Hotel Amir Plage Al Hoceima

... it was possible but Gavin seems to have some serious driving skills.

In Tetouan we hired a guide to show us around the city and take us to the local market where we saw the most mouth watering foods imaginable. Huge bowls of fresh olives, freshly baked breads and every fruit and vegetable imaginable. I could see why locals from the previous town recommended we stopped. Unfortunately we were then dragged to our guides recommended shops where we spent ...

... den gamle mannen en femtilapp for å ha fått oss til grensa, så forsvant han. Foran oss i køen traff vi en tysker som skulle i bryllup dit vi skulle, og lot oss sitte på. Vi var jævlig heldige at vi fant noen vi kunne stole. Vi fikk en iskald heinicken av dem og det var den beste øllen ever. Vi var trette, varme, superparnoide og hadde ikke drukket øl på hele turen, glemmer aldri den natten. Vi kom frem til Nador og skjekket oss inn på et hotell like ved der vi ...

... And once again, we enjoyed the peace of a non tourist city where touts are a missing species and affable Morrocans the norm. Yet, the desolate character of the city in low season prompted Mike to give up on his "day at the beach" plans and we left the very next morning for a 6 hours/200 km bus ride through the highest peaks of the Rif range. Yes, you calculated right : an average of 35 km an hour. Mountain road, you see.Magnificent scenery. A large array of plastic bags accompanied ...

... others who had made the trek the day before. We pick one and haggle down the price then begin the hour and a half march up the river. The walk begins slowly and easily on dirt packed paths and gravel walks. Easy, right? By the end of the hike, we have balanced precariously on the edges of cliff faces, traipsed across rope bridges, and waded through shoulder deep water carrying ...

... not allowed in. Once we get there, we collapse in the shade. The view is beautiful, and we stay for an hour, resting in the shade of the white washed remains. After we finish exploring the mosque, we head towards another on the opposite hillside, about an hours walk. We stumble through fields and more goat paths. We pass by a small shack where we met a 15 year old girl caring for her infant siblings. She ...

... white, the buildings are white, everything is in shqdes of white and blue. We eat dinner at a little cafe where we meet Crazy. No one knows his name, but he gets us great deals on stuff for the next few days; taxis, food, things at stores. He claims to speak 12 languages, and has the strngest accent. We stay in a fairly decent hotel, again on the roof. Its just too hot to sleep anywhere inside.

... we went with. I think my favourite part of Tetuan was how much we learned from our kick-ass tour guide. He really wanted us to get a feel for what life was like there, which isn´t always the stuff you learn when you´re touring a city. For example we learned that in the old days if a woman was alone in the house, she wasn´t allowed to answer the door for a guy unless it was her brother. If someone knocked on the door she´d yell out the only window ...

... in the city and it´s informative and everything but not quite as fun as it could be. This guy was incredible. He spoke Arabic (of course, he´s from Marruecos...he´s Marroqui), he spoke french, german, spanish, english and maybe russian but i don´t remember exactly. He taught us how to say thank you in Arabic, shacran (i´m making up the spelling, i just know how to say it). Every so often he´d be like, "Shacran. I love you." or "Shacran. I love you ...

... friendly and welcoming people everywhere here. The weather was hotter than yesterday, but not enough for us to want to swim in the cold sea. The chilly wind of yesterday has subsided. We were out the whole day from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Yoong has discovered a street food she likes - a little bowl of chick-peas at Martil. We joined the crowds in the street and ...

... call, said she'll have one for us tomorrow. We did find a couple of brochures we didn't yet have about places we are going to, but it's the usual poetry and pretty photos rather than anything of real use. We had a good lunch in a pizza and shawarma place and then had a coffee in one of the many French-style cafes where the chairs are on the pavement facing the passing crowds. Coffee here is about three quarters milk ...