Chellah Tangier

... and got a taxi. We drove through the new part of town which was big roads,
clean, even a McDonalds. The train station was big new and clean, we bought the
tickets easily and were on the train.

We got a cabin to ourselves until about
ten minutes to departure and then it filled up with late comers. Grr.

We left the
beautiful rose city and went out into arid hills and paddocks. There were
overgrown spiky cactus everywhere, and I recognised the bright flowery ...

... We were greeted in Tanger by an empty hall with all the promises of sorting us out with the essentials such as maps, money and information, but failed to deliver anything of the kind. There were 2 exchange booths, both unmanned. There was an information desk; unmanned. No map. We just headed out the door and grabbed one of three beige Mercedes Benz cabs into Tanger central. The cabbie spoke about 3 words of English but we managed to get dropped ...

... bargained with, pleaded with, offered all manner of trinkets, leather goods, belts, cards and the like. I tried putting off my bevy of salesmen by telling them I had no money. Go and hassle a rich Americano. Strangely the Americans near me didn't think that was such a good idea. The barter and banter was very good natured and often humorous but very persistent. One of the Texan women I was walking with said she would not feel safe walking alone through ...

... skills are good now that we have done all the shopping we intend to do and been severely ripped off of course. The next day we hit the little beach and listened to music on the ipod. I successfully scavenged on the beach for some scraps of the beautiful, kaleidoscopic designed, Moroccan tiles that are used all over town. Of course the dreaded small town stalkers got wind of us being in town and before we knew it we had an entourage of ...

... shopkeeper over the price of some skirts. We also made an excursion to the Hercules Caves. Once a quarry for millstones, they're now a tourist destination because they constitute the fabled Gateway to Africa. Perched at the northernmost tip of Morocco, directly across the strait of Gibralter from Spain, they symbolize the gateway between the two continents. The fact that the cave opening forms the shape of Africa doesn't hurt.

... dumped us off in the "center" (actually right at the edge of the town) and pretended he didn't have the appropriate change for our money in a not-so-subtle effort to get the rate he originally wanted.  We finally paid him in euros and said good riddance.  Next we needed to find somewhere to stay.  The hotels for tourists are few and far in between, so good rates are very difficult to find.  Again armed with knowledge from Diana's experience in Tunisia ...

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Something funny happened in the evening in Casablanca, before I left for Marrakesh the next morning. I was sitting at a fountain reading, and waiting for sunset when the restaurants might open, and was approached by a young guy. He sat down and first asked if I was looking for a restaurant or wanted to buy something, so I figured he was a typical tout. But then he slid over right next to me and, saying something about "Moroccan karate," hooked his foot around my ...

... I cought a

tour--well at least I THINK I did...not really sure.... All I know is

that there was some confusion in the beginning as far as me even

getting off the boat because the police hadnīt stamped my passport...so

I missed the tour Iīm not totally sure I was supposed to be on. (I had

planned on just wandering around alone, but glad things worked out the

way they did) So some ...