Christmas in Morocco? Or will we make it to Mauritania? Pere Noel in plastic has made it here!
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Friday, February 03, 2006
The LONG journey south!
Having returned from a long (in kilometres) but short (in time) trip from southern France to Mauritania I thought I'd better sit down and describe it!
I am a 'regular' on the Thorn Tree, Lonely Planet's forum and needed 'somewhere' to escape to after a long year of work. Somewhere cheap & warmer than southern France is at Christmas!!! I started making arrangements for another independant jaunt then decided, for a change seeing as it was over Christmas, to see if 'someone' out there wanted to join me on my trip south. Lo & behold I found a poster on the Thorn Tree who might be interested, and sent this:
Sure enough 21minutes later an answer came back from a very similar e-mail address, worldcyclist ... sounded ideal!
We exchanged a few e-mails and I started doing a lot of research, predominantly on Lonely Planet and the French equivalent 'Routard'. Both on travel routes and on medication - whether I really needed to get Larium or some other form of defence against malaria again - but being winter and looking to stay in the north & desert areas of Mauritania, I decided against it
I am a 'regular' on the Thorn Tree, Lonely Planet's forum and needed 'somewhere' to escape to after a long year of work. Somewhere cheap & warmer than southern France is at Christmas!!! I started making arrangements for another independant jaunt then decided, for a change seeing as it was over Christmas, to see if 'someone' out there wanted to join me on my trip south. Lo & behold I found a poster on the Thorn Tree who might be interested, and sent this:
Saw your TT posting - Lonely Planet forum.
I'm in France, I live near Carcassonne and am getting the bus from here to Granada on 14th (eve) arriving in Malaga the next evening via Granada. I am then off to Morocco determined to head south for some warmer climes - I've already been to Morocco last year and seen Marra, Tinehir & the desert etc, so this time it's Casablanca (for a night probably staying with friends) then onto Essouria and south to Tiznit and possibly even to Dakhla
I'm pretty well travelled, having lived abroad for years .. If you want to meet up do let me know - I'm probably going to have to fly back to France from Agadir on 30th December although I'm looking at other options to fly back after the New Year!
Sure enough 21minutes later an answer came back from a very similar e-mail address, worldcyclist ... sounded ideal!
Wow, I am very impressed with your travels (I saw your map in yourprofile). I am in the middle of a trip that's connected to a book I amwriting. ... I have looked at enough of your stuff to come to the conclusion thatyou are an interesting person and most importantly share the travelbug. ... I am used to traveling extensively but occasionally some company isnice to have.
We exchanged a few e-mails and I started doing a lot of research, predominantly on Lonely Planet and the French equivalent 'Routard'. Both on travel routes and on medication - whether I really needed to get Larium or some other form of defence against malaria again - but being winter and looking to stay in the north & desert areas of Mauritania, I decided against it
Finally in Morocco!
The day came, Wednesday 14th December, I met with my new travel partner a day or so before and he spent some time seeing Carcassonne & it's historic Cite. Sitting in a bar in central Carcassonne across the road from the Eurolines bus stop for the bus to Granada ... wine was sipped for several hours amongst a few friends of mine. Phone call after phone call it turned out the bus was running an hour, then 2 hours and then 3hrs late, after being kicked out of the bar at closing time, my friends having left, we took shelter in the station until 1am!
Finally on board the bus, I caught a few winks as far as Valencia, we were transferred to another bus where I caught up on a bit more sleep and enjoyed the scenery passing us by. Eventually we got to Granada at 6pm ... about 3hrs later than planned which presented a problem, to go to Algeciras now (another 4hr bus ride) or to stay here the night and go in the morning. I didn't have a guide for Algeciras and had no idea about accomodation, so I went on the internet did some searching and posted a message on Lonely Planet for some urgent help with a hotel. It's strange to me, in the 19yrs or so that I'd travelled, I'd never had the internet to use before like this. A faithful 'anorak' of Andulucian bus timetables was online and posted a wonderful list of Algeciras hotels whilst I was buying our bus tickets south.
Spent a rather uneventful night in Algeciras in a clean but also strangely smelly hotel not far from the port. Getting up early the next morning we downed a few coffees before heading off to buy a ferry ticket across to Tangiers!
Crossing to Tangiers, I realised with some dread that my travel companion didn't speak a word of another language bar English nor had he been travelling like this, despite repeatedly telling me he had been to over 40 countries ... I thought I'd keep quiet for now and see how it continued, we arrived in Tangiers where I immediately lost him as he went down to the car deck for some reason. I waited and waited for him to re-appear from the car deck ... I gave up and went off to the bank to get some dirhams whilst being chased by every available Tangiers taxi tout. I went back into the port building to see if I could find him so that we could make a quick escape and onto a train bound for Casablanca, he was waiting for me but hadn't got any dirhams sorted out .. so as not to waste time I offered to share mine until he was organised.
Luckily I found a 'honest' taxi driver to take us to the Gare Nouvelle - well honest in the sense that the car doors weren't going to shut until I had made him put the meter on despite his protestations ... the meter went on and the fare was a 'normal' 8Dh, paying him 10Dh, he was still protesting that as a tourist I should be paying the 'non-metered' prices!!! Three Aussie girls arrived a few minutes behind us telling us that they'd got their price down to 30Dh a head ... I gave them a few pointers ... and went off to find a seat on the Sidi Kacem train.
An hour or so into the journey one of the Aussies came down the carriage to have a chat, her first time to Europe and Africa she was with her 2 friends who would be leaving her for the final 2 weeks in Morocco. We chatted about where to go and what to do when she left us to re-join her friends in another compartment, my travel companion handed out one of his cards which I'd never seen before, a bit like a business card but describing him as a traveller, without a home address ... oh well!
Getting into Sidi Kacem for the change of trains to Casablanca was a bit of a nightmare, the cafe there seats 15 maximum I would think, if you can imagine a busy train changing there with everyone jumping off to find food and drink it presents chaos in the cafe! The smell around the station from the factory behind was pungent to say the least. I grabbed two seats at a table with two Korean guys (who I am very embarassed to say I thought were Japanese on first spotting them and started in Japanese!) they were with the 'Korean' Peace Corps - I never realised the Koreans did this, the Americans have their own version but to find two lads from Pusan doing a similar thing, teaching IT to Moroccans, I was very suprised!
Finally on board the bus, I caught a few winks as far as Valencia, we were transferred to another bus where I caught up on a bit more sleep and enjoyed the scenery passing us by. Eventually we got to Granada at 6pm ... about 3hrs later than planned which presented a problem, to go to Algeciras now (another 4hr bus ride) or to stay here the night and go in the morning. I didn't have a guide for Algeciras and had no idea about accomodation, so I went on the internet did some searching and posted a message on Lonely Planet for some urgent help with a hotel. It's strange to me, in the 19yrs or so that I'd travelled, I'd never had the internet to use before like this. A faithful 'anorak' of Andulucian bus timetables was online and posted a wonderful list of Algeciras hotels whilst I was buying our bus tickets south.
Spent a rather uneventful night in Algeciras in a clean but also strangely smelly hotel not far from the port. Getting up early the next morning we downed a few coffees before heading off to buy a ferry ticket across to Tangiers!
Crossing to Tangiers, I realised with some dread that my travel companion didn't speak a word of another language bar English nor had he been travelling like this, despite repeatedly telling me he had been to over 40 countries ... I thought I'd keep quiet for now and see how it continued, we arrived in Tangiers where I immediately lost him as he went down to the car deck for some reason. I waited and waited for him to re-appear from the car deck ... I gave up and went off to the bank to get some dirhams whilst being chased by every available Tangiers taxi tout. I went back into the port building to see if I could find him so that we could make a quick escape and onto a train bound for Casablanca, he was waiting for me but hadn't got any dirhams sorted out .. so as not to waste time I offered to share mine until he was organised.
Luckily I found a 'honest' taxi driver to take us to the Gare Nouvelle - well honest in the sense that the car doors weren't going to shut until I had made him put the meter on despite his protestations ... the meter went on and the fare was a 'normal' 8Dh, paying him 10Dh, he was still protesting that as a tourist I should be paying the 'non-metered' prices!!! Three Aussie girls arrived a few minutes behind us telling us that they'd got their price down to 30Dh a head ... I gave them a few pointers ... and went off to find a seat on the Sidi Kacem train.
An hour or so into the journey one of the Aussies came down the carriage to have a chat, her first time to Europe and Africa she was with her 2 friends who would be leaving her for the final 2 weeks in Morocco. We chatted about where to go and what to do when she left us to re-join her friends in another compartment, my travel companion handed out one of his cards which I'd never seen before, a bit like a business card but describing him as a traveller, without a home address ... oh well!
Getting into Sidi Kacem for the change of trains to Casablanca was a bit of a nightmare, the cafe there seats 15 maximum I would think, if you can imagine a busy train changing there with everyone jumping off to find food and drink it presents chaos in the cafe! The smell around the station from the factory behind was pungent to say the least. I grabbed two seats at a table with two Korean guys (who I am very embarassed to say I thought were Japanese on first spotting them and started in Japanese!) they were with the 'Korean' Peace Corps - I never realised the Koreans did this, the Americans have their own version but to find two lads from Pusan doing a similar thing, teaching IT to Moroccans, I was very suprised!
A day back in Casablanca
Finally the train hauled into Casablanca, I was overjoyed to be back, I'd be closer to my friends Fatiya & Abderrahim and their family. I rang Fatiya immediately and said I was in town and we could meet up in the morning, but in true Fatiya style she was having none of it and asked me to wait there whilst she'd drive over and pick me up. I told my travel companion and apologised for leaving him to his own devices but said that the Hassan II mosque & the medina near La Places des Nations Unis was worth visiting and it would be a 'modern' introduction to a Moroccan town. He wasn't too concerned, and as Fatiya pulled up he was heading for the Ibis next to the station. She told me to ask him to join us into town and we'd drop him somewhere more central, he said he found a cheap hotel in his guidebook but I think he ended up at the Best Western and ended up eating in similarly western fast food places.
The following day I went out with Fatiya and one of her daughters, we (as girls do) headed for the souq and shopping ... I was very well restrained and came away fairly lightly (or rather my purse did!). I had a great day with them catching up on news before she dropped me at Casa's bus station to get a bus 'south' at 5pm or so. South was a question, whether to go to El Jadida or Safi, or to go the 'whole hog' to Tan Tan (only 18hrs!) just north of the Western Sahara border. I arrived at the bus station after several calls from my travelling companion wondering where & when to meet. Having chatted to Fatiya about my predicament (she was also given this 'card' which she was quite bemused by). I thought I'd make it easier on myself and go alone as the job of an interpreter for the trip hadn't been factored in my plans but was already becoming a little annoying from someone who had spent a month in France, in a Buddhist centre, but not even picked up the basics.
The following day I went out with Fatiya and one of her daughters, we (as girls do) headed for the souq and shopping ... I was very well restrained and came away fairly lightly (or rather my purse did!). I had a great day with them catching up on news before she dropped me at Casa's bus station to get a bus 'south' at 5pm or so. South was a question, whether to go to El Jadida or Safi, or to go the 'whole hog' to Tan Tan (only 18hrs!) just north of the Western Sahara border. I arrived at the bus station after several calls from my travelling companion wondering where & when to meet. Having chatted to Fatiya about my predicament (she was also given this 'card' which she was quite bemused by). I thought I'd make it easier on myself and go alone as the job of an interpreter for the trip hadn't been factored in my plans but was already becoming a little annoying from someone who had spent a month in France, in a Buddhist centre, but not even picked up the basics.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Tan Tan ...
I looked around the bus station, he was nowhere to be seen, I went off and got a coffee and thought if he's not here by the time I finish this then I'm going! Sure enough he turned up as I was finishing it. Unfortunately the hint to go our separate ways wasn't taken so we continued on ...
On the most awful bus! Packed full with bad seats, a normality in Morocco BUT the worst was to come as we headed SE towards Marrakesh en route to Tan Tan, the rear door wasn't firmly shut so a billowing gale of freezing wind came through all night, to the point that I could feel my toes for the cold! I hardly slept, the cold just went through me. Arriving somewhere in the lower Atlas between Casa & Marrakesh we got off the bus for supper, the normal Moroccan situation where there's a few cafes on the roadside, usually one of the cheapest but best Moroccan meals are to be found in places like this. Jumping off I said I'd go and find some food for us both and asked him to go and order 'the' Moroccan drink, mint tea, for the two of us; I needed something to warm me up! My companion turned around and asked 'well where am I meant to get tea from'??? - I'm not a sarcastic person but in the middle of the night in the freezing cold in a place that I don't know any better than he does - I could have made some flippant comment, but I bit my tongue and said not to worry I'll do it! The tea & food made a bit of a difference for a while, I was warmer until just after Marrkesh, but from there on, into the early hours it remained very cold on board that bus!
Arriving in Tan Tan at 6am or so, I blearly staggered off the bus into a muddy bus station looking for a hotel & something hot, I'd slept the last two hours or so since somewhere between Tiznit & Goulmime when the sun came up - I'd also managed to get two seats as the bus was emptying out the further south we went. There was a cafe directly in front of me the 'Anaj Mat' - we made a beeline for it, the female owner was a little suprised to see two Westerners at that hour of the morning but made the best cafe au lait that I'd ever tasted!
On the most awful bus! Packed full with bad seats, a normality in Morocco BUT the worst was to come as we headed SE towards Marrakesh en route to Tan Tan, the rear door wasn't firmly shut so a billowing gale of freezing wind came through all night, to the point that I could feel my toes for the cold! I hardly slept, the cold just went through me. Arriving somewhere in the lower Atlas between Casa & Marrakesh we got off the bus for supper, the normal Moroccan situation where there's a few cafes on the roadside, usually one of the cheapest but best Moroccan meals are to be found in places like this. Jumping off I said I'd go and find some food for us both and asked him to go and order 'the' Moroccan drink, mint tea, for the two of us; I needed something to warm me up! My companion turned around and asked 'well where am I meant to get tea from'??? - I'm not a sarcastic person but in the middle of the night in the freezing cold in a place that I don't know any better than he does - I could have made some flippant comment, but I bit my tongue and said not to worry I'll do it! The tea & food made a bit of a difference for a while, I was warmer until just after Marrkesh, but from there on, into the early hours it remained very cold on board that bus!
Arriving in Tan Tan at 6am or so, I blearly staggered off the bus into a muddy bus station looking for a hotel & something hot, I'd slept the last two hours or so since somewhere between Tiznit & Goulmime when the sun came up - I'd also managed to get two seats as the bus was emptying out the further south we went. There was a cafe directly in front of me the 'Anaj Mat' - we made a beeline for it, the female owner was a little suprised to see two Westerners at that hour of the morning but made the best cafe au lait that I'd ever tasted!
Tan tan tan tan tan tan tan
Well the call at the bus station all day that I could hear from the room of our hotel was 'Agadir, agadir, agadir, agadir' so after organising for us both to do some washing on the roof top of the hotel I went down to the bus station to organise our tickets southbound. I had no idea when the next bus south would go or when it indeed where it was going to go. I walked into the bus station area with everyone continuing to shriek town names and then they all piled on me asking me if I wanted to go to Agadir, Marrakesh or anything else (except a southern destination) so I just walked through them all pointing at the ground and saying 'Tan tan, Tan Tan, Tan tan' which had most of the stitched up laughing!
We met back at Anaj Mat's cafe for another coffee after he'd finished doing his washing and found another restaurant on the bus station square to have lunch in, not a great lunch but better was to come. Another European guy wandered past our table, and went to sit at Anaj Mat's, our lunch needed washing down with a good cup of mint tea so after a while we went back there. I spoke to the guy next to us in French, but he turned out to be German, Berndt a retired History or was it Maths teacher???spends the European winters in Agadir and points south. As a threesome we wandered in the direction of the souq that I heard happens on a Sunday in Tan Tan, after a few minutes with several donkey taxi carts trotting past, a voice called out and it was my friend and her daughter going to the souq. They stopped and let the three of us on board, she refused to let us pay the dirham each for the ride ...
We met back at Anaj Mat's cafe for another coffee after he'd finished doing his washing and found another restaurant on the bus station square to have lunch in, not a great lunch but better was to come. Another European guy wandered past our table, and went to sit at Anaj Mat's, our lunch needed washing down with a good cup of mint tea so after a while we went back there. I spoke to the guy next to us in French, but he turned out to be German, Berndt a retired History or was it Maths teacher???spends the European winters in Agadir and points south. As a threesome we wandered in the direction of the souq that I heard happens on a Sunday in Tan Tan, after a few minutes with several donkey taxi carts trotting past, a voice called out and it was my friend and her daughter going to the souq. They stopped and let the three of us on board, she refused to let us pay the dirham each for the ride ...
Berndt's delicacy
Berndt took us back to 'his' end of Tan Tan, which is a long strung out town with a military base at one end and to a cafe he knew although he was in the Hotel Dakar opposite ours he'd explored the other end of town having been there a few days in an attempt to get to Tarfaya.
He introduced us to something I'd never eaten before in Morocco, a kind of omelette but on a base of tomato puree and cooked with a large green chilli in the middle, lots of spices and as usual I added a good helping of cumin to my eggs ... so that was an early supper and a delicious one at that!
We said goodbye to Berndt the following morning before his bus at 10am to Tarfaya, he was hoping to find somewhere to stay there, I hope he did as he was on the hunt for more history regarding St Louis de Expuery and it would take more than the few hours that he would have before the bus left again.
Our bus to Dahkla left at 2pm ... a sad farewell to my friends at Anaj Mat .. but I knew I'd see them again!
He introduced us to something I'd never eaten before in Morocco, a kind of omelette but on a base of tomato puree and cooked with a large green chilli in the middle, lots of spices and as usual I added a good helping of cumin to my eggs ... so that was an early supper and a delicious one at that!
We said goodbye to Berndt the following morning before his bus at 10am to Tarfaya, he was hoping to find somewhere to stay there, I hope he did as he was on the hunt for more history regarding St Louis de Expuery and it would take more than the few hours that he would have before the bus left again.
Our bus to Dahkla left at 2pm ... a sad farewell to my friends at Anaj Mat .. but I knew I'd see them again!
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