Hassan II Mosque (Casablanca)
The Hassan II Mosque of Casablanca was the second largest functioning mosque in Africa and the 14th largest in the world. It had a 210 metre tall (60 stories) minaret and it ranked as the 2nd tallest minaret in the world.
The mosque was designed by Michel Pinseau under the guidance of King Hassan II and built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The architecture finishing of the mosque was stunning, externally and internally, There were so intricate so detailed. We could only imagine the tremendous effort, skill and man power that went into the construction of this mosque.
This mosque was built with many modern thoughtful comfort for the worshippers. It had a vast electric sliding roof which opened the roof in 3 seconds (unbelievable but that was according to our guide) bringing cool reliefs to the worshippers in hotter days and electric heated floors for chilly winter. This prayer hall could take up to 25,000 devotees and another 80,000 in the plaza squares around it.
After the prayer hall our guide took us to the basement where there were many giant marble fountains. One for King, some others for male devotees and others for female devotees. Devotees needed to wash clean before (hands and mouths) before prayers.
Hassan II Mosque of Casablanca was considered as one of the most beautiful mosques in the world. We had visited Blue Mosque in Istanbul, comparing the two we felt that Hassan II Mosque was more striking in details. From the zelligetz tiles to exquisitely carved wood to intricate plaster work to smooth tadelakt walls.
Getting some hard Moroccan Cash
We had changed some Moroccan Dirham (MAD) at Casablanca airport and the rate for 1 USD was 9.2158 MAD. We knew that airport was not the best place to purchase local money but we had no choice as we believed to always has some local cash on hand. It came in handy when we could not pick up our rental car and had to pay for a taxis ride to our hotel.
After our visit to Hassan II Mosque we went into town to explore and also to look out for some money changers. We tried to change some money at a bank but was told that we would get better rate at a money changer. Using google map we were able to locate a nearby money changer. This time it was 1 USD to 9.9 MAD which came up to nearly 7.4% better than the rate at the airport.
When we traveled we preferred to pay using travel debit cards because unlike credit cards they offered very good exchange rates and charge no fee. Many people were wary about using debit cards due to fraud leading to unrecoverable loss of money. We reduced such possible loses by not carry a lot of money and to divide them over several travel debit cards. The money we carried were just good enough to cover 30 days of meals, petrol, entrance tickets and souvenirs. Big bucket items like accommodation were already paid back home in Singapore and Car rental in Morocco to pay using credit card.
Rick’s Cafe
Many visitors to Casablanca would visit Rick’s Cafe but we did not. First we were out of time since we landed in Casablanca some 11 hours late and secondly Rick’s Cafe was not the original cafe in the famous movie “Casablanca”. This cafe was built some 60 years later by a entreprenuring woman, American Kathy Kriger, riding on the fame of the movie. Somehow the cafe not being authentic made it unappealing to us.
Picking up our Car At the Airport
At about noon, we left Melliber Appart Hotel for the airport. We found out from the hotel receptionist that 300MAD for one way transfer to the airport was a norm.
We were back at the airport to pick up our rental car. It was for 25 days with “zero access” insurance. The cost of the Hertz rental car was MAD12,753.24 a hefty sum. We preferred to pay extras for better insurance coverage because we wanted a “trouble free” trip. We had already cut down our expenses a great deal by doing our own 24 days road trip.
After inspecting and familiarizing ourselves with the car we set up our car GPS (a TomTom device).
We had this device for about 8 years. Every time before the start our trip we would used TomTom online application to mark all our destinations (hotel, sights, attractions etc). Then we downloaded the latest TomTom map for the country (the maps were free) into the GPS device and synchronised the marked destinations into the device too.
Once the GPS device was mounted securely on the dashboard, we selected a preloaded destination, once the device displayed the route to the destination and we were good to go!
Getting to Rabat
The drive from Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport to Rabat was about 1.5 hour for a distance of 120km. Along the way we saw many military men manning EVERY overhead bridge and intersection and there were many in this 120 km stretch. At every bridge or intersection there were at least three officers, one at each end and a spare.
We were very puzzle and later we realised that they were protecting King Hassan II who lived in the Royal Palace in Rabat but was in Casablanca for some event. The King and his convoy would be using the same road on which we were driving on when leaving Casablanca to return to Rabat.
kasbah des oudaias
We were in Rabat to visit a fortified seaside town, Kasbah des Oudaias, which was listed in the World Heritage Sites since 2012. The next day we would move on to visit Hassan Tower and Mausoleum of Mohammed V also sited in Rabat.
Rabat looked beautiful, not modern with high buildings but rather “resort like” with layers of white houses . We drove till we were very near the kasbah and detoured into a side road leading to our stay. There was a car park just outside Kasbah des Oudaias but we did not park there instead we parked at a carpark space prepared for us by our host just outside our stay on the Medina side.
After we settled into our stay and freshened up, we were ready to visit the Kasbah Des Oudayas at about 6 pm. We chose this timing as we wanted to visit the marina at the kasbah at sunset. We walked along a promenade built by the high wall of the kasbah. The promenade led up a huge stairs to the Great Gate of the Kasbah (Almohad gate, Bab Oudaia). This beautiful gate had an outer farcade (facing southeast towards the city) and an inner facade (facing northeast onto the Street of the Mosque), both richly decorated.
At 6pm in the evening many shops in the Kasbah were already closed, which accounted for the low volume of people around. We were expecting an old and dirty city as this place was centuries old. Instead we saw clean tiled streets lined with white buildings on both sides. Interestingly the doors of the shops were fairly new and were uniformly similar. We figured that there must be a recent “town renovation”. It definitely made the place neat and orderly. We wandered into the side streets and was certainly charmed by the white washed walls of the houses, their blue doors, quaint street lights and striking blue planter pots.
We walked to the other end of the kasbah wall. There we saw the town of Sale with its white houses across the River of Rabat. We strolled along the wall of the kasbah facing the sea watching the sunset. We had an unobstructed view of the golden sun setting over the sea horizon, the sea breeze was great and the waves washing in was mesmerizing.
Rabat Medina FOR DINNER
After the sun had set we were back to the Medina to seek our “dinner”. Our host had earlier recommended the restaurant Ziryab and on the google map we had verified that it was indeed a “popular” restaurant with 5 star review.
Crossing the road that divided the Kasbah and the Medina we was walked into one of the alleys into the Medina. All the shops were closed but it was a huge surprise to find the alleys so quiet so lifeless. On both sides of the alleys were closed doors and windows with absolutely no sound or light to be heard or seen from within this closed doors and windows.
Luckily for us the alleys were lighted and the place was clean so it did not feel scary walking about even though were the only souls around! Using google map we were able to find our way to Ziryab restuarant. The restaurant door was shut tight and there was no activity around.
We knocked on the door with apprehension, wondering if it was open for business. We was surprise when a staff opened it. We were told that the restaurant was full. We still popped in to have a look. The main dining hall was packed with tourists, cheering and singing loudly. Seemed more like a rowdy market place than a nice dining restaurant.
We left Ziryab feeling slightly disappointed. Again we used google map to navigate to the second restaurant in our list. This time as we walked passed the close doors in the silent alleys we told ourselves that there might be a rowdy group of patrons behind each shut door.
We arrived at a another huge thick door. The door of Dinarjat was large and shut and from the alley this restaurant looked devoid of human activity. Again we knocked on it loudly and soon a staff opened the door and we were guided inside.
Wow, the interior of the restaurant was lovely! It was cosy and cool. It had an open courtyard in the center with some sort of semi-transparent canopy on the top. The atmosphere of this place was totally different from Ziryab (a noisy place), this place felt so exotic so romantic. A place where we could leisurely enjoy our dinner.
We had a lovely dinner, the food tasted great and the entire dinner for two was 640MAD. The meal consisted of appetizer, main, desert and tea/coffee. Love the food, love the ambience, love the peacefulness. We were glad to have dined at Dinarjat rather than Ziryab.
sTay for the night in rabat
Our stay at Rabat was just on the fringe of Rabat Medina facing Kasbah des Oudayas. It was Dar Mounia which had many great reviews. Beside being on the right location, this place had parking. Our host had arranged a free parking for us.
The interior of Dar Mounia was so much more beautiful than the external. Entering the doorway brought us into a open bright courtyard with a beautiful fountain. Our host took our details and served us mint tea.
Our unit was on the third level, it was a beautiful room with a double bed and a pull up bed that also served as a settee. It had an ensuite toilet which was spacious and clean. It cost € 92 per night with breakfast for two in the morning.
Outside our room was an open terrace and on the terrace was another door that led into a common kitchen. Nice for guests who planned to cook simple meals.
On the terrace was a balcony overlooking the fortress wall of Kasbah des Ouyadas. At night the fortress wall was lighted and we had a wonderful time admiring the Kasbah from the balcony.
View of Kasbah des Oudayas from Dar Mounia
Dar Mounia served our breakfast in a dining room on its ground level. The breakfast was simple, with donuts, egg on crepe, coffee, tea, juice , honey, jam, fruit etc. The spread looked so colourful!
Other Accommodation near Kasbah Des Oudayas
