Adventures in Tangier, Morocco

What will be our lasting memories of our trip to Tangier – it was very chilly, we were hassled everywhere as soon as we left the hotel, we were never sure how ripped off we were getting, but knew we were! BUT we had a lovely lovely time!

Tangier is a city on the north coast of Morocco and is less that an hour on the ferry from Spain and as we were not sure if we would get there sailing, we decided before we left Gib we should pop across.  After a bus journey to Tarifa we caught the ferry across to the main port in Tangier, we had ready various reviews and knew we would be approached by touts, but as soon as we were off the ferry the barrage began.  It was quite intimidating to start with, as soon as you manage to get rid of one another appears with all the same spiel! We persevered and walked off into what we thought was the direction of the hotel, after walking for about an hour Mark popped into what we think was a Spanish University/School and got some help, they were exceptionally helpful and called the hotel and we got some directions. The hotel turned out to be nowhere near where it had been on Google maps!

The hotel – Dar-El-Kasbah which we had found online was fantastic, small and on the edge of the Medina.  Lots of traditional decoration in an old building but clean and really well looked after.  The staff could not have been nicer and it was a relief to get there.

We headed out into the Medina in the afternoon and the hassle began again, did we want a tour, where were we going, were we English, they didn’t give up!! More than anything we were unsure how to deal with them, did we ignore them, talk to them and tell them no, scowl at them or all of the above! We had hoped to get ourselves a nice mint tea but it was just too much like hard work so headed back to hotel and was bliss to sit in peace with our pot of mint tea and yummy Moroccan biscuits/cakes.

mmmm Moroccan tea, all biscuits already eaten!

After some time to rest and consider the options we were much happier about heading out the following day.  We had a fantastic Moroccan breakfast (super cheap) in the courtyard at the hotel and headed out to face the hoards!

Food glorious food !!

1^st stop was into the Medina and admire the view over the harbour, we had been pointed in this direction by a friendly tout the previous afternoon and before we even had time to get the camera out there he was! We decided that Abdul could give us a bit of a tour, but not until we had visited the museum.

Dar-el-Makhzen was where the sultans stayed when in Morocco and was built in the 17^th century.  It is now a museum unfortunately photos are prohibited so we only have a few of the courtyards. The exhibits were limited but the building was lovely if a bit run down and found some of archaeological pieces interesting and also some maps outlining trading routes over the centuries. At less than £1 entrance it was definitely worth a visit.

As soon as we stepped outside of the museum Abdul was waiting for us and wanted us to see the snake charmer, the Cobra did not look hugely impressed to be out, but he did look quite nice not that I wanted to get too close.  Then Mark and I reluctantly had our photos taken with a smaller, friendlier snake – you can see how impressed I am!

We then happily trotted along after Abdul around the Medina which we found was a good way to stop the other touts. The volume of tat being sold was amazing but it was interesting to walk around the food markets where the locals did actually seem to be shopping.  The fish market was really impressive, never seen so many fish and you actually got quite used to the smell!!

Fish market

Abdul’s main aim was to get us into a specific shop to buy something, we had briefly visited the day before and decided we would like to buy a scarf but on arrival the shop keeper (like in Mr Ben) decided we wanted to buy a rug/tent/throw at least something much larger than a scarf.  After showing us beautiful rugs/throws made from Camel’s wool, Aloe Vera, Silk/Wool we had to persuade him we only wanted a scarf! And then it was a hard bargain.  Here is me having my head wrapped up ready for a sandstorm. 

 Such a shame that you have to leave the shop knowing you probably have been ripped off and if it wasn’t so difficult we might have considered buying a throw but just knew you would be overcharged.

Abdul should us round the remainder of the Medina including Petite Socco which was a complete maze and it was actually really useful to have a guide.

Tiny lane with our guide Abdul

We felt that we had done the Medina and spent a few hours in the afternoon wandering around the new town and along the seafront.  The seafront is full of more modern hotels although some of it is still quite run down.

On arrival back at the hotel I had a really nice surprise.

mmmmmm cake :)

After quite a uninspiring Moroccan meal the night before, we headed for a modern restaurant for pizza and salad in the evening, with an alcohol free birthday :)

Morning view from rood of hotel, odd mix of old town and 100's of satellite dishes 

Good start to our final morning with another monster breakfast, on the recommendation of the hotel owner we went to the American Legation museum.  We were very lucky that when we arrived the door was closed but an English woman who had obviously been before was banging on the door, we would have had no idea that you had to knock to get in! The building was one of the first American Embassy’s abroad (1800’s) and was a fantastic building, looked just like any one of the old

buildings from the outside but was very impressive inside and actually went across 2 sides of the road/pathway that ran below.

Building to the left and also straight ahead over road/path below

Courtyard in American Legation

It contained lots of old painting of Tangers but the building itself is worth a visit.

Our final day was quite odd as we had not seen very many tourists during our stay but suddenly there were coach parties and cruiseship passengers everywhere! Which actually meant less hassle for us, ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

We headed for one final wander along the beach before heading for our ferry.

Amanda (new scarf), Dori (spot her on the bag) on beach in Tangier

Not a wonderful photo of Tarifa on return journey on ferry