Chased Through Rabat: Fake Guides, Locked Towers, and a Flooded Hotel Nightmare

Rising with the morning sun, we left our apartment behind and started our morning sprinting through the quiet streets. After bypassing countless ruined buildings and rubble, we eventually found ourselves strolling along the crashing waves of the coast.

We all took a moment of pause as we stared out into the sea and just tried to absorb the moment. It was a strange realization as we were thousands of miles from home, truly standing on the shores of Africa.

Looming in the near distance was a white lighthouse and we just could not imagine a more scenic view; and looking back,this was one of the highlights of the entire trip for me.

Leaving the lighthouse and coast behind us, we continued down the road up towards the medina, the old city. Before entering into the walled town, directly across the road was a sprawling cemetery filled with tombstones as far as the eye could see.

I had never seen a cemetery of this size and capacity and it was truly something our eyes could not even comprehend.

After a while we began our journey once more and found ourselves now within the medina. Almost immediately after entering through the large gate, we were set upon by a young man who proceeded to give us a full history lesson and eventual tour of the medina.

He began to whisk us through the winding streets all the while spouting facts, dates, and trivia. We realized this had turned into a guided tour which we wanted no part of yet he stuck to us like glue.

Eventually we found ourselves at the top of the medina overlooking the ocean below. Austin and Matt snuck away and I was left with him. Eventually he began to demand a tip (for a tour we didn’t even sign up for) and I fished out a small ten dirham coin (equivalent to around one US dollar) and flicked it his way. He began to launch into a rabid tirade that this was so cheap and was like a euro.

He eventually stormed off and I regrouped back with Austin and Matt. This little tour had soured us and we were now behind schedule so we sent off speeding through the medina trying to find the next attraction. Unfortunately when exiting the medina, we bypassed a small coffee shop and as we looked inwards, we were greeted with the vicious eyes of our past guide. We broke out into a run and exited the medina, wishing to put him behind us.

A mile later, we soon found ourselves standing in the cool dark shadow of the Hassan Tower. Unfortunately, the gates were securely locked shut and we spent this time to lounge about the front steps and have a quick breakfast of our protein bars.

We then continued onwards to a nearby train station and spent some time waiting for our final train in Morocco. This simple station was under construction and lacked much comfort outside of a single small cafe. The bathrooms were something out of a horror movie (and even lacked toilet paper) and we were set upon by two homeless locals asking for money right outside the stall. We spent the remainder of our time sitting in the small cafe watching Austin eat a small sandwich (which we believe might have been the reason for his food poisoning later on in the trip).

Realizing our mistake at purchasing the second class fare the day before, we opted to splurge for first class; or at least we tried. As we got to the station a bit behind schedule, first class was fully booked and we were stuck with our familiar second class cabin.

Unfortunately this was another rather long train and we spent the next three hours staring out the window examining the passing countryside. Fortunately this journey was much smoother than the previous one and the three hours flew by rather quickly.

Eventually we found ourselves in the ancient city of Fes. It was late in the afternoon and we enjoyed the bright sunshine as we strolled through the city.

Fes immediately gave off a different vibe than the cities we had been in previously. There were rows of palm trees alongside the road with looming desert hills in the background, giving a feeling that we had entered the Hollywood hills. 

We spent some time navigating our way to the medina and even attempted to venture into a small park before being whistled at and shooed away by several seated policemen for some unknown reason. This was just another display of typical Moroccan hospitality.

Matt began to voice his frustration at his hunger so we decided to stop at a small outdoor restaurant just feet away. While combating an onslaught of flies, we had small dishes of tagines that are a typical dish in the country. I was extremely excited to try this local cuisine but after experiencing the taste of an organ for the first time, that excitement left rather quickly.

Once our meal had concluded, we set down into the heart of the medina and were rather quickly overwhelmed by the various vendors and market stalls. We had seemingly entered an alien world inhabited by passionate salesmen desperate to hock their counterfeit soccer jerseys and purses.

We spent much time navigating this maze of commerce before finding ourselves in a large sprawling square. We used this time to catch our breath before a shady character approached us trying to peddle some drugs. With Morocco being a Muslim country, alcohol was extremely taboo; could you imagine the stigma behind drugs? We were quick to shoo him away and continued on our way to the iconic Blue Gate.

Our lodging for the night (a riad) was just a few minutes walk from the gate. Unfortunately Apple and Google Maps are not the most reliable in Morocco and we found ourselves wandering through various dark corridors and alleys searching for any signage or signal. Much time later, we squeezed through an extremely tight back alley and found ourselves standing in a small interior courtyard of our riad.

The room we had booked was supposed to come with five beds. This might seem excessive but this was the largest and most cost effective room. However when we arrived, the host explained that the room instead had three beds. Unsure of the change, we brushed it off as it would still serve us fine. Yet when she opened the door to the room, her promise of three beds shrank down to two. We were all left reeling as our room suddenly went from five beds, down to three, and finally down to two. We started to explain this would not work before she led us out of the riad and back into the maze of the medina.

A short walk later, we were now within another riad and finally into a room with three separate beds (without so much as an apology for the switch).

We were rather hungry and dropped our bags off and set back off into the dark streets in an attempt to find some subsistence. Unfortunately, we had a rather difficult time finding food that was not from a market stall and had to settle for a small rooftop cafe nearby. Settling for a milkshake instead of a beer (impossible to find), we had a small meal while looking off into the dark horizon.

A short while later, our dinner had concluded and we found ourselves back in our small room. Unfortunately Matt decided to shower first and failed to realize the shower drain was not working as expected. He eventually exited saying it would not drain and we entered the bathroom to find six inches of standing water in the shower. Austin and I rushed downstairs to find the lobby completely devoid of life. Unable to locate our host, Austin sent him a message on Whatsapp and we began to wait for his reply. Wishing for a more immediate solution, Austin and I grabbed the small wooden trashcan within the bathroom and began fishing out the water and pouring it into the sink.

This went on for around fifteen minutes until we eventually heard a knock on the door. Fortunately the young host entered the room, made several comments, and removed the drain completely from the floor. Overall, this would not be the worst hotel we would experience on the trip.

To see the previous day’s adventure, click here.

To move onwards with us along our journey, click here.