First night in Tangier

At around 20:00 (8pm) we arrived at Tangier port. With a beatiful view to the oldest part of the town, Medina, and the walls surrounding it, we entered Africa. Immediately we were approached by a seemingly friendly guy that wanted to show us around and help us find a hostel or a place to stay. The prizes he quoted seemed reasonable compared to what we could find on the internet but as we didn’t want to book the first the best thing we got offered, we decided to say no. He then offered us to buy some hash instead which we also politely refused.

We walked for about 5 mins out of the harbor (about 5 guys asked us if we wanted a taxi) before another guy told us not to go the direction we were heading because it was dangerous. We decided to follow his advice and go another way. He followed us and started talking to us and of course he wanted to show us a hotel he knew (very good price – best price and good beds) – this guy, however, didn’t stop following us until we gave him some money. It turned out that this was neither the first nor the last time that “helpful” locals offered us their help. Later that evening after we had found a hostel we walked around the town for a bit and a guy offered to help us. A “no” and “please leave” didn’t deter him and after we told him more and more sternly to leave (and gave him some money) he left us with a “Fuck you!” as his last words. We then had a tea and pondered upon our recent experience.

For another hour we walked around Medina and looked at the people and the surroundings. This place is like taken directly out of a James Bond movie with extremely narrow streets and odd buildings. People hanging on every street corner and small shops selling all kinds of things and trinkets. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and something worth experiencing! It was very easy to get lost and we did so too a couple of times which resulted in us ending up in dead ends of various more or less illuminated alleys. Despite dark dead end alleys it all seemed safe though.

Second day in Tangier

We had a delicious breakfast at the hostel and ventured out. People kept approaching us to help but we got better at saying no right away. Telling them we knew what we wanted and where we were going helped, politeness and no thank you didn’t. We walked around and outside Medina to see if we could rent a scooter but with no luck.

Instead we got to see alot of the town and some nice views over the Mediterranean Sea and we found a local watering hole with a very (genuinely) friendly bartender who talked to us and explained things while we had a beer. He also kept bringing us tapas of various kinds, until we were completely full – for free! He was indeed very friendly and made me restore faith in people not wanting something for their help 🙂

He also told us where to get a Shisha and surprisingly we found the place about 10 mins away very easily.

I am now back in the hostel and it was actually a very nice day. Tomorrow we plan on going to see Chefchaouen up in the nearby mountains which is apparently a very nice place with excellent views!