Le Dawliz Hotel Tangier

... why but it was a big thing. There were lots of beggars and it
certainly wasn’t one of the most traditionally African cities. The food is really varied here, lots of
pizza, Spanish, French, even Austrian, Japanese, Chinese. Maybe it was because
we are from Melbourne which has so many immigrants and different shops, food
dishes etc, but Tangier was a favourite definitely.

We found a
fantastic little Italian restaurant and ate fresh handmade pasta. Later we
Tangier, Morocco shanemilli

... 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.
Tangier, Tanger-Tétouan, Morocco mvenkat007

... is absolutely neccesary. Languages spoken here are Berber; Arabic and French so we are out of luck in the communication stakes.We are trying to learn some basic Morrocan Arabic like how to say no thank you, toilet, water, how much? and bugger off. We took a room at Victoria pension on Mokhtar Ahardan Alley for 100 dirham which was around AU$16 for both of us including shower water, rooftop views to the Strait Of Gibralter and turkish style squat toilets ...

... in the women, in their features and eyes, but also in how they dress and walk. Alison is at he end of the Moroccan part of her trip so I drop her off and say goodbye at Casablanca airport, then drive past an enormous smoking rubbish dump with lots of people and cows fossicking about into the crowded and chaotic city. Th name Casablanca conjures up visions of the famous film of that name starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, but the current reality is a far cry from ...

... l'entrée, en arabe. Lire l'arabe, lettre par lettre. Zhal, Alef, Dhal... Zaa'had ou Zahad ou Zaaaaaaaaaaaad ? Cours d'arabe par Youssef, écouté par ses domestiques, derrière. Gentil, Youssef: Il va égorger un lapin pour nous. Penser à Laurence. "Tu es chrétien ? -Non. -Muslim ? -Non. Je crois pas en Dieu." Les yeux en point d'interrogation de Youssef. "Dieu te pardonne, tu es une bonne personne, intelligent. Reprend du thé". Je pense ...

... a bank to find the exchange rate and then stopped by an atm. Turns out the DH was something like 8 to the euro. It was particularly distressing, not knowing even how to say "how much is this or that?" We bumbled along, stared at by people: for my long shorts? For Sneeze's halter top? For our whiteness? Probably for all of these things. We passed a group of schoolchildren, and a little boy kicked my leg. Why? Nobody knows! After ...

So here I am in Morocco, the ferry (conveniently) runs between Tarifa and Tangier, my meeting point for the tour I am about to start. I think i may have turned up to Tangier with a bit too much confidence. No guidebook, map, accommodation or knowledge of the language, French or Arabic.. I was just assuming, after Spain there would be some kind of tourist info booth or facility with maps or alike, but no, so i went ...