A $5 Night

After spending some time in Rabat, I decided to go on to Marrakesh with some friends. My friends already had a place to stay in Marrakesh, but as the typical last second student traveler I of course did not. As far as I was concerned booking ahead for places in Morocco was not advantageous, as many places did not have websites and those that did were normally more expensive. So of course I figured the best plan for this trip was just to show up and find places once I got into town!

Arriving in the chaotic environment of the main square in Marrakesh (it was crazy with performers, street vendors, and street restaurants)

That strategy worked fine at first, but fell apart (or perhaps worked splendidly) in Marrakesh. After an evening train and some delays we arrived in the old medena of Marrakesh at around 11:00 pm. So I confidently strolled down the streets and alleys in order to find a place, but I was met at each reception by a full sign. As I found more full hotels/hostels, ran into random Moroccans who claimed they could find me a place (really just wanted my money for taking me to already full hotels), and the hour started to creep into the early morning it had appeared that I had finally struck out and was in a dire situation. But that is exactly when fate intervened a hotel offered to allow me to stay on the roof terrace for just $5 (WHAT A BARGAIN!). I checked it out and it looked good enough for me so I agreed! They provided me with a mattress but were out of blankets (there were a bunch of other people already up on the terrace sleeping). So I went into the town and bought a cheap blanket for the night. After a quick dinner with my friends I went back to my hotel and slept the night away on the roof!

Outside my home for the night: Afriquia Hotel

Overall it I did not think it a bad experience (although I did not sign up for another night on the roof). It was a little cold but not really all that bad. I will admit that the 4:45 am call to prayer was a bit of a rude awakening....but then again I was just getting a taste of the local culture! When I finally got up in the morning around 7:45 am I looked around at the other hotel terraces around me and quickly noticed that many other hotels allowed people to also sleep on the roof! So I am glad I did not miss out on such a important Moroccan experience! Many other students from SAIS arrived in the following days also later in the evening and ran into similar housing problems (ie nowhere to stay), while they all were offered the chance to stay on the roof as of yet I am yet to meet anyone else who did so! Most of them continued to look much longer and ended up paying quite a bit of money for their rooms (way more than $5)!

Sleeping quarters on the terrace

My home away from home!

View from the terrace

As a final note, I would like to say that this officially sets a new personal record for me for the least amount of money spent for a night while traveling at $5 (excluding home-stays). Previous record was at $20 in Spain. As most of my previous travels had been in Europe this is not too surprising. Should I ever break my new record, I am sure it will be quite the experience and provide me with another great topic to blog about!