Iberian Tour - day3 Morocco
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2008
1
27
Trip End
Aug 29, 2008
Tangier, Morocco
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
There were about 20 of us that ventured across the sea to Tanger. The ferry ride was only about 45 minutes. It's strange that Africa was so close. We were a part of an arranged tour on the other side and a man in robes met us with a bus and we heading for a tour around town. We stopped on the side of the road and had a chance to ride a camel. There was only a few minutes and I didn't get a chance to ride but I snapped a picture next to one. It was kind of cruel and you could tell they didn't really like it at all.
After the Camels, we walked through the markets to a restaurant where we had a Moroccan meal included some kind of soup, some kind of meat on a skewer, cous cous and some kind of sweet dessert. I have to say I was quite impressed as I tried all of it and it wasn't bad. I choose not to know what the mystery meats were and hope that it was just lamb and chicken!
We were then taken to a carpet shop to learn how carpets are weaved... really it was just a sales pitch. Not sure why they thought they would sell carpets to a bunch of backpackers but interesting just the same. When we got to the front door all of the street sellers were crowded around the entrance trying to sell their merchandise. They don't seem to understand the word no and just swarm around you and follow you down the street.
Sale pitch number 2 occurred at a chemist where we were shown spices and herbs and their different uses. I actually bought some motion sickness/migraine stuff to try... only a couple dollars and worth a shot.
We were given about 40 minutes to shop around and check out the markets on our own. The merchandise wasn't as cheap as any of us had expected but it was interesting to interact and see the locals run their businesses. We headed back to the ferry and back to Tarifa around 7. I now have 4 stamps in my passport... proof that I have been to Africa!
