El Muniria Tangier

... and there were markets and stalls
aplenty there so we decided to go straight there.

We got on the
train to Tangier in the rainy cool weather. We passed rural farms with people
living in little tents on the edge of their crops to more easily tend the land.
There were fields of the big yellow fruits we had seen for sale, and often the
train stopped for twenty minutes here and there by these paddocks. At one point
it seemed we were stopped because another train ...

... abandoned streets wondering what the hell we were doing in Tanger at all before giving up and going back to the hotel room.

At about 1:30am I woke up to incredible street nose, looked outside, and there was everyone. Apparently everyone who lives here is nocturnal. Still, I didn’t see many tourists. Who ever put all that info I found on the web about Tanger being a great day trip from Europe certainly pulled a great one over on me ...

... going this way and that. We didn't know at this stage that the morning run of the ferry to Tangier had been cancelled because the captain thought it was too rough. Mmm. However no drama. It had calmed considerably and at a steady 50 knots we crossed in 35 minutes on schedule, got through the Spanish customs and passport control , on the bus and trundled past the bulk of Gibraltar on its peninsula from the Spanish mainland, through huge concentration s ...

... chests, and from what I can tell they just threw me in with this group. We were dragged on a "special walking tour" of the old town, which in reality meant being brought to certain designated shops and being pressured into buying something for a ridiculously high price. Our lunch was included, but when we arrived I was told to go and sit in the corner on my own because I didn't have a reservation. This suited me fine because ...

... da garrafa de amargura dele, um gin fajuto 37,5% misturado com sprite. Não consumia produtos Coca-Cola ha variadissimos anos, não bebia alcool desde os meus 18 anos (excepto a rara e ocasional caipirinha, sempre isolada), faço 27 este ano. No dia seguinte o Raki (nome do frustrado) pagou-me o almoço e depois mostrou-me o caminho para a estrada nacional, fazendo-me prometer que eu lhe contactaria ao chegar a Marrakech, que ele ia me proporcionar bons momentos.

... although I do have half a litre of water and a hat (and gloves and a light jacket). I follow a well-defined track for some time then climb a very steep zig-zag path to a pass from where I have a great view into the next valley which has a beautiful lake far below. However there are much higher mountains all around and I don't know which one is Toubkal. I spend the next 2-3 hours climbing a huge rocky outcrop above me then descending down treacherous scree slopes and ...

... locals we interacted with had agendas. We quickly became accustomed to the call of, "Tagine, cous cous, poullet, poisson," from the restaurant owners. The less shady types usually had something to sell, and the less desirables (including our good friend Abdel who we rented the flat from) tried to sell us hashish (incidentally Morocco is a leading supplier of marijuana to Europe). We did meet a few really nice people, though...and I remember in particular a ...

... different styles and qualities of rugs. They all looked fantastic to me as I tried to fathom how long it would take one woman to make a typical rug (2 months). They all looked so perfect. The owner and other salespeople at the store then tried to sell you a rug. I´m sure they were good values but it´s tough for a traveler to buy a big rug. A couple of people did though. Haggling was definitely the game though as prices were cut in half or more. The average ...

... sell fresh-squeewed (while you watch) juice, craft vendors with their blankets laid out, and a snake-charmer here and there. Around 5:00, they begin setting up food stalls. There are perhaps 20 or 30 of them, mobile restaurants, each with its own open kitchen and a few rows of benches. At these you can get decent cheap food in the most lively atmosphere. At the first one I visited, the "maître d'" served each bottle of Coke with a flourish, by using the back ...

... on a tour very few bothered us, but you

DEFINATELY couldn´t make eye contact with the men...they would

start with the cat calls. I DID make some friends on the tour...a

chick from Sacramento of all places. The only thing with the tour is

that, they take you to the places they´ve worked out a deal with... For

example, we went to the more expensive gift shops probably because the

Tangier, Morocco missyjoymel