Morocco 2001

On the spur of the moment I decided to take a train to Algeciras, next to Gibraltar and head for Morocco

As my ferry was pulling out of Algeciras and another was just arriving from Tangier. There is a lot of traffic back and forth.

Yup! The Rock of GIbraltar (next time I'll make that tiny detour to add it to the mix)

Just for information, you can get your passport stamped on board of the ferry for a small fee. Next, I discovered a number of 'weekend package' tourists on board, and after finding that they were being picked up in the harbor and taken to a nice beach front hotel in Tangier, I decided to get that free ride. After arriving, by then I had befriended a young Canadian couple, I told them of my plan and said for them to keep chatting with me, while the bus personnel would store our luggage in the bus. It was pretty easy and I ended up getting my backpack carried into the lobby of the Sol Azur hotel. Then I split away from the group and told the couple that I'd see them later in the lobby. I went to the counter and told them that I was a solo travler and wanted a room. They gave me a top notch room overlooking the beach, while the package tourists told me that they were looking at some back alley. Later, while the package tourists were being mass fed and got to listen to some Arab singing Elvis tunes, I grabbed the couple and offered to take them into town instead. They jumped at the chance and took off with me (and I had only looked at the map and out of the window, to know where the town was). We had a grand old time, wandering down the main street, stopping in somewhere to eat and just see the sights. For them, it was being free to explore. It was a little unexpected adventure for them, although for me SOP.

View from my room toward Tangier, the kasbah, and the harbor, off to the right

My vierw of the beach across from the Sol Azur Hotel

Walking in the Kasbah

There os something that bugs me about this picture - may be her lipstick

Morocco, at least in the cities, is pretty moderate in many ways

The movie, Casablanca was all about Tangier and the mystery and intrigue of that city. It was the happening place in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Then the action of every type imaginable moved toward the edge of the Sahara desert, Marakech. One Morccan told me, Tangier was, Marakech is. That about sums it up.

For me. however, I was happy right here. I found one of the most intertesting shops, ever, right here

I ended up buying this beautiful knife and had the seller send it to my house. The one I should have bought, in retrospect, is the one you see in the window, although this is more characteristic of the knives the well-to-do Arabs would carry in their sash.

For the locals, on the other hand, like everywhere in Asia and the Middle East, it's this. You wear your wealth and if needs be, can instantly turn it into cash at the govenment approved rate.