October 21st-28th, 2019

Tangier

I arrived in Tangier from a cheap flight from Milan. It was my first flight after two months of almost exclusively taking buses for the two months around the Balkans. I could have easily taken a cheap taxi from the airport to the medina, but as a backpacker I insisted on taking the bus.

To take a bus from Tangier Airport to the medina, you have to walk 15 minutes outside of the airport. As I waited vans and cars tried to offer me a ride. Eventually some kind driver looked at me and gestured to me that I was standing in the wrong spot for the bus. It was a different unmarked spot from the one Google had indicated to me.

A medina is the North African equivalent of an “Old Town.” I would come to realize by traveling through North Africa that unlike European Old Towns, their walls were generally still preserved. They also seemed to still be thriving centers of life and commerce, versus a trendy place to rent an airbnb.

My hostel, Baytalice, was a beautiful example of Moroccan design and architecture. It looked exactly how you’d want a hostel in Morocco to look. It served a delicious Moroccan breakfast on the rooftop where you could literally see Spain. From the narrowest point of the Strait of Gibraltrar, Tangier is only 15 km from Spain.

One of the first things that jumped out at me about Morocco was all of the cats. They are everywhere and it’s common to see people feeding them leftover scraps.

I explored the medina a bit, but was constantly getting hassled by vendors, drug dealers, and tour guides. After spending so much time in Eastern Europe, where nobody bothered me, it was a lot to take in. It reminded me of my time living in New Delhi. I thought it would be good if I could meet a local, so I fired up one of The Apps. Before I knew it I had a very kind 24-year-old tour guide, who showed me around the medina of Tangier.

Walking around with a local guy definitely stopped people from bothering me. We picked up one of his friends at work at decided to go check out the Hercules Caves and grab some tea.

The caves are small but are taken care of well. when you look out at the ocean from the caves the shape resembles Africa.

I ended the day seeing Joker at Cinema Rif. It was very bad. It was the first movie I’d seen in theaters in months and I was just relieved it was in English. Cinema Rif is an art deco theater in Tangier that has a cafe. It’s decorated with old movie posters. It’s fun to see movies in other countries sometimes because you notice differences. In Morocco many people were taking pictures of the screen to share with their friends on Whatsapp, which included the guys who came with me to see the movie.

Before leaving Tangier I made stops at Café Hafa and the American Legation Museum. Café Hafa has a storied history as having hosted artists like the Beatles and The Rolling Stones. It appeared to be popular with visitors and locals alike. They also don’t mind if you bring outside food, which is always a plus. Mint tea in Morocco is probably my tea in the world.

The American Legation building in Tangier occupies an interesting place in American history. It’s the first US public building to exist outside of the US. Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as a country. It is the only US National Historic Landmark that exists outside of the US.

Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen is one of many destinations in the world that has exploded thanks to instagram. The world-famous “blue citt

The best way to get there from Tangier is to take a shared taxi from the bus station. They leave when they are full and cost around $8. Many people decide to do Chaouen (As locals call it), as a day-trip from Tangier or Fez.

There are a few reasons travelers might want to spend some time in Chaouen instead of trying to do a day-trip. There is a lot of great hiking in the area and you can get up to explore the medina before all the day-trippers arrive.

I stayed only one night and skipped the hiking. I hopped on the bus to Fez.

Fez

I arrived at Fez in the evening at the bus station. There were taxis everywhere offering me a ride, but I wanted a shared taxi. I looked around and didn’t see any around. That’s when a man with passengers in his car stopped to ask if I wanted a ride. He said 50 dirham ($5), which I took to mean the whole car. After a few minutes, I asked to double check and he said that was per person. That’s when I spoke up and said that was ridiculous. The passengers in the back were surprised because apparently they had already agreed to that rate. I tried to get out of the car but the taxi driver was not having it. He assured me that we could work something out. When we got to the gate

Unfortunately the gate was on the opposite side of Fez’s sprawling medina from my hostel. I weaved my way through the crowds, something I’d become pretty adept at from living in Delhi and New York City. As I got closer to my hostel, I was being told that the area was closed. Confident this was some kind of scam where the person would try and “help” me find my way, I continued navigating the maze of the medina with my phone. In this instance, it wasn’t a scam. (Later, when I was in Marrakesh, this scam was actually tried on me but I knew the area well enough by then to know they were lying).

I eventually got to my hostel with the (free) help of some locals. A few minutes after sitting down and getting comfort I spot a familiar little insect crawling on the walls; It was a bed bug.

The owner of the hostel said I was welcome to switch beds. I opted to switch hostels. Sadly it didn’t matter because the next morning I woke up with bed bug bites all over my arms and hands. I had been bitten at one of the other hostels I stayed at in Morocco.

My new hostel, Funky Fez, was thankfully bedbug-free. I did a walking tour they organized. The unfortunate thing about the sights in Fez is that the best ones are closed off to foreigners/non-muslims. The mosques and University of al-Qarawiyyin, the oldest known university in the entire world can only be viewed from the outside by tourists.

The walking tour was still valuable for the local insight as well as the assistance navigating the medina of Fez, which is perhaps the most maze-like medina in all of Morocco. The guide took us through the various markets in the medina, an argan oil shop, a textile shop, and a tannery. The tannery was probably my favorite touristy thing to do in Fez. When we approached the shop we were handed some mint leaves. It wasn’t clear why until we got to the rooftop overlooking all of the tannery. The smell was insane. I thought of Silence of the Lambs when Clarice Starling was given some Vaporub to put under her nose before looking at a dead body.

One some days you can see different color dyes for the leather, but I didn’t see any unconventional leather colors.

Fez is when I started to realize that, in spite of its budget-friendliness, Morocco is designed for more for shoppers than backpackers. Half the fun of exploring the medinas of Morocco is shopping. I started to feel like I was missing out on the fun of finding some treasure, bartering for it, and then bringing it back home.

Later that day I met a South African guy who was also traveling in Morocco. We struggled to find a place that sells alcohol. This is another mark against Morocco in the backpacker-friendliness arena. We eventually found British Saloon, a bar/club/karaoke joint located in the former British Consulate. Mr. Bean was playing on one of the TVs, natch.

I decided I’d spend the next night in Rabat, but en route would stop at the ancient ruins of Volubilis.

Volubilis

I had no idea you could find Roman ruins in Morocco. Volubilis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s the best preserved archaeological site in all of Morocco.

Rabat

Did you know Rabat was the capital of Morocco? Before coming to Morocco I probably would have guessed Casablanca. Rabat is a charming smaller city. There are great nearby beaches for surfing for those who are inclined.

I spent the day exploring the excellent Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Rabat Medina, and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.