100% Fun Tarifa

Its another scorchingly hot day as i leave the small town of Casares behind and head down the hills towards the coast and Algeciras. I'm picking up three couch surfers ...an American, a German and an Estonian. I'm beginning to regret offering the lift as having stowed two tents, two thermarests, a stove, water, wetsuit, a cool box and my own gear there is little room for anyone else's luggage.. By chance the railway station and the bus station are opposite each other in ...

... as we left. Amen. It was now my turn and Carrie generously gave me 2 rights and 1 left. There are some photos that we took in transit to this next bar, but this is where aliens began transporting my memories to their mother ship. Carrie did help me reconstruct one of them : there was a group of people carrying a huge float-like stack of wood. We asked them what it was for, and they said they were practicing for an Easter ...

... so I walked the 4 miles back to the Old Town. No sooner had I arrived when I was followed by a guy wanting to show me about. I kept telling him no thanks, but he followed me everywhere, telling me he just wanted to practice his English. Then he said something which made me think. "One mosquito is better than a thousand." This is very true, and if he was with me, then the rest of the drug addicts in Tangiers would leave me alone, so I let him be my ...

... bus got into Tarifa at midnight and we trekked around town looking for a good value room. The room we settled on was at Hostal Dora where the night shift guy was a complete Homer Simpson package with TV dinner and all. He only mumbled so we had no idea what he was saying to us in response to our questions about the Moroccan ferry the following day. Tarifa had a pirate store open 24 hours, more pirate evidence. Tarifa is an absolute mecca for kitesurfers ...

... we would drive through the small towns we would get a huge number of not only locals but also tourists on coaches coming over to gawk at the truck. I recon the tourists were just jealous of our clearly more superior vehicle. who needs air con when you can roll up the windows and feel the wind in your face??? We also loved to wave at the kids as we drove past. though they probably loved it more. When walking through the Souks all the men would try to get ...

... alcohol is not licensed for Dars as Rachel had suggested). The bread basket was followed by a trio of "salade": roasted peppers/tomatoes, grated cucumber & vinegar, and a pumpkin puree w/ almonds. The girls probably favored the pumpkin as it was not sweet, but like our pumpkin pie. Was surprised to see them dig into all 3. The kabobs and vegetables arrived along with Katies omelette. Rachel came out with each dish and ...

... and heavily armored firefighters were gathering about the train and on the platform- we never did find out what happened though. After getting on the wrong train though and adding a few hours of stuffy, super crowded (they sure could use the Japanes style 'people pushers' on these trains) travel to our day- with our piles of bags that blocked doors, tripped people, and made a general mess for everyone as we apologized ...

I have made it half way! It has been not altogether pleasant really, getting here. I clearly underestimated the wear there would be on my body and the pain that would entail. A comfortable pair of bike shoes that is good for 100 miles, no problems, is not good for consecutive rides of nearly 100 miles. Not mine, anyway.
Looking back on the last few days, it has been magic. I have seen ...

... port, and we got suckered out of 5 euros for it. AND it was closed. We asked around and found a room for 10 euros a piece. We went exploring a little and came upon a lovely plaza with a book fair in progress. I bought a big copy of Don Quijote for 6 euros. I won't read it, but it looks nice. After relaxing a little we found an Internet cafe. After a dinner of cheese and bread, we went to bed.

... the trots yet so I may have got away with it) His pension was considerably cleaner and smarter looking than mine, a fact reflected in the price, however there was a cockroach in there which is something I have not come across. I guess its all swings and roundabouts, and my swing was much cheaper. We then wandered round the town for a couple of hours before returning to our respective pensions. I have his address in Slovenia to send a ...