Morocco Rambling Story

A great interview article in NYTimes.com blog with the author of "In Cheap We trust". The interview is a fun read, below is the part describing Lauren Moroccan experience.

My father and I went to Morocco in March. We took flights that were $750 each. He found the cheapest flight — otherwise we might have flown direct. Instead we had a 14-hour layover in Madrid. So we get to Casablanca at about 10 o’clock at night, and it turned out that the trains to the center of town had stopped running. We go outside to look into the taxi situation. The cost is, I think, 300 dirhams, which was about $35 or $40. And I could tell my father really didn’t want to do it. I mean, here we had just spent $1,500 and traveled 30 hours, but suddenly the idea of spending $35 was agonizing.

So we decided not to do it. We go back in. We’re sitting there for 10 minutes, my dad says, “Well, maybe we should take the cab.” This time we get our bags actually into the cab and the driver says, “It’s late, so it’s another 50 dirhams” — maybe another $6. And my father starts pounding on the trunk to get our bags out, which is a little embarrassing. And then we sit in the airport for two hours until the train leaves. Part of me was tempted to laugh about it or roll my eyes, but if I were by myself or with friends, it’s exactly what I would have done anyway.