Dar Meziana Hotel Chefchaouen

... 45 minutes, we were high enough to see that another mountain further East was the one we wanted. We scuffled down the rocky dirty hillside and managed to get to the foot of the correct mountain without loosing too much time. Then, after about 25 minutes on the right trail, Kim decided to take a "short cut" that led us directly up the gorge of two mountains, instead of going the "long way" around. There was an occasional goat and sheep herder trail to ...

Chefchaouen is at the base of the Riff Mountains which is most famous for its cultivation of Marijuana. As I walked around the streets I was constantly asked if I would like to partake in the local delicacy. It started to get annoying. It appears that there is a market selling the stuff to tourists.



I walked to the Medina part of town and had breakfast in a small family run restaurant. The owner Mohamed was very ...

... not on our schedule and the only reason we went there was because our friends Erin and Jason had done some recovering of their own there a few months back. It was a wonderful little place and reminded us of many other little "chill" towns dotted around the globe. We were lucky enough to hit this one after discovery and before an inevitable slide into over-tourism. It was the perfect "Morocco-lite" for us to ease back into this "other" kind of traveling. We also lost our colds!

We woke up early this morning, and after a lukewarm and grubby shower Dan dosed up heavily on some stomach meds to combat the recent resurgence of a stomach bug that had been plaguing us both over the last few days.  Making our way outside to find a taxi, we were all too willing to pay the $2 Canadian to get a ride to the bus station, rather than walk the 20min uphill laden with packs.  About an hour later we were riding the almost empty bus to ...

Chaouen (or Chefchaouen) is a nice a calm little town. During the morning we visited some plantations nearby, and the rest of the day we took to simply stay at the hotel during the hot hours (13-17h) and then we went around the town, it is really lovely, I think I took a million pictures of blue and white houses. Every corner of the town is worth a visit. We had dinner at a more moroccan place ...

... and got boxes for us - we packed them up, filled out the forms, paid and were on our way in about 40 mins....! Back at the hotel I chilled and read - stomach isn't feeling right - all bloated and tight...I went for a walk to get some panadol - a quick trip to the medina I was stocked up. We met at 11.30am and walked the 10 mins to the bus station down by the port for the 12.15 bus. They weighed all our bags (125kg for 10 people - we ...

... everything is overpriced and people try to take advantage of you. Other than that, we soaked up the sun, took some nice walks and enjoyed each other's company. The cab ride back was a lot better as well. Sorry not to write a lot, I just don't feel in the long winded mood right now. The pictures should speak for themselves.

... all have strong wills and open minds and took the experience for what it is. At least we know it`s fresh. The rest of the time was spent exploring and of course, trying the food. We had some lovely mint tea and "Thousand Paper" cake. Mmmmmm...... Our campsite tonight overlooks the valley and the village and the mood is good, so I`ll ditch this computer now and go and have a beer with the group Love you all D & T

... thought I had missed it when they told me the bus was at 1200 and my watch said 1pm, until they pointed to a clock and I realized I apparently crossed a time zone, and had gained 2 hours. Waiting for the bus, I had already started to get a sense of what was in store for me. I had trouble making eye contact with men, or even getting them to respond to a question. in Islamic culture, women are subservient to men. The y will not aknowledge a woman alone who is ...

... being sponsored by the Spanish concrete industry and UK Pension Funds. Its a little bit out there, but there is some currency in the general idea. At Alicante port we are given no news on visas, but advised to head to the consulate in town. Its a public holiday in Algeria, and embassies are of course slave to anything that allows them to reduce the amount of those hectic 10.00 - 13:00 working days, but we are told that if you bang on the door loud enough, someone will ...