Hotel Parador Chefchaouen

... village?!<br><br>btw, I sent you all postcards today so hopefully you'll get them before I get home. LOL, at first I merely asked for stamps and waved my postcards - he sold me 7.8 Dh stamps for each and I went on my merry way. Had a lovely lunch in the Plaza and wrote you all a bit, and when I returned to mail them - I happened to mention that they're headed for "America" and he kindly replied that I needed *2* stamps for each. Apparently 1 stamp would have only ...

Chefchaouen is a gorgeous city situated in the mountain along a natural spring that trickles down through the village through from a cave in the mountains.  Its color palette is breathtaking in every shade of blue on could imagine.  Although it rained for most of the morning we were ...

... great for us as our combined Spanish is vastly superior to Jeff's minimalist French capabilities. Actually, just about everyone in town was very friendly especially if you wanted to smoke things that are illegal in the US! So far, the food here had been a bit of a disappointment. The single most obvious exception to this is the Harira soup, a tangy vegetable broth with unknown noodlish things floating in it which was excellent. We found ourselves ...

Yay first sleep in. Up at 8.45. Took down tent, organised ourselves then headed into town with Kelvin and Ania. Walked the lanes painted white and blue which were really pretty. Apparently blue keeps the mozzies away. Boys got their heads shaved so girls went on internet. Still not meant to be traveling through Mauritania so not sure what we're doing ...

... or Fes. The lady at the riad in Meknes though brewed us some lavender, rosemary, mint and something else tea which really eased our suffering and bums. In Fes we lashed out 85euros a night for a nice place ran by these two Americans who have been living away for ages and done up their dar (a flash riad). She made us soup and suggested a pharmacy to buy some over-the-counter antibiotics which cleared us up. Now we are in a ...

... I passed the washer woman by the river cleaning rugs, carpets and clothes then walked up the path for the 2km trek to see the ruined mosque. There was ************e around and I had the track to myself and made it up there in about 20 mins -- the views over Chefchaouen were excellent and I highly recommend checking it out. Lots of blues, whites and terracottas - it reminded me a little of Jodhpur in India - except 100 times cleaner ...

Bus out of Fes to the village of Chefchaouen saw us leave the desert dry and surround ourselves in lush fertile mountains and the infamous Rif (they´re not famous for growing tomatoes here!). Adopted by local lad who was happy to help us to our accommodation in the hope that we`d make a small purchase of contriband. Hear those alarm bells? Hotel was a nice blend of zellij tiling, raised bed and a familiar lack of right angles. Staff ...

... quite amusing). We sat around waiting in this steamy, hot room surrounded by women undressing and dressing, with all inquisitive eyes on my "strange" underwear (so Mum tells me, I was quite oblivious). We were unsure what to do next, but soon we were led into a fully tiled corridor, then into a little cell. The cell was in darkness for a few minutes and Mum whispered to me "this is like Auschwitz!" Luckily the lights went on and the room was not filled with gas. There was a ...

After 23 hours driving we got straight into the Rif and settled in Bab-Taza, where we rested and had food and got som hash for the whole trip, we stayed at somefriends place where we ate great home made food consisting in grapes, beef, eggs and olive oil accompained with the greates bread I've ever ...

... from the onslaught of people that I forgot about this and took the first offer. upon arriving in Chefcaouen and checking into a hotel, I attempted to navigate the streets and get a sense of direction. Anytime I walked outside my hotel, I was harrassed by another 'unofficial tour guide', someone wanting to show me around, and then expect me to empty my pockets for their services. I went around with one of these tour guides initially, as they pose as ...