Asilah & Rabat

December 20^th, 2025

It rained fairly hard overnight and I awoke to a big one-inch puddle outside my van where there were ducks digging their beaks into the mud to find some sustenance.  I had been a bit concerned about how early I was going to be woken up that morning from the roosters that were roaming the property, but surprisingly they weren’t bad in the morning.  Not only were there ducks and chickens, but a nice big turkey and even a peacock at the campsite.

 

I got on the road around 11 am and my first stop of the day was less than half an hour away.  I had read that the town of Asilah was worth checking out, with an old, fortified medina complete with white and blue painted buildings.  I found a parking lot just outside one of the main gates which was also by a small harbour.  Being only my second full day in Morocco, it wasn’t surprising that I got a bit ripped off on the parking fee.  The guy asked for 30 dirhams in French and without fulling thinking about it, I gave him the money.  Well, that was definitely too much, but I didn’t stress too much about it as we were only talking about 2-3 dollars wasted.

The entrance to the little port of Asilah.

One of the towers of the medina of Asilah.  The entrance is just to the right of the tower.

Immediately after exiting my van, a man with curly hair and holding some red looped string in his hands approached me and started chatting with me.  He seemed nice enough.  It’s a funny thing being a Westerner.  When a stranger approaches us and starts being friendly, we instantly think “What does this guy want?” and our Spidey senses start tingling.  I had read a few blogs about travellers visiting Morocco who felt this way and then soon realized that they are just nice people who are interested in learning about you, where you come from and hope to make your time pleasant in their country.  But there are also touts or vendors so you have to give it a minute to find out which one they are.  This guy continued with me just into the medina and I thought he was going to want to be my guide, but then he asked if I smoked (not sure what substance he was inferring and whether he was selling or looking to bum a cigarette).  I said no, and he pointed me in the right direction and told me to have a nice day.  All good.  I never did find out what the loops of string he had were about.

 

Asilah’s medina was quite lovely, and not overly huge so it was a good introduction for me as I forayed into my first one on my visit to Morocco.  There were some lovely murals on the walls too.

Most buildings were painted blue and white.

This one is more at my artistic level...

This one, not so much.

Looking to the north along the coast

Looking south.

Now north.

Outside the medina.  I had a strange older woman babbling to me, I'm not sure in what language, for the last 100 meters before I exited the medina.  Thankfully some other local lady started talking to her and I lost her.

Half an hour later I had circled around and was back at Octi, ready to continue my drive towards the Moroccan capital of Rabat, which was a little under 2 hours away.

Coming full circle to where I started.

Just like Tangier yesterday, I was a bit worried what the traffic and parking situation was going to be like entering the Rabat.  The city has less than half the population of Tangier at a little more than half a million and ranks seventh in Morocco so it shouldn’t be too bad.  As I exited the highway, I drove along a 4-lane boulevard lined with trees and it was immaculate.  Men in hi-vis vests armed with brooms and carts were sweeping the curbs. 

 

Then there was a long wall, over a kilometer in length, that had a small guard hut every 40 meters or so with at least two guards standing around.  There were numerous types of guards, some in red uniforms, white, green, camouflage, I’m guessing from different branches of the military.  Later, looking on Google Maps, I found out that it was the Royal Palace of Salé, but there’s not information about it as to whether it’s a royal residence or what.  I guessed that the high number of cleaners was to please the king, but there is also the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament starting this week in Morocco, so that might be a factor too.

 

I passed close to the airport, and the terminal was a lovely looking building with a wavy roof, but there was no way for me to snap a photo of it.  Then there was a beautifully shaped skyscraper standing all alone which I later discovered was the Mohammed VI Tower…more about that later.

Arriving into central Rabat.

The first parking lot I had on Google Maps was full but the next one, right by the ocean where big waves were crashing in, had space and the parking lot attendant was super friendly.  I paid 1/3 of what I paid in Asilah and asked him in French about this massive cemetery that was across the road.  He told me where the entrance was and I could cross through it to get to the medina.

The waves were crashing in.

By the coast, in the heart of the city, was this massive cemetery called the Sidi Al Khattab Cemetery or Martyr's Cemetery.  This is the first section.  See the wall on the left?  I'm going to pass through to the other side which is even bigger than what you see here.

Zoom in and see how the headstones go way into the distance.

I've never been in such a big and dense cemetery as this.

It was actually hard to know where, or if there was another exit.  There were only a few pathways and some of them were dead ends (no pun intended).

Look at that...incredible.

This is just outside of the cemetery, the place really has prime real estate.

The walls of Kasbah of the Udayas, which was just across the street from the cemetery.  In the distance is Mohammed VI Tower, also known as the O Tower.  I went inside the kasbah to take a look.

This massive door was just inside the kasbah.  I didn't actually see it on the outside walls so I'm not sure what is on the other side.

There were a few little stores on the main street of the kasbah.

The view from the far end of the kasbah.

Another entrance along the main wall.

After checking out the kasbah, my next landmark destination was the Hassan Tower, about a twenty-minute walk away and I could pass through the medina on route, so I would be killing two birds with one stone.

Into the medina of Rabat.  You can see a bunch of police on the left.

It's prayer time as I walk through the medina.

Approaching the Hassan Tower.

A couple of mounted guards at the entrance.

In 1191, the construction of the Hassan Tower and what would have been an enormous mosque, probably the biggest in the world, began.  However, when the ruler at the time, Yaqub al-Mansur, died in 1199, construction of the mosque ceased.  In the 20^th century the site was excavated and carefully reconstructed to the point it was at back in 1199, and that’s what we see today.

Just inside what would have been the mosque.

The tower is 44 meters tall, but it was originally planned to be 64 and maybe even 80 meters.

The old and the new...

Standing amongst the unfinished columns for the mosque.

In 1961, the king Mohammed V died and a mausoleum was constructed, which took 10 years.  It’s located at the opposite end from the Hassan Tower.

The Mausoleum of Mohammed V.

This view looking back from the mausoleum gives you an idea how big the mosque would have been.

There was a guard in red at each entrance.

One of the four guards in each corner of the upper level where the public can walk around.

Inside the mausoleum.  The coffin of the former king.

On the lower level, I saw this man, I assume an imam, walk out, sit down and start praying with a Quran in front of him.  He sat in the top right of the previous photo.

The lovely domed ceiling.

Looking across to the other side of the upper balcony.

Another, zoomed in, view of the impressive Mohammed VI Tower.  Standing at 250 meters with 55 storeys, it is the tallest building in Morocco and the 3rd tallest in Africa!  It was just completed in 2025.

I had to surreptiously take a photo of this lady.  Did you just roll out of bed?!?  She's got fuzzy slippers and what looks like fuzzy pyjamas on.

These guards were fine with people taking pictures with them.  They were serious, but not stone faced.

I had to take a photo of this couple to remind me.  A minute earlier, the woman who is wearing the full niqab (a burqa with just a slit for the eyes), took a selfie.  I just got a kick out of that for some reason.

I can't help but see three people on a tobaggan...

The red bit in the middle of the photo is a light rail train.  It's all decked out with advertising for the Africa Cup of Nations, a biennial tournament like the World Cup of soccer/football, which is being held in Morocco while I'm here.  I plan to catch a match next Friday!

Back into the medina for my walk back to Octi.

On my walk back to Octi, I passed through the medina again and I heard boys playing football...I just got the tailend of a goal celebration!

What a lovely door, I think to someone's home.

Do you pick door #1, door #2 or door #3?

On the top is Arabic writing, but I had to look up the bottom language as I had also seen it on highway signs.  It's called Tamazight and it's a Berber language.

On my drive out of the city, I lucked out and ended up between some VIP, maybe a member of the royal family or something.  At every intersection, a policeman would stop all the other traffic to let this car through, with Octi tailing right behind, and they would salute whoever was in the BMW (which is worth over $100,000).

My last view of the Mohammed VI Tower as I was driving by.

I didn’t want to stay in the city for the night, so I found a couple of “wilderness” options on my Park4Night app and drove about 45 minutes out of the city to find them.  They seemed a bit dodgy as it was essentially unpaved roads into a forest, and I had read some reviews about the ground getting sandy and there was a possibility of getting stuck.  I got my van stuck just off a paved road in New Zealand in 2019 and had to get a local farmer to pull me out…I didn’t want to repeat that, even though Octi definitely has better tires than Betty 2.0 had.  So I opted for another nearby spot on the app which was just a big parking lot by a gas station and a McDonald’s.  It worked out just fine and I had a decent night’s sleep.

 

Next, I’m on to the biggest city of the country, Casablanca!