Howdy all! Well, the journey continues as I get closer to completing my tale of last year’s ‘Dhaka to Dakar’ adventure. When last I wrote about it I had joined up with my mate Graham and made our way from Barcelona in Spain to Tangier, Morocco. We had now hit Northern Africa and this was the start of the final leg of the journey from Morocco to Senegal via Mauritania.

We planned to visit Marrakesh in Morocco, but we figured that we might as well stop in Tangier for a day and see what the place was like. Morocco has a very interesting history strongly influenced by Europe – you can see Spain from Tangier, it really ain’t that far! In fact during the previous century much of Morocco had been totally under ‘European/Western Control’.

Tangier is a port/coastal city stretched along a small part of northern Morocco. It is not a flat city, apart from a stretch along the coast for maybe a kilometre or so, but once you get a hundred metres inland or so (depending on your position) it has a pretty steep incline. Atop one of the hills/cliffs is the Casbah (or Kasbah) – a small walled citadel that looks over the sea and the city and is the primary tourist attraction of Tangier. It’s also got some nice beaches, and its buildings date back to the first half of the 20th century in the downtown area, whereas the Casbah dates back to the 17^th century and there are buildings and dwellings that date back just as far or earlier.

Tangier being so close to Europe does see a fair bit of tourism. It was a favourite destination for a while for notable English celebrities to visit in the 1960s-70s (such as Kenneth Williams) but essentially it is not the tourist Mecca that Marrakesh is. Not today at least. It’s not unpleasant though and when we were there in April last year it was a bit chilly and cloudy whereas Marrakesh, further south, was sunny and around 30 degrees.

We were there in Ramadan too, which made little difference in Marrakesh with so many places depending on tourists for their business, but in Tangier most restaurants etc were shut in daylight hours.

We set about the day by first heading down to the railway station, the Gare Tangier. Although Spain is the closest European country to Morocco, France appears to have had the most influence. However, French, Spanish and English are all widely spoken although perhaps a little less in Tangier than Marrakesh. The main and most spoken language is Arabic.

The train station is a modern structure with a couple of minaret-type towers at the front which give it a Moroccan style. Getting the tickets didn’t take too long on the Al-Boraq – this is Morocco’s high speed train which is really the best way to get around the country – well the northern third which is connected by rail.

After that – well actually we passed a barber on the walk to the beach and it was time for a quick cut if the hair, and then we walked onto the beach. The beach is really nice, if mostly deserted with the warmer weather yet to start. There was a wide stretch of sand, volleyball courts (sand), a great view too with the city behind you and the hills and cliffs stretching each way and then, not so far away in the distance, the cliffs of Spain. Or hills. Whatever they were they were Spanish and visible!

It looks like in the summer months it’s alive with activity. Along the esplanade there are some semi-high rise buildings which I presume are apartment blocks mostly. From this more modern side of Tangier we moved into the Old City, spread over a hill or two. We took a taxi up the hill and around to the Casbah from there as would have been a long hike.

We sort of entered the Casbah from a concealed area a bit, although this was the main entrance. You see the Casbah walls to one side of a gate that you enter through. This Casbah was built from 1684 after a conflict with the English.

To the left once we entered the Casbah is the Casbah Museum… and you guessed it, it was closed! Which was a real pity, but somehow that is always the way. Instead we were able to roam around the Casbah and appreciate the alleyways and paths through it, people do still love there! The Casbah Mosque is not open to the public, only to Muslims so that was another place we weren’t able to visit but on the whole the place is where people still live to this day and that alone made it pretty interesting to visit.

We also came to the Bab El Bahr – the Gate of the Sea which we walked through and gave us an impressive view below of the coast and the cliffs and of course the ocean and parts of Tangier. Wandering the Casbah we discovered lots of little squares too as well as a section where there were a lumber of looms on display. No-one around them at the time, in little rooms off a covered street. There were also a few cafes but not open as it was Ramadan.

Then, as we were leaving, we met a guy who told us he wanted to show us the ‘Berber Market’. Straight away we felt there was something not quite right about the guy, but he seemed nice enough and we followed him and he showed us a few things along the way and through the market which was a good fifteen minute walk from where we met him on a wide staircase in the Casbah.

I had pre-emptively said that we didn’t want a tour, and kept mentioning this as he showed us something and he kept assuring us that it wasn’t a tour. The highlight was showing us inside a working bakery with a big kiln. Very cool.

At the end of it we ended up in his family’s shop, a multi-level place with carpets and many different souvenirs on display. He took us to the rooftop for an excellent view of Tangier in particular the old town, and it wasn’t until after this that he tried the hard sell. I knew this is where we were going to end up but sometimes there is benefits to following a stranger. We got out of there unscathed anyways and made our way back to the Air BnB and all was well.

We walked though a park – up a hill, they do a good job in Tangier with a bit of greenery here and there in regards to their parks on slopes. As the evening approached and the sun went down, Tangier came to life with lots of cafes, restaurants and coffee shops opening that had been closed all day. We found ourselves a nice place and I tried my first ‘tagine’ – lamb tagine, tagine is a dish cooked in a clay pot of the same name, and this was like a lamb stew, and was really nice.

And so that was our day really in Tangier. The next day it was time to take high-speed rail to Marrakesh and we had five days there to explore! But that’s for next time…. Thanks for joining me, take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!