Sefrou

I took a Grand Taxi to the tiny town of Sefrou today.  Its much calmer than crazy Fes and a welcome relief from all the chaos.  I believe I prefer the smaller towns of Morocco to the larger, more touristy areas (although they have a draw, too).

A word about taxis here...Morocco actually has pretty extensive means of public transportation - from an interesting set up of Grand or Petit Taxis to lots of buses and trains.  The Petit Taxis are tiny little cars that stay within one city and operate similarly to taxis in the States, although they can only allow up to 3 passengers. They can be a bit confusing if someone is already in the car when you join or if the taxi picks up additional passengers along the way, but they are very cheap and reliable. 

Grand Taxis are a little different - they are old Mercedes and they are only allowed to go on fixed routes between set destinations.  The first challenge in finding a Grand Taxi is figuring out where to catch the one that goes to the location youre trying to reach. GT stands are scattered throughout the cities, and of course none of them are labeled - you just have to know!  Once you find the correct Grand Taxi stand, you have a couple of options. The charge for a GT is a fixed amount per seat from point A to point B.  If you cant wait for the GT to fill up with other passengers before leaving, or if you just want the vehicle to yourself, then you can buy all of the seats and effectively charter the car for yourself.  This morning I wanted to get the real Moroccan experience, so I bought my single seat in a GT from Fes to Sefrou and plastered myself up against the inside of the car door to make room for the other three passengers shoved in the backseat with me.  Along with the two passengers in the front seat and the driver, seven people ride in each GT from point A to point B.  The amazing thing about this is the dirt cheap price - my seat cost only 10 dirhams...the equivalent of about $1 USD.  So, for a 30-35 minute ride to another town, the driver raked in a whopping six bucks.  Im not sure how that even covers the cost of his gas, but here I am.

I have no real agenda today, just wandering around Sefrou to check it out.  Ive already made friends with the proprietor of this internet cafe, so maybe an adventure will come of that!  I hear there are people not far from here who actually live in caves and will invite you into their homes for a visit - that sounds interesting...