Hotel Charf Tangier

... it was a big thing. There were lots of beggars and it<br>certainly wasn&#8217;t one of the most traditionally African cities. The food is really varied here, lots of<br>pizza, Spanish, French, even Austrian, Japanese, Chinese. Maybe it was because<br>we are from Melbourne which has so many immigrants and different shops, food<br>dishes etc, but Tangier was a favourite definitely.<br><br>We found a<br>fantastic little Italian restaurant and ate fresh handmade pasta. Later we<br>found dad ...

... kids walking to school with their backpacks - small groups of men walking, some gawking...some not - women in their djellabas...some in groups, some alone - men rummaging through garbage - the typical stray cats and dogs - travelers with their backpacks getting to their next destination - men hanging out in doorways ...

... anything... Markets here include spice, olive, teapot, carpet, pastry, and antique cookware shops. All of this combined was almost sensory overload, what an amazing place! Being perhaps the only white people in Tangier (we met up with a Brit who was walked around the town with us) we definitely stuck out and had lots of stares. Dinner near the water was chicken, spiced rice, and veggies - delicious and wonderfully cheap at about $3.

As expected for getting to bed at 6:30am, it was a brutal 7:45am wake up call. Our stuff was pretty much packed anyway, and checking out and getting a cab were fairly painless. We already had our bus tickets in hand, so it was a question of making sure we were at the right bus stop and then clambering on the fairly comfortable bus. Fitful sleep followed along with constant glances at our watches to make sure we were on track to get into town on time for the 11am ferry. <br ...

Buenas Amigos Mios, Hey guys, just thought I would give you a follow up on our trip to Marruecos (Morocco). Wow, talk about one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life! You can´t even imagine how people live there! The poverty was just crazy. It was so sad at times to see some of the kids or those who were living on the streets in the Medina (town center). The world has so much to teach you if you just listen. I´ve been finding myself ...

... out of town where they kept monkeys in cages and there was only one other tent. Why only one other tent? Because by the time you pay for a taxi out there and add on showers which are extra then your night spent not sleeping on a hard ground surface costs you the same amount as the cheap hotel with rooftop views in the centre of town. We have decided to put the tent away for now and take the rooms. Upon entering Morocco we are immediately made aware that ...

... town we pass through has long lines of thatched market stalls stuffed chock-a-block with melons - mainly watermelons, but also rock melons and honeydew melons. Nothing else seems to be grown here but you wonder where they are grown - as far as the eye can see there are dry, dusty fields with not a skerrick of greenery. In fact they look like carefully cultivated fields of small rocks. Essaouira is about 200kms away on the Atlantic coast and for kilometres before our arrival ...

... dit, moi j'y comprends rien, Marc fait le doux mariole, Amélie capote d'être une touriste, elle qui a toujours été punk en voyage... Entre nous, d'ailleurs, le doute s'insinue : qu'est ce que le racisme ? Nous ? Les rapports économiques mondialisés ? La berbère qui s'approche, toute mielleuse, pour nous cracher au visage sitôt nous nous avouons "walous", paumés ??? You bet, qu'on est pauvre, madame ! Si si, c'est pour ça d'ailleurs qu'on a pas une ...

... interesting as most any illness can be cured by one of the ten products he showed us. Most people bought a small item or two including me. Lee and I are both hoping the product I bought (I can´t remember what he called it) will help my feet and shoes smell a little better. I think the product is also good for memory but I´m not sure. Ali was really outstanding as a tour guide. He kept us on schedule despite slow service at lunch and made the most of our ...

... a walk until i got fed up of the attention i was relieving, hopped in a cab to find the meeting point hotel, hoping to find my tour leader who can point me in the correct direction of a budget hotel. And in steps my angel with wings. Now i call Manuela this, because as i was standing in that hotel lobby, i think she sensed my lost feeling, and approached me. She, also is doing the tour and was staying at that ...