Mini-Scare en route Fez

Sunset view from the train 

We took Easyjet (S$60) from Madrid to arrive at Morocco Casa Mohammed V Terminal 2 at 1.40pm. Upon exiting the plane, I knew i was stepping into a patriarchal and conservative society. Women were modestly clothe from head to toe and the atmosphere was quiet and solemn.  The custom staff were pretty thorough and spent a long time questioning the African guy before us in the queue. He was carrying a picture wrapped in brown paper and parts of the frame were exposed. W answered the questions on my behalf. I just stood at his side and tried to give off a harmless vibe.

Typical scenery-Rocks, hill, shrubs

The Moroccan first class train compartment is similar to the Eurail, 3X2 cushioned seats, sliding door and a light switch at the corner. You can't lock the door though. W & I had the entire compartment to ourselves for most of the journey. 

Mini - Scare

By the time we approached Fez (7pm plus), the sky was pitch dark & it was getting scarier by the minute as it seemed we were the only ones left on the train. There is no announcement system on the train and we were hopeless with Arabic/French so it was hard to differentiate between the stations signs.  I was quite paranoid that we will miss our stop and end up in some ghost town.

Suddenly, two well built male locals strided into our train compartment. My heart skipped a beat & it was def not bcos they were hot. It was pretty obvious that they were not first class ticket holders. And then the older, meaner looking guy spoke. "It is so hot here". The younger one proceeded to open the windows and a gust of cool air blew in. They were both staring at us who were  watching them guardedly. "Where are you from?" Silence. "You speak English?" They started listing a list of countries starting right from Japan right down to China and Brazil.I maintained my blank look. And then the older one "They probably dont understand English". My expression remains unchanged. The younger one couldn't resist "But I heard them singing in English". Oh-my-god. That was us 2 hours ago singing happily when we were watching the sunset, before the sky turned dark and the environment hostile. I immediately learnt 2 things-1)compartments were not soundproof and 2)these guys have been observing us. I continued my blank look and doubled up on my prayers. The older one shot the younger one a quick look. " We, you, friends" The older one gestured and shot us what he hoped was a friendly grin. "Bring you good Fez hotel, cheap cheap". He took out this villa photo and brandished it.  I held on to my blank stare. They sat for a couple more moments before deciding to move on to other compartments.Thank god it was not a robbery/kidnap!

Despite our budget, we decided to take a cab to our riad and paid the driver extra to walk us to the doorstep (there are certain points from which vehicles are denied entry). We had enough adventures for the day.

Money exchange

At the Morocco Casa Mohammed airport, do rmb to change some dirhams at the money changer. Tipping is an essential part of the culture so get ready some small changes. Dirhams cannot be obtained outside Morocco and receipts must be retained as proof of legal currency exchange & to re-exchange money when departing. Pls dont try to bring too much dirhams out of the country (we were too lazy to change back and got detained at the departure customs which was not very fun). The money changer located after you pass the customs have better rates than the ones inside. 

Transportation from Airport -> Casablanca station -> Fez Station 

Take the train from the Casa airport to Casa-Voyageurs railway station.The train station is situated at level 1 in the arrivals area of Terminal 1. You will definitely pass by the ticket booth on your way to the train station. We paid S$88 for a first class ticket from the airport to Casa and from Casa to Fez at the booth. 

Trains depart from the airport to Casablanca every hour between 06.50 and 22.50. Journey time is 30mins. The journey from Casa to Fez took 4 hours. The national railroad company is ONCF.

Taxi

Small metered taxis are expensive and typically used within the city. Grand taxis travel on fixed routes. The best mode is  petit taxi - red small cars. Taxi drivers typically congregate outside airports and swarm around tourists when they exit for business. Rmb to negotiate with the drivers for an agreed price before you board. It helps to know the rates. A ten minutes ride in Fez should be around 15 Dh.