Destination: Morocco

It was our first time to step unto the African Region and it was unimaginably adventurous!

Morocco is not a common travel destination for most Filipinos probably because the average travel time from Manila to Casablanca is about 18 hours not including the stop overs and the time at the airport. It is also not as advertised here than it is in other parts of the world.

For this trip, the cheapest airfare we found is through Qatar Airways. A round trip ticket costs about $1000. There's a 13 hour lay over in Doha but we were pleasantly surprised to find out that if you have a stop over in Doha for more than 8 hours, they will gladly book you in a hotel with free transfers, lunch and dinner. We were ready to rough it out for 13 hours in the Airport Lounge but their generosity was welcomed with open arms.



It looks like they just opened the new Doha airport, everything seems new. I have read in a lot of articles that the airport is disorganized. Our experience though was quite different. The duty free is a nice place to go around. Its relatively big with a lot of items to purchase. (I was so surprised though that there were sooooo many pinoys working in the duty free there.) The chairs are comfortable and the airport is roomy and bright!



Qatar Airways is not one of the top airlines for nothing. The food tastes so much better than the other airline food. They serve alcoholic beverages even in economy class. To top it all, we have our own tv screens per chair. There is a remote gadget on the right arm rest which will give you complete control of your screen. You can choose to watch the latest movie releases, classical movies, latest tv shows and movies released either in the middle east or in Asia. Its a great companion on long haul flights.



One thing I noticed in Qatar Airways though, the flight attendants are not very friendly. They don't smile nor are they readily helpful.



After an hour of delay and 8 hours on air, we landed in the land of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca. Our flight and airport experience was horrible! I guess it really is more of a culture shock. On air, people were just talking and walking around non-stop. They stood up even before the plane stopped taxiing. They were on the phone while on the plane! They don't want to sit on their assigned seats and... they put up their bare feet on the arm rest in front of them. It was amusing and irritating at the same time.

Our airport exprience is something similar. Think of the Manila International Airport 20 years ago. People were fighting for their luggages from the carousel. They were even throwing punches in the air. They didn't know how to line up! People were pushing each other to get out of the airport as soon as possible. The police can't do much because the people don't listen. It was chaotic!


As soon as we got our suitcases we lined up (or what ever they call the chaos happening near the door), to get out of there. We had to change money from USD to MAD before leaving the airport to pay for the cab. The exchange rate is $1 = MAD 8.50, that's MAD 1= PHP 5.00.


Tired and wanting to hit the bed, we looked for the cab stand. When you get out of the airport, you should walk to your right. You'll see the exit there. It would be better to take cab for MAD 250 than use a rental car which may reach to about MAD1000.


And the adventure is just about to begin.