children wanting to "carry" our bags for us (rather, try to steal them) and taxi drivers that promised to take us to our hotel for a good price. I couldn't believe the number of people crowding around us.
Thankfully the guy we had met helped us through the crowd and negotiated a good price from a taxi driver. He also helped ward off the countless children surrounding us, begging for money.
It was an interesting experience but not one I would like to go through again. On our way back to Marrakech, we located the tourist bus station and returned on a comfortable coach with air conditioning.
What we learned: do more research into transportation between cities before leaving!
