The ticket controller on the train didn’t even look at the name the ticket was reserved for.. and it felt like the most normal experience in the country until now – nobody was interested in me at all! And it was freezing cold! But luckily I had my launch blankets..

Then I walked out of the train station.. and tried to order a CNG via Uber.. that wasn’t the easiest thing – a random guy just stopped and nodded whenever I showed him my phone trying to ask if that’s him.. one guy cancelled.. and then finally I got one who took me to my 7USD hotel.. There was no hotel name outside.. so I asked in the ‘swiss pharmacy’.. People also didn’t know the hotel name, but yes, that was the building I was looking for and there was a hotel on the first floor. I went up, reception looked like in the photo, the guy wanted my passport and details, while another one was given bedsheets and told to ‘clean’ the room. And then I was shown my room… that didn’t look like the online photos on booking.com, and it certainly wasn’t cleaned in the last 10 years or so. Then someone knocked on my door.. and they brought me a box of tissues,… oh well.. 😉 while I was standing there, I saw a little mouse run across the room.. then again… and again… I put all my stuff high up, the food hanging on the clothes rack.. and left. Outside, I looked what other hotel options there are.. but even those for 30USD or so had reviews saying it’s dirty.. So I might just stay out late.. and then only sleep in there, hoping my roommate stays under the bed.. 😉

On Couchsurfing, Panda said he wants to hangout with me.. at university, again.. so I walked through the New Market – or mostly just along it – and then to that University Hall place. We went to get tea, real cowmilk tea from a little stall, and he said he lives near the airport.. so I saw my chance 😛 And said I wouldn’t mind escaping my hotel! Then on the way out, to get some food, found 3 other ‘foreigners’ sitting in the grass. One of them, I had seen before at Lalbagh Fort, a few days ago! And he knew all of them! So we sat down with them, and then went for lunch – kebab – all together. Then two of them left and we had dessert, falooda, then went to the market, just randomly walking around because nobody really needed anything. We stopped at my hotel – he called it ‘decent’ – then brought the brazilian girl to their hotel. By car! My first time in a normal car in BD! Then we went to the (one and only, it seems) tourist shop in the city (that I had already been to on day 2 in the country..), walked through the area a bit, and through an extremely expensive ‘butan outlet’ shop.. and then finally went home. By CNG, because there was no doubledecker bus ;( After a tea, and some more talking, we went to sleep. I had my own room! And saw no mouse 😉

We woke up at 6 am to do some more last-minute sightseeing: old, left and then occupied merchant houses, like Panam city, but open and partially possible to enter, a little ferryboat across, a sunflower field, a short metro trip, and then breakfast! Back home, I quickly changed, then we took a rickshaw in direction of the airport and walked the last 10 minutes or so to avoid the traffic jam. Easy! The spanish girl from the day before was going to be at the airport – and on my flight! – too, and she asked Panda if he could send her postcards.. so I gave him mine, too 🙂

I had my backpack wrapped, found my new friend, and we queued at check-in together. It took forever! I had time to walk around and try to change back my 1500 taka. But I was told ‘not here’.. an airport information counter said the same, and then at least told me ‘inside’. ok.. Panda had said the money might not be valid for much longer as it has the picture of the old president or so. After check-in, we passed passport control.. and then were right at our gate already. Security control was on the way to enter the boarding gate – and there was still another flight, so we could do nothing. I went to change my money: the first exchange stall said the smallest he has is 100 USD, I asked what he has – saudi riyals.. well.. the second stall just said no, shaking his head,… and then I found one that said he has USD, and was willing to give me so few 😉 That was surprisingly difficult!

Then we just waited for our turn to go through security.. it was a long line, and very slow because there was only one scanner. So we left 30-60 minutes late. I had asked, at the check-in counter, if they have an emergency exit seat, and I actually got one! yay!

Rome airport was shitty, I found the bus station towards fiumicino town.. the bakery didn’t want to sell me tickets.. the bus driver wanted 7 EUR for a ticket (it should be 1.50 or less) and by the time I had the app to buy tickets, the bus had left. There’s about one bus per hour and the last one back is around 10. It was after 7 now.. So I decided to stay in the airport..

At the crossing from where I had taken the bus to Mongla last time, I heard my bus guy shout something with Sona… I googled and saw that’s the name of a bus terminal in Khulna.. And that is about 10 minutes walking from Hotel Citizen. So I stayed on the bus till the end and then just walked to the hotel.

They had expected me later, because Mr. Saif had said I’d show up at 6 or so, but they very quickly ‘cleaned’ my room (or not..), then the reception guy brought me there, sprayed some air freshener stuff into the room.. turned on the fan, and left. I have a couch! And a TV! And kind of a clean floor (as long as the furniture stays exactly where it is now haha). I washed a set of clothes, then had a break… and then turned on the fan, and went looking for ‘New Market’. The google location was a market and shops sold scarves (or saris), but all was from Kashmir.. nothing from Bangladesh. Because it’s better quality as they told me. I didn’t really want to buy a 20 EUR Kashmir scarf here,.. so I left. Outside, a little further down the street, was another market, smaller, and this time selling Bangladeshi stuff. I bought a sari (well.. I’d call it fabric..), and two of those ‘skirt’ thingies. The grocery part of the market was, well, a market.. and I didn’t really need any fish or anything..

Around the corner, I found an empty ‘real cow milk’ tea stall, ordered, and was told to sit down.. then came a whole show of heating up the milk/tea, and pouring it.. And because I said I like his little clay cups, I got one as a present 😉

Then more customers came, and I got to see the tea preparation once more 🙂 Just next to there, the ‘food market’ started.. and next to that, there was a building full of phone shops! I remembered that I wanted a sticker for the (broken) back of my phone.. they offered me a new glass.. but I didn’t think so far that that might be a good idea.. And after my phone looked better, I tried some street food. A couple started talking to me.. and the girl insisted that I try their food, too, which was a different version of mine 😉

The girl in the eco camp had told me I must eat Chui Jhal in Khulna, so I googled that. One restaurant near the hotel had lots of reviews complaining that it wasn’t as good as it used to be, and that it wasn’t clean enough.. Another one was a bit further.. just next to the bus station. I went, had my food – and refused to spoon haha – and when paying, the guy asked me from money from my country! Finally! That’s why I took a few cent coins from home 😉

When I got up, I met Dibya’s dad, who insisted to wake him up, and he had to take me and put me on a CNG to the bus station 😉 I first took the bus towards Khulna, until Katakhali. My backpack was in the overhead space.. and kept moving more and more out, threatening to fall down, thanks to the bumpy road,… the bus employee just told me to sit down and ignore it.. but I was afraid it would fall on someone else’s head – so, that was not the most relaxing bus ride.

In Katakhali, I asked for the bus to Mongla, and ended up in a rather shitty old bus where I couldn’t actually fit straight in one seat – not enough legroom 😀 also, there was no overhead space, and nobody suggested to put my backpack in the storage space under the bus.. so, my backpack and me shared two seats. I sat near the front, and ended up with some people looking and/or talking to me. One even gave me his phone number on paper. haha. I guess he’ll be disappointed 🙂 They told me where to get off for the boat/ferry to the other side of the river.. and I just stood around there, at the pier, as everyone else, until the little boat came. On the other side, lots of men just stood around, and I wasn’t quite sure if they’re waiting for some kind of transport, or what’s going on. Rossi had told me what kind of vehicle to take.. there was one.. so I asked him if he’d go to Gol Kanon.. he told me no.. and suddenly everyone was surrounding us, discussing.. someone knew Gold Kanon… and I was asked if a motorbike is ok… the guy with the motorbike said 250, I said ok, and that was it! He had scary red gums from whatever he was chewing,.. and drove like crazy.. but we made it! First we passed by the resort, without recognizing it.. then he asked someone, and we were told to go back a bit.

A man who spoke hardly any English said Welcome, and put a flower necklace around my neck. And then another one came running, who told me I should first have a welcome drink – a coconut! – and then come to his house with them. He showed me the harvested rice, the fields, and then we went to the kitchen where he was going to make a coconut cake snack. There were 3 other Bangladeshi guests, who had been there before. I was suggested to have dinner at 8 – and just said ok. After dinner, I joined the others who were singing and playing music next to the river.. and smoking weed 😀 One of them was from Khulna.. He didn’t want to invite me to stay at his place,.. but he actually booked a hotel room for me, for 500 taka! It got quite cold and I sat outside, wrapped in one of my launch blankets.. My phone said the lowest temperature at night was around 14.

The place has 3 rooms – two were on either side of the bathroom, while mine was a little hut on stilts in the lake, made from wood and palm leaves or so! With my own balcony! So much more fun than actual concrete walls,.. 😉

After breakfast (a lot!) I had a bit of time, then got some tea.. and after 11, we left to explore the Sundarbans. It was a short distance upriver, then we stopped to pick some water spinach for dinner.. and then went further into the Mangrove forest. We saw a Kingfisher, an eagle, lots of monkeys, and tiger footprints! No tiger – luckily, I guess – but footprints on both sides of the river. I was told it was a female tiger, the male’s footprints would be bigger! At the end, when we couldn’t get further in, with our long-ish boat, we had a break, ate some guava, and watched the monkeys quarrel.

In the afternoon I was told to come, and he showed me a little temple in the village.. then we had tea at the local grocery shop/cinema (maybe the only TV there!?), saw the advanced version of the rice processing using a machine, and then had another snack. This time it was ‘khoi’ – homemade puffed rice!

The Bangladeshi guys left, I had dinner, and talked to the ‘owner’ – he said his wife has a headache since a few months and will go to the doctor tomorrow.. A homeopathic doctor… I suggested I would go to a ‘normal’ doctor.. but he was very sure that’s a great doctor.. he also said German homeopathic medicine is very good, but very expensive,… well, let’s hope the headache is nothing too bad 😛

The next morning, I had my breakfast – and saw two new people! Bangladeshi guys.. they got their welcome coconut water and filled it in a container and then went to the river.. When I was cleaning my teeth, they came to ask if I drink alcohol.. and said I should join them 😀 So I got to try some kind of homemade spirit.. and an officially bought Bangladeshi vodka. Each with coconut water! They said that plastic bottle of vodka costs around 20 USD.. I think I won’t take one as souvenir then.

And then it was time to leave – my motorbike was waiting. It took me to the southern ferry port. From conversations, I had learnt that ‘local’ is the keyword to not take a private boat.. and so I ended up on the (rather large) local boat. It was cold!

In Mongla, google maps said the bus terminal is right next to the ferry.. I started walking.. a man walked with me.. asking me if I am going to Sundarbans.. then asking me where I stayed.. and then he gave me his business cards. He organizes boat trips into the forest. He put me in the right bus towards Khulna. And it was equally uncomfortable as the one I came in. So I went to the back – hoping I’d be able to, again, have two seats for myself and my backpack.

I had exact instructions from Dibya how and where to meet him.. the first CNG whatever thingie was empty and seemed to want to wait until full.. and I anyways wasn’t sure if that was the correct place to take one, so I walked a few metres further.. there was nothing 🙂 On the way back, another CNG was passing.. shouting ‘Natullabad’ – where I wanted to go 😉 When I arrived at the right corner, I called Dibya, he answered instantly.. and said he’d come.. Nothing happened for a bit.. then he sent me his location and told me to go there – because the gate of the building was locked, with a padlock, from outside! He handed me the key, and I unlocked it 😀 Then.. we went to sleep again – he had been out until 4 am with his band.

When I woke up, I met his dad, and got some cookies and tea.. then we went up on the rooftop, to see the city.. I took a shower (the last one, actually, in Bangladesh.. if only I had known…), we had lunch and then walked through the city to the crematorium… to hangout 😉 Later we made a tour to the river, had tea, sat in the park, went to his friend’s place who was preparing a barbecue.. and then to another friend’s house where the rest of the band was hanging out. It was a crazy smokey room, locked from inside, and the guy’s mother was just eating when we walked through.. After a bit, there was some shouting between her and the guys inside.. and then I was told I should go out, there are people who want to see me 😀

And then we went back to the rooftop terrace for barbecue and fireworks.. 🙂

While dancing, the friend, who lived there, suddenly started screaming.. he had dislocated his shoulder! I stayed there, and some people went to hospital with him. But that proved to be harder than expected as they tried two different hospitals but there was no doctor! Eventually, around 2:30 or so, they came back with Xrays.. but he had to wait till morning for a doctor! I guess… just don’t get sick or anything in Bangladesh,…… we went home, and to sleep. Finally!

I insisted that, in the morning I have to get up early to go to Mongla. Rossi had booked me a room in Gol Kanon Eco Resort for two nights.

Adnan had to go back to Dhaka to do stuff,.. and I was going to take the launch to Barisal, so we went together. Upon arrival, he put me in a cycle rickshaw to Bongo market to buy 1-2 blankets for the night. I found actually nice – and cheap 😛 – ones, and then with my much bigger backpack walked towards a nice coffee to just spend some time. On the way I had milk tea in the street and made a new facebook friend (whom I blocked later because he got annoying).

The café was actually inside the British Council and I had to go through security.. And then I had a crazy 2xx taka frappe 😉

In the afternoon, I went to Lalbagh Fort – walking, again. Some part of university dorm area was on the shortest way that google showed, but the security guy at the entrance didn’t seem so convinced that I should be in there. Another guy was walking just in front of me.. turned around, and said we could go together. He was going to the fort area himself, so we walked together. I bought my entrance ticket and asked if I could leave my backpack in the ticket office. I could. Great!

Inside, I was happily eating my cake from the tea stall.. when the next guy started talking to me. First he told me he’s a guide,.. then he mentioned couchsurfing… I said I know it and just stayed with someone, or so… and he said he KNEW! He knows Adnan, and we sent him a selfie. Then I did my sightseeing… and finally saw another girl sitting in the grass, with some Bangladeshi women. My new guide-friend was still around, and said we could go for tea later. He just wanted to ask the other two foreigners if they might want a guide 😉 As soon as I stopped walking, and he was around, people showed up to ask him if they could take photos with me,.. haha

When the fort closed, at 5, I picked up my backpack, and we went to University to hangout, then for a snack in the street (that is also on the menu of the restaurand in madrid!), and then he put me in a rickshaw to Sandarghat. There, I went to a fancy restaurant he had recommended.. to get my second expensive coffee of the day, and, most important, to charge my phone. I wouldn’t have had to as there were power outlets on the launch.

I bought the pier access ticket, and because I asked twice how/where to go to Barisal, one guy brought me to the ship. And up to the cabins. Though I kept pointing at the ground 🙂 He wanted to sit me down outside the cabin, but finally understood that I wanted the floor… so we went back down 😉 It was quite crowded already (so if you want to take it, and want to have lots of choice, go more than 30 minutes before departure!) and there was a beautiful spot between two families, just wide enough for me to lie down. The family on the one side was nice and peaceful, but the little girl on the other side was terrible, screaming, tearing and throwing stuff around.. And later, I saw that there was more free space closer to the motor.. noisier due to the motor, but not so crowded.. well,… People stood around to stare… and I felt sorry for my neighbours. They understood that I spoke no Bangla.. and that I am from Germany.. and then told this to new starers who asked 😛 Eventually, I guess, people realized I’m boring and left 😉 I got invited for a tea by a guy who spoke some English.. and ignored the other one who wanted me to go to eat without speaking English 😛

To quote Rossi: “Last phase of innocent people on earth. Come after 15 years. Nobody is gonna stare anymore. So enjoy the treatment.” .. I guess that’s why I am here!

Departure was a bit after 9pm.. and arrival was after 5 am, too. And, plastic ‘blinds’ were let down, so it was quite warm on deck. Warmer than I had expected.. and almost too warm to be under my sleeping bag. There top – cabin – floor was accessible in the evening, but locked later at night. I thought their toilet might be nicer than the downstairs one, but I guess the only difference was that, downstairs, there were just taps outside to wash hands, while upstairs, there was an actual sink 😉

Our bus – my very first Bangladeshi bus ever – was surprisingly comfortable: it was empty when we got on, and we took the first row, so there was lots of legroom (for me and my backpack.. sorry.. 😉 ). In the middle of the way, it stopped, they opened some compartment inside, and very quickly did something, and then we continued already. I guess the driving was quite mad, but after I survived the motorbike yesterday, everything was great for me!

We got off at the roadside and were basically in the village already! I thought it would be much more complicated to get there.. We met Adnan’s sister on the way to their house, already.. at home, I said hi to everybody – then they told me to sit down and rest.. and soon I was served breakfast 🙂 After breakfast, there was some more resting, then lunch at the table.. and then we went on a walk through the village, ending up drinking ‘real cow milk’ – tea in the pharmacy where his friend works! I was sitting inside, and it was quite fun to watch the people from there 🙂 I got some vitamin pills as a present..

Back at home, the family was sitting together ‘gossiping’ (yep, I’m learning Bangladeshi English,..) and we joined! We made a plan what to see the next day.. I was told Mainamati is dangerous (well, I can go alone next time,.. ) and some temple is too far, but there’s another beautiful one,…

So the plan for the next day was to get up early, a quick breakfast and then to leave by 8.. but they gave me more and more food for breakfast, and then there had to be tea, so we started a bit later than that 😀 We started with Rubpan Mura, which was great: we were alone! And after a while there were just 2 people collecting and trash and 3 other visitors!

Next stop was Itakhola Mura which was more crowded and I was told it’s the place to go on a date 🙂 There was drinking water available (yay!) and then the next stop was BARD (Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development).. On the way, I tried to withdraw money at an ATM but it didn’t accept 100000 Taka.. nor 60000… so, when I saw there’s a bank inside BARD, I asked to change money. The bank was kind of closed, but the manager was there.. She googled (?) exchange rates, told me a shitty one, and then made a phone call.. I was then told the real exchange rate (like at the airport) and was told someone would come in 20 minutes or so.. Until then, we walked around. When we came back, I got my money – in very small and very very ugly banknotes. Some had holes in them, which nobody seemed to care about, and I was actually able to use them with no problem later. Then the manager told someone to get us tea.. so we had tea. She showed some photos of her.. brother (?) who travelled in Europe.. She said, the maximum withdrawal amount at an ATM may be 20000 .. well.. no ATMs for me, then 😉 And I got to use the ‘washroom’ (which may have been the nicest I saw in the country). There was some former students’ reunion happening and there were lots of (mostly) men wearing all the same kind of scarf and a bag.. we passed some who were taking photos on a bridge, and suddenly I had to be in their photos, too 😛 One works for the Airforce, another for customs,.. I guess that could be useful connections 😀

Our next stop was the Thai temple, Nobo Shalban Bihar, then Shalban Bihar – which was very crowded, so many more selfies,… and then Mainamati museum.

Adnan wanted to find (free) brochures to give to future couchsurfers, so they turned on the light in the tiny ticket office and let us see the books they sell.. From somewhere in the back, he pulled out a stack of postcards. I started choosing which ones I’d like, when I was told I can only buy the whole pack of 30. To find out the price someone had to go somewhere to ask.. When he came back, he said it’s 60 taka 🙂 So I very unexpectedly got my postcards! Perfect! Then.. we went to see the university grounds, then to the centre (?), where Adnan had some naan and chicken in a boring, nice-ish looking restaurant.. I was still happy without food after all I had eaten in the last two days! Just around the corner was a lake where everyone was walking along/hanging out/fishing. By that time I wasn’t sure anymore if we’d ever go home, so when we walked past a muri stall in the street, I got some ‘snack’ after all 🙂

And the final stop was Matri Bhandar for roshmalai! They opened one box in the shop for me to try.. we got to take a photo in there 😀 we bought two packs to take home, and finally we actually went home!

The next day was more relaxed, I ended up going with Adnan and Salma, his wife, to the village kindergarten for her job interview.. that was a very fast process, in which he carried and handed over her documents.. and it was also mostly him talking to the lady there. On the way back home, we passed ( or rather walked through the courtyard of) a house where they were slaughtering and taking apart goats.. I was told to sit down.. and didn’t dare to take a photo of those poor (cut off) goat heads staring at me 😀 One corner further, we had to say hi again, and then the man of the house (?) followed us around the corner, too, and motioned to me to come inside. So I did.. Salma followed,.. The boy who was lying on the bed playing on his phone was told to get out.. And I was told to sit down. I chose the couch over the bed 😉 Then a table was brought, and bread and bananas.. and the whole family joined and wanted selfies 🙂 Back at home, I said I really need to wash my clothes.. and Sayma, his sister, told me we’ll do that in the pond. ‘We’ meant she.. as I am not allowed to do anything.. Hanging up the washed clothes (which she did let me help with!), a cousin saw me, and told her what happened that they let the guest work,.. oh oh 😉

In the afternoon, when Adnan was back from Comilla, we walked through some rice fields and sat down to watch the sunset.. some girls came to shake my hand, and then even gave me some freshly picked flowers 😉 And on the way back home, another lady, some relative, saw us, and we got invited for tea, cookies and selfies haha

On the flight from Rome to Dhaka, I saw a ‘foreigner’ at check-in.. later, at the boarding gate, there were 5 more of them.. In Dhaka, they were all waiting at the connecting gate to Kathmandu 😉 Airport personnel seeing me walk through the airport asked me ‘Kathmandu?’.

The visa on arrival was easy, down the stairs, on the right is the counter. Just next to it is the bank where you pay the VOA fee of 51 USD. I had my 2-week trip planned out, but they were happy with the booking com printout of the first hotel reservation and the return flight ticket. As I had read before, I was then told not to queue for immigration but to just walk through.. On the way out, you can’t avoid passing by the mobile company stalls and I bought a grameenphone simcard. Their sign displayed large data packets, but the guy was happy enough to look for a smaller one for me and then even put the simcard into my phone before I went to the bank and changed money to pay him afterwards.

Outside the airport, Bangladesh started: it was complete chaos! I just sat next to the airport wall, watching it and waiting for Rossi who was going to pick me up by motorbike 🙂 We then drove towards his home and stopped on the way for tea. We were sitting in the street, drinking our tea, and nobody cared about me, even when he left me alone for a while! A perfect, relaxed first day in the country! Then some guy stopped and started talking to us.. offering us another tea.. and when he learnt my age, he said it’s the same as his mum’s.. so, now I have a son there 😉 At home, I met Rossi’s mum (after he moved out, she moved in with him again,… well…), we first had a snack of Muri, and later my first real Bangladeshi meal!

The next day we spent driving on the motorbike around the city, we visited Geneva camp, found a handicrafts market at university, had Biryani (with hands! yay!) and Borhani, a weird spicy yoghurt drink, at Hanif Biryani.. we visited the Armenian church, and went to Sandarghat to find out departure times of the launch to Barisal: 9pm! Next to it, there are also boats on which you can book a ‘room’ for around 1 EUR/night 😉 There is a ‘bathroom’ and a bucket to fetch water – from the river 😉

We wanted to go to Sonargaon the day after, but his friend told him to come to a church service where she would be singing, and so we went.. The service was Nigerian or so and there were so few people that we actually had to participate.. Eventually we were officially welcomed, told to sit in the front, and fill out a form: among else, it asked what we wanted them to pray for, for us,… and when they could come to visit us at home to talk about their church.. I kind of hope they won’t make it to Madrid,.. And then, the highlight, we got Nigerian food! A really spicy, smokey rice with chicken dish. I guess that made it worth to wait through the service 😉

Then Rossi took his motorbike and Catherine and I took a CNG to meet up with him at *the* tourist souvenir shop of the city.. and it was full of foreigners! some things were cheap.. some things felt quite expensive.. but it was an interesting place with some really nice stuff. We had falooda together, then Catherine left, and we went to the train station to catch the next train and get on the roof 😉 First, we went on the front of the locomotive when they were changing it from the back to the front.. then, inside the train for one station and then finally on top 🙂 It was getting dark by then.. but before we wanted to get down again, someone shone a light up.. and Police/the train personnel told us to come down 😀 They took us into their compartment of the train and we got a lecture on how dangerous it is to be up there.. unfortunately I understood nothing as it was in Bangla 😉 But I had to confirm that, yes, I actually went to Bangladesh ‘just’ because I wanted to do this! In whatever city we ended up in, we had some more tea, saw some government building Rossi had wanted to see.. and got on a random ship to see the river from above. Dinner in a little restaurant back in Dhaka was around 2 EUR for the two of us.

And then, finally, we made that day trip to Sonargaon. Going on the highway I had a lot of time to think about how safe – or not – my funny plastic-bowl helmet might be.. and that I was wearing a longsleeve tshirt and shouldn’t end up sliding over the road.. We had a tea before entering the site, and I got another new instagram friend,… and then took many many selfies inside Panam city. After lunch – fish! – we went to a modern mosque nearby, in an industrial complex, accompanied by their security, and then took more selfies.. the last stop was a little island and we got there by boat,..

Tomorrow, I’ll meet Adnan and we’ll go to his village in Comilla by bus..

The direct flight from Rome to Dhaka is on Sunday evening, so it’s the perfect occasion to spend the weekend in Rome!

The one thing our hotel didn’t have was coffee that tastes like coffee 😉 So we stopped at the little coffee stall down the hill before starting our drive towards Essaouira. We took a smallish road through the hills instead of going back to Marrakesh and taking the highway from there.. On the way, we saw a guy hitchhiking but we were about to stop at a gas station.. when we continued, he was gone. But we found him again, a bit further along our route. And we took him. He spoke some arabic, no english, no french 😉 and he said he wants to marry and go to europe.. I didn’t give him my facebook data and found him quite annoying after a while 😛

In Essaouira, we met Amine in front of his house. He showed us our room, then we went to the city center together – driving haha. It would be around 20 minutes walking, maybe. We had a snack, that folded bread thingie.. walked around.. met his friend.. and finally went back home 😉 The next day, he had to work and we spent it walking around, sightseeing some more. We had lunch – grilled fish – at the market, met his friend again, by chance, so had tea with him. And by then I had decided I really need to go to the beach, so we booked a hostel for the next night and told him. We wanted to meet for lunch, couscous, the next day, but he had to work, but we did meet for tea in the afternoon. After cereal from the yoghurt guy in the street, we left and went towards our hostel in complete nowhere, near Sidi Kaouki. In the end, the road was terrible, and we weren’t too sure where our hostel should be. Everything was dark. So we called. And were told that they’re full and cancelled our booking this morning! He suggested that we could stay somewhere nearby.. and a guy showed up and told us he’s here to help us. He was staying at the camping site next door and they should have a free room, but they didn’t. Marion wanted to sleep in the car.. I absolutely refused that 😛 In the end, she got the car.. and I got a palette with carpets/blankets in the guys garden.. basically just outside. We had tea together, I shared some of my baklava (or whatever it’s called) and it was actually kind of cool there!

We also booked another hostel, in Sidi Kaouki itself, for the next night. When we arrived there in the morning, there was nobody and the door was closed.. so we went to the beach and tried again later.. and it was open by then! yea!

In the evening, we went to get fuel to not have to do it the last day on the way to the airport.. Marion wanted to withdraw money and another girl from the hostel needed cash, too, so we took her. The supermarket ATM didn’t work and so we ended up back in Essaouira. In Sidi Kaouki, I printed my boarding pass in some other hostel (ryanair in Morocco requires that, oh well…). Internet said there is a waterfall somewhere nearby, so we went to the location google maps mentioned and started walking.. the desert we walked through was fun, a tiny old man who was a bit too happy to hug us wasn’t.. and the waterfall was quite boring. It’s too dry at the moment. On the way back, we saw the famous tree with goats on it.. and stayed at the beach for a while. The man selling tea tried, again, to charge us 2 EUR.. and I got him down to 1 😉 Marion is planning to stay for a few more days – and then she may pay however much she wants 😉 We had olives, fresh peas and bread for lunch.. and then left towards the airport. It was tiny and about 15 minutes by car from where we stayed. Nice.

From Marrakesh, we drove south and passed some funny artistic park – Anima – by Andre Heller. It was expensive, we went anyways.. 😛

The next stop was the river in the valley.. we probably took the first exit, they had a good guy who just waved us down that hill and to that restaurant. We has a big Tajine at obvious tourist prices, but Moroccan people were tourists, too, there, so whatever.. After the food, we walked a bit – without guide haha.. and it was easy but also boring enough. We climbed up and down some rocks, and finally went back to the car.

On the way towards Imlil, we stopped in some roadside tourist / souvenir shops, looking at pottery stuff and carpets, then had a coffee somewhere and finally got to the apple town! Unfortunately, no apples were sold anymore in the street. Not sure if that’s because of the season or the time of the day. We followed google maps, and it brought us exactly to our hotel – or rather the main square of the village that is a ‘big’ empty space / parking for about 4 cars. We got a spot, then took our stuff and walked up the stairs 🙂

We were welcomed with tea, and asked when we would like dinner.. it was still sunny outside but got cold very soon when the sun didn’t reach the village anymore. Inside, everything was covered in multiple carpets, and there was a wood oven. Our (tiny! haha!) room was downstairs and I had to bend down a few times on the way to not hit my head 🙂 Each floor has it’s own balcony.. and we met other people staying there. The guy didn’t really trust our shoe-choice for hiking, but recommended maps.me to find routes.

The next morning, after breakfast, we started our big hike – from our village uphill and then on to Imlil. The way up was easy, but continuing along the edge of the hill was sometimes rather scary – we could see the road quite a distance below us. And there was nothing to hold on to.

In Imlil we had some shitty food, better tea 🙂 went to see the waterfalls (slightly underwhelming.. we skipped the second one). The whole village is offering guided hikes and the equipment needed for those. Then we walked back home along the main road. There was close to no traffic!

After arriving at the train station, I went to the bus stop for the airport bus, planning to take the city bus that would stop outside the airport vs the expensive 3 EUR special airport bus. I managed to miss the first one, the second one just drove past because it was full, and then Marion had already arrived but was still queueing for passport control. So it got late! I checked InDrive and tried a bit less than the recommended price – to which at least one guy replied with a much higher price.. I decided to go on waiting 😉 And then remembered that the app also offers motorbike rides! For cheaper than the airport bus.. soooo I went to the airport on the back of a scooter, without helmet 😀 ..and then still had to wait for an hour or so until Marion actually got out.

We took a car to the city center (we had to walk out of the airport for that, because he refused to drive into the airport because of the taxis,..), walked to the hostel, and then had dinner in the square. The vegetable Tajine was surprisingly cheap… but then also surprisingly tiny 😉 Later, we found my senegalese, jewelry selling friend with the flat dreadlocks in the one main street, and that was it.

We had breakfast on our rooftop terrasse, then walked around in the medina, had coffee in a random little (local – so men only!) place, saw the leather working area (and had to pay for it ;( ), walked around more, and looked at – and for – ashtrays and carpets. Then we saw a man carrying a tajine around.. and shortly after found the little restaurant he had come from.. so we ate there – with only men except us.. and then had a break back at the hostel.. While Marion stayed there, I went to buy Raieb, but the people from may weren’t there ;( And I found a carpet shop that looked like wholesale and not very tourist oriented 😉

We had dinner just next to Jmaa el Fnaa in a place we had seen earlier, saw Ousseynou – not selling t-shirts anymore, but holding a menu trying to get people into a restaurant, changed some money (the Al Barid ATM didn’t work), bought a carpet, and then had tea at the corner of the square….

Monday morning, we packed, ordered a car through InDrive (which kind of refused to actually pick us up at our location, because of the taxis there) and then picked up our car for the week.

We had planned in June already to go to Morocco together, and booked our flights. I wanted to use the public holiday and Marion was going to arrive in Marrakech on Saturday evening. Because flights were cheapest/the timing was best, I flew to Rabat and spent two days there.

I had nothing special to do there, so decided to try couchsurfing there.. I stayed with a Senegalese guy who seemed quite disappointed when I didn’t fall in love with him at first sight 😀 I learnt that InDrive is illegal there, but everyone still uses it, and only taxi drivers actually mind. So it’s hard to get a car come to the airport for pickup, or a very touristy place that’s full of taxis. Rabat was very calm and peaceful, especially comparing it to Marrakech. When I considered buying shoes, and asked about the price and the quality, a shop owner took me to the (closed for prayer!) shop next to his and told me those shoes are better.. then showed me his own again and how bad they are.. 🙂

We went to some kind of shopping mall where my CS host’s friend had a shop – actually two.. got some chili and special rice to cook, and then had Senegalese beignets and coffee in some park. At every bench there, different people sold different stuff.. our beignets were in one corner, the coffee in another, and then there were also shoes and phones available.

The next day, I took the bus to the centre, then walked around the touristy fake medina area, saw the sea from above, and Sale on the other side of the river. Then I walked through the small streets of the ‘medina’, had pomegranate juice, looked at more shoes, then got a fish sandwich from a stall where lots of people were queueing.

The train ride to Marrakech was funny, my seat was in a compartment for 8 people, and a woman sat on my seat.. she pointed at some other seat which is actually hers, but a man was sitting there. The compartment was almost full.. and from then on, at every station, someone would enter with a seat in there, find it occupied, and everyone would start to state their original seat.. until none was left, and finally they figured out that that one man who had just ignored all discussions was, in fact, sitting in the wrong compartment.. A man told me in French (and wouldn’t react to any of my tries speaking Arabic!) that it’s great that German people read so much.. Moroccan people don’t.. the woman next to me joined the conversation.. And his brother writes books – he showed me videos of his brother,… then another guy got in, who worked in Jmaa el Fnaa a few years ago and told me where to buy shoes and where to find cheap tajine there 😉 One woman was on the way to the airport to fly to Zaragoza, was wearing a sweater and coat, while I was dying in just a t-shirt, she hated wearing shoes on the train (yes, she did take off her boots), was wondering how to get to the airport from the train station, had never heard of InDrive, and was wondering if her backpack was too big.. Another woman who had been on the train since the beginning was going on a women-only trip for a few days and showed me photos of some previous such trips she had taken.. And I got a link for an Instagram restaurant-review page for Marrakech from her 😉

I had offered to host Lobna from Algeria.. And while looking at stuff to do, I found a Tomatina event on couchsurfing.. I told her about it.. she said, she absolutely wants to go,.. and because it seemed rather hard to get there on time by train, I booked a bus tour.

So we took the bus at about 5:30 from Madrid,.. We got a totally new bus (funny choice, going to SUCH an event!), they showed us a very loud video about the history of Tomatina, first in English and then again in Spanish.. Then our tour guide started walking through the bus, handing out tshirts, and selling locker, food and drink vouchers to everybody.. Then she just kept talking to random people, still very loudly.. And then we stopped at a restaurant for half an hour.. It reminded me why I don’t like such tours 🙂

Obviously, we arrived much later than I had expected.. The bus parked and we walked to our ‘fun zone’, put our belongings into the lockers (a fenced off area with empty, open plastic boxes where only the people working had access) and then walked down to the center on our own – we didn’t find our dear guide anymore 🙂

We quite accidentally ended up right in the middle, and realized only when we saw the famous pole with the ham 🙂 We had a bar right next to us.. I managed to get a drink.. and then the whole thing started! We were perfectly prepared with a waterproof bag for the phone, old clothes, a shower cap and diving goggles 🙂 And we were standing at the side of the road, so we were only getting pushed into one direction.

The tomato fight took exactly an hour – it passed really fast 🙂 Then we got to take some photos sitting in there.. and then people already started to clean their city again!

We took a shower, walked back up to the fun zone, changed, got some paella (that was now a lot more expensive than in the morning) and then went back to the bus 😉

Because it’s so close and easy to go to.. and because it’s too hot in Madrid anyways, I got a train ticket to Valencia. The fast train takes around 2 hours! So I got to go to the beach again.

When I arrived at the hostel, I got a key card for the room.. Upon asking if I can choose any bed I want in that dorm, the guy looked at me strange.. I had to ask again.. and then he said I got a private room! With my own bathroom! haha Only, the AC was set to ‘freezer’ and if you wanted it to change, you had to tell reception. By whatsapp. So I told them I want it less cold.. and again.. Then they actually turned the cold storm almost off and all was good.

The bus to Porto was a nice 1-night ride, hostels there seem to have much better reviews and are much cheaper than Valencia. So I went to Porto for a long weekend.

My bus arrived early in the morning, earlier than it should, even. And because the tram wasn’t running yet, I walked to the hostel. I had a code to get in, had a break there, left my bag, asked google for breakfast places that open early, and walked about 10 minutes to the center. I found a cafe, the door was unlocked, and I opened it – just to be told it’s not open yet.. Portugal is in a different time zone than Spain! So I walked around the empty city a bit more.. then finally got my Pastel de Nata for breakfast, charged my phone, and went to join the free walking tour.

When I got back to the hostel and tried to open the dorm room with my actual key… the key didn’t work haha. Luckily a couple with a working key just came back, and they let me in. As there is no real reception, I wrote to the hostel people on whatsapp and after telling me a few times that I’m just too stupid to use the key… someone showed up to give me a different key. And finally believed me that there really is a problem with the key.

People speak English here! Everyone! 😉 And the city is incredibly full of tourists! It feels so much more crowded than Madrid, or Lucerne!

I did a Port Wine tour as Conny told me.. got to unexpectedly swim in the river 😉 had Francesinha, Bacalhao and, because I walked past a Brazilian restaurant, also finally ate Fejoada. And a Brigadeiro. And then I found a cup of Acai in the supermarket! 🙂

I joined a tile painting workshop. That ended up being surprisingly easy and at the same time complicated 😉 I may need to practise a bit more..

There were quite a few craft beer places, and a market at every corner. Most of them selling exactly the same stuff. And a lot of people with dreadlocks! Interesting 😉

I bought my entry ticket, then a train ticket to Sarinena. And because I volunteered to help, I got to enter early and they picked me up from the train station. On the train, I met two other guys obviously heading there.. As we were in the official car, we got to take the shortcut to the site. The guy who had driven brought me to the Olive Odyssey.. They were still setting up tents, I joined and then everyone went to sleep.

Then we built our camp, I volunteered a bit, painted toilet signs, helped to check in people at the entrance, helped cooking, and decorated our tent. There were lots of more or less crazy ‘workshops’, during the day it was very hot, and at night I was happy to have two sleeping bags 😉

And then it was already time to take the camp apart again. And we left on sunday evening, arriving back in Madrid at maybe 3am.

Bea said we could go to Sevilla together.. Then she had a car problem, so she went back earlier to fix it. And I went with a guy through blablacar. He works for the police, and nicely drove more than the allowed speed all the time 🙂 So we did arrive at an ok time.

The next day, I had said I want to go to the beach. We had breakfast at home, then packed our stuff and went to the sea 🙂 It was a beautiful beach, it was hot, but not too hot. We swam and then went to a little restaurant there for lunch and drinks.

On Sunday we walked around Sevilla, nicely always in the shade if at all possible.. met a weird friend of theirs 😀

and then tried to pick up our rental car from the airport. And that took over an hour – some people were in front of us, and their card payment machine didn’t work,.. In the end, we were back in Madrid at 2 am or so..

I booked my ticket to the Alhambra months in advance, a bus right after that, and finally the time came 🙂

Bea recommended some places to see and bars with good tapas, and then I tried a few on my own. I saw the city, and Alhambra, from above from a few viewpoints, walked around in the hills, following google maps directions to the Sacromonte Cave museum passing by the real, still inhabited caves in the hill, and had some beers to get those tapas.

For the Alhambra, I chose a timeslot quite early in the morning hoping it might still be rather empty.. and it was – in the beginning at least. Inside, due to their amazing way of building, it was really cold!

I took the bus from the city center, going kind of near that terrible, new, far-away-from-the-center bus and taxi station.. and then walked the last km or so.. I found a taxi, got the last seat, and off we went. It wasn’t terribly comfortable, but direct and therefore kind of fast.

Upon arrival, I bought a bus ticket to go back. On the bus that doesn’t go to this terminal, but has it’s own station near the train station. Because I wanted to be sure that I’d get back.

I sat down in a square and had breakfast, then found the old town and walked around a bit before sitting down at a cafe and having coffee. Kids in the square were just getting ready, preparing the paint to colour the houses blue!

Then I walked around some more.. and found the main street with all the Moroccan (!) tourists! Being weekend, it was very crowded. But, vendors left me completely in peace, only focusing on the Moroccans. Nice!

I walked up the hill to the mosque to see the town from above.. then met a couchsurfer, and we had some fresh fruit.

Dinner was local cheese from a little shop, bread from a woman in front of the market, and mulberries – because the bread lady wanted to sell me those, too 🙂

And then I already had to take my bus back. It went through Tetouan, also stopping there.. Next time, I guess, I’d also take the taxi back as it was just so much faster! I was told, in summer you can definitely still find a taxi when it’s dark. Worst case, you need to go to Tetouan and change there.

Towards the end of the week, weather was getting better in the north, so I decided to hangout there for a bit. And go to casa barata 🙂

I found Aicha in exactly the same place as last time and talked to her a bit..

And I decided that I’ll go to Chefchaouen on a day trip! A couchsurfing guy wanted to join and we decided to go by shared taxi. He didn’t come in the end, but so I had my plan.

Beyond this, I spent quite some time sitting on the hostel roof top..