Tangier:

Leaving Gibraltar

We landed at the Tangier Med station, which is not the station that Tangier was built around. The original ferry building was getting too crowded, so they built another station about 45 min away- this was the station in which we arrived. Now, we knew this ahead of time, and in our research, we found that there is a shuttle service that used to be free, (but other non-ferry passengers were abusing this service, so it is now offered for a nominal fee) that would take us from Tangier Med to the bus terminal in downtown Tangier.

Ferry to Tangier

Our hotel was right outside of the Medina, and would be a short taxi ride, which in our research, was found to be very safe and reliable. So, we had it all planned out, shuttle to bus terminal, and then taxi, easy-peasy, right? Well, as soon as we arrived at the terminal, there weren’t signs to direct us, so we just decided to follow the crowd. We read that it was a good idea to use the ATM at the station before getting on the shuttle, so we found the row of ATMs and while I kept a lookout, Javier quickly pulled some cash.

Arrived at Tangier Med

There were a few people wandering around the terminal including men that were dressed in capes with hoods. They looked like druids, and scared us. The terminal felt pretty sketchy, it was already about 10pm at this point, and we were getting a little nervous. When we asked where to catch the shuttle, we were directed outside and down the street. We thought it seemed a little weird, but as we were walking, everyone we asked kept pointing in the same direction. We were told that the shuttle has a pick-up point in a roundabout about a quarter mile from the terminal. Now, the roads were well lit, but here we were, walking the fairly vacant streets with only a few cars and a few men loitering. We were approached by a few taxi drivers along the way, and a couple were following us. We saw a shuttle pull up across the street, so we ran over and asked if it was the shuttle to Tangier. None of the men coming off spoke English, but they understood Spanish, so they again, pointed us towards the roundabout. At this point, it was late, we were wandering the streets and had no idea where on this roundabout we were supposed to wait, or how long we were going to have to wait. There were all these men walking around, and we just wanted to get out of there. Javier found one of the taxi drivers, bargained a decent fare, said a quick prayer that we’d make it to our destination, and hopped in. It was a nervous ride. Most of the time, we were driving through deserted areas with nothing but nature and the road. I was thinking…this is about the time he pulls over, kicks us out, keeps our stuff and leaves us on the side of the road…this was one of the better scenarios going through my head. The 45 minute ride seemed like forever. Javier made small talk with the driver in Spanish, and he seemed like a nice guy, but I was still nervous.

Finally arrived at our Hotel

We finally arrived at our destination, which was supposedly really difficult to find, but our driver pulled up right in front. He helped us with our stuff, shooed away some questionable character that was wanting to “help” us, wished us a good night, and took off. I guess he really was a nice guy. Looking back on this experience, I have to smile. I remember all the feelings, and thinking, what have I gotten us into? I was really worried there for a moment. Now, having spent some time in Morocco, I would still be cautious, but it is a much safer country that I thought, and the people are very friendly.

Tangier

Did you know that everyone in Tangier speaks Arabic and French, and just about everyone also speaks Spanish and English? Pretty impressive, huh? When we arrived in Tangier, we decided to speak Spanish, which meant Javier did most of the talking. We were only spending a single night in Tangier, so we wanted to be as close to the medina as possible, so we were literally right outside at a place called Hotel der El Kasbah. I just love that name. It was already late when we arrived, but you wouldn’t have known it by the masses of people walking around both local and tourist. It had been a long day for us, so instead of joining the crowd, we decided to get to bed and see as much of the city the next day. 

The Medina

In the morning, we were served a delicious Moroccan breakfast, which consisted of eggs, tea, and many different types of bread with honey and a variety of jams. We checked out of our room, stored our stuff with the hotel, walked a few feet down the street and made a quick left, and there we were, walking a narrow passage into the medina. We got lost inside the medina, which was kind of the point. We walked into a few shops and admired the many colored buildings. When we wandered out of the medina, we were close to a main road. We decided to flag a cab and make our way to the train station to buy tickets for the overnight train to Marrakech.

Our favorite cook. Hassan.

After scoping out the station and timing our ride there, we caught another cab back to our hotel and asked for a lunch recommendation. The receptionist recommended the place right next door, so we decided to give it a shot. The restaurant had about 4 tables, and only three walls. The entire front was open to the street. We saw people sitting and eating, and whatever they had looked good, so we sat. A rather large man approached and asked us what we wanted- chicken or veg? I said veg, Javier said chicken. We really didn’t know what we were eating, but later found out that it was called, tajine. The owner/cook is a guy called Hassan. He chatted with us for a while, and the tajine was so delicious, we told him we would be back. 

Now that we had train tickets, we needed somewhere to sleep. After lunch we returned to the hotel to find a place in Marrakech. Once that was taken care of, we had some time to spare. We didn’t feel like going back into the Medina, so we sat in a park for a while just to watch the people and relax.

Tangier. facing the Medina.

We bought some mandarines and bananas from the fruit stand and were walking back to the hotel, when we passed by a large cafe. The front wall of this cafe was open to the street and we could hear a soccer game. As it turned out, this cafe was showing the Barcelona game, so naturally, Javier wanted to go in. I looked inside and saw many tables…maybe 50 or so, and the tables that were occupied were all men. There was not a single female in the place. I told Javier that maybe women weren’t allowed, and he said, no, they just don’t want to sit here and watch soccer. So, in we went. We sat at a table and ordered tea. Interesting factoid…they don’t serve beer in most places in Morocco- they all drink tea. As the game progressed, the cafe quickly filled up. Still, I was the only girl among about 100 men. It was weird. But no one paid any attention to me. I didn’t get any funny looks. They were all too focused on the game. So there we were, sitting with a bunch of Moroccan men watching soccer, drinking tea, and smoking- them, not us. 

Delicious food.

For dinner, it was back to Hassan’s place. He was happy to see us, and asked us what we felt like eating. Since there was no menu, we left it up to him. He asked if we ate chicken, we said yes, and off he went. The kitchen is just off to the side of the eating area, so we watched as Hassan prepared our dinner. He first brought out egg tortillas. Then, another made of spinach and potato. By this time, I was pretty full. Then, he brings out the chicken kebabs. Little side note about the chicken that I just have to include…AFTER we were done eating, Javier tells me that while he was watching Hassan cut the chicken, it looked like he had cut his finger in the process. When Hassan brought out the chicken, Javier looked at his hand to see if his finger was cut or not, and sure enough, there was a nice slice. So, our chicken was marinated in a beautiful marinade that we watch Hassan whip up, and maybe a little more of Hassan than we wanted- who knows? But the chicken was fully cooked and delicious 🙂 

Arabic lessons.

After dinner, Hassan came to our table and wrote our names in Arabic. He also wrote the names, “Allah” and “Muhammad” and then quickly scratched them out. By then, we had to get moving to catch our train. We said good-bye to Hassan, grabbed our stuff from the hotel, and walked to the main road. The place was packed, and there were many people waiting for taxis. It took us about 15 minutes to catch a cab, and it was purely luck that we caught the cab when we did. The trip to the train station took almost twice as long as it did earlier in the day due to traffic and road closures. When we arrived, the tiny station was already packed. We stood around and waited for our train to arrive. When it finally did, we showed our ticket to a worker and they pointed us to a car. We hopped on and went to our cabin, when we arrived, there were no beds, only six seats. There was a young lady also in the cabin, and we showed her our ticket, and she said, yup, this is the right place. OH NO!!! We paid for a sleeper, and I was not about to spend the next 10 hours sitting in a chair. We showed the conductor our ticket, and he looked just as confused. We told him we paid for a sleeper, and he quickly ushered us off the train and told us that our car was on the opposite end. We ran down the platform and made it just in time. Well, we thought we had barely made it, but about 5 minutes after we are getting settled, two young guys come huffing and puffing into our cabin, and about 30 seconds after that, the train started moving. After we introduced ourselves, we started getting ready for bed.

Sleeper train roommates

Our roommates were college kids from Mexico, so all the guys chatted for a little while before we all went to bed. The ride to Marrakech was easy enough. We all slept pretty well, and woke up bright and early to the sound of train whistles and the conductor beating on our doors to wake up. Somewhat bleary eyed, we strapped on our packs, walked down the platform to the station, and straight out to where the cabs were waiting. Javier was able to utilize his bargaining skills yet again. Nothing like having to haggle a cab fare first thing in the morning! 

To see more pictures of Morocco, click HERE.