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Sandy buildings

Ingrida Kurlinkute,

Editor (Travel)

 

‘Next year we’re eschewing the winter wonderland Xmas-market schtick for a souk-tastic excursion to Marrakech. Moroccan sunshine + exotic gifts + end-of-year tan. It makes sense’, reads one travel magazine. Well, it doesn’t make sense to me now. Unfortunately, I was persuaded by this phrase to believe that it actually could be rather warm when I was packing my backpack. How wrong I was!

Let’s come back to the beginning. Clothes aren’t that expensive in Morocco so I could simply buy new ones there. Not a big issue. What actually was scary is that I nearly missed the bus to the airport – remember those Christmasy floods in the UK? I was a victim of them too in a way that my phone stopped working in the early morning of my departure day and I failed to keep in touch with my travel partner Ram. I was supposed to meet him in front of my house but I couldn’t see him. Phone is not working, bus is leaving in 10 min – panic panic panic! An idea to go alone to Morocco crossed my mind, so I would leave my friend in those floods. Selfish, I know, but that’s a trip to Morocco and someone was about to exchange that trip for a sleep (I thought he simply overslept). Some ‘genial’ idea came to my mind – write a message on ‘Facebook’. And yes, that saved our trip – my friend immediately replied that he was standing in front of my house. I grabbed my backpack and ran downstairs into the dark and found Ram with the taxi he had ordered – great! No time or willingness to talk, the only thing I carried about was to catch the bus on time. And yes, we made it – we were on our way to the airport, blaming each other and the bloody floods for a trip which had almost finished before even starting.

After reaching the airport, I calmed down. Yes, I’m actually going to Morocco; a two-week-long escape from the UK was about to start. Happiness was running through my veins as I was relaxed sitting and sipping my coffee. Soon I realised, Christmas holiday break does not bring joy for all. Behind me and Ram, was a bunch of Spanish people shouting at the airport officers that they had destroyed their Christmas. I’ve checked the departure board – all the flights to Spanish islands were cancelled. I guess due to floods. Spaniards were immensely furious with high-pitched voices and tears rushing down their faces. They are not going to meet with their families this Christmas. ‘At least you could have told us a few days in advance, it’s Christmas Eve!’ – I heard an upsetting voice of a woman holding her child. She is not going to meet her husband this Christmas. Her son is not going to meet his dad this Christmas. I realise how lucky I am. My flight is not cancelled (delayed though).

Sitting with my belt tightened and looking to an endless array of clouds is rather boring. Most people are sleeping. Lucky them! I can never fall asleep on a plane. I was trying to kill boredom with a book which I have already read, Dispatch from a Cold Country. It’s here just because Ram promised to finish it during this trip (since he didn’t manage to finish it in half year, I was quite sceptical he would finish it now). Rolling my eyes through the same lines wasn’t actually satisfying. I found a few ‘Snickers’ in my pockets and felt happy that I finally have something to do — eat! Soon a stewardess handed out boarding forms. The usual stuff. We needed to fill in the address of the hotel where we would stay. We made it up – we were going to stay at local people in different parts of Morocco and we had no clue of their addresses (we were using Couchsurfing — a highly recommended website for travellers who actually want to immerse themselves in the local culture). The flight didn’t take too long and after a few hours I was able to see the silhouette of Marrakech. First impression — sandy. All the buildings seem to merge with the colour of the mountains and land surrounding them. I woke up Ram and showed the landscape in which shelter we were about to spend two weeks. Get ready for us, Morocco!

Image Courtesy: Ingrida Kurlinkute

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Ingrida Kurlinkute

Ingrida Kurlinkute

Ingrida is currently a student at the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, United Kingdom. She is very curious about the world around her and is keen on sharing her opinion and knowledge with others. One of the biggest passions of Ingrida is travelling and therefore she heads the Travel Section on the website.
Ingrida Kurlinkute

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