27.06.18

So another early start and it was time to get on our train to Tangier! Somehow we managed to get a compartment to ourselves!! Yippee!! In fact, we managed to score a compartment to ourselves for the whole trip to Tangier! Our own compartment meant we could both lie down and therefore we could get plenty of sleep. Many lollies, bickies and reading of our books later and we somehow ended up in Tangier.

We were actually very surprised. The overnight train was going to take 13hrs to get from Marrakech to Tangier so we were both thinking it would take 13hrs in the day time… it did not! We left at 6.20 and arrived about 4pm! It was quite funny as we realised all of a sudden that we had arrived in Tangier and had to do the quick scurry around the cabin to pack up our stuff!!

Off the train and we were whisked straight into the taxi and before we knew it we were up the hill and into the Medina and up to the Kasbah. Tangier is a really cosmopolitan city overlooking the Mediterranean. A good mixture of the old and the new. Around the beach and the port it is quite modern (probably built in the last thirty years) and then up on the hill is the old Kasbah and Medina which is where we’re staying for our two nights.

So our taxi driver didn’t exactly know where our hotel was so he dropped us off at the Kasbah and one of the ever helpful “boys” lead us down through the rabbit warren of streets to our hotel. $4 later and we were in our cheap as chips hotel and settling in for a shower and a cool drink. Our hotel here in Tangier is only costing us $45 a night for the two of us and is a bit of a mixture of a backpackers, come B+B. Our room is huge and quite nicely furnished with a large bed, three lounge chairs, bathroom and an incredible view out over the city and down to the Med

After a freshen up we headed out of the hotel to take a look around Tangier! Our helpful front door man gave us a map of the Medina and we headed out to see what the gorgeous city had to offer. Our walk took us back up to the Kasbah to see across the Straight of Gibraltar to Spain. It is so close between the two continents and it is no wonder that the Moors invaded across the straight and that the French/ Spanish re-invaded back across.. The air was very clear today so we could easily see the coastline of Spain. The Kasbah itself is actually a Portugese fortress built in the 15^th Century and the view from the top is really spectacular. From the Kasbah we headed into the small windy streets of the Medina to have a good look around. Tangier’s Medina is quite different to Marrakech’s, for one thing it is quite a bit cleaner, secondly, Tangier is made of white stone so very clean in colour and Tangier being built on a hill means that there is always a nice breeze so doesn’t quite feel so stifling.

Through the Medina and down to the waterfront for a pickie and then back up through the souq to the April 9^th Square (apparently another great landmark).. the square isn’t anything to write about- a big round-a-bout with a fountain in the middle and some nice big shady trees.. WE couldn’t quite work out what the point of the square was but at least it was a nice spot to stop.

Walk over and we headed to find ourselves some dinner. TripAdvisor got another run and using it we found this super cheap local restaurant where our two Tajines + soft drinks cost us $10. Couldn’t believe how cheap! Dinner over and it was time to hit the hay as tomorrow we’re off to Chefchouan.