10 May

O-M-G, what a day!!! We took the bus to Algeciras and a ferry to Tangier, Morocco. We kind of got hustled while buying tickets at the port in Algeciras, but not too badly. Passing through customs was interesting. First they would look at our passports and tickets, then stamp and shuffle a lot of papers, skewer some of them on a spindle, file some in cubbies, and put the rest in a stack. This occurred on both ends of the voyage, each direction. It certainly seemed very official, if not very efficient.

It was just insane when we walked off the boat in Tangier. Hustlers, "helpers", and "guides" swarmed us like flies around a wildebeest. It was so bad that we considered getting right back on the boat, but we finely shooed them away, bought our return ticket, and walked into town. We brought enough food and drink for the day from Spain, so we ate lunch in a park. We picked a bench with a clean-cut young fellow sitting on it. He was a native Moroccan from another city, in town for a job interview. We had a nice chat while we ate and he helped us fend off the beggars without asking for a tip. After lunch, we walked the narrow streets of the old city. It was probably good that it was raining, since our rain pants cover up our pockets, making them highly thief-resistant. As we were gazing into the display window of a bakery, a snaggle-toothed old woman came up and joined us. I asked for advice regarding the baked goods, and she indicated her preference. I went in and bought 3 of the recommended pastries, and gave one to our advisor. They were quite good, and the lady was very happy. I paid with Euros, and received a handful of coins in change.

Once we got away from the port and the old city, it really wasn't too bad. "Guides" quit trying to help us, and we were only approached by a handful of beggars. We chatted with a group of students near the university, where we were probably quite a curiosity. By late afternoon, we'd had enough, so we fought our way back through the self-appointed ticket agents and waited for the boat in the serenity of the ferry terminal. Before leaving the town, we passed another bakery. I stacked all of my Moroccan coins on the counter and pointed to some tasty-looking date bars. We thought we would get a few, but ended up with a small shoebox full. They were very good and lasted us for several days. Boarding was a goat-rope (they couldn't decide which pier the ferry was going to come to), and the ferry was 40 minutes late leaving, but we made it back to Spain in time to catch the last bus back to La Linea. After Morocco, Spain seems like Oklahoma! I suppose Morocco might be ok if you could get out into the smaller towns, but we've probably had enough to last us forever.

Joe on ferry	Joe at Jardin Iberia
Old Tangier		New Tangier	Tangier mass transit

back at the port

Baleària ferry

Janene on ferry

Tangier port	Tangier from ferry
Tangier from ferry	Tangier from ferry