Blogs from Chefchaouen, Tangier-Tétouan, Morocco, Africa

Though each path is different, there is only one way ~ Moroccan Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling north from Fes to Chefchaouen. We enjoyed a late breakfast in the ground floor restaurant of Hotel Olympic, which comprised baguettes, boiled eggs, croissants, jam, orange juice and tea. It was a fairly basic affair, but it was nice enough. With an hour or so up our sleeve, we headed out in the brisk morning air and made our way to nearby Avenue Hassan II, which is affectionately (and somewhat overzealously) known as Fes’ Avenue des Champs-Elysees. We used the morning sun to capture a few photos of Fes in light – the city had been shrouded in cloud the day before, and it had been pouring with rain on the night we arrived. There weren’t many ... read more

Today we say goodbye to Fes and head north to Chefchaouen, a town in the Rif mountains just south of the Mediterranean. The day starts badly. We’re made to wait 15 minutes for breakfast – how hard can it be to slice a baguette and make some coffee, which doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things but irritates badly. Aziz comes to collect us and help us pull the suitcases back along the alleyways to the nearest road where Hassan is waiting for us, smiling as ever. There’s a heavy mist, which makes the alleys quite ethereal, and reduces visibility on the drive quite considerably. We head off across the plain, which is noticeably greener and more intensively farmed than anywhere we’ve been so far on this holiday, although the villages all look rather miserable. ... read more

Od CS vypadnutie okolo 9/30, kedze obe este spali nechal som im tam pisomne podakovanie. Pesi na stanicu cca15.min. Opat ako naschval nikde nic otvorene s jedlom. Na stanici stacilo povedat nadhanacovy mesto a uz ma sikoval k dalsiemu a uzaj sedim v buse. Este siel so mnou kupit listok do kanclu, samozrejme,ze s batohom ma nechcel pustit hore do busu, tak platim este za batozinu. Domaci platia tiez, len neviem ci aj oni 10dh alebo menej. Cestou casto zastavujeme bo je to obycajny bus a nie ctm resp surpatour. V tetoune mame dokonca pol hodinovu cakacku. Tu nabieha do busu predavac vody, potom predavac zakuskov. Po vystupeni v chefcha, strasne krkolomny nazov, cita sa to šefta, vonku dobra zima. Sa ale necudujem sak je to v horach. Taxi netreba,centrum je blizko i ked do kopca. ... read more

Okay, so we’ve made it to Tangier and we’re in the taxi collective. One interesting aspect of the journey was a police road block where they stopped our cab, asked to see the ID of the other passengers (didn’t care about our blue-eye’d-ID) and… arrested an old man! The passenger next to Steve whispered the word, “hashish,” with breath that itself should be a felony. We still don’t know why they chose him or how they knew to arrest him save his resembling the guy from ZigZag packs. Once in Chefchhueuen, we were dropped at the curb and, of course, scoped out by locals. Our French had been coming in very handy since the first petit taxi at the ferry dock, and it didn’t hurt here either. With surprisingly non-invasive help from locals, we found a ... read more

Geo: 35.1716, -5.27069We awoke this morning to the "call to prayer", such a characteristic element of the Muslim world. We enjoyed a nice breakfast of bread, cheese, olives, jams, honey, crepes and coffee, prepared by our Riad host. We then met Morad for a nice, leisurely stroll of the Medina and old town of Chefchaouen. This beautiful, mountain-top city has many buildings which are painted blue, giving the town a cool and unique feel. Unlike places like Egypt, here the shopkeepers do not aggressively try to drag you into their shops, and our walk through the city is most pleasant. We top for a coffee in a cafe on the main square, before heading out to drive back to Tangier.Upon arriving back in Tangier, Morad takes us to one of his favourite old restaurants, with all ... read more