Hotel Al Kalaa

I was relieved to be on the bus to Chefchaoen from Tetouan. I managed to find the bus station there and apparently they have direct bus services to the mountain town. I’m sure that there would have been a bus ride from Tangier to Chefchaoen and it was only now that I realized that since I’m already arriving late, I should have taken a bus from Tangier immediately instead of having to worry about finding the bus station at Tetouan. Anyway, I still made it to Chefchaoen in one piece. The town is in a mountainous area and I can understand why the trip took that long. The roads here are small and the bus won’t be able to go that fast because of numerous bends. By the time I got to Chefchaoen it was already starting to get dark. I needed to get to my hotel from here.

The weather wasn’t very good when I got there. The rain seems to be even worse here. I had a look at Google Maps to figure out where the Hotel Al Kalaa it seems like it isn’t a very far walk. So I decided to walk instead of getting a cab. The cabbies would find you and they would badger you no end. I was even asked if I wanted some weed but I didn’t come here for that. Looking at the map, it looked like it was going to be an easy walk. However, what Google Maps doesn’t show you is how high it goes. Apparently, the bus station was below the mountain and the hotel and the main town was on top of a mountain. I had already committed to walking with my heavy backpack in the rain. In my mind I just wanted to get to the hotel and freshen up. The climb wasn’t terribly bad though I don’t fancy myself doing this again.

Hotel Al Kalaa is a hotel along the main road to the medina. It has some view of the mountains but most of time you would just see the road below. The rooms weren’t luxurious by any means but they have a heater and hot shower. The bedroom doesn’t look like it belongs to a hotel but rather looks more like someone else’s house. The bathroom even more so. I was given a room which faces the street which I thought was great but bear in mind that you would hear everything that is going on in the streets. The bed has that strange cushion which produces a hammock effect. It seems to be quite common here. It is not that uncomfortable as I soon got used to it. The staff can speak some English so I was able to get some information from them. I was given a welcome drink of Moroccan tea, it was a godsend in this rainy evening. Apparently, the gate to the old medina is very near the hotel. I refused to believe them until I walk there myself. I guess the maps could be quite misleading.

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