Morocco

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Part two of this nefarious travel blog centres around the coastal city of essaouira.

after a long, and not hugely interesting journey down there (it is several hundred kilometres away and you need to go via marrakesh) myself, clea the mad danish girl, izzy the kennington lass and dassi the dundee damsel, were immediately accosted as we got off the bus by someone trying to persuade us to stay in his hotel. we resisted his charms, which involved following us at a distance of several metres until we entered the medina, and eventually found the place we had booked. it was a good walk into the medina and involved a fair amount of getting lost, and upon arrival it became quite clear that there was no electricity to be heard of either. after going through the archway door we were greeted by tas the aussie/moroccan man of 27, our host, who led us throught to a room off the central hallway, where an open fire was burning and lighting was provided by candles. a middle aged moroccan bloke was providing the music on his guitar, and we were also accompanied by a very attractive american girl who had just started a phd and an aussie girl. to complement the atmosphere we were provided with beers and it was not long before tas' boyfriend lit the first spliff. i, of course, did not indulge in these unrespectable activities as i have heard it is bad for you.

the next day was not filled with sights and fascinating trips to medersas and mosques, as that is not what you do in essaouira. we got up late, wandered around the fishing port, pretended to be orson welles, and ate fish barbecued in a little stall next to the port. this was followed at dinner by the biggest tagine ever prepared by (wo)man, and which was incroyable.

we got up early the next morning to walk around the beach to the ruined fort supposedly the castle made of sand on hendrix's axis bold as love album. the fact that he didn't visit morocco until a year after the album was released did not make us doubt the fact in the slightest.

after a slight kerfuffle involving us getting charged far more than we expected, but which was in fact a fair price for an amazing weekend, we prepared ourselves for another 8 hour journey, which i was not looking forward to, thanks to some interesting responses from my stomach to the food from yesterday lunch.


back in rabat, and we are straight back to teaching. i had to go alone yesterday as dassi had been up all night vomiting and visiting the lavatory relatively frequently... the weather is not really letting up (it is significantly warmer further south - its about the distance from london to aberdeen) but i dont complain - unlike the new resident in the house, a 66 year old quebecois who will not stop whinging about the lack of light, his bed, the fact that there is not a hook in for the shower head... he keeps going on about his 'rights', and i keep wondering why they are any different from any average moroccan.

we are thinking of visiting chefchaouen next weekend, another hippy hangout in the rif mountains in the north. i will keep you updated.

much love

fin

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