Morocco - Casablanca & Marrakesh: Dec'10

Having a 15 hour flight from Casablanca to Jakarta (via Dubai), I do not have anything else to do besides listening to the music and waiting for Emirates’ flight attendants giving me something edible. I am too excited to end the eight day holiday without leaving any note about how I and friends taste a little bit of Casablanca, Marrakesh, Erg-Chigaga (Erg = sand dune), Chefchaouen and the journey in between those places. So, here is the journey with the great help from Lonely Planet: Morocco.

Day 1: Casablanca

I and B arrived at Mohammed V International Airport, Casablanca at noon. We went to downtown by a train (take the exit of terminal 1 down stair to find the train station, 35 minutes from the airport to Casa Voyageur train station, second class, Dh40). Before we were on board, we asked one of the officers at the airport train station about our ticket. The officer eagerly accompanied us to our railway coach and even helped me with my backpack. I was touched until he asked us Dh20 for his forcing services. Still, we gave the money after questioning him about it. The experience made us more careful when we were going to ask someone for direction or anything even though he wears uniform. I saw the man later on when we were in Mohammed V International Airport, Casablanca on the way back to Jakarta. He does offer this kind of helping service to any tourist who just arrives in Casablanca and wants to take a train. Meanwhile, the other officers in the airport are very helpful. Only that one :)

As we got to Casa Voyageur train station, the first thing we do was buying train ticket for the next morning to Marrakesh, then taking a petit (small) taxi to Galia Hotel (galia_19@hotmail.fr; 19 Rue Ibn Batouta; Dh270) near central market (Dh50 for the petit taxi is too high compared to the normal fare). The room in the hotel is lovely enough as it provides a bolster. It’s the first time I ever found a hotel providing bolster. When the receptionist knew that we are from Indonesia, he instantly asked us whether we are Moslem or not (Indonesia is a country with the biggest Moslem population in the world). But, we are not Moslem. Then the receptionist said it’s OK. I think he will be more excited if we were Moslem. We had this kind of question along the way in Morocco when the locals found out where we come from. But, I do not mind about it.

From the hotel, we were off to Hassan II Mosque located by the side of Atlantic Ocean by a petit taxi (Dh12). Non-Moslem visitor can get inside the mosque with a guide. However by the time we arrived there at around 3 pm, the guide service already close (It is ended at 2 pm). Hence, we only strolled around the mosque. There were still a lot of visitors there taking pictures of the mosques. Among them, I recognized two Emirates’ flight attendants and two passengers on our flight this morning. I said hi to the flight attendants and they were very surprised to see me there. Not only the tourists were on the mosque’ yard, but also the locals with their little children running around and hitting anyone who does not watch the path in front. A group of teenage girls greeted us with their first question: do you speak in English? Yes, we do. Moroccan speaks in Arab and French (plus Berber and Spanish). Then, they asked us to take pictures together while asking us about where we are come from, have you tried Couscous, etc and teaching us some words in Arabic. I did not understand some of their questions but just keep smiling :) I had the same experience with some teenagers in Nepal. It’s funny and great though.

After saying good bye to the teenagers, I sat on the top of the wall separating the path to the mosque and the beach. A woman with her two daughters opened a conversation with us with questions such as where you come from, where you stay, etc with her broken English. She told us about her Indonesian acquaintance; meanwhile her little daughter offered us her candy. From my reading, it is not polite if I reject her offer. So, I tried the candy that taste way too sweet for me. She laughed seeing my expression after tasting her candy. After a while, the little daughter lost her milk teeth. I was amazed that both her and her mother took the moment lightly. I mean, she lost her teeth and had blood in her mouth, but she was just smiling. Great girl! We had to end the conversation because we had not had our lunch yet and it was already afternoon.

Hassan II Mosque with its wind from the sea is magnificent. Strolling along its yard and sitting on the top of the wall facing the ocean are relieving. But, the hospitality of the locals that impressed me much.

We took a walk from Hassan II Mosque to Rick’s Café. But the café opens after 6.30 pm for dinner time; in the meantime we were already in front of the café at 4.30 pm. We sat in front of the café’s door and watched the street. We noticed that the passenger of petit taxi also share with other passengers. I thought only the grand taxi passengers share their ride. We do not how the taxi sharing works, but we tried it. However we found an empty taxi (empty taxi = without a passenger, still with a driver) to go to Brasserie La Bavaroise near the central market. Again, the place opens after 8.30 pm. We were too early to go to these comfy restaurants. Before the door keeper answered our question about the restaurant working hour, he asked first where we come from. He guessed we were from Japan :)

We sauntered around Central Market and found a fast food restaurant. We had a huge cheese burger with mint tea (Moroccan tea) here. No Moroccan traditional food? No, not yet. The cook said regards for Jakarta as he knew that we are Indonesian. It was still 7 pm in Casablanca but we were sleepy already because it was already 2 am in Jakarta. What a great jet lag!!! Hence, we did not do our plan to go for walking tour that has been described in Lonely Planet L The only site I saw from the walking tour was Hotel Lincoln. Hotel Lincoln’s grandiose ruin for exactly.

I slept as if I were at home and awoke early in the morning to catch the train to Marrakesh at 6.50 am (3 hours from Casa Voyageur train station to Marrakesh, first class, Dh140). We took a grand taxi to go to Casa Voyageur train station without other passengers (Dh22). The hotel receptionist watched us until we got a taxi.

Day 2: Marrakesh

We reached Marrakesh train station at 10 am. It is a bigger one that Casa Voyageur: two-stories train station with McDonalds, KFC, minimarket, banks, etc. We hit McDonalds for our breakfast. In front of the train station, a man offering us his taxi to go to Riad (guest house) Julia (www.riadjulia.com; 14 Derb el Halfaoui; Bab Doukkala; Ph. 024-376022; Eur60). The man asked us Dh50 from the train station to Riad Julia, and then it went down to Dh30. I knew it was still too expensive, but we took it. By the way, it seems that Dh50 is the magic spell for a little bit dishonest taxi drivers. It turned out that he does not have a taxi, only a regular car. Amazingly, we still took it. He drove us and dropped us at a place. Sucks, it was not the place we were heading to. I had the map on me; still I did not question him because I was enjoying everything new around me along the journey.

The fake taxi driver dropped us near Koutoubia mosque area. I was both upset and touched at the same time. I was upset mostly because the fake taxi driver made me walk to Riad Julia carrying my 4.4 kg backpack (too shocked to take a taxi again). It’s a very light one compared to the other backpack. However, I have my right arm injured due to my last rafting trip. My doctor already forbids me carrying anything heavy. 4.4 kg backpack includes anything heavy. 10-15 minute walk with the burden tortured me. Gone is the healing effect of those unfinished physiotherapy sessions. I was touched because people along the street helped us showing the way, including people who were busy offering Riads and thankfully the surrounding is all a new thing for me. It is worth for the pain.

Riad Julia is inside the alleys. Some reading told us that it will be difficult to find a riad. But it is quite easy to find Riad Julia even at night as there are proper light along the alleys and it is not too far from the main street. We knocked the riad’s door. As the receptionist opened the door, we found a courtyard inside. He welcomed us with the mint tea. The room is beautifully decorated and the receptionist is very friendly.

Having refreshed, we wandered in the souks and successfully got lost. There are shops that sell shawl, antiques, souvenirs, etc. These kinds of shops do not give their customer a fix price, so you have to bargain. And that is exactly my weakness: I cannot bargain and am not interested in the bargaining process. So, I mostly only enjoyed the souks atmosphere itself. Sauntering along the souks while listening the engine from a motorcycle and a bell ringing from a bcycle behind you, or someone in front of you blocking your way can awake anyone there. Seeing other people kept bussy doing their business, while I was walking my live on slower path was a refreshment for me in one way or another. The shopkeepers in the Marrakesh souk itself are not aggressive enough that can irritate the passers-by.

As the afternoon about to come, we tried to find our starting place: Bab Doukkala. But then gave up and shifted the goal to find any main road, the end of the souk. I couldn’t differentiate how I felt when I can’t find the main road. It was in between excited of getting lost and traumatic of asking people for information. Surprisingly, we showed up at Djemma el Fna.

The place is so lively. It is full of food sellers, snake charmers, people wearing traditional clothes (or not) offering themselves so the tourists can take their pictures, horse-drawn carts, monkey performers, etc. Of course, the performers in Djemma el Fna will ask for some fee. It is intriguing to see the interaction between the seller and the potential buyer, the interaction between the sellers and the seller itself. A lot of other things happened there that I cannot fully observed since I watched it all from above a cafe’s terrace: Le Grand Balcon Cafe Glacier mainly through my camera lens. I think the main selling point of the cafe is not their food and drink, but the view of Djemma el Fna from above. Before the dusk coming, some parts of the square transformed into food stalls.

We enjoyed the view there accompanied by the quite chill wind for about two hours. The night seemed attract more people coming to Djemma el Fna. In addition, there was a stage set up in the square for music performance. What amazed me was when there is a call prayer, all the sound from the sound speaker suddenly stopp. The call prayer is the only sound that fill in the air around the square. At a moment there is a part of peacefulness. But as the call prayer stopped, everyone was back to their businesses and the sound speakers were on . Well, Djemma el Fna main attraction is not its peacefulness but their frantic lively activities.

At night, we went back to Marrakesh train station to buy a ticket from Marrakesh to Fez. As usual, we met the taxi driver with its magic spell: Dh50 :) We handed over him the map that show how close it is from Djemma to train station. Then he changed his offer for Dh50 return. Yeahhh right! We chose to walk. Along the way, I noticed there are a lot of cafe in Marrakesh main street. Mostly men sitting in front of the cafe watching the traffic and people walking in front of them. It’s not the custom here to see women do that. We took a bus on our way back to the riad. Since, we were not in the tourist area, we asked a lot of people how to get back to Djemma by bus. As I was off from the bus, a woman whispered to me: Welcome to medina. And I smiled to her.

Work trip and Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore: Jul'2010

I'm having my internet standing log on at Changi Airport, Singapore: checking email and facebook account. It's a rare opportunity for me to check my facebook account from a computer :) I usually check it from my mobile phone. Still, there's nothing exciting on facebook account.

I'm in Singapore for two kind of meeting from Wednesday to Friday. I thought the first meeting will be a horrible one since I come alone facing some people who are expertise on their field. But, it turns out effectively and efficiently well :) Still, have only slept for 2 hours before the meeting (+ those sleepless nights for the past weeks..can't remember why) have given me the hangover effect without the vomit part. The second meeting is absolutely an interesting experience for me as I get to know to other colleagues from other countries.

The only time I spend out of my hotel besides attending the meeting is to Esplanade Concert Hall on Friday night to watch and listen to Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) conducted by Lan Shui. The first play is a familiar classical music for me (notes: no matter how familiar I am with the music, it doesn't mean I remember the title and singer/composer). I am very touched while listening SSO playing it. The violinist enter the stage on the second play...she's a great one. When she ends her play, the crowded still give the applause..more and more..and she gives us an extra play which is also touching. Then we have a 20 minutes break. SSO plays 2 or 3 more musics after the break. I always hate the ending part, because it has to be ended. 1,5 hours play always seem too short for me.

Red brick and rocks piles in Mojokerto & Malang: Jul'2010

Tanjung Bira

Cemetery, hills, forest, river in Tana Toraja: Jun 2010

Having spending two nights in Makassar and Palopo, I joined my friends Tira and Riky in Tana Toraja. The two hour journey from Palopo to Tana Toraja itself was a great and a bit adventurous one. It was great due to the mountainous terrain with its forest view and a bit of adventurous due to the landslide effect that happened last year in the area. Along most of the road, you will find the ravine on the right side and the water flowing between the big rocks stumbling from the cliff due to the landslide on the left side. You don not want to be on this road on the dark on in the middle of the rain. Hence, the driver made sure that he could go back to Palopo before the dusk falling.

I arrived in Tana Toraja at noon and visited Lemo, Londa and Ketekesu where you could be indulged by the skulls, bones, and coffins everywhere inside and outside the caves without having spooky feeling. I went there with Tira, Riky, and Imel my little cousin as our guide. Those places are must visit places for a first time traveler in Toraja like Tira. It was my second visit. The last time I visited Toraja was 10 years ago to celebrate Christmas with my relatives. Yup, some of my relatives are Torajan and they live in Toraja and Palopo.

While my friend Tira was excited to see a Torajan funeral ceremony, I did not feel that way. By the way, there was no funeral ceremony on that day. I had seen it before. It was a magnificent ritual. Still, I also thought it as very costly culture. When a relative pass away, a Torajan family should hold a party, have a lot of buffaloes and pigs to be feed to the guess, build shacks often above the rice field for the guess to sit and eat, and else. The more buffaloes you sacrifice and the longer the party takes time, then the higher the family pride. However, it is a culture that is strongly believed by the Torajan and cannot be measured by the material things such as money.





Tira and me stayed at my uncle’s house, while Riky stayed at Wisma Maria I, a hostel run by my relatives.

The next day, we went for white water rafting on Maiting River. I have never done rafting in Toraja before and so exciting to have this experience. Tira, Riky and me used IndoSella Eco Expedition as our rafting operator. My cousins also join the rafting but with different operator: Toranggo Buya, a subsidiary of Sobek Expedition.

Agus Lamba from IndoSella took us to Bolu market in the morning before going to Maiting River. Yup, it was a market day in Rantepao when people from Toraja and other regions/islands come to sell their buffaloes and pigs. Some buffaloes in Toraja are fabulous as their price can reach as high as hundred millions rupiah. This is the place where buffaloes have a high value due to the culture. This is the place where seeing a buffalo can be a breathtaking view due to its beauty.



After spending around 30 minutes in Bolu market, we were ready to go for rafting. We had to go by car for two hours from Rantepao and had a 40-60 minutes trekking down the hills before having a three hours rafting on Maiting River. Every inch and second of it was an astonishing journey. It also includes the part when we had to pull and push the car also made the pathway become more friendly for the car tires. Well, actually most of the time I only took pictures of my friends and th crews did all of the car pushing and pulling.


When I had to stop and off from the car due to the terrible muddy road, I could enjoy the fabuluous view up on the hill. I spotted the red and white shool building surrounded by brown square area in the middle of green forest and rice field. The students were playing on the square with their red and white uniform. And here I was having a holiday...yay!!! Some villagers just passed by to do their activities, made Tongkonan, a Torajan traditional house, pushed a car. Hohoho it's my friends pushing the car not the villagers.

While enjoying the gorgeous view, including the car pushing, by my eyes, my ears catched the voice of sprinkling water down from the hill. Yup...we could use it to clean up or muddy hands and feet before getting back on the car to continue the journey to the river.



As we arrived on the nearest village to the river, we met some local people with their joyful children greeting us and giving their best smile and laughter especially when posing in front of the camera. They were keep smiling as we put on our life vest, helmet and carried our paddle. Ok...where's the river?


Then we went for 40-60 minutes trekking down the steep hill to reach the river. The pathway was steep and getting steeper as we went down further. I really recommended to have a serious breakfast before having this trip. I could feel my legs trembling as we went down the hill. I hate the descending part.


However, my hatred on the descending always fade away as the impressive scene down there can instantly soothe my trembling legs, pleased my eyes, and touched my heart. It is an overwhelming statement on a view, huh? :) The clear green river inside the swath green forest which make a beautiful boundary with the bright blue sky scenery is worth seeing. Up until now, it is the best view I ever seen. It was because I could not only see its beauty but also felt it as I was on the raft and got splash of the fresh water river on the first rapid as the rafting started.


Maiting river has grade II-III rapids. Mostly, it has grade II rapids. Hence, it's not challenging enough. The positive side of it was that I could optimally enjoy its stunning beauty as we're flowing through the canyon with its beautiful ubiquitous waterfalls. Also, there are a lot of birds, teals, and some kind of iguanas.



We had our lunch on the river shore and met the team from Toranggo Buya. From that point, we had our rafting trip together.


As the canyon with its waterfalls disappear, the view along the river changed into the rice field scenery with the buffaloes taking a bath on the river-bank or just having their lazy sun-bathing. The three hour rating ended. Nooo... I want it more. Could I repeat it again??


When my feet touch the ground again, I know that I'll go back here again for rafting..maybe trying another river: Sadan.

Thanks a lot to Tira, Riky, my families in Palopo & Toraja, and Indosella Eco Expedition team.

Mt. Papandayan

Rafting at Palayangan