Hotel Babel Nador Oujda

Well I have finally topped a small goal of mine, I have now visited 50 countries (countries according to my country book)...(I haven't completely updated all my trips on here, hence the 43 rather than 50) It was a great weekend! It is a completely different lifestyle to ...

The Odyssey of Gretta... originating with my new home, a 1991 Fiat Camper purchased in the Netherlands. A combination of personal pursuits, passion and work. I bought a one way ticket from San Diego, California to Milano, Italia and wrapped up my life into one backpack and my ski bag. I sold the condo, my automobile, most of my junk, and stored some golf clubs, a cowboy hat, and a few clothes with my friend/boss... and with that departed on a new adventure ...

Nador in Morocco borders Melilla in Spain. We got here so early in the morning that no one had checked out of their rooms yet and we had to wander, bleary-eyed from hotel to hotel trying to find an empty room. When we finally found one, we realized too late that their was no shower in the entire hotel. We also had to wake the proprietor up and he ushered us to a room (from the comfort of his bed). The room was lovely with rotting fruit left in ...

There are two ways to get to Oujda from Nador. One is along the coast and then down along the Algerian border, the other is through Berkane. I have driven both roads and I strongly recommend the coastal route. Just East of Nador is a small village called Karait Arkmane. The village is set on a lagoon and is surrounded by salt marshes. If you are a bird lover you will want to get off the beaten track and head ...

... can change as soon as an imaginary line is crossed. Well it's not such an imaginary one here and the recent events where 200 candidates to illegal immigration and rowdy passage are proof enough. The first few days are spent meeting the remaining of the crew. We'll be two aircrews here. Timothy and I are, in fact, waiting for the permission from the Algerian authorities to fly our aircraft into Algeria for another contract. Right away I feel at ease with the rest of the crew ...

... towns. There again I was surprised to see the diversity of beautiful places. When this country opens fully to tourism, I will return. And, the well-known muslim hospitality is definitely to be found in this region. The proximity with Morocco and Spain also made this part of Algeria a little bit more "liberal", although the religious precepts are still not to be questionned. As in many countries, the poverty and lack of ...

After doing nothing at the beach I hopped on the overnight ferry to Melilla, a little Spanish enclave within Morocco. Getting on the ferry I saw a sign that said "no knives" and so I told the guard checking my ticket that I had a pocket knife. "Big or small?" he asked (like it would matter if I wanted to attack with it!). "Small" I replied, "to eat" (I wasn't quite sure how to say "to prepare food" in Spanish but I think he worked out that I'm not the sword ...

... bean soup cooked over a slow flame. A fellow diner told told us it was the best breakfast in Morocco. He was Spanish, but has lived here for many years. You can't help getting into conversations when you sit down to eat at local places like this. At night we joined the celebration at the medina, which was packed with people, like New Year's Eve in the west. There was a stage show, Arabic music alternating with Berber ...

We went up to the kasbah this morning, hoping to find the harira stall someone had shown us last night after we had the pea soup. It was closed, so we went back to the same stall as last night and had another filling meal of the pea soup and bread. We talked (in French) to a policeman who was eating there. He said the harira stall was only open at night and that the pea soup was made from "Foule ...

We had a very scenic bus ride through the Rif mountains to the lovely town of Chefchaouen, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. While waiting for the bus we had a boccadillo for the first time. It is a baguette packed with a big serving of several types of salads, then covered with hot chips - very filling, economical and healthy - apart from the chips. The CTM buses are very comfortable and modern but there is always confusion about seat numbers, which are posted ...