Tangier can be quite overwhelming, especially for travellers on their first visit, it being the main port of entry.  Feeling like a herded cattle, I exited the ferry and was thrown into chaos.  I was a first timer myself, travelling alone, and only had 4 pages of my Let’s Go Europe Guide to take me around this foreign territory. Expect to be bombarded by local guides (local people, not professionals), and taxi drivers.   Be sure to know where you want to go, even if it means memorizing a map as I did; you never know where the unknown can take you.

My guide, Mustafah, was extremely gracious and helped carry my luggage up winding streets and stairs to my hotel.  Hotels with hot showers run cheap, 100-200 Dirham, about $10-20 USD.  We toured the city by foot passing many colourful mosques, climbed  many stairs, and tasted a lot of local foods like cous cous and shwarma sandwiches made with shredded meat and curry sauce.  The city is quite dirty but the hidden treasures are between the narrow streets and in the attitudes of the people.  If Tanger weren’t special, the King of Morocco, Mohammed the sixth, wouldn’t reside in his palace in the city and have a secondary palace overlooking the ocean.  There are a lot of negative reviews and horror stories about Tangier, but luckily I never read about them, trusted my instincts, and had an amazing adventure.
 

Mustafah befriended me, introducing me to his friends who were regulars at a small tea/smoke shop in the Kasbah neigborhood of Tangier.  They offered me tea and Kif and I gladly accepted.  Morocco is famous for its mint tea.  Fresh mint leaves are picked and mixed with sugar and hot water.  The tea is poured from far above the glass in order to help cool it.   Moroccans smoke Kif, a mixture of tobacco and Hashish, through a long, skinny, wooden, pipe called a sebsis.  I was told that the best way to access Kif is to hook up with young local guys.  They may invite you to join a smoke the minute you get to know them.  That is exactly what I did and I was in good company.

I returned to my hotel that first night delighted and couldn’t wait for the next day...a bus trip to Asilah where the beaches were supposedly pristine and where there was to be an international art festival.  The 2pm bus was full and I had to wait a couple of hours for the next one.  Public transportation is a hassle with buses always full beyond capacity - they are never on time. 

I decided to lie on the beach next to the port, close to the bus station.  It was when I awoke to a young boy yelling that I realized I had fallen asleep. I couldn't understand his native Arabic, but his gestures were quite clear - my phone and watch, that I had foolishly left on view, were gone.  Swiftly we searched the beach, and the town but found no trace of the perpetrator.  Following his lead, we dashed around winding roads and steep stairways, and ended up at the police station.  It wasn't worth filing a report but the policeman was kind enough to hail me and my young appendage a taxi.  With two passengers already inside, the policeman explained our circumstances and there was no problem in giving us a free ride.  Everyone in the taxi was sympathetic and hoped that it had not given me a tarnished view of the Moroccan people.  They insisted we head back for the beach to search for the culprit, but it was a hopeless task and they kindly dropped me at my hotel.  They assured me better days were to come!

Mohamed, one of the staff from the Ibn Batouta Hotel, was my age and shared my love of the beach.  Since it was so close, he drove us there day after day.  Morocco has 3 coasts...the Atlantic, the Strait of Gibraltor where the Port of Tangier is, and the Mediterranean Sea.  I was lucky enough to bask in all of them.  A day of swimming and playing in the Atlantic left Mohammed, his cousin Aziz, and I starved.  We ordered fish goulash from a tiny hut on the beach and climbed some rocks to get to the best table....a private cove of rocks and nothing but ocean in front of us, the water tickling our feet.  Our goulash came sizzling and straight from the sea.  At this point I knew I was off the beaten path and I felt like a local.

It was August and a very popular month for weddings.   Mohamed's sister who was a French teacher was getting married, and family from all over the world travelled here, to Tangier, to take part.  Day in and day out like a local I ran errands with Mohamed helping him prepare for the wedding and even took some trips with him and his family outside the city. The biggest surprise came when I met his sister....she said she would be honoured if I could attend the wedding and gave me an official invitation written in Arabic in gold ink.  Before I knew it I was graciously involved  in a two day celebration.  The first night is what Americans would call the bachelorette party.  Only women could attend and the policy is strict because it is an opportunity for the women to let loose and dance the night away with a live female band.              - Article Continued Below -