The Unplanned Detour
After wrapping up the summer semester at my university and taking a short break from work, I booked a three-week trip to Egypt to finally see my family. Since there are no direct flights from Montreal to Cairo, my journey included a layover in Casablanca. The connection time was only an hour and a half, not a lot, but at the time I thought, "Eh, small airport, I'll be fine."
As the title of this post gives away, things didn't go exactly as planned.
My first flight left around one hour late, and once I landed in Morocco the passport officer casually informed me that my connecting flight had already taken off. He told me the next one was the exact same time tomorrow. On the bright side, the airline covered the hotel and transportation.
Hotel Experience
By the time I got there, it was 3 a.m. I spotted another stranded passenger from my flight, and we quickly decided to team up. The hotel was two-star at max and its name was "Relax". Not exactly a reassuring name, but honestly, I didn't care, all I wanted was a bed. We then both checked in and headed to our rooms.
I called my mom to inform her that I missed my flight, then tried to shower. That's when I discovered that the bathroom had one and only one tiny hand towel. I tried calling room service for a bigger towel, but no one ever picked up. By this point, I was beyond exhausted, and I wasn't going to drag myself down to reception at 3 a.m. So, I just went ahead with my shower and… improvised with the tiny towel.
Once I was done it was time to put on some clothes. My luggage was still with the airline, and I only had my carry-on bag: one T-shirt, two pairs of pants, two socks, and no backup underwear. There was no way I was putting on the same pair I'd been in for 24+ hours. So, I improvised again and hand-washed it with hotel hand soap.
Pro tip: Do not overdo the soap. I spent over 20 minutes trying to rinse it all out.
I then hung it out to dry and went to bed without underwear.
After three hours of sleep, I dragged myself to breakfast because I was starving. I got served a very humble meal consisting of two slices of cheese, two olives, one boiled egg, and bread, a lot of bread.
Once done, I went ahead and bought an adapter to charge my dying phone (and some souvenirs I didn't need) from the hotel boutique. I thought Moroccan dirhams were close in value to Egyptian pounds, so I swiped my card without thinking. I ended up paying 360 dirhams, about $60 CAD.
Painful lesson learned: Don't assume the price of a currency you don't know.
Exploring Casablanca
Around noon, my fellow stranded passenger texted me to explore the city. First, I checked my underwear situation: 70% dry. Good enough.
I went down to meet him in the hotel's reception and we bargained with the hotel taxi driver for a day tour, and he became our unofficial guide.
First stop: Local shops.
Of course, the only shirt I had packed in my carry-on was coincidentally Egypt's Al Ahly national team. Turns out that it's pretty recognizable in Morocco, so we had trouble blending in as locals. Thankfully though, the taxi driver did the bargaining for us and made sure we didn't get "foreigner prices".
Second stop: Lamb tagine.
Next, he took us to a restaurant he'd been going to for 30 years. We ordered a lamb's shoulder, slow-cooked underground using natural heat from the sand (at least, that's how I understood it). Whatever the method was, it was pretty good.
Third stop: The Corniche.
We then went to the Corniche, north of the city, and chilled by the beach, trying to digest the lamb tagine that we devoured and rethinking life as a whole.
Final stop: Morocco Mall.
We wrapped up the tour at the Morocco Mall, the largest mall in Africa, which had a whole aquarium with exotic fish and sharks in it. Before heading back, I finally bought a new pair of underwear at a Walmart-style store. Easily the most valuable purchase of the trip.
The Silver Lining
By the end of the day, I had to tip off the taxi driver a generous tip for the pleasant experience he gave us. What began as a frustrating delay ended up being a very memorable one.
Sometimes the unplanned detours are the best part of the journey.
