More Rocking
Trip Start
Sep 15, 2008
1
60
122
Trip End
Jan 01, 2009
Tangier,
Morocco
Thursday, January 29, 2009
A common scam around the world is for taxi drivers to tell you the hostel you are looking for is closed and they have a better hotel to show you. We said, ok well we have a reservation so take us there. The driver insisted and so did we...off we went to find out...the hostel was actually closed. We even stopped 3 different people on the street to make sure we were at the correct address. We had another address and asked to go there, we did even though the driver said it is a bit expensive...he was right. So we gave in and let him take us to the place he recommended (aka was given a commission by). It ended up being 1/3 the price of the hotel we found online and was still cleaner than most places we've stayed, sometimes the taxi drivers aren't trying to rip you off...
We imagined morocco would be a unique place, visions of whitewashed houses, head covered women, sand, and the smell of kebabs passed through our minds. In fact Morocco was more different than we expected.
The streets of Tangier's Medina are all small and windy, the Arabic text bizarre, the streets buzzing, and the Berber population strong. Berber's are an indigenous population of Morocco, believed to be descendants of ancient Egypt. They wear a pointy hooded cloak around town, which gives Morocco a Starwars type feel. Cafe culture is also very big in Morocco, but mainly for men who all sit facing the street enjoying their mint tea (Moroccan Whisky). A tout here won't just pester you ask you walk by their store, in fact they will follow you for 5 to 10mins acting as a faux guide. Persistent little buggers but eventually after ignoring everything they say they evaporate. One bag hawker who tried to show us his wares called us Zionists for not buying 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.
