The Places I've Seen: Tangiers, Morocco

Because I had a few extra days after my week of traveling, and because my brother Seth said I would be crazy if I didn’t, I bought a ticket for a one-day tour to Tangiers in Morocco.

The bus left Torremolinos at 6:00am, so Tara graciously got up at the un-godly hour of 5:30 to drive me down there. Because it was a tour we had to pick passengers up all along the route. By mid-morning we arrived in Tarifa where we boarded a ferry to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. It was a beautiful morning and we could clearly see both Europe and Africa as we sailed.

We were met on the other side by Moroccan tour guides, who herded us into mini-vans, English-speaking and other languages.  This was the beginning of a short tour around the city, including a stop for camel rides J I haven’t been on a camel since visiting the Karachi beach in 2006, and it brought back fun memories.

Camel ride!!

I totally still remember the awkwardness of
getting up and down on a camel :P

After driving by the cities monuments and different areas, we were dropped off at the entrance of the historical Medina, or old city. Our guide, Mohammed (who would have guessed!), led us through the narrow twisting streets lined with tiny shops and painted doorways.

Part of the old city walls

Snake charmer!... but no, I didn't hold it 

Metal worker's shop

Moroccan bread bakery. Women bring their
dough here to be baked.

So many things, from veiled women, to shops selling spices or fruit in piles to meat hanging in the open in butcher shops reminded me of Pakistan. The mixture of smells and sounds was so familiar and brought back a flood of memories.

Just like Pakistan!

mmmm! smells and colors

 

                                                   Happy Cow Cheese!!

The biggest Banyan tree in the world...
according to Mohammed the guide

The mosque of Tangiers

Our tour through the Medina brought us to the restaurant for lunch. We were escorted upstairs to a room lined with carpet wall-hangings and furnished with low tables and couches. The meal was traditional Moroccan, a simple soup served with thick bread, followed by kebabs and then the Tajine: couscous with chicken and vegetables. Delicious!

Tajine!

While we ate we were entertained by musicians playing Moroccan instruments.  They were very obviously wearing jeans and T-shirts under their Moroccan garb, so I wonder how authentic the music really was. I thought I distinctly recognized one of the tunes from a cartoon I watched as a kid. Huh…

I asked if I could take a picture of the musicians, and
they promptly sat me down and pushed the
instrument into my hands :P

To top of the meal experience, a belly dancer made her entrance while we were sipping mint tea and nibbling the rich cookies for dessert.  I was a bit shocked and slightly embarrassed and forgot to take any pictures. Needless to say, that is one experience I don’t want to have again.

After lunch we continued through the maze of the Medina, hounded all the while by vendors trying to sell all manner of trinkets at ridiculous prices. Our first stop was a carpet and hand-craft market. The items for sale were very beautiful, but it was very obviously geared toward rich tourists, so I had to decline the offer of a beautiful knotted silk carpet for $500. Much to the disappointment of the salesman. 

Carpet knotting frame,
just like the ones in the shop that was next to our house in Quetta

The next stop was a Moroccan apothecary shop.  A tall thin man with exceedingly serious demeanor graciously welcomed us into his domain. We sat in rows on wooden benches, while he proceeded to propound to us, his captive audience, the wonders of natural remedies that only exist in Morocco or are the cheapest at his particular shop. I cannot replicate his accent on paper, but I felt like I had been transported back in time and was listening to a quack doctor sing the praises of his Wonder Elexir. At the end he summoned two young men, who had been waiting attentively, to hand the products around so we had the opportunity to pick the ones we wanted to buy. I have no doubt that many of the products were reliable, but the whole presentation was ridiculously amusing. I sat in the back, trying hard not to laugh, and disappointed the sales-boys by not taking a single item.

"dis prroduct exist only in Morrrocco! Is verry
good for de skin and completely naturral!"

"who needs lotion of rrrose leaves?"

After the natural remedy show we continued on our way, coming out of the old city at a place overlooking the harbor of Tangiers. It would have been a lovely place to take pictures and enjoy the scenery, but alas, the street vendors appeared again and as a group we had to either make haste to the bus or be overcome by the insistence of the peddlers.

"only 2 Euros! very good prrice! You buy? Where you from mister?"

Although it was just a taste, and a rather touristy one at that, I thoroughly enjoyed my Moroccan experience and if I had the opportunity would go back for longer some day.