Hello, a lot has happened since I last wrote. I am now alone in Casablanca, while Tano and Florian are still in Sidi Ifni.
Last week we decided to take a little break from each other, so I got a room at a hostel nearby and Tano went to an other beach with the car.
After spending some time on my own I realised that I'd ended up in the passenger seat of Tano's trip. He knows all the places and all the people already and I found it hard to keep up. I decided that I actually want to do my own trip and not follow in the footsteps of someone else's dreams.
That was when I got the idea to go to Thailand, because my family and relatives from Finland are all going there for Christmas and new years. It'll be a nice start to traveling on my own, seeing my family again.
When I came up with the idea I suddenly realised it was only ten days to Christmas. I had almost forgotten because you don't really get that cosy Christmassy feeling when you are walking down the sunny beach.
It all went very quickly when I'd decided that I wanted to go off on my own, I packed all my stuff, said goodbye to my lovely travel buddies Tano an Florian and two days later I was sitting on the bus on my way to Casablanca.
I spent the whole day on the bus and arrived, exhausted, in Casablanca late at night. I got a taxi and he drove me to a close by hostel. I spent one day in the city and a Egyptian guy from the hostel showed me around a bit. Later I met two American voluntary workers at the hostel and we went out for a few drinks and ate at a awesome burger place. Since Morocco is a Muslim country they don't (officially) drink alcohol so I've haven't had more to drink than what we bought on our way through Spain, so it was nice to have a few beers before leaving Morocco.
This morning I left the hostel with the Americans and went to the airport.
Yesterday I tried to buy flight tickets to Thailand, but without success, so I just went to the airport and bought a ticket there. It was a little bit more expensive than when I looked it up on the internet yesterday, but I got a flight that was leaving two hours later, so I was pretty lucky with the timing.
It feels strange to leave Morocco after the month I've been here. It has been such a nice journey and traveling by car, the way we did, you can go places and meet people you would never meet otherwise.
Morocco will alway be close to my heart, it's such a lovely mix of everything. In a big city you will find crazy traffic and cars honking their horns and taxis everywhere and in the middle of the mess there will be a donkey pulling a wagon across the street. In small villages you will find old men looking like shepherds in their traditional Moroccan jellabas, young men dressed in the latest fashion and stray cats and dog everywhere.
The animals all seem to walk free, shepherds sitting on a rock watching their flock, camels eating the leaves off trees while the owner's walking far behind, donkeys loaded with so much on their backs that you hardly see the donkey underneath if it weren't for the ears.
Beside the road you often see donkeys grassing with their front feet tied together so they don't walk off too far. Once I saw a ram with impressive big antlers on the roof of a truck, calmly watching everybody from his high position.
In the markets you can buy live chickens to take home for dinner or if you prefer, get a freshly butchered one in a bag.
The people are so friendly and will invite you for tea even if they just met you. The Moroccans also love to bargain and make business and will jump at any possibility to buy or sell pretty much anything. They are always helpful and will ask you if you need help even before you have the chance to ask them yourself.
I will miss the friendly people and the busy markets and the strolling animals and the sweet tea and the way of sharing food. Good bye for now, but Inshallah, we meet again Morocco!