We got in late Friday night and just found our hostel, ate at a local restaurant, and then took it easy and went to bed. Bo and I had been traveling for about 12 hours already that day and by the time we were ready to explore it had gotten dark, and we didn't think it was a good idea to wander around not knowing anything about the neighbourhood we were in.
Even though Morocco is only a 45 minute ferry ride from Spain, it is completely different culturally. Here is the initial view from the ferry:
Overall, Tanger felt relatively safe (although I didn't spend much time there), but the the language barrier made it a bit difficult and times, and there were a lot of big cultural differences. For example, it seems like women had very little respect and almost no rights there. Sometimes when asking for directions, the people would only talk to me and not the girls I was traveling with. I don't think it would be easy to travel there as a girl, but I know people that have done it. Also, alcohol is completely illegal (although apparently not too hard to get). This meant that there is basically no night life or bars anywhere in the country.
Our "hostel" was basically just a converted out apartment that we could stay in. However, it was really nice and had a very authentic Moroccan feel to it, so that made it fun.
The building also had a rooftop terrace, which had a great view of the surrounding city:
We ended up calling a guide that we met right after getting off the ferry, and he agreed to give us a walking tour of the city for about five Euro apiece. We got to see lots of markets and sights around the city, and it was overall a pretty good tour.
Tanger was the first country after the American Revolutionary War to recognize the US as a sovereign nation (they did just before the French, who aided the US in the war, but Tanger was controlled by the french at the time so this is largely the reason), so the oldest US embassy in the world is located in the French district of the city.
Here are a few more pictures from the city:
The Caves of Hercules:
And of course, we couldn't resist riding on camels...
I love it...I want a camel ride too..
ReplyDeleteI bet it was pretty uncomfortable.
thanks for the update.