Ramada Les Almohades Tangier

... first<br>beer at a bar that served the only Moroccan brand, had pizza and went to bed as<br>the large groups of men all over the place were not giving off the nicest<br>vibes. Just too much staring, nothing more sinister, but hard to enjoy the<br>place. <br><br>The next morning<br>we got up and went to check out the train. We wanted to get to Fez but had seen<br>enough of Myknes which was supposed to be very similar. We were looking forward<br>to stopping a while on the coast in Tangier ...

... leaving the harbour, bound, no doubt, for places where restaurants were open and beer was served. We walked past 30 or so restaurants and discos. All closed. <br><br>I needed to get some cash out to pay for the ferry the next day so we headed to an ATM. It didn&#8217;t have enough cash in it to cover what I needed. We headed to another one and it wouldn&#8217;t take my card. Couldn&#8217;t find any others. Walked for 5 minutes more through ...

... going this way and that. We didn't know at this stage that the morning run of the ferry to Tangier had been cancelled because the captain thought it was too rough. Mmm. However no drama. It had calmed considerably and at a steady 50 knots we crossed in 35 minutes on schedule, got through the Spanish customs and passport control , on the bus and trundled past the bulk of Gibraltar on its peninsula from the Spanish mainland, through huge concentration s ...

... good but in reality things were just weird... Those two days remided me why I hate package holidays, and why I haven't actually been on one in years. Being an independent traveller I can go where I want and when I want, but when a tour company is in charge then you're herded about like cattle, prodded on and off buses, into resturaunts, through shops... it's just no way to travel, and I genuinely feel sorry for people that do ...

... a vender as maes e as irmas. Depois de se sobreviver a agressividade desses primeiros 10 minutos, as coisas tornam-se muito mais doceis, as pessoas mais simpaticas e menos colas. As medinas sao o paraiso do caos organizado, ha de tudo, um casamento dos produtos e cheiros mais improvaveis, uma azafama constante para recolher dez Dirhams (moeda marroquina) a mais a um turista menos atento, vende-se pao, cha, pufs e outros cabedais, bubus, fruta, kebabs. O ...

... who were able to show me around quite a bit. Once we'd thoroughly explored the medina we went to Casa Barata, on the outskirts of Tangier. It's basically a giant open-air flea market, with all kinds of goods, from traditional Moroccan handicrafts to European factory rejects to cheap imports made in China. I bought an ipod charger and a pair of trousers there, and got into a spirited but unsuccessful bargaining match with ...

... port. It only took a minimal 10 minutes to reach the Spanish/Moroccan border, where we sat and waited for our passports to get stamped. While waiting, you could see the Moroccan police and guards. Suddenly!!!!!!!!!!........Some black garbage bags were thrown over a 15 foot fence to the ground, and 2 men appeared and were jumping the boarder!!!!!!!! It was crazy!! Everyone on the bus was watching, but for like 10 minutes we weren't sure where they had gone. Until ...

... construction. The promenade along the harbor is lined with palm trees and is great for a walk. Tangier is a very blended city with different religions, languages and cultures all living peacefully together. Our first stop was the top of a hill where free photos of camels were offered as well as rides for one Euro. You really just got up on the camel and had pictures taken while the camel only walked a few steps. Camels get up very awkwardly. They rest on ...

... it was short as it was jump on, hold on while the camel got to it's feet (you almost go head over turkey...or camel in this case), have a quick walk around, get off and it's the next person's turn. I had somehow teamed up with this old English guy named Wilf who I had started talking to in the Marina and stuck with the whole day. He took my photo on the camel. Wilf was about 70 and travels for 2 months every year in a camper van, staying in camping grounds and using a bike to ...

... boys WILL NOT leave<br><br>you alone...think Mexico and Chicklets x20. At one point, I stopped,<br><br>looked the kid in the eye, and said, "GET LOST." He just smiled and<br><br>moved on to the person walking behind me. There wasn´t too much of an<br><br>issue about how the women tourists dressed...I wore baggy pants and a<br><br>collar shirt on purpose, but maybe could have worn a tanktop. I think<br><br>mainly because ...