Tanger (Morocco)
24 JUL - 25 JUL
It would be fair to say that I held no great expectations for Tanger/Tangier prior to arriving from Chefchaouen. I had heard that it was a bit of a dive, an old style port town with a seedy Moroccan sailor type of vibe. It would also be fair to say that when we hit the outskirts of Tangier and rounded one of it's greatest touristic drawcards, an almighty open sewer approximately 5kms from the centre of town, well then JJ also acquired the feeling that this place could quite rival Phonsovan, Laos, for the biggest dump of nothingness above the equator. I'll still never quite understand the man that I saw sitting by the edge of the sewer staring at it like it was one of the greatest sights he'd ever witnessed, and with that said, if it actually was, then he must have a life of surprises just waiting for him around the corner, literally.
Pulling up at the bus stop which is right on the edge of the port of Tangier, the first thing that someone told me or rather for me to do was to put my mobile away, out of the sight of nibble fingers, 'if it's out and about then don't expect to see it in your posession for too much longer'. We looked around for a cab, which was not too difficult to find and then showed him the destination of Dar Jameel, which I suspect was not to be too far away. Also immediately the cab driver motions to another guy, he jumps in, explains that his name is Abdul, that he works right next door to Dar Jameel and that he'll show us the way. 'Ok Abdul, you're apparently the man' - it's funny, but on reflection I think we got a little played with the taxi driver act, no matter, the end result didn't end up being all that bad.
Off we shoot from the port, up the hill into the medina, making turns in small streets and alleyways that the donkeys in Fez would have looked twice at. Both the cab driver and Abdul laugh when JJ gasps at one of the turns, have go to say though, there was a little bit of 'Moroccan crazy' in the way that they both laughed in tandem. Several right hand turns later we are literally back at the port, on the very same road where we were dropped off, approximately 20mtrs away. Upon questioning our guides it was explained to us that the way that we travelled is 'the only way' you can drive up into the medina, 'Aha, and so the full buggering now begins!'. We make it to the riad a few mins later and the cab driver asks us for 50 dirhams, ok, so not so bad. I go to pay Abdul for his assistance in carrying bags and what not, he says, 'Don't worry, you pay me later, for now go in the riad, change, see the view and I'll meet you later'...meaning ofcourse that he'll be waiting at the front door and will hijack our tails the moment we exit.
Tanger beach from Dar Jameel - Morocco
Tanger medina from Dar Jameel - Morocco
Tanger beach from Dar Jameel - Morocco
Thankfully the riad is fantastic and it does have a great view of the port, the main beach of Tangier and the medina which rises in tandem with the hill above it. The riad itself is also quite colourful and maybe for that point alone it would have been interesting to have stayed an additional day rather than having done an overnight hit and run mission. We also later discovered that it was possible to do a 35min run from Tangier to the Spanish port of Tarifa, and I have to admit that it would have been interesting to say that you had lunch and dinner on two different continents.
Welcome to Tanger - 'playas'...word...
Dar Jameel interior - Tanger - Morocco
Dar Jameel interior - Tanger - Maroc
After getting settled, JJ and I exited the riad and walked almost like zombies into the waiting arms of Abdul. He waited about 90 mins for us, and both JJ and I wondered internally how long he would have actually waited until he pulled the pin. Once in his clutches 'IT' begins. Abdul explains the itinerary that he's already mentally created for us, 'OK, so now we go to the beach and then I'll take you for a walk through the medina, and then to belly dancing on the hill where you'll have a great view over to Spain'. JJ and I roll our eyes, like 'What type of 'you're dreaming pills' did you take this morning?'. We explain that all we want is a good seafood dinner down on the beach and that was going to be all basically. Abdul says ok but then launches into a 'medina tour' again - this cheeky monkey, (that one was for you Jet), is going to be a little persistent!
Walking down onto the beach and steering us into a nice restaurant with a decent view we were admittedly happy with the choice that Abdul had made. Then he goes on, 'Now WE'LL eat and then I'LL take you on a tour of the medina'. I respond by saying 'WE'LL?', well no Abdul, you're not having dinner with us bro. I explain to Abdul then we'd like to have some privacy and the two of us would like to have dinner alone. 'Oh, ok, should I meet you here in an hour or so?'...'No mate, we don't need you hey'...after a bit of back and forth Abdul gets the idea that he's not wanted and that his pay day will not be so grand. 'Ok he says, I will go now but you need to pay me for my services'. If I was feeling a little pissy or wanted to have a go at the guy I would have told him off, but eh, the restaurant was ok, I shot him 50 dirhams and that was the last we saw of Seedy Abdul of Tanger.
Tanger sunset
Several margaritas and an awesome seafood dinner later, staring down the beach, JJ comments on the stage that's set up on the main beach and the Arabic music that's being blasted - there looks to be quite a crowd. A little begrudgingly JJ convinces me to go for a walk and get into the thick of the action. Now admittedly from the get go I'm not into it, the tunes sound like scizophrenic Serbian turbo folk music and that type of vibe makes me go a little homicidal. The beach is full however and there's young Moroccans pulling off weird and crazy Arabic moves that only they now how to do. I can't explain their actions but lets say that the dance style is uniquely Arabic and more than just a little amusing to me. JJ is getting her groove on and I'm standing there, looking at the stage, trying to get my head into the rythyms and the young Moroccans bemused by our appearance until the main honcho starts screaming out, 'heilu, heilu, heilu, heilu, heilu' - the crowd are throwing their hands up in aeroplane jelly fashion. A little later in this Arabic cacophony he rips out 'weidu, weidu, weidu, weidu'...who is this guy? Is he like the Moroccan Ricky Martin or something? In any case, JJ and I figure that it's something akin to self promotion or a bit of a band shout out and that the crew is called 'Heilu & Weida'....man, that band name covered quite a few miles over the next week in Paris. Still, by the time 'Heilu and Weida' were done and dusted the crowd had been beaten out of looking for anything but a Moroccan whiskey, aka mint tea, to recover from the excitement overdose.
The 'Heilu & Weida' crowd, going off...or something
The crowd expected big things from Heilu & Weida - boy, did they deliver!
BANG!!! Photo bomb your own shot why don't you!
As the gig-a-thon ends we walk up the beach and dip our toes for a while back into the Meditteranean, just to say that we've taken a swim on both sides. Walking back to our riad via a glaciery we dose up with couple of our favourite ice creams and make it back to the riad somewhere close to 1:30am. It's early enough for us to crash out, our flight to Paris is at 9:00am and a few hours of sleep wouldn't exactly go astray. We turn out the lightsand charge down. We say thank you to Tangier, you didn't give us much but you gave us Heilu and Weida, for that we will be eternally grateful!
JJ takes on both sides
