Here’s Looking At You, Casablanca

Heading north, we travelled the 230-kilometres from Marrakech to Casablanca by train. We’d been told not to bother with Casablanca by a few different friends; but, we decided to make a pitstop and break up the journey.

We boarded the train and found our first-class seats. Jason was expecting a high-speed train but this was more a rickety old train that would plod for two and a half hours to our final destination. First class was just a booth of 6 seats. I’m not sure what second class looked like, but everyone was vying to sit in first class.

Two Moroccan women came and sat in the spare seats next to us, but when the ticket inspector came along, it turned out they had purchased second class tickets. The younger woman argued with the inspector and refused to move to their allocated seat. The inspector gave up and went on his way. I overheard her say to the French couple next to her that she was an art dealer, buying art for the wealthy. When the inspector came back, he had a few more words to say to her, but she continued to ignore him.

Since we were only staying overnight in Casablanca, we opted for a hotel near the train station. This way, we could avoid the bartering process with taxi drivers. However, I'm not too sure it was the best neighbourhood. And in true Jason and Ricky fashion the hotel was located on the opposite side of the train station, which meant walking a little further than expected. It wasn’t just a skip across the road. Fortunately, the temperature was a little cooler in Casablanca, not that it helped with Jason’s man-o-pause. Princess Goldilocks likes it just right – not too hot, not too cold.

We arrived at the hotel to check-in, but there was a problem with our booking. Of course, there was; it wouldn't be a Jason and Ricky adventure without at least a little bit of drama. The hotel was trying to charge us for the room when we had already paid. After a bit of back and forward, the issue was resolved and we were allowed to check-in. Fortunately, Jason didn't need to go full Karen – Get me the manager!

With little time to waste, we headed out to wander the surrounding areas. Many of the buildings looked like they needed a little bit of care and attention. As Morocco’s largest city, with over 4 million people, Casablanca has little in the way of tourist attractions. It is more an economic and business hub.

The main tourist attraction in Casablanca is the Hassan II mosque, the second largest in Africa and the seventh largest in the world. It was commissioned by the previous King Hassan II, involving more than 10,000 artisans and at a cost of about 585 million euros (866 million Australian dollars). The mosque was funded by 12 million people and loans from across the world. Meanwhile they needed to abandon the expansion of the train network due to a lack of money. As an atheist, it always puzzles me how so many religions preach about helping the poor, and yet so much wealth is poured into monuments rather helping people survive this harsh world. But then, there are many things in this world that don’t make sense to me.

Next stop: Rabat.Read more