Sofitel Thalassa Marinasmir Tetouan

... amounts of things and spending exuberant prices. This whole process took about an hour, it was ridiculous. The rugs were actually quite beautiful but all of us are spending months and months living off a truck and room is sparse as it is. The next shop actually had bench seating and was almost like a demonstration where the sales guy tried to sell us various lotions and potions as well as some lovely spices. He was quite vulgar for a person from a ...

We took a small trip by car to the Mediterranean part of the country today (Tetouan) and ate lunch in the smaller city of Sebta. We also got to tour one of the ports of Tangier, which was pretty cool. The security was very tight, and I can't imagine random people off the street getting to do this. The scenery on the way ...

... morning and spent the next day exploring more of the city (disappointing market after Fes, but what are you going to do) and hiked up a hillside to a mosque way above the town. There we hung out with the goat herders, donkeys, and little kids trying to sell us flower garlands. There was also a cool place where they have routed the water from a river through these stone system for clothes washing - the water flows ...

... given a smell of some before leaving) and he told us about parts of the Medina along the 1.5 hour tour. Travelled 61km to Chefchaouen, which is set beneath the striking peaks of the Rif Mountains. Staying in a campsite up above the town for a couple of nights, with a day to explore the town. Distance travelled today: 85km (Tetouan to Chefchaouen) Total distance travlled: 159 km

First, thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! I'm finally 21 and it doesn't feel any different. Go figure. It was a great birthday though and I had a lot of fun. I went to Morocco this weekend and it was absolutely amazing. It was nothing like what I thought it was going to be. I expected a lot of dirt and nothing pretty. I was really only there to say that I went but it was an amazing experience. I went with a group of 54 people. All students, 48 of them were from my school and ...

... tagine, and the use of spices was very light. My favourite food was fried sardines with chili sauce in a bread roll. Housing and interior decoration - stayed in some very beautiful places and loved the tiles, carved doors, copper and brass fixtures, lights, and especially tadelakt, a waterproof plaster made of quicklime mixed with sand, eggs, and pigments (originally developed by the Romans), which enables organic shapes such as a bathroom basin to smoothly extend from the wall in an unbroken curve.

... pretty neat stuff. The people here arent pushy either like the others yesterday, which was very nice!! The center of the village was very pretty and open, with outdoor cafes, shops, mosques, etc. For lunch we ate similar food to yesterday: salad, couscous, meat, fruit, all very good and again actual meals!! Time to leave. On the way to the bus we had to walk downhill to get there. It was very steep, but since it was around 1 in the afternoon, you ...

... meal. As we sat in the square we looked over at the mosque across the street. This mosque is a rarity in the muslim world with its octagonal tower. The Kasbah was located right next to it as well and it looked so beautiful with the walls all lite up. As we had just arrived in town, it was a very quiet night but not before we went back to the hostel and the rooftop terrace for a visit with our new British roomates. The next day we awoke ...

... little boy came out of the cafe with an icecream cone and the cheeky little monkey beside him just as much said "Ill take that!" and the boy was left stunned. it seemed that the monkeys took most attention away from the stunning view from the rock. The Strit of Gibralter - that centuries old sought-after strategic piece of Rock was a bright blue ribbon of water separating Europe from Africa, Spain from Morocco. We all had a moment of reckoning, gazing at ...

Whilst in Gib, I decided I would go to Morocco. It's only 15 miles away across the Straights of Gibraltar, and quite a few ferries go across from Spain everyday, so it's pretty simple to do. Drove down to Terifa in Spain, where you can catch ferries over to Tangier. From Tangier got on a bus to Tetouan, a city over the Atlas Mountains. A maze of back alleys and bizarre/markets, its a mix of ...