There is still no direct flight connecting Japan and Morocco. So, we made use of Emirates Airline, which flew between Narita and Casablanca via Dubai of UAE.
This gave us difficulty. It was not the comfort of flight nor meal, etc. All of such things were very good. The problem was a long, long time in the plane!

The hard time in the plane on the way was mentioned in the 1st chapter. All the same with the way back. It was hard to spend totally 18 hours in there. The plane was not full, so the only luck for us was we could use 3 window seats.
Not feeling like preparing for this travelogue, I watched a couple of movies on the seat screen, listened to classical music and rakugo through the iPod. I was tired of everything.
Since minding reclining the seat enough, I could not sleep well. That was one of the reasons I was tired and bored. The time-passing speed was too slow forever.

With too much time to kill, I take out the documents from the bag and look at the map attached to the guidebook with blank eyes.
What places didn't I visit? The southern broad area of Sahara Desert is out of the question. But the sunrise at Shebi large sand dune near Erfoud will remain in my mind as a good memory, with the hard struggle during walking on the smooth sand.

The border area with Algeria to the east. To my regret, we had no time to go there.
The town called Oujda is located on the east side, connected by the expressway and the railroad from Fez on the west side. It had been under the control of the Algeria dynasty until 14th century, and was ruled by Turkey in the 17th century. It was also a protectrate of France in the 20th century. So complicated that it might have been worth visiting this town if the circumstances had been permitted.

Another area I would have visited is the north side of Morocco facing the Mediterranean Sea in an oblong way. Looking at the map with this sea in the center, a certain interest springs to my mind.
The Mediterranean Sea is, at a glance, a bay surrounded by Eurasian Continent from the west to the northeast, and by African Continent on the south. It is noted for the Mediterranean climate.
Its westernmost is Strait of Gibraltar, where it touches the Atlantic Ocean.
Going to the east, you see Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait at the upper rugged coastline, and the black Sea on the other side.
The lower side of the east is Suez Canal of Egypt, excavated in 19th century.
When passing through it and the Red Sea while watching the Arabian Peninsula to the east, it is the Indian Sea on the south side.
There are so many countries along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as follows.

We did not visit any place of Morocco Kingdom facing the Mediterranean Sea this time. It is my most regret.
There are still such towns of Spanish territory as Ceuta and Melilla, and so this area can be imagined to be deeply in Spanish culture.
The town Tanger is the entrance to Morocco from Europe, where the white streets and houses are said to look like those in Spain. It takes 1 hour by plane or about 6 hours by train from Casablanca. So, it would have been difficult to visit the town without some time of one or two days.

Our couple joined in the tour around Spain and Portugal for 10 days in May, 2005. If I had prepared for the history of both countries until the Reconquista, my experience would not only have seen the sights of the World Heritages. After that travel I had neglected its study. It was a pity I had to pay for the neglect during this tour around Morocco. Embarrassingly this kind of regret is usual to me.

The Reconquista lasted from 8th century to 15th century. In a one-sided talk, it occurred in Iberia Peninsula, or Spain and Portugal, when the Christian residents fought the war against the occupying Muslims for the recovery of the land robbed by them.
The war ended in 1492 when Granada of Spain was recovered.

The whole area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea had been ruled by Roman Empire for 300 years from the first century B.C. After that, Iberian Peninsula was affiliated with Visigothic Kingdom, and there the Germanic culture was fused to Roman and Christian cultures. Therefore it is a self-evident truth that Christianity took root more in Spain.
But from 8th century until Granada's fall in 1492, or Reconquista, Islamic government lasted.

During the previous trip around Spain, we visited several heritages of Islamic culture. Glorious Toledo, Mezquita in Cordoba, Alhambra Palace in Granada, ...

Even very brief, the map was helpful as a material to make me have such thought and illusion.
I put back every material for a while, thinking to look at the pictures of our trip around Spain when back at home.

Even a long journey has the end, too.
We finally landed at Narita Airport on the next day, Saturday, November 20, in the evening, at 5:30 pm. It was a flight of 18 hours from Casablanca via Dubai.
The immigration procedures took much time, so when getting to the lobby, we found the shuttle bus direct to Shin-Urayasu was over. It was cloudy, not cold.
We got on another bus to Kaihin-Makuhari Station, where took the train to Shin-Urayasu.
Our arrival home was just before 8:00 pm.