Morocco ft: Greg

Joined this week by Greg to discuss his time in Morocco! Including:

• Markets, hostels and snake charmers in Marrakech
• Climbing the highest peak in northern Africa
• Camels and ATV's in the desert
• Experiencing the worst hostel in Fes
• Visiting Smurftown
• & much more!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
3 jet setting through the neon lights from Tokyo to Rios glow
riding high, the beef drops low.Number one everywhere he goes

(00:33):
late night with stories bold gold plated entails untold
microphone is my sword podcast world you can't ignore.
Welcome to the Up in the Clouds podcast featuring your host
Adrian Hustling. But yeah, we get this thing

(00:55):
started and what I always like to do is a nice little intro for
all my guests. So bear with me cause I am
reading and it's gonna sound like I'm reading.
But next on the pod. I met this absolute beauty down
in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. I heard there was another
Canadian roaming around the little surf town and wondered,
is he cool? Well, it turns out this fella is

(01:16):
a fellow firefighter, friends with one of the guys I went to
fire college with, and an absolute stud.
We had many adventures together including an unreal day driving
found on quads although I was riding on the back of his the
smooth talking, always positive muscle giraffe grazing.
What's up man? How's it going?

(01:38):
Pretty good you. Like great, what an intro that
was. Jesus, I couldn't help.
I meant I just stay quiet there.Was gonna laugh.
You ever been called the muscle giraffe before?
Absolutely not, but I kind of like it.
Ah there you go, I got a friend back in Calgary.
He's called the muscle hamster cause he's jacked but he's short
of shit. Ah, poor guy.

(01:59):
Poor guy. Yeah, yeah.
So we got, we got him and now wegot the giraffe.
But yeah, we'll come on buddy. It's good to see you.
It's been a while. Also senior was a few months ago
in 4th St. and it feels like a year ago.
Yeah, yeah, man, it was fucking yeah February.
So it's lots has happened since then.
You've been to a bunch of different countries.
I've been to at one other country, but you know, back to

(02:21):
work, the work life here. Yeah, you would you you wouldn't
know what that is, but anymore but.
What do you mean? Travel is work, man.
It's it's. Ah, of course, This guy's on the
road. This guy's on the road for the
next three to five years. That going to be plugging away,
you know, in the station. Oh, it's gonna be crazy.

(02:42):
No, it's a good life, buddy. It's a good life, Walt.
I always start each interview off with a little.
What do you call it? Wow, I'm dropping the ball here.
Sequence segment, Segment calledSpeed round questions.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
I've heard it once or twice. Yeah, yeah, I'm ready to answer
these fast. OK, alright.
He's audit. He's audit.

(03:02):
I threw a couple good ones in here though, buddy.
So you ready? Yeah, yeah.
What happens if I don't answer him fast though?
I don't know how fast these are gonna go.
Well, we'll just have to stop the interview.
OK, we'll end it right now. All right, here we go.
Happy to be home or wish you were traveling?
Ah, happy to be home I would say.
OK, Canadian girl or seniorita? OHS Senorita.

(03:27):
Early morning workout or late night sweat?
Late night sweat not working outin the morning.
OK, leg day or push day? Push for sure.
Surfing pro or newbie beginner? Definitely newbie beginner.
Fluent in Spanish, are fluent inSpanglish.
That would be Spanglish man. Of course, salsa nights or

(03:51):
discotheque. Oh, Santa.
Nice structure fire or medical call?
Oh, structure fire, we don't need medical spin.
No beach or mountains. Ohhhhh ohhhhhh got to beat.
This one fucks everyone up. Costa Rica or Morocco?

(04:20):
I can't. OHS man, there's just so
different. I can't.
I'm not answering that one. Can't answer it.
You have to. Costa Rica.
Alright, there you go. Yeah, just cause that's where we
met, right? That's that's the only reason.
That's what I like to hear. That's what I like to hear.

(04:40):
Well, the reason we brought you on today.
Now obviously we met in Costa Rica, but I wanted to talk to
you about your trip to Morocco, reason being you just recently
went and it's a place that I'm thinking about going if the
money lasts. So first question I have for you
is how did you even get to Morocco from Canada?
Yeah. So, well from Canada, it was

(05:02):
when we flew from Ottawa to France, because there's a direct
from Ottawa now. So I don't need to go to
Montreal or Toronto to fly out of Canada.
So we can fly right from Ottawa,right to France.
And then from France, I flew right into Marrakesh and that's
where I was staying for the first little bit of my, my tour
in Morocco. And like price wise is pretty

(05:26):
cheap, like round trip 1300 bucks Canadian.
So I mean, getting out of Canadato begin with is expensive, but
yeah, 1300 bucks round trip, nottoo bad.
So yeah. It's not bad for the other side
of the world. Like you could pay 1300 just to
go to Europe and you're able to go to Morocco, right?

(05:48):
So that's pretty good. Did you have a layover in France
or is just a? Yeah, it was a layover in France
for yeah, yeah. But yeah, the 1300 cheap like
when I went to Thailand, Thailand and back was his 2500.
OK I know I probably got ripped but whatever. 1300 half price go
to Africa and when you're there it's cheap cheap cheap anyway

(06:13):
so. OK, well, I was gonna ask you
about that, Barato, as we say inSpanish, but OK, you and
Marrakesh. So 2 questions.
First off, when you land touchdown, walk out of the
airplane, What is your initial impression?
And two, I know nothing about Morocco.
Is Marrakesh the capital city? Uh, not so it's not the capital,

(06:34):
but it's, it doesn't like a major city and it's kind of more
central, I would say, but more to the West.
Some people are listening. This guys literally using his
hands right now to figure out which ways used and which ways
last. Yeah.
You know, never eat shredded wheat.
That's what we learned in school, right?
Never eat shredded wheat. So yeah, it's a little bit more

(06:55):
West, but uh, yeah, it's a big city.
First impressions I got off thatplane, it was warm.
Nice, right? That's why I was going there.
I wanted to go to Africa becauseit's going to be hot.
And it was warm. And every single person in the
airport, all the workers, the cops, the border guys were like
the most friendly people. Really.

(07:17):
Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, It was crazy.
I didn't expect it. And they were super, super
friendly, so that was good. And then I had to charge up my
phone. My phone was dying on the plane.
And so I sat there charging my phone a little bit and then went
outside. So and then from there I needed
to get into the city and I thinkit was a 40 minute drive.

(07:40):
I want to say I could be wrong, I kind of forget, but uh, I was
trying to figure out how to get around because in these other
countries, right, you got apps, you got Uber in some countries.
In Thailand, there was, there was an app for the grab.
That's what we use in, in, in Asia there, But in Morocco there

(08:03):
is no app. And so I'm trying to figure out
how do I get around and there's a taxi stand right out front.
So I knew I was going to get ripped on a taxi, you know, but
I was just like, fuck it, I haveto get in and I want to get in
fast. So I just paid, you know, the

(08:24):
premium for the taxi just to getin there.
And uh, yeah, they, because I was right in side of this, a
neighborhood in Marrakesh that cars can't go in.
So they drop you on the outside of the neighborhood and then
you're on your own. They're just like go that way.
So I did I like on my GPS. I was like still like more than

(08:48):
a kilometer away. And then he's like, you're good.
And I was like, where the fuck do I go?
And then and then he just stickshis hand out waiting for a tip
and I'm like, OK, I'll guess we'll guess we're off to a great
start. So and then, yeah, sort of
booking her and went through allthese tiny alleyways to finally
make it to the hospital. But but yeah, that's the that

(09:10):
was basically the first impressions and but the overall
pretty good. You know, like we were driving,
there's lots of green, which I didn't expect Palm trees, um,
but yeah, people super friendly.OK so one how much did the cab
ride end up being and two you'rein a new country so how were you

(09:30):
even able to find your way? Cause you I'm guessing you don't
have a SIM card or any way to touse maps right?
Yeah, So I was using an esim, soI was stuck in the airport like
I wasn't. I was trying to get my esim to,
you know, get up and working before I left the airport.
So that took a little while and then I finally got it.
And so I don't know, after I gotdropped off, I guess he pointed

(09:55):
in the direction and I just started walking.
And I think I, I did have yeah, I did have my Google Maps up and
running. So I just followed that.
It was, um, yeah, it was good. But the hostels there, they're,
they're, it's just like a, a little tiny door that you would
never expect. There's like no, almost no
signage. You know, there's a sign on the

(10:17):
door, it says hostile whatever. And you're like, well, I guess
here I am, you know. So it, yeah, it was, it was
good. It was, it was easy.
It wasn't that bad. So you know, as long as you have
Google Maps up and running, you're good to go.
If not, just ask questions to the other people.
Someone would guide you in the right way.
Marrakesh is super touristy. Um, like there's uh yeah,

(10:42):
there's people speaking English everywhere.
You can kind of, you know, if you don't have your Google Maps
up and ready, you just there's people.
Which I'm super surprised at actually, I wouldn't have think
English would be common there, but it sounds like you'd be OK
if you just walked up to someoneand said hey I'm lost.
Yeah, like definitely another tourist, but a big language
there is French. I did not expect that.

(11:04):
You speak French, you can get through Morocco.
Perfect crazy Frenchy. Frenchy would be like our top
guy, you know? You would be loving it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we need, yeah.You gotta have a friendship with
you when you're going through there because we couldn't speak
to the to the locals. And every time we had a French

(11:27):
person with us, there's a guy from Paris that we met and he
was, he was our guy. He just, he got us into
restaurants when it was full. And yeah, it's Francis key man.
OK, but you're in Ottawa though.You're telling you don't speak
French? That's right man, I'm not not
learning that language. I don't blame you.

(11:48):
I don't blame you. Everyone I meet traveling, when
they hear I'm Canadian, they're like all you from the French
part, I'm like, hell no. They're like, do you speak
French? I'm like, Nah, no.
No, they're the ones that want to separate, right?
Yeah, exactly, Exactly. Yeah.
Jenna Parle Francais. OK, well, I love that.
All right, well, what hospital did you stay at and what was it
like? Ohk.
OK, big eyes. Big eyes.

(12:10):
Big eyes, because now we're right now I'm on it like so.
The hostel I stayed at, I forgetthe name of it but I'm gonna
bring it up while I talk. It was a beauty.
I forget that. No, I don't have the name of it,
but it had this, I think it was rated like 9.6 stars or
something on the hostile world. And if you see the pictures of

(12:32):
it, it's going to be like all white and then it has a massive
pool in the middle. And that's like the social part,
you know. So I was in a dorm, an 8 person
dorm the first night. So it was cheaper.
I I forget the prices of it? Honestly I forget but it wasn't
too expensive, maybe like 20 a night.

(12:55):
Yeah, 20 Canadian. 20 Canadian the night maybe.
Or third? Yeah, probably 20 I think.
And uh, you know, that eight person dorm was brutal.
I stayed in there one night and got out.
I was like immediately out of there.
I was like, get me into a four person because that would
brutes. OK, well what was brutal about

(13:16):
it? Like do they have AC at least or
what's the setup? Oh no, yeah, the AC was fine.
Like the what is the people in there?
They were terrible. We have, Speaking of frenzies,
we had, we had these guys from Montreal.
Yeah, Montreal. And there's a group of them.
They were younger. They were like, I don't know,
it's 2122. There's eight of them.

(13:38):
And the one guy in there, man, he snored so fucking loud.
I had ear plugs in and he was onthe other side of the room on
the top bunk, and I was on the bottom bunk on the other side.
And it sounded like this guy wasright beside me the whole night.
I don't know how the fuck he didit, but he was so loud.
And then we had two old ladies, they were in their 60s, on
either side of me and, uh, brutal.

(14:01):
They're like putting their foot up on my bed.
They're just disgusting. And then they come in, flick the
light on at 11:00 PM and they'relike, oh, I guess people are
sleeping. I'm like, yeah, we are, so turn
the light off. So I lasted one night with them
and then I had to get out. I paid more money obviously for

(14:22):
the four person, but I went there and it was way better.
Wow. That's the risk you take anytime
you stay in a hostel or, and especially if you're on a budget
like me. Like I, I think the biggest I've
stayed in was a fourteen person dorm.
Now, luckily in my case, the fourteen person dorm that I've
gotten, you have your own pod, right?
So you have that privacy. You got the curtain and with the

(14:43):
earplugs, usually you can drown anyone else.
Maybe not this French guy in particular, and Jimmy's gonna
have to come on at some point todefend his people.
But yeah, you never know what you're going to get, right?
You might get a room where not asingle person snores and it's
nice and quiet, which I've had, Or you might get, in your case,
complete shitshow. Yeah, it was terrible, but you
know, poor person. One met some great people and

(15:06):
made a hot that made that hostile.
Amazing. Yeah.
And so they had a they had a pool.
What about like social vibe? Like did they have activities at
night or was it more like Loki? I guess it was more low key all
like the social things. Like when we were in Costa Rica,
they had these events set up right for the nights.
Um, so it wasn't, we didn't haveanything like that.

(15:28):
The, I guess the social part of it was around the pool.
That's where everybody hung out and you just meet up and then go
out. There was no, you know, activity
host or anything like that, but it was is worth it.
Like you don't need it, you know, like Costa Rica, we were
going and we're like, well, let's go play beach volleyball,
let's go do this, let's go do this.

(15:48):
And we're trying to get everybody together in Marrakesh.
There's so many people, right? There's like insane amount of
people there. And what are you going to do?
Like you're in an alleyway. It's like, let's go meet up at
the market, you know, So yeah, no, you just hang out at the
pool, meet people there and thenhead in for, you know, head to

(16:09):
the market for dinner and stuff.So.
You're saying it's a tourist hotspot, which I actually did
not know. I had no idea that it was that
popular. And then my next question was
gonna be, what the heck did you do while you were Americash?
Yeah, so America's I I actually,I reached out obviously because
I was solo, right. So I keep doing all my trip
solo. I reached out on that Hospital

(16:29):
World app and I just said, hey, while I was still in Canada.
It's like I'm going to be landing at 10 AM tomorrow
morning if anyone wants to meet up.
And then a girl from the UK, shemessaged back and was like,
yeah, I'll meet up for lunch. And then it was kind of like
same situation as you know, whenwe met.
And then we spent the rest of the trip together.
So she was super cool. She's like half Pakistani and

(16:51):
then half UK, so crazy mix. But we, we spent the next two
weeks together basically. And so when we were there, we
were talking and my plan was to go to a three day desert tour.
I was going to hang on Americas,maybe do some activities off
TripAdvisor or something, and then head to the desert for
three days. And she's just like, well, I'm

(17:14):
going to go climb this mountain if you want to come.
And I'm like, when are you going?
And then she's like, and then she's like Saturday and I'm
like, that's what I'm supposed to go to the desert.
And she's like, well, just push it off a little bit and then
come to the mountain. It's a one night, one night
thing. You stay there overnight.
And then I'm like, oh man, I waslike, I'm never really hiked

(17:35):
much. And I literally brought shorts
and AT shirt to this place. Like I didn't bring any
equipment. And then I was like, what do I
do? And she's like, yeah, you could
rent it. I was like, Are you sure?
Because like, I fucking hope. I hope you were serious.
And she's like, yeah, yeah, it'sfine.
So uh yeah, it showed up. They picked us up and my God, we

(18:00):
were driving through the town. It was an hour and a half drive
and we were going to the Atlas Mountains and the the, the point
that we were going up to was called the tube.
Cool Tube, Cool point. Yeah.
It's the highest point. North North Africa, which I did
not know. Which I did not know.
Yeah, North Africa, like above the Sahara.

(18:21):
So it's 4167 meters. Damn dude that is steep man.
Pretty fucking high. And so I showed up, you know, I
got my jeans on and I got a T-shirt.
This is how I'm getting. Ready.
You wearing jeans? I show up in jeans and T-shirt
man that's all. I had a kid from Canada.
So you didn't run anything? Well, that's where I'm going.

(18:43):
So we're getting through this. We're going through the city and
we see all these shops. OK, We're driving through all
these shops. People are like, oh, they got
poles, they got backpacks, they got everything.
They're looking real hikers. And we drove right through it
all and just kept dry. And I'm like.
I'm like, oh man, I really hope.I really hope there's something
in store for me at the end of this.

(19:04):
And then we get to this little shack and they put us in this
room and there's like 10 of us and everyone has equipment,
poles, backpacks, hiking boots. Here I am in jeans and AT shirt
and I'm looking around like I'm fucked.
And I guess the two guys at the end looked at each other when I
walked in and they're like, there's this.

(19:26):
There's no fucking way this guy's in jeans and AT shirt
right now. So that was uh, yeah, that was
the start of it. And then, um, so this guy comes
out and he's like, yeah, you need to rent things.
I was like, yeah, literally everything.
I was like, whatever you got, you know, I need boots, I need
gloves to whatever. I don't know what I'm getting

(19:46):
into. Um, so yeah, thank God he gave
me at all. And then I didn't know how high
we were going, right. The first day I didn't know how
cold it was going to be, so I had my jeans on.
That's the only long pant I had.And then I figured out it's
going to be fairly warm till we get to base camp.
So I was like, oh, I'll just puton my gym shorts and then yeah.

(20:08):
And then and then and then they're like, you've had shorts
this whole time. And I'm like, yeah, I, yeah, I
did. Like, I don't know.
So I switched out into shorts and then we, yeah, we started to
climb. But well, I guess I kind of
skipped right over Marrakesh because that was like one day

(20:28):
in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's
right. Hey.
Yeah, I mean, there's a big story with that, that that hike,
but. OK, well, let's let's let's
finish the hike and then we'll go to Marrakesh.
We're off the rails, but it's fine because.
This. Yeah, we're gonna.
Be like, because I can already picture everyone just thinking
who's this crazy Canadian with this freaking jeans on and like

(20:49):
nothing else. But anyway, so you got the
shorts on and now you're hiking on the biggest camp, and I'm
guessing you're hiking the base camp so that the next morning
you can do a sunrise hike or sunrise.
Summit. Yeah, that's right.
Yeah. So the, yeah, the hike was, I
think, I think we hiked for about 7 hours the first day to
get up to base camp. And uh, yeah, we had a small

(21:10):
group, like 10 people and we hadone chocolate lab.
This old couple, Yeah, this older couple, they're like in
their, they're close to their 60s.
And they had their talk a lot. And I was like, there's no way
that these people are bringing their chocolate lab.
Yeah. And then they were.
And then they said they're like,oh, a base camp, you know, dog,
by the way, really, that's fine.And I was like, what things

(21:33):
happening? Like, what are you doing?
But I was like, sure, man, let'sdo it.
So we started hiking and yeah, they, the, the older couple was
way far back. Like we got up to the the point
for lunch and they were like, wecould see them at the bottom of
the mountain, not the bottom of the mountain like the little
stretch that we were at. So there were a good half an

(21:54):
hour behind anyway. And yeah, so we, we kept going
and kept going and we didn't need polls the first day.
Um, so yeah, six hours, 7 hours later, we're, we're coming into
basecamp and this place looks like a fortress map.
It looks like something the Lordof the Rings.
It's unreal. So you're walking in and it's,

(22:18):
it's all stone and it blends into the mountains, like the
mountains are surrounding it. And now we're in the clouds.
So this is at 3800 meters. So just hold on, You mean up in
the clouds? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's up in the clouds, man. So we got it.
That's what you gotta do your next podcast.
Yeah, that's right, buddy. That's right.
Yeah, So, yeah, we're up in the clouds and we see this fortress

(22:43):
and this massive. And, you know, I was thinking
base camp was like, there's onlyten of us.
Like I thought base camp is going to be small.
No, no, there's like 200 people in there from other groups, and
they're going up too. So we're walking in, It's this
massive fortress, and then two black horses, we're trotting in
front of it. Yeah, it looked wild.

(23:06):
And then we get in there and nowit's starting to get a little
colder and we're getting ready. We have dinner, we go outside
and then we see a meteor shower in the sky.
It was nuts. It was sick.
It was so sick. It was cold because I didn't
have any warm clothes. But like I said, you know,
everybody had their long sleeveson on here.

(23:27):
And then jeans. And I mean, I'm just my shorts
and AT shirt, so I was freezing and there's like goats
everywhere. Not goats, mules, because that's
how they get everything in and out.
It's just mules. Oh, yeah.
While you're. Yeah, yeah.
While we're walking there, there's like these kids riding
on the back of this mule off a Cliff, you know, they're just,

(23:49):
that's how they shuttle back andforth.
And it was like walking 16 kilometers, you know, bar, um,
so we get there, there's these mules everywhere.
We go in, have dinner, and then they're like, yeah, be up at
3:00 AM. God I hate those.

(24:09):
Yeah, they're like, be up at 3:00 AM, you have breakfast at
3:30, We'll start the hike at 4:00 so we can be up for sun
sunrise. And I was like, OK, so we get
into our rooms and it's bunk beds, but the bunk beds are the
the width of the room. And it's just a a thin mat
mattresses across the whole thing.
So everyone's sleeping beside each other.

(24:30):
So there's no, there's no separation and there's no
individual mattresses. It's just like a big foam pad
and you're all sleeping beside each other.
And there's groups from, you know, groups that started
yesterday, groups that are coming in today.
And there are, yeah. So many people every.
Fuck, I don't know. 8/16 probably around 25 to yeah,

(24:55):
probably around 25 people. Oh my God how bad did that smell
bro? No, it was brutes and I was on
the top bunk. I was on the top bunk.
We can't. We came in a little later, so
everybody else was up. They don't have their beds made
and everything. And, uh, but yeah, you try to do
anything in there, you're wakingeverybody up.

(25:15):
Everybody. Yeah.
And then the guys beside me thatwere in my group where they were
younger, they're fucking around a little bit.
So they had their headlamps on. And I'm talking white headlamps
at like midnight, like pulling in their heads.
Around Oh my God. People are pissed.
These guys are just dying laughing.
And yeah, Long story short, yeah, they said be up in three,

(25:38):
but be up at 3:00. I didn't sleep a fucking second.
I couldn't couldn't God couldn'tsleep a second and I now I had
to prepare for the next day, which they said it's going to be
cold like there's snow up there right there's.
Yeah. So, and I was freezing the night
before, so I had to borrow socksfrom a girl.

(25:58):
I had to borrow a thermal from another dude, a long sleeve from
another dude. And then what else?
Yeah, it is borrowing everything.
And then and then we started thehike, you know, at 3, at 4:00 AM
and we had a chocolate lab with us and keeping up.
But every single group passed us.
So we were the last ones to the summit.

(26:20):
And we miss sunrise, but. No, come on.
Are you serious? This sunrise by probably an hour
and a half, but whatever. Yeah, yeah.
But it was good. Like we made it up there.
We had a couple of people drop out.
It's not like there was a guy from Yeah I got from Germany

(26:40):
dropped out 100 meters below thetop.
Are you kidding me? You're that close.
And then there was another guy that dropped out, I think 500
meters of elevation before the top.
And then there was there was another guy that dropped out, I
think 300 or 200 meters before the top.
And and that guy, the guy was like, yeah, he, he told the guy

(27:03):
he was done. And the guy was like, no, you're
finishing. He's like he.
He didn't say that to him. He didn't say that to the guy
that was 100 meters away. Node Well, that guy was older,
like I was giving it to him likeI was older, like I I think he
was, he was in his 40s and he hecould feel the top.

(27:24):
And so no one was given a fault on that.
But the other guys, they were like, you know, they were 25 and
OK, these two guys, the two guys, they, they made this trip
specifically for that hike. So yeah, the guy was like, yeah,
you're, you're finishing. So he was very, very end, which
surprised me because like, he was pale at 3038 hundred.

(27:48):
He was pale and his walking steps were tiny.
I thought this guy was going to pass out.
And so he took a little break. The guy was like, no, you're
finishing. And we continued on and we were,
yeah, we were well ahead of them.
And then we looked behind that one point and he's jogging
towards us and he catches up with us and he finishes to the
top with us like he's I was like, how did you get this burst

(28:10):
of energy, you psychopath? Well, maybe add some coca leaves
or something because I know we were chewing on those doing the
Inca trail there the other day, but what the fuck?
Did you have any issues with thealtitude?
Like, did you feel altitude sickness or were you chilling?
Uh, no, I was uh yeah, I was good.
Yeah, those other guys felt thatfor sure.
But I luckily I did not. But key thing, bring dates with

(28:35):
you. Dates.
Yeah, man, you can get dates obviously anywhere in, in in
Marquette. But load up on dates, put them
in your bag, and then snack on those on the way up.
Killer, killer. Like for what reason though?
Like the help with altitude or just?
No, it's just like, yeah, energy.
It's just like a little bit of sugar, you know?

(28:56):
It's a yeah, it's, yeah, it's a necessity.
Like we had, we made it to the top and somebody gave us date at
the top. And I was like, why did we not
do this earlier, you know? OK.
So you actually like felt an impact right away then after
taking them? Well, I was just starving too.
I was just like, I should have brought.
I should have. Well, I didn't come prepared to
begin with, right? I, you know, genes.

(29:18):
I didn't bring snacks. They didn't bring anything.
You didn't have anything? Did you even have a backpack?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did. Yeah.
And the same backpacks that in the Costa Rica.
That tiny little bitch backpack.The foldable 1.
And and despite all that, you still summoned while others were
not able to make it, including acouple 25 year olds, which is

(29:38):
quite embarrassing. Yeah, they don't call me the
King of Morocco for nothing. Yeah, there we go.
There we go. I thought you were the king of
Costa Rica, Bud. I mean, I guess, Paul.
That could be the key to it could be the case too.
Well, that sounds like an insaneexperience.
Oh my God, I don't, I don't evenknow how you did it to be

(29:59):
honest. I'd have to be more prepared.
I mean, just being on the Inca trail alone, like I had to run a
backpack. We had poles, but in fairness, I
didn't didn't really use them. But having all the hiking
equipment, the proper boots, like clothes for the warmth too,
like that is that is insane. I gotta backtrack a little bit
because there's a lot of information there.
But you said the Black Lab made it so they didn't have an issue

(30:20):
with it being a basecamp. Chocolate and chocolate.
So no, no, we went to base camp and yeah, they couldn't bring it
into the room, but there was like a porch area that they can
tie the dog up out. And so they tie the dog up out
there and I believe one of the owners left out there with the

(30:40):
dog. What the fuck?
So yeah, yeah, the dog. The dog submitted to the top.
And then on the way down, it wasso cute, man, that the dog was
like running down the snow, sliding down the summit.
It was sick. That is like, OK, well, we got a
couple more minutes before we got started a new meeting
because I only have the Zoom free, so if Zoom wants to reach
out and sponsor me, that'd be fantastic.

(31:01):
But anyways, how is the sunrise and were the meals provided?
Like, I don't know what you ended up paying for this whole
experience, but. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So we missed the sunrise. Oh yeah?
Well, how was the view at the top I guess?
Sylvia Yeah, man, the view was great.

(31:22):
It was unreal. And then the meals, uh yeah, the
meals they were all provided, yeah.
It was kind of like a buffet style.
So when we came in to lunch, we start at this at this table,
they brought us out a bunch of stuff.
And then throughout the whole hike, you can, you know, there's

(31:45):
all these little stops where youcan buy Pringles and water and
snacks and shit on the way up aslittle breaks.
And then yeah. And then once we got up there
for dinner, they yeah, it's another buffet style thing.
And you and your whole group take, you know, 1 long table and
they just bring out food and bread and stuff.
And so it was good. I found in Morocco the whole

(32:10):
with these meals that were like this that were provided, it's
not a whole lot of food like. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you know. Small portions is what you're
saying. Yeah, I, yeah, it's there.
Could have been more, but it gotus through.
But you're a big boy, buddy. You're a big boy.
You know, they're not used to the North American appetite.

(32:30):
But anyways, on that note, we'regonna take a quick break here
and we'll fire back up momentarily.
So alright, so alright, so we got the mountain story, which is
epic as hell. Also, by the way, I gotta I
gotta compliment you on your storytelling.
It's it's really good. But let's backtrack now to
Marrakesh and what you were ableto do there.
I don't know how many days you're there, but.

(32:52):
Yeah, man, me neither. So let's see.
Yeah. Oh, so that, that that mountain
trip, I just looked at the priceon this little break.
It was 202 hundred Canadian for that.
That's it. Yeah, Yeah, pretty good.
Yeah. So, OK, back in America cash.
So, you know, I didn't spend a whole lot of time there because

(33:15):
I was, I did these trips. So I did, I go, I did like a
walking tour and learned about the city and stuff.
And they were telling you all these things and they're like
one of one of the cool things that they said is, and there's
probably, you know, all over theworld this little tactic, but
they, you know, they ask go where are you from?

(33:36):
And then they because they want to see how stupid you are and
how much money you have. So, yeah, so you know, they're
have a different price for Americans, they're have
different price for Europeans and all this stuff.
So yeah, we kind of just hung around like the main market
there and close by the hostel. Don't remember the market was

(33:56):
called, but it was, yeah, it's just a big, pretty big spot.
And there's fucking snake charmers there.
No way like playing the little. Whatever.
Yeah, the flute. And then there's, yeah, the
cold, the cobras. And apparently that's the only
place that does that is Americash.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, nowhere else.

(34:19):
It's just right there in Marrakesh.
Like we went to Fest and all these other spots and none.
So everybody was saying it's only Americash.
So we saw it the first time and we were walking by and this guy,
I was taking a video and this guy you can see in the video, he
runs and he grabs a snake and runs at me.

(34:39):
And I was like, fuck no. And we like, we took off because
what they do is they put it around your neck and then
they'll ask you for 400 Durant, like 400.
That's €40. What?
Yeah, they're, that's their thing.
They put it around your neck andbecause they did something for
you, they want €40. Wow.
So I was just. Gonna happen to someone or you

(35:01):
only heard about it? Yeah, no, yeah, you could see
them. And there's monkeys too, so
there's a monkey on the chain and they'll do the same thing.
They'll put the monkey on your shoulder and then request
€40.00. So yeah, I was like, fuck no,
you're not putting a snake around me for one, and I'm not
paying you. And so we kind of took off.

(35:21):
But yeah, I met this girl in a hostel and she, she showed me a
picture with the cobra around her neck.
And it was like going out. The camera built.
They'll put it around your neck and then they'll take your phone
and they'll take pictures. And then they're like, slap the
cobra's head. And then the cobra will like
jump at the camera for the picture.

(35:42):
Wow. I mean like cool picture but I
don't think it's worth €40. Oh, it was a cool picture.
It was definitely a cool picture, Yeah.
And then so yeah, we did that walk around the market, did a
little food tour. We did a walking tour.
I think we did that in the same day.
So we walked for like 9 hours that day and then, uh, it, what

(36:03):
else do we do there? I think after that we just, uh,
like that girl was going to go to the beach.
It was like 2 hours drive each way.
So she ended up going on a full day tour to this beach and then
got back at like 11 at night. And then we're going up to the
mountain at, you know, 7:00 in the morning.
So I was like, I'm going to takethat day to myself and hang

(36:25):
around at the market. And then once we came back, we
had one more day of free time before we were going on the
desert excursion. So and you know, we just hiked,
you know, 36 kilometers. Yeah, you need a rest day.
You need a rest day. Get a massage, put your feet up,

(36:46):
carb load. Relax.
Yeah, so we did that. We had a rest day and then
before we headed out to the desert.
But I met the absolute worst Canadian on our wall on our
walking tour. All right?
This girl was terrible Canadian,too.
No, I think she was from Toronto.

(37:07):
This fucking idiot. She was.
She was from, I think. Yeah, she must have been from
Toronto. She definitely acted like it.
And we're doing The Walking tourand she was one of the mules
were there, OK. And they had this, you know,
people are building like no carscan get up here, right?
So this is how they get equipment and food and stuff up

(37:30):
to the the higher parts. And she sees it and she looks at
the guide and was like, what's with the mule doing all like
all, all this work? And she's like, she's like,
don't you think it's a little mean for, for this?
And then she started going off. She's like, did you guys think
about getting like electric scooters that can bring things

(37:50):
up the hill and all this stuff? And we're just like, lady, shut
the fuck up. I was like, and you're from
Canada, which is pissing me off.Yeah.
And then so it gets worse. Like she was such a pain in the
ass the whole tour. And then another thing that she
said. So the guy that was our guide
was a Muslim guy, right? So you probably know where this

(38:12):
is going. And.
So, so we were, we were, we werein this like in this hostile
area and all the hostels were converted.
So they used to be where, you know, the main floor where that
pool was, would have been all like, you know, like marble
ground. And, and then, you know, all the

(38:34):
animals would go in there. And then all the rooms were for
the people that were coming intothe market from outside the
city. So, and in these other markets,
I mean, these other little hostile areas, they're like, oh,
every place has a fountain, every place has this, every
place has this, if it's traditional.
And then they're like, and then they pray at certain times,

(38:55):
Yeah. And then she she looks at the
guide and was like, well, why aren't you praying?
Because the other guys were praying like the other locals.
And then she's like, she's like,so you're a bad Muslim because
you're not praying right now. What?
And then and then she was like, why would you book a tour when

(39:16):
you're supposed to be praying and everyone just like this is
God and like this is brutal and she was Canadian so I couldn't
believe it. So she was just annoying right
from the start to the end and then was like, oh, this tour
guide said this so this must notbe true what you're saying.
Did the whole way the whole tripand thank God we were only with
her for like 4 hours and then wefinished up the tour and I think

(39:39):
everyone felt bad so they tippedthe guy even more and then and
then I went up to him and I was like I'm Canadian too I'm so
sorry for this. I was like, this is crazy.
Like who speaks like this? So yeah, we met a yes, lovely,
lovely lady. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh my gosh. Well, and you know what?

(40:00):
Like sometimes you get those badapples.
I've been pretty fortunate on mytrips that I haven't really ran
into to anything like that. I've actually met so many good
people. But it's unfortunate when you
get that one person right and then kind of casts a bad shadow
on the whole the whole nation. Well, I know, I know so.
And then we met another terriblefamily after that, too.

(40:23):
All right, well, let's move on since to some positivity though,
but because I want to get into this desert trip.
But before I do, I just had a couple questions just to give
some people some information about Morocco.
First one was how safe did you feel during your time there?
And second question, what's their currency and what's the
conversion for Canadians? Yeah.
So I, I personally, I felt definitely safe.

(40:46):
I don't know. Maybe it's just because I'm a
male. I don't know.
I felt safe. You know, it's the typical kind
of money scams that they're going to really target you
towards the conversion rate. So when I say if you look at
their money and they're like it's 400 drams, you can just

(41:07):
take that number and it would be400 just equals €40, you know.
Yeah, but what? What?
What is zeros for us though? I don't even know.
Oh, OK. Well, EUR, so like €40 would be
probably like 60 Canada. OK, so you're saying 400 Duran
would be 60 Canadian? Yeah, OK, Well, well, let's do

(41:29):
that. Why are you doing EUR?
You're not European, bud. Everybody else is.
Everybody else Fair, fair, fair.You're going there.
I have to keep reminding people I'm Canadian and that I keep
getting killed on the conversionbecause even if it's American,
like a lot of Latin countries accept USD but it's like that
doesn't do me any good because you know, 20 USD is like 3035

(41:51):
Canadian so I'm still getting killed.
Yeah, well, you're going to notice when you go to Morocco,
everyone's be what's this many euros?
And then now you're going to getit.
You're gonna understand that. OK, OK, fair enough.
And then you're going to think you're European.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, I get it.
Alright. So this desert, Sure you said.
How many days was it? 3 days.
Three days, so the first day. So we're going from, there's
many different options. You can go from Marrakesh to the

(42:13):
desert and then back to Marrakesh.
That was my original plan, but we switched it because I wanted
to go up north. So my other option, Same.
Yeah, you just buy off, get yourguide or TripAdvisor.
So I went from Marrakesh to the desert, which is on the border
of Algeria. Yeah, pretty far drive.

(42:34):
That was like 2-6 hour days of driving.
Oh, wow. Yeah.
And then from there we went to Fess, which is about 10 hours of
driving on the third day. Thing are you doing like one of
those like little minivans or what kind of transport?
Yeah, it's like it's, it's a van, but they're, you know,

(42:54):
they're comfy seats and there was like 17 of us in there, so.
17 Holy. Shit, yeah, I think yeah, 17
with the driver and the and the guy.
But yeah, it was a it was long, but the desert tour.
So think of this three days, allthat driving, 6 hours, 6 hours,
10 hours. Breakfasts and dinners included.

(43:17):
All of them the the first night it was in a hotel on the way to
the desert. Nice and sick hotel too.
There's a big pool. Unreal spot.
And then and then the night out in the desert camp.
And then the camel. The camels were included.
ATV's were extra, um, so camels were included.

(43:38):
And then, yeah, all breakfasts and dinners and the price?
280 Canadian. For this whole thing.
The whole thing. Wow, I need to go to Morocco.
OK, duper cheap. And then the lunches, like you
only have to buy lunches in those three days.
And the lunches, you know, they're just, they're cheap.

(43:59):
Like it's not uh, so definitely yes, definitely worth it.
Like you're thinking about it, especially if you want to go up
north like I did. I wanted to go up and it was
perfect. It's like, it's like a taxi
manager brings you right up there so.
Well, it's like a taxi, but you're obviously doing
activities during the day as well.
So I wanna ask what to activities at each day?

(44:21):
And then also like, OK, you got six hours, 6 hours, 10 hours.
Are you just sleeping during that time?
Like what? What time of the day are you
driving? Yeah, no, you're.
So I think we started seven. Yeah, we started 7 and we're
picking up all these people on the way because they're picking
up people from outside of Americas 2.
And then so we started driving and they stopped probably about

(44:43):
every hour and a half. And we'll stop at a new like a
sightseeing thing. We'll get out, stretch your
legs. And then there would be like,
oh, you're overlooking the can, you know, you're looking at this
mountain, you're looking at this.
So every hour and a half we werestopping.
So it was broken up really nicely.
Um, so never it didn't honestly didn't feel bad at all Like 6

(45:04):
hours of driving didn't seem like anything right.
It's just 4 little quick hour and a half trips, you know?
Yeah, well, that's that's a goodthing they broke it up because
if you're doing 6 hours altogether, it's like, Oh my
God, especially we have that many people crammed in the same
vehicle. Yeah.
And then we stopped at, we went to this place where a lot of
movies are filmed 8 bed or something that I, I butchered

(45:30):
that. I don't know.
Yup. You gonna write in Morocco
eights like a ITE and then it starts with the B.
But it is this cool community, like in the middle of the
desert. And so, yeah, there was a bunch
of movies filmed in that area. And I guess we stopped there.

(45:52):
We went through the village, youknow, through the little town.
So that took, you know, some of these some of these little
excursions were like could have been like an hour, hour and a
half long. So, you know, drive for an hour
and a half, get out Now we're touring this little city for an
hour and a half and then, you know, drive again.
Another thing for an hour and a half.

(46:13):
We, we checked out some irrigation system of between two
cities. Like we walked through where
they had all their, their gardens and how they irrigated
all and they're showing us all these plants and stuff.
And yeah, yeah, crazy. Random as hell.
OK, so you started the day at 7:00 AM and then what?
You probably get in the hotel like 5-6 at night kind of thing.

(46:34):
Yeah, yeah, we got to the hotel around I think 6 and then the
rest of the night your own. So we, yeah, there was another
group, like a sister group that was out at the same time.
And me and me and this girl, remember we signed up for this
at the same time. Well, I signed up for my first.
She signed up a day later, but they didn't know we were

(46:54):
together, so they put us on two different buses.
So we were on two different tours, so.
The only time. The only time that we got to
hang out was at night, you know,or at lunch whenever we maybe
saw each other. So I was, I was stuck in the van
with, uh, I think 4 couples and a family of eight and I was

(47:15):
solo. I was the only solo guy.
Stuck family of all. Yeah, family from hell.
Family from hell, so not a good crew either.
No the all the couples were great.
That family was not like they'rekid was puking in the bus there
they were packed back talking. The guy they would be oh they
were rude. But man, Oh my gosh, so a lot of

(47:37):
that then going on. OK, fair enough.
Now you mentioned camels were included, ATV's were optional.
So one, what the heck are you doing with the camels?
And two, did you ride the ATV's?Yeah, yeah.
So the camels, so they have themall lined up in the desert for
your tour, ready to go. So you get there and then
they'll put the, you'll stop at this place right before and try

(48:01):
on like the, the headscarf. And because it's going to be
windy in the desert, they suggest that you buy 1.
So we all bought headscarves. And then you get there, put your
head scarf on, and then all the camels are like, you know,
laying down. And then you bring your group
over and then starts right from the back.
One person gets on camel stands up, boom, boom, boom, boom,

(48:21):
boom. And then these fucking camels,
man, there's they're like screaming, I didn't know these
things, screaming their teeth. You're out.
It was kind of crazy and. There's a bunch of screaming
camels in the middle of the desert and what did he even
sound like? It even mimic it.
No, I'm not going to mimic it. I'm not gonna mimic it.

(48:42):
Probably. Google it.
It's wild. It was actually pretty funny.
And then so then, yeah, so we get on the camels and the guide
is walking in front of the camels and we walk out.
I think we're on the camels for maybe like an hour and a bit
going to the camp. And the guys walking the whole
time, he's not on a camel. No, he's walking it.

(49:04):
What? Yeah, yeah, he's walking it.
And then. But super uncomfortable, brutal.
Like at the end of that hour I was like I need off of this
thing. It's So that's why he's walking
then, yeah? The The chafing is brutal so.
Back on the jeans or what? Say no, I wasn't in the genes,

(49:26):
but is brutal. And so we got to the camp and
got off the camels and asked where you could have got on the
ATV's. And I think the ATV's were 40
year, 60 Canadian in your mind, 660 Canadian.
And they say it's for an hour. It was not.
It was 3 hours. It was, yeah, it was definitely

(49:50):
worth money. Like we went out and we watched
sunset on the sand. Like we just went through the
sand dunes everywhere. And then you can get, they
bring, like, snowboards and you can go sandboarding.
Yeah, Yeah, you can go sandboarding.
And then they leave you alone atthe top of this sand dune.
And so that's where you can get all your pictures and stuff.

(50:11):
But like, man, I was just ripping around on the quad and
just videotape and everything. Yeah.
You know, you're just driving. And then there's like a group of
three camels or walked right beside you.
Yeah. So it's sick.
And then. So we stayed up till sunset and
then we went in and, yeah, it was definitely worth the money.
And then once we went in, it was, you know, right into

(50:33):
dinner, another buffet style. And that was good.
There was more than enough food.And then after that there was
like a fire pit and everyone is just around the fire pit.
And there was like these local guys that brought out their
instruments and they started playing music and then people
were dancing around the fire. It was pretty sick.
That sounds unbelievable. Did you do the sandboarding?

(50:55):
No, I didn't do the sandboarding.
Why not? Yeah, I know.
I know actually, man, out of everybody that I saw, I saw like
3 guys doing the sandboard. I didn't want to.
I don't want to sound like a pussy.
I didn't want to injure my shoulder.
I don't want to sound like one, but I have one.
OK, so. I didn't.
I didn't. I didn't want to injure my

(51:15):
shoulder again. I wasn't bailing.
OK, well that's understandable though I know you got a bad
shoulder and that's why you couldn't even surf in Costa
Rica, so. Yeah, so I'm not saying surfing
either. Yeah, fair enough.
Well, that's something I'm looking forward to doing soon
actually, because I'm headed to walk Achina next.
And you can do the sandboarding there, you can do the dune
bugging. You can either be passionate or
driver, which I'm obviously going to be driver and probably

(51:37):
flip the thing about 10 times. But I haven't got travel
insurance so should be fine. You're going to drive.
That's not what you're used to. You used to you being on the
back man. Yeah, I know.
I'm used to ride in the bed sheet.
Yeah. In both Thailand and Costa Rica.
Yeah, yeah, Yeah. Well, luckily when I was in, oh,
where was I? Banuelos, Ecuador, I managed to

(51:59):
get my own ATV for the day and we went ripping down the highway
there. We went to various waterfalls.
That was that was a ton of fun. But yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right on. What was the setup like at the
camp? Like I'm guessing you're staying
in tents, like they got mattresses for you and sleeping
bags or what? Med No, no.
This is like a fucking quality camp.
This is a they were permanent structures in this in this place

(52:23):
and like we're talking concrete floor and real beds.
So yeah, like my my room had twosingle beds and on bed on bed
frames and just a concrete floor.
So there's, I don't even know how many there are.
There's a ton of them. Like my room was like 53, you

(52:45):
know, So there's a shit ton of these things and but and it's
all around like the fire area. And then there it was kind of
kind of reminded me of the military in the way that it was,
There was there's the showers and the bathrooms were, you
know, segregated over here. And you know, if if those

(53:06):
toilets clogged and they're they're not getting fixed for a
little bit. So yeah.
And then you got a shot. It's just like you're brushing
your teeth outside. You're like the sinks and stuff
are outside. So I'll get the felt very
military ish that way. But but overall, like way better
than I expected. Like I thought I was going to be

(53:28):
sleeping in a legit tent. Would have thought right?
Or at best maybe I don't even know what they call them.
But like the round tents that they use for glamping.
I don't know they call those but.
Yeah, well, it's pretty similar to that except for square.
Also, my bad, not geometry was never geometry was never a
strength of mind. But So what did you end up

(53:51):
doing? I'm guessing that second day,
right? So what you end up doing the
third day and then you said you were headed up north.
Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, that was day 2.
So that means, you know, your desert, your desert is day 2.
And then that's like basically the end of your experience,
right? Day three is they're they're

(54:11):
driving you to fast. So it's roughly 10 hours.
Um, and that's just, it's mainlya day of driving, like we would
be going for 4/4 hours at a time.
The goal that day is just to getthe fast.
What are the roads like? Were we talking They have legit
roads out here in the desert? Or unbelievable like better than

(54:32):
Canada. It's fucking spotless.
Like no potholes, just clean driving.
Wow, OK. Unreal.
It was unreal. And then So what was really cool
is like you're coming from the desert and then you go through a
cedar forest. And now up up north is green.
It looked like you were driving through like Alberta, you know,

(54:55):
it is just all green cedar trees.
And you stop at this, you want to see monkeys.
So they stopped at this, this spot in the forest.
And yeah, there's just monkeys just chilling there, yeah.
That's so random, man, but I actually heard about this
because I I met a local you my Uber driver back in Canada.

(55:17):
Actually right before I left forthe trip, he was driving me to
the airport and yeah, I'm from Morocco and says started asking
me. He's like, yeah, man, we got
mountains. You can go hiking.
He's like, you can go snowboarding.
He's like you can snowboard and surf in the same day, which by
the way is big item on my bucketlist.
Yeah, crazy. But OK, so you got monkeys, you
got forest. So like, what are you doing up
north? So yeah, that we were driving

(55:40):
through there to get to Fest andthen so all the the cities up
there or the little towns were all super green grass
everywhere, trees everywhere. So it kind of felt like you were
back home and then you get to fest and so fast is just like I
thought. I mean, some people like fast.
Did I? Probably not.

(56:02):
Yeah, OK. That's a no.
Like I was Best was the same as Mayor Casper, Mayor Cash was
just way better. And Fest, there was definitely
more people trying to RIP you off and the the girls that we
were with had a worse time in Fest.

(56:22):
OK, just with like locals or? Yeah, yeah, the locals were very
pushy. Like not to get negative on
this, but I mean if any girls are are listening to this, even
one girl that we were with her boyfriend even said like to her
like he's been to fest and he's like be careful and fast because

(56:44):
he knows that these people how they act.
And it was like it was true. Like while the girls were with
us, it was perfectly fine, but like the one girl definitely had
some encounters with the with some of these locals and they
were not great encounters, but so I, I mean, best we stayed

(57:08):
there for a couple days. I I, I got a really shitty
hostel, so I got a I mean, I didn't have the best experience
and fest. If I would have stayed at a
better hospital, maybe I would have, but.
Yeah, I. Was also I was also in a shitty
area so. OK, so like, tell me about this
hostel, like we'll get into it because obviously there's highs
and lows of traveling, right? And this is a perfect example.

(57:29):
Like you're coming from Americash, you're coming from
this mountain adventure three day desert tour.
Like you're just riding out withhigh.
But now you're in this new location, unfortunately doesn't
sound like it's working out. So tell me about the hostel.
Like why is it, you know, not the best experience?
And obviously, you know, just the place in general.
It just sounds like it's it's not a good vibe.
Yeah, no, I mean, I didn't. I didn't like it.

(57:51):
If I would go back, I would not.I would skip fast and a lot of
people have said that. So when we got there, I always
look for the hassle. That's nine plus stars.
I just want to state, you know, And then this place looked like
it had a pool. It was like 9.8 and on this on
the door it said best hostel in in fest.

(58:14):
It was the worst Australian festand I can I figured out how they
got their reviews. So like we got there, there's
sketchy people outside, right? For to begin with, I got
offered, I got offered drugs every half an hour.
Yeah, but this I got it was I got offered drugs every half an
hour through all of Morocco, allof Morocco, but so do.

(58:39):
They have like a do they have like a front though?
Like, you know, kind of like in Costa Rica, they come up to you
and maybe they have like sunglasses and they're like,
hey, you want sunglasses? Just, you know, like weed, coke.
What do you want? Yeah, exactly.
Just like that. Yeah, Yeah.
And so we were in a sketchy areato begin with.
And then the hostel, I went in there and there was like flies,

(59:00):
you know, all over the pool. And the pool is dirty and the
pool is tiny, like pools maybe like three feet wide, 4 feet
wide by like 10. And it's in the front lobby like
it's disgusting. And so nobody could use the pool
because it was just so gross. And then my room was up on like
the third floor. And if I wanted to go to the

(59:22):
washroom, I had to walk outside and then I had to go around the
corner and then go to the washroom.
So I spent one night there and Igot out of there.
But they, yeah, they were, it was, it was the terrible, awful.
And then I tried to, I tried to move.
And the girl that was with me, she she even told the guy she's

(59:42):
like, I do not feel safe here. So I'm wondering if like if I
can get a refund. And they were, they didn't
really want to give a refund. They ended up giving the refund
and stuff, but it was, yeah, that that experience that, that
hostel. And then this is where I figured
out how they get their five starreviews is right at the end

(01:00:05):
whenever I would leave. And they're like, then he acted,
you know, really nice. And he's just like, he's like,
oh, do you think you guys can you could leave like leave a
review because, you know, he didus a favor by giving us a
refund. And so he's like, do you think
we can get a review? That's how they were getting
there. So anybody going to Morocco
that's getting a hostile, like beware of that one and yeah,

(01:00:27):
you'll see it. Like there's a pool in the front
lobby and it says it's the best hostel in fest and it's the
furthest thing from it. Geez, man.
Well, we had an experience like that actually recently in
Montanita, Ecuador. We booked this hostel and it
looked really promising because like, it was a bit outside of
town. So like, money is known for
party atmosphere. And we're like, we wanna party,

(01:00:48):
but we don't want to be right init.
And we found this hassle and same thing.
It had like 9.8 stars or whatever and it had this, it
looked like it had a big pool. It's right on the beach.
Like it looks super promising. Well, we get to this place like
super late at night, like 10:00 PM or something like that.
And we pull up and right off thebat, it's already bad start

(01:01:08):
because we pull up to this gate.It's a locked gate.
It takes forever for buddy to come out.
I'm talking like 10 minutes. Taxi drivers on the horn the
whole time. Like where is this guy?
I'm pretty sure he's sleeping. And anyways, he finally comes
out and he's like, you have a reservation, like, yeah, we do.
And he's checking. He's checking.
He's like, I don't see anything because we use Hostile world.
But in Ecuador, booking.com is actually more popular.
You don't really use Hostile World.

(01:01:31):
So it's this whole debacle. And as this is happening, my
intuition saying like, bro, justget out of here.
Like just go to a different 1. Like this is already not a good
start. And so anyways, we finally get
it sorted out. Like the guy that works there
that knows English, he ends up showing up.
He's like, why are you guys still waiting?
You're like, come on in. We're like, alright, so we go in
and like first impression, like OK, it's not bad.
Like I see this big pool, but it's pretty dark out, so I can't

(01:01:52):
really tell him. What the hell is that noise?
Jesus. Anyways, um, and we see like a
common area with like ping pong pool.
I'm like alright, this seems pretty cool.
Well he shows us to our room andall.
Oh my God dude. We open the door and these beds
look like they're like 50-60 years old.
They're like falling apart. There's like ants crawling on

(01:02:14):
the bed. There's like no sheets, sketchy
looking pillows, like just discussing.
It's hot and humid as fuck and there's no AC.
There's no fans. I'm like what the hell.
So this guy leaves us and I'm looking around the room.
I'm looking at the washroom. I'm like, OK, I could use the
toilet, but there's no way I'm showering in this thing.
So I'm looking at my body and remembers like 10 at night.

(01:02:35):
So we're tired as fuck, like long travel day.
And I look at him, he looks at me.
I'm like, dude, there's I can't stay here.
Like there's no way. So we message buddy on like the
guy that works there and WhatsApp.
But because it's so late, he doesn't get back to us.
He probably went back to bed. So like fuck, what do we do?
So we end up. Managing to get a phone number
for a cab company. They had like a phone number in
the common area and the main gate is obviously locked.

(01:02:58):
So I'm like, we're gonna have tohop this fucking gate like we
got to like this place. And luckily I remember seeing
like a second door. And so while we're inside, I end
up walking around the other sideand I find this door and you can
actually get out that way. O my body.
I found I found a way out. I found a well, like let's go.
So we get out of this door. This cab picks us up and we
ended up going to a different hospital, which is a lot better.

(01:03:20):
But like it absolute nightmare experience.
And it was just like, there's noway I can sleep here.
It was disgusting. Brutal, brutal.
I found the name of that one infest.
It's called Back Home Fest. Don't go there.
Don't go Back Home, Fest. Back home fast did you?
Did you leave him? Or if you like a bad one, be
like yo do not go here. No, I left with five.

(01:03:40):
Sorry. He told me to leave at 5 star.
You're kidding. Come on, this man, this guy was
so nice. He gave me a.
Refund OHP. My God.
Ah jeez. OK, So what?
What I, I, I, yeah, you were, I have to say something about the

(01:04:02):
transportation in Morocco. So we were using taxis a lot.
Obviously when, when you're in Marrakesh and stuff, it's just
walking around and then, you know, to get to the, to all
these things, the the event people pick you up.
And then if you're looking to just to go like, you know, to a
neighboring city or something, the only app that they have in

(01:04:25):
Morocco is called, um, uh, what is it called again?
I literally wrote it down in drive in drive.
In Drive. In Drive, that's what it's
called and it's illegal. It's illegal in Morocco.
So yeah, but you can use it and people will pick you up and it's

(01:04:46):
like a bidding app. So it'll be like, I want to go
from Marrakesh to Fez. And then they'll be like, oh,
suggested bid and it'll be like 400 RAM or whatever it is.
And then you can be like, OK, mybid, I'm going to be like, I'm
offering 500 for somebody that picks me up.
So it's like a bidding thing andbut it's illegal.

(01:05:07):
So, you know, you make a deal with the guy and they're like,
we'll come pick you up. But then they're we gotta wait a
little bit and I got to pick youup in somewhere else or else
they get fucking arrested. Holy shit.
And you probably have to sit in the front seat too, right?
So it doesn't look like you're getting a A.
Drop. Yeah.
So you have to, you have to say that your friends, if you get

(01:05:29):
pulled over, yeah, that you met now your friends are going to
hang out. But one guy that we were hanging
out with, he's from Toronto, actually, he, he got no, no, he,
he was there for a trip. But.
He went from the airport to Marrakesh and he didn't get a
taxi. He got an in drive and he didn't
know any of this. So he got an in drive.

(01:05:50):
They got pulled over and he was like, yeah, I I just did.
It's just an in drive. All fuck.
So that girl lost her license, got the car towed and got a got
a fine, and he had to find another way into town.
Yeah. And she, but she didn't tell
them like you would think when she picked him up, you'd be
like, hey, you'll by the way, like this is illegal as fuck.

(01:06:12):
Yeah, it must've just happened right away.
Yeah. So yeah, my bad.
They didn't. They don't get arrested, they
lose their license, they get their car towed, they get a
fine. So if you're ever doing.
Rural. Though Yeah.
So if you ever doing that, you have to keep that in mind.
Say that your friends because these people are risking their
you know their their livelihood for your drive.
That's crazy. So are there no buses or the

(01:06:35):
buses just shitty or what? Yeah, no, there's buses.
We took buses too. Like I took a city bus and I
also took a coach bus. They're cheap, but but yeah,
like we just got four people together.
We went from Festus shift showing shift, Shao 1, the blue
city, there's more north, you know, it's more north.
It was 4 hour drive and there was four of us, so we just got

(01:06:58):
an in drive and that we each paid €30 each and it was 4 hours
there, you know, and he had to drive back 4 hours.
So it's 8 hours of driving for him for 120 years.
That's brutal, but for him that's probably a lot of money,
I'm guessing right. So like and usually usually if
you get those rides, like I knowI've done that in the past where

(01:07:19):
because they're going there and back, you gotta pay for the the
way back as well, essentially, right.
That's why it's a. Bit too, he said if he finds
another drive from there and back he'll drop her price, but
he didn't. But whatever man, it's €30 each
for from like, you know, a four hour drive. €30 is like 4550

(01:07:40):
Canadian. Dollars.
Yeah, it's pretty steep. Ohm, my God.
Alright, well once again, this meeting is gonna end shortly
here because it is a free meeting, so we'll do one more
after this to wrap up your trip.I don't know how much you got
left, but. No, it's actually, you know,
it's not a whole lot left Chef Shawn Allen.
And then it's, I mean, yeah, Chefchaouen, Tangier,

(01:08:02):
Casablanca. But Tangier and Casablanca is
there for one day each. So there's not even a story
there. Like there's literally like just
a little bit left for Chef Shaun.
That's it. Alright, sounds good buddy.
Well, we'll start a new one momentarily here and Zoom, if
anyone that works with Zoom wants to reach out and sponsor
the pod, feel free to reach out to me at [e-mail]

(01:08:23):
or my Instagram up in the cloudsunder score.
Just throw that out there. Alright buddy, I'll see you in a
few minutes. So where were we?
OK, so we finished off with whatthe.
Hell is it fast, fast, fast, fast.
OK, so we got a few days left from the trip, so I'm just gonna
let you take this away, buddy. Do your storytelling thing.

(01:08:43):
Yeah. So, yeah, we took that.
We took that in drive from Fess up to Chefchaouen, the blue
city. I don't know if you ever see
that blue city on Instagram. It's just, it looks like there's
just blue buildings everywhere. It's unreal.
Super cool spot. Yeah, exactly.
So we're, yeah, we're heading toSmurf Town.

(01:09:04):
And so we make it to Smurf Town and then we, it's, yeah, it's on
the side of the mountain. Like we're we're we're walking a
pretty, pretty good distance andwe're pulling while we're
pulling in. There's all these people
jingling keys when you're driving in, they're just fucking

(01:09:25):
in front of your car throwing keys like just jingling.
Really. What the fuck is this?
And then we, we Googled it, apparently.
I mean, I could be wrong. I mean, someone else Googled
this and they said it was these,you know, people are coming in
and they're like these are the keys for their homes that you
can rent, you know, you go rent A room from them or whatever.

(01:09:48):
So that was odd. Well, we get in there and chef
sounds unreal. It's, it's, it's, it's little
city, I guess. And then it's just in like this
valley, mountains everywhere. And it's, it's just a sick vibe
there. So.
So you're staying at a hostel I assume?

(01:10:09):
Yeah, sit at a hostel. And then I met this guy that
he's a he wrote a book and then got Daniel.
Dan, what is it? Danny Trail, Yeah, Google,
Google. And while I'm speaking to you.
Cool buddy, I don't do any research on this podcast.

(01:10:30):
Danny Travel he he got him involved in this book and
they're talking about making a movie and once you once yeah,
you you know, you know who he isa.
No, no, it's still loading because what this guy?
Yeah, so he was in my Hot Danny trailer.
Yeah, that's his. Name 3 Mexican movie ever.
Yeah, and look at you, you're down in Latin world and you

(01:10:53):
don't know who this guy is, so Idon't.
Know his name, bro, Come on. As soon as you see his face,
you're like, Oh yeah, this guy'sa sickle.
Yeah. So, yeah, Sickle is unreal.
And yeah, so there's guys writing the book and he's got
yeah, on his Instagram, he's with fucking Dantrell and

(01:11:13):
they're talking about making it a movie.
So I met this guy in my hostel and uh, yeah, this guy grew up
in, uh, in gangs and shit down in, you know, in Mexico.
And now he's writing a book about his life and he's like,
yeah, it's wild. So talk to him for a bit and,
and uh, spent, I think we spent,I just spent one day there.

(01:11:36):
So you can, everyone says in Chefchaouen is like, one day is
good enough and then you can head up, go wherever you need to
go. Uh, so we went up to like the
Spanish. I don't know.
It's not that we we went up to some church or something.

(01:11:56):
Come on man. I don't know what it was.
I was gonna say Spanish Mosque, but I don't know if that's real.
Wouldn't. Even make sense though bro.
I don't know. I don't know what it was, man.
I thought it was a Spanish mosque.
So we anyway, we went up there, we climbed, we went up this
pathway, went up there and unreal view of the whole thing.

(01:12:18):
And uh, so it was a cool spot. It's just like, you know, spend
a day there, walk around the city, buy some stuff and check
out all the blue paint. So it's the unreal spot.
Super peaceful, man, Super peaceful there.
Yeah, so you're not getting heckled here?

(01:12:38):
Uh, no, no, no. That place is great.
Yeah, lots of cats, man. There's cats everywhere in
Morocco and so then you love them, love them now.
So then we, uh, I was booking a plane, hitting a bus out of
there. This is where like all of our,

(01:13:00):
our desert people, there was a group of four of us that went
there together and this is wherewe all separated.
So that morning, the one girl flew out of there.
You could fly out of there and then the other two girls took a
bus back to Marrakesh and I tooka city bus.
Not a city bus like a coach bus up to Tangier.

(01:13:22):
And I met this other dude on there and I just spent that day
with them basically. But I forget how.
But yeah, the cheap, it was a cheap bus went up to Tangier and
luckily this guy was with me. He's just like we're going to
take the city bus, we're going to take the local city bus right
into town. So once instead of spending 100
Durham on a taxing this guys like we're going to spend 3.

(01:13:46):
So it was good. We got we found this box and
went. In.
Yeah, it was a $0.30. Holy shit.
That's alright, OK. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, big, big change in price.
But so I spent a day there. I was gonna spend, I was gonna
spend 2 days there and then go to Casablanca for a day.
But, you know, all my people just left and I got, you know,

(01:14:10):
they got two days left. So am I in the hospital that I
was out? Was not a social hostel in
Tangier. So I was like, I'm not going to
meet anybody. I was like, I'm waiting for a
couch delivery back home. So I was like, I'm going to cut
this trip that day short. So that's what I did.
I I, you know, I got on. Yeah, I actually cut a day short

(01:14:30):
just because everyone said Casablanca is an industrial
city. Like, there's not much to really
see there. But I was flying out of there,
so I had to go there. Is in Casablanca the city of
love though? Like is this the Casablanca I'm
thinking of? Yeah, man, go there.
Yeah, that doesn't sound really reassuring the way you're
looking at me right now. No, everyone just said it's it's

(01:14:51):
industrial city. There's like, there's no need.
Yeah. Like you can spend your time
more wisely in Morocco and Tangier is a good spot.
Like Tangier was like fucking pretty fancy, man.
Like nice buildings, nice, like nice roads.
It was, it was really cool. So I just was like on WhatsApp

(01:15:14):
with Air France and change my flight for a day, got on the
train. I took the high speed train to
Casablanca. There's a high end.
Yeah. Yeah.
So I took that to Casablanca. Took me two hours.
Wow and he was fairly cheap, don't remember the price, but so
got to Casablanca and then I knew I was going to get shipped

(01:15:35):
on a taxi, but you know, I had acouple 100 duram left and I was
like, I can afford to just get fucked here.
So I got off that I. I don't.
I don't know if I've ever heard someone say that.
Yeah, I could afford to get fucked here.
So I got off, I got off the train and I was like, I'm going

(01:15:56):
to find a taxi. I was like, I know it's supposed
to be around 50 Durant for a taxi, but they're probably going
to charge me double. So I was like, my budget is 100.
So I go out and I see these guysand there have their taxi signs
and I just went up to them and Iwas like, yeah, I need to go
here. I show them my address 6 1/2
kilometers away and then they'relike, yeah, we'll take you.
Then he's like, come with me. And I was like, well, how much?

(01:16:18):
And then he's like, he's like 100.
And I was like, OK, perfect. That's exactly what I was
budgeting so. My God, dude, you got to barter
a little bit. Come on.
Man, I was bartering before in the in, you know, in fest when I
was really pissed off and yeah, I got jipped a couple times
there and then I and then I was bartering, but this time I was

(01:16:39):
like, fuck this man. I just want to get to my hustle
and go to bed. So yeah, he's like 100.
And I was like, and sure, we getin the taxi, but actually right
before that we were walking to the taxi and he's like, he's
like, how many kilometers is it again?
And I'm like seven. And then he's like, ah, that's
pretty far. And I'm like, God, here we

(01:16:59):
fucking go. And he puts me in the back of
his car. And then he called his boss
over. He looks at the address and he's
like 150. And I was like, you know what?
I was like, I'm good. I'm going to get out.
And I was opening the door and they pulled off and he just
started driving and he's like 1/21/20.
I was like no, no, I'm good. And I was like, I had my door
open and he's just starts driving.
He's like, it's good, it's good.And now I'm like, man, does he

(01:17:23):
think I'm paying 120 or 100 for this?
Because I'm not paying 1:20 and then I have 20 minutes to think,
am I going to start a fight over€2.00?
You know, that's all it is. And I'm like, yeah, I fucking
am. I am going to start.
I was like, I'm so done with this.
So we were going there and I wasjust like human.

(01:17:46):
And we, we, we saw. And now it's just like, is he
going to charge me 120 or 100 year?
And I made sure to get out before he locked me in, got out,
gave him 100 and that was the end.
He didn't even ask so. Didn't even put up a fight.
Yeah, that's the that's an unfortunate side of travel.
And something I've experienced alot of unfortunately is, you

(01:18:09):
know, they, they look at us likewe're walking ATM, right?
And they don't realize like where we're coming from, maybe
what their background is. Like we've obviously worked
hard, we've saved our money to go see another side of the
world. But that doesn't mean that, you
know, we're rich or we come froma wealthy background.
And so they expect all these things from us or they try to
scam us or they ask for tips andit's like, bro, so like perfect.

(01:18:31):
For instance, here, I just finished the Inca trail and we
had a guide and at the end of the tour, we got guides, porters
and chess and they're like, you know, it's, it's normal to tip
everyone. So we're we're figuring out the
tip process and dude, our guide is like, yeah, so for the
assistant guide, it's usually the 50 US and it's double for
the main guide. I'm like, you want 100 US from
everyone? There's 15 fucking people on

(01:18:52):
this trip. Everyone.
Everyone and I'm looking at thisguy and I'm like are you know
what, like you actually are doing better than I am back in
Canada because I'm looking at him and the assistant guide, all
their clothes, all their shoes, everything's brand new.
I asked. Actually my buddies girlfriend
Kelsey, and she's like, yeah, hehad the same pants as me.
They're $250 back home. Damn.

(01:19:14):
And I'm thinking, you want me totip you 100 US?
Bro? I don't even have that, man.
I'm a broke backpacker. Like, yes, I made it here and
I'm traveling and I paid for this excursion.
But like literally that's all I got.
So anyways, it sucks that that is a reality, but I've realized
that greed is all over the worldand it's it's crazy.
And especially if you're a foreigner in a different
country, they're going to try toget every dollar out of you.

(01:19:37):
Yeah, yeah. And, and throughout Morocco,
there was, um, I mean a decent amount of homeless I found.
And oh, speaking about homeless,there was a Bronco has this
government law where a loaf of bread can't sell for more than
$0.10. So yeah, it's a government law.

(01:19:57):
You go to a restaurant, you see bread, It's that's the price of
that. And it's, it's for the homeless
so they can eat. OK, Yeah.
But the homeless there are like,yeah, man, I felt bad with it.
Like I, I you can. You can give uh ohk I was funny
story. So I was out for dinner with a

(01:20:19):
Navy SEAL I met in the hostel. Me and this Navy SEAL were ex
Navy SEAL. So we were, it would happen in
dinner and then there's two local people, 2 girls sitting
beside us and then there's a homeless guy that comes up in a
like a wheelchair, like the electric wheelchair, you know
what I mean? OK, Yeah.

(01:20:40):
Yeah, rolls up with that and asks for some food from these
two girls, and she's eating a rap.
And so she gives the rest of hisrap, but the rest of her rap to
him takes a couple bites and gives it back to her.
I couldn't believe it. He rolled off and she all she

(01:21:01):
does, all she does is RIP off the top where he bit and
finished it. So this is obviously normal.
Yeah, well, I guess so. I guess so.
Like if you're, if you're too full with whatever food you
have, just give it to somebody. They'll finish it.
Like other people that we were with were doing it too, like
kids were coming around. And if we were done with our
food, she would just give a kid the food.

(01:21:23):
And she would, yeah, the kid would just start eating.
OK, yeah, I mean, I didn't make sense.
Like it's, it's good they do that.
Like I know a lot of times on this trip, like I've had a meal
and like lucky the portion sizeswere bigger, but often I can't
finish it cause I don't have thesame appetite I have in North
America. And I'm like, you know, I wonder
where this food is going. And I think often like I haven't
seen as many homeless. So I don't think it's going to

(01:21:43):
them. There's a lot of like stray dogs
and shit. I think they really just feed
the dogs. But like, I'm just hoping that
somewhere, right? Yeah, yeah.
So it's yeah. You definitely feel for the
homeless for there for sure. Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
OK, well, I think we're going towrap it up because I know you
want to do a Spanish class now you're doing you're doing some
Spanish lessons, so you can maybe come join me in Latin

(01:22:04):
America at some point. But before we do any closing
notes, maybe some some tips or tricks for people that want to
travel to Morocco. And then as well, if you want to
mention maybe any of your socials, your Instagram,
whatever, somewhere people can reach you, if you want to put
that out there, I'll leave that up to you.
Yeah. So I mean, if you're going to
you're going to Morocco, just keep in mind it's it's a cheap

(01:22:27):
spot to go. The flight might be your most
expensive thing. And then yeah, the food, the
excursions, everything is so cheap there.
And yeah, if you're going to definitely do the, you have to
do the desert tour 100%. And if you're somewhat
outdoorsy, go to that mountain hike.

(01:22:49):
Like I am not a hiker. I should have been jeans and AT
shirt and this thing was fucking, you know, 4200 meters
high and and I finished it. So definitely do that if you're
anywhere near Marrakesh. So yeah, that's about it.
And then if you have like, yeah,if any of them have questions
about Morocco or, or whatever. And then my my Instagram is Greg

(01:23:13):
Adams. So GRAGADAMS, um, just reach out
to that. I love everybody.
I love it. Well, you know what?
You did the hike because you're a firefighter represent.
I'd be a little worried if you couldn't complete it, to be
honest. So.
Yeah. I mean, yeah, you might as well
fire me. No, no, that's not gonna happen,

(01:23:35):
buddy. Well, I just want to say I
really do appreciate you taking the time to come on, share your
share your trip about Morocco. And it's also great to see you
because we haven't, we haven't spoke while we, I mean, we speak
online, but you know what I mean.
It's different when it's face toface on Zoom.
So it's been fun. Yeah, we're gonna have to meet
up in some other country. Maybe I'll meet you somewhere.
Well, it's a three to five year plan, buddy, so you got time.

(01:23:57):
Save your pennies and then or save your fucking EUR and then
you can come visit. I got my EUR ready to go, man.
Yeah, exactly. And Jimmy, if you're listening,
we're gonna have to get that sound a little bitch on here too
at some point. And maybe we can do the official
Santa Teresa reunion. Yeah, well, me and French are
gonna be together soon, so. Oh yeah, well, I mean, I'm sure

(01:24:20):
your boys will have plenty to do, but maybe if there's a
couple spare minutes we can we can hop on the call.
Yeah, this guys not hammered outof his mind.
Yeah, well actually that would be better for it anyways.
That'd be more entertaining. I don't know if you listen to 1
episode, I went on and did an interview after a night out, so
I was like 2:30 in the morning. Actually, that was in.
Yeah, that was Scotland, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That was Mackey Boy in Santa Teresa.

(01:24:42):
So yeah, that was a that was a classic.
Oh yeah, what a night that was. What a week that was, buddy.
That was a while the week. Some things can't be shared.
Anyways, buddy, I appreciate youcoming on.
Obviously we'll we'll chat for abit after I stop recording here.
But yeah, I just want to say thanks again.
Yeah, no problem. That's it for today's episode.

(01:25:06):
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