lost the kasbah

From the southern tip of Spain, you can clearly see Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar. I knew that these two landmasses were very close at this point, but I had no idea how close. When I say you can see the African continent, I don´t mean as some misty far away hovering point on the horizon, I mean right across the way, like I can see the cities, I could probably swim there if I needed to. I didn´t swim to Morocco, but we did take the fast ferry from Tarifa to Tangier. It just seemed like it would be a crime not to go there when we were so close.

I want to make it clear from the beginning that I am writing specifically about the city of Tangier, and not the country of Morocco as a whole. We definitely did not do the country justice by only going to Tangier. I think this is probably similar to visiting Tijuana and saying you´ve been to Mexico, but we just didn´t have the time to go down to Marrakesh, which is supposed to be the best city. That being said, we had an interesting, if exhausting time in Tangier.

I really don´t want to be entirely negative about Tangier (and CERTAINLY not Morocco in general), but I must start out by saying that this city is sketchy and exhausting, more than almost any place I´ve ever been. Our taxi driver immediately ripped us off severely, when he could have just told us that our hotel was directly outside the ferry terminal. A guy in some way affiliated with our hotel began following us around as our "guide", despite our repeated and continuing declinations of his services, and then began to demand money from us. This actually happened a couple of times. People all over the streets try to sell you hash, and there are small packs of glue-huffing fiends lurking in all the piles of rubble and perched along the lookout points.

All this aside, Tangier is at the least a very interesting place, and as much as substantially pleasant and enjoyable. About 85% of the women wear head scarves, and maybe 60% wear this kind of sack dress article of clothing. Occasionally, you will see a young woman in a head scarf with tight fitting clothes and high heels. The old men tend to wander around in these neutral tone Jediesque robes with pointed hoods. A plurality of languages are spoken, with Arabic by far the most predominant. French is second, and apparently the official second language. Most people, however, spoke to us in Spanish, though they would usually switch to English if they heard us speaking English to each other. Of course, not everyone is out to bother you, and we met an incredibly nice man at his cafe up on the hill. He has nine children, but assured is it not difficult, because "whenever people come to my house, they bring me lots of fruit."

The city clambers up a small but steep hillside from the ocean, and to get to the action from our hotel we had to charge right up. The streets are all over the place, and most of the buildings are at least mildly shabby. Abandoned piles of rubble intermittently dot the blocks. In the northeastern corner of town is a big sprawling area that fits in with the conception of old-town Morocco. Winding, narrow streets, alleys and walkways tie themselves up in a maze of impossible knots. This complexity is mimicked in the intricate geometric patterns carved into wooden doorways and placed into tiles and mosaics. Bright colors contrast against drab walls, and many of the doors are shaped like spades.

This old town area is divided into two parts, with the Medina, the larger, holding a huge, sprawling market. We certainly got lost in there, but we became even more hopelessly lost trying to find the smaller section, the world famous Kasbah. I dragged Taylor up and down steep hills, around corners, up the stairs, down the stairs, mis-following signs, directions and maps before we finally found this old fortress. It was a lot like the Medina, except minus the market. It was good for wandering, and we finally came across the Kasbah Museum, which gave some interesting history of the city. Because of its unique location, this city has been subjected to one invasion after another basically since the time of the Romans. I think you can sense this history in the confluence of cultures and tough attitude of the people.

Next time, we´ll be sure to make it to Marrakesh, the Atlas mountains and the desert. There´s just never enough time to do everything you need to do in every place. We left Morocco with a good taste of the culture, and a desire to get out of the border towns and into the heart of the land.