Andre and Wendy: Tangier and Chefchaouen

Our guide Youssef is from Tangier and is very excited to show us his home city. Pick up by bus again at 8:30 and we try to drive to the Kasbah but hit a road block, so that plan is scrapped. We get to see what a great drive we have when he must do a 3 point turn on a street under construction, very impressive, I would have just cried.

Off to walk through the Medina, inside the gates of the city, but everything is pretty closed up as we are so early. Unfortunately this was a city we had not been to before and were really looking forward to it, but I feel like we didn't see much of it at all with our late arrival and early departure today.

Next we drove off to Chefchaouen, a blue city in the Rif mountains founded in the late 1400's. About 15000 people live in the old town, no cars, very twisty little streets/alleys. Here the houses and shops are all painted blue at the bottom, it keeps it cool in the summer and keeps the heat in the winter. Some of the streets were very steep, would have not liked this in the rain. The blue needs to be repainted every 3 months, the blue also keeps the mosquitoes away, may need to rethink having a yellow house and change to blue. Lunch in Chefchaouen, a little disappointing after delicious chicken tagine yesterday, today not so exciting, and a bit too expensive.

After lunch we continue on towards Fes, where we will spend the next 2 nights. It is Fes, not Fez, we are all told this a few times. We travel on through the Rif mountains, and come to beautiful green farmland. Lots of olive trees, orange groves, wheat fields. Lots of agriculture in this part of the country. A bit of a crazy drive, passing trucks very overloaded with bales of hay, donkeys and carts on the road, glad to finally make it to our hotel. Another 11 hour day of touring on the road. Supper once we arrive, we have been switching it up who we eat with for meals and have met some really nice people. The 6 of us that ate together tonight ventured out to a grocery store that was just around the block to pick up water and snacks. Youssef had told us not to go out at night in 2 or 3 people, but a group would be fine, so we convinced our table to come along. Everyone stocked up on water, 40 cents USD at the store, and $4.00 at the hotel. It was a large grocery store, always fun to look at groceries in another country.

Gas prices 1.30US for gas and 1.45US for diesel per liter