A Short Break in Morocco
A short break to Morocco has give us a taste for travel in that rather beautiful multi-ethnic country.
We took a ferry from the Spanish port of Algeciras to Tangiers.
A short break to Morocco has give us a taste for travel in that rather beautiful multi-ethnic country.
Tangiers is a relatively young city, having been established by various colonial powers, and with areas of the city populated by each of the large number of colonial powers which have taken control of all or parts of Morocco.
One of the results of having had so many rulers is that the inhabitants can often speak a wide range of languages. They may include Arabic, French, German, and English. A real advantage for the naive tourist.
Tangiers itself is a somewhat dirty city, with beautiful residences often palace-like hidden behind walls in each of the ethnic group enclaves.
Beware the touts, who hang around the hotel doors, ready to pounce on each and every tourist emerging from the doors to sell you anything from plates and jewellery to clothes. They do not let you go easily, hassling you as you walk away from the hotel in a persistent manner.
However, they expect to bargain, and if you know what you want and how much you want to pay, it can be a quick way of buying the things in a strange city.
I found I didn't react very well to this, but others thought it was just fine.
We took a guided tour of the souk, the traditional marketplace, based in a network of streets and alleyways near the port and waterfront.
Snake charmers, Tangiers Souk Our elegant and well spoken guide arranged for the group to see some snake charmers at work, and for a talk by some carpet sellers about the grades and costs of carpets avalailable.
We bought leather goods from a large shop within the Souk, called the Traditional Art Gallery, 79, Rue Nassiria, 90.000 Tangier Morocco email: traditional_art_gallery@yahoo.com
Again, they expect you to bargain, but they seem honest traders with good quality goods.
We also went on a short tour to a small town called Asilah, about 45 km from Tangiers, once known for its fishing.
The town has fortifications that were built when the Portuguese were in power.
Our guide told us that each major city or region in Morocco has a colour that characterises it; with most of the doors and windows traditionally painted with this colour. Asilah's colour is indigo.
One practical approach to living upstairs in their houses is the key-hole. When a visitor knocked on the door, and the resident did not want to walk down to open the door, they'd drop the key through a keyhole to the waiting visitor below.We became rather taken with the interesting and beautiful doors in both Morocco and Spain. Here are a few:
If you have ideas about good places to go please email me.