WOW! Welcome to Morocco. Nothing we have read about this
country prepared us for this.
We left Algeciras at 8 am to catch the ferry to Ceuta (a
Spanish enclave in Morocco). On the way we passed Gibraltar (as in the country
and “as solid as the rock of”). There we hit some heavy traffic and managed to
lose one of the group for about ½ hour period while the search party went out.
We cooled our heels at a gas station where we got fuel and some stocked up on
liquor as access in Morocco is limited. It was really cheap in this duty free
zone.
Once the party was together we headed to the border, an
experience not to be duplicated anywhere. There was a yelling/screaming match
between some guys trying to get across and the border guards resulting in the
border process coming to a dead stop. While this was happening the Spaniard
behind us was insistent we move out of the way to let him through. The kicker
was that he could not get by even if we did move. Michel, our Quebecois had a
dandy discussion with him. Doug was ready to get off the bike to back him up.
Michel said later the guy asked him if he spoke Spanish, Michel responded by
asking him if he spoke French. When they found out they could not swear at each
other effectively the Spaniard finally cooled off and resigned himself to
sitting there until things sorted out.
Sergi had been telling us that when he first started guiding
trips to Morocco he used a “fixer” at the border. It just happened that the
fellow he used to make use of just happened to be there. He moved the barricade
and directed us up the line up into the shade. As you can imagine there were
some upset people seeing us move ahead. All this is taken in stride. He then got us directed to border officials to obtain the import papers for the bike,
which made the process go a bit faster. We had been told this could take up to
5 hours but we did it in 1.5 so our guides were happy.
Anyway we crossed the line and entered a third world
country. This was underlined by the ride to Chefchaouen. It would have been a
great ride with all the curves and beautiful scenery but unfortunately it was
into the setting sun which severely hampered one’s ability to dodge the people,
donkeys, goats, sheep and dogs on the road. We actually nearly hit one of those
forenamed dogs. He just ambled out in front of us and yelped though we didn’t
connect. I think we scared him more than he scared us. At least the donkeys and
horses were tethered and most of the sheep and goat flocks had herders with
them.
We stopped for lunch really late. We were told to go into
the restaurant and pick our fish. We chose prawns not knowing that it would be
accompanied by calamari and three fish with heads on. The meal started with
olives, and wonderful bread with eggplant spread. Then salad and finally the
fish platter. After lunch we were escorted to the terrace for our first mint
tea, “Moroccan whisky” as it is known.
Chefchaoen, the blue city, is situated on a mountainside. We
wound our way through the narrow cobblestoned streets into a pre-arranged parking
area, where we took some of our luggage to the hotel and checked in. Check out
the photos of our room and the town medina (central square). The local prayer
tower called us to prayer this evening. We encountered our first hashish seller
in the parking lot. Apparently this will happen a lot.
Most of the men are wearing these djellabas. Look a
bit like star wars jedi robes. Norma offered to buy one for Doug to keep him warm and get
in fashion but for some reason he refused!
Our accommodation tonight is a Riad, which is an old palace
turned into hotel rooms. It is quaint as you can imagine. The bathroom is huge,
we have a four poster bed and tile floors. We think this was built in the
1700s. Tonight we are going to have a Moroccan meal. There is so much more to post
but we are running out of time before dinner. . .
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| Ferry wait |
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| Gibraltar |
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| Our palace room (Riad) |
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| Prayer tower |
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| Medina |
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