Travelling with Chooks

We travelled today from Marrakech to El-Jedida, a distance of 180km by bus and it took us 4.5 hours! Should have been straightforward right? Wrong! Nothing is ever simple in the 'East'. But it is always guaranteed to give you a story to tell!
We popped in to the bus station in Marrakech a couple of days prior to work out how we go about it and to potentially pre-book a ticket. After being accosted at every turn by touts (who get a commission from the company they talk you into travelling with) we finally saw a window advertising our destination. This is easy we thought - but no cos this was the only window without a ticket seller at it! Then we went to the CTM counter (a reputable bus agency) but as they don't run buses to EJ the guy just pointed us back to the relevant window. Eventually we were able to work out that we ant prebook but have to turn up on the day of travel and get s seat on the next available bus.
So we arrive early to catch the 8:30am bus we'd been told about, run the entire gamut of touts again only to learn that no, only a 9:30am bus is being run today!
So we buy our tickets (a cheap 50dh each - abt $7) are shown to a bus, hand over our pack to an old man to load it in the hold and of course pay him for the privilege 😉 and we get on the bus to wait! And wait! And wait!
But we don't wait all bored - we have a regular stream of sales people board the bus selling tissue packets, jewellery and even shoes (memories of bus and train travel in Sri lanka and other parts of SE Asia!)  Then a man gets on and starts holding forth passionately about something and Ben thought he was the driver giving us a safety demo! 😂 when he started handing something out Ben thought it was wet wipes as part of our travel experience!! But no he was selling some concoction that would make you feel so much better! Next up was someone selling a Vicks type cream which Ben bought!
Bus is half full so we keep making mini stops to pick up travellers on the way. We are the only 'tourists' on here so are a source of much entertainment and are given sidelong glances to full blown stares. There's no aircon but the roof vents are open and it's enough to cool us down when the bus is on the move.
There's a very long stop near a huge markets where the main commodity seems to be bales of hay. This sort of stop is where you would usually stretch your legs and buy something to eat and drink ... But it is Ramadan so that's not an option. By this stage both Ben and I are getting headaches - no breakfast and only surreptitious sips of water. Another sales man promising to turn your lungs from black and toxic to clean and pink passed around photos and does a full demo that was a bit like magic! Finally we load on a few market goers along with their produce - one woman even had a clutch of live chickens (what is the collective name for about 6 chooks who've been tied together in such a way that you can just grab the bit of rope and lift the whole lot up - not nice for that chooks but easy for the owner!). In they went into the hold with our bags!!
Hot and hungry though we were, the life and moments we were driving past were fascinating and it kept us entertained. The highlight was cuddling our neighbour's baby for about an hour. Anwar was an adorable 6 month old and was so chill - probably glad to be getting some attention and seemed fascinated by my voice and Ben's sunnies. He was just happy to sit and stare at us all cuddled up against me as I pointed out the world outside the windows to him. Clucky?? Yeah .. But nah!!
So headache and all it was an experience we wouldn't have wanted to miss!