Chefchaouen (Morocco)
22 JUL - 24 JUL
So JJ and I were sitting in a cafe one night in Chefchaouen, having an over sugared mint tea, which in itself isn't bad because mint teas are just NOT BAD, at any time! Carefully sipping on probably the 63rd mint tea we've had in the last 6-7 days, I hear a guy just over my right shoulder chatting to a lady in what I understood to be Italian. I turn around to see a middle aged man, face worn and beaten by the winds and sands of the Sahara, darkened eyes, head scarf and Arabic style clothing, chatting fluently to this lady. Now this guy is intruiging, I turn a couple of times to just look at him, he was just that type of character. JJ also found him interesting for some reason and pointed him out to me. Don't know what it was but he had 'something' about him.
Blue door series - Chefchaouen - Morocco
Blue door series - Chefchaouen - Morocco
Blue door series - Chefchaouen - Morocco
The next day JJ and I had made our way out of the medina and up the hill/mountain that provided to essential backbone and backdrop to the charming town of Chefchaouen. There wasn't any real reason to make our way up other than the fact that there was bound to be a great view and the fact that the very much out of place Atlas hotel would in all certainty be able to provide us with the alcoholic hit that two desparado's such as ourselves needed. We sat in the midday sun for sometime, the temperature gauge climbing all the while as we downed a few beers and whatever else may have made the hit list.
Walking back from the hotel to the medina via a type of 'no man's land', JJ and I somehow managed to stumble onto the topic of destiny and I mentioned that for some reason whilst I thought it to be a nice concept and that I'd like to somehow believe in it I couldn't quite get my head around to the point of accepting it. Anyway, we chatted and discussed theories before breaking through the walls of the medina and aiming for the cooling waters of the falls on the eastern breach of the town.
Dr. Destiny (Hammou) and JJ - I think he was gunning for JJ to be his 3rd wife or something
We passed through most of the blue town, reaching the far end relatively quickly. At one point we passed a shop that seemed a little different from the sheer fact that there wasn't a some hawker trying to pull you in so as to offload their wares. I turned to have a look inside and stopped JJ in her tracks , asking her to come in also. As our eyes adjusted to the darkened room we looked around the shop and then down to the floor in front of us. There sitting in front of us was the engaging Arabic guy that we had spotted the night before. He asks us to sit down immediately and offers both myself and JJ a slice of the watermelon that he was just cutting up. I politely refuse and JJ accepts after a couple of requests from the man. He comments to us pretty much immediately that we look familiar to him and that he must have seen us recently. We point out that we sat behind him during his conversation with the Italian woman the evening before, 'Ahhh yes, now I remember'. He starts talking, commenting generally on his beliefs and his thoughts on destiny. I'm kind of engaged by what he's saying, fully amused by the fact that this was a topic that I'd just been discussing and had kind of indirectly sort out this guy for no particular reason at all. Destiny 1 - Elisher 0 at this point.
Hammou,(our new teacher of all things soulful and destiny related), then asks us to view his shop and choose anything that we're compelled to buy, or rather, are drawn to. JJ, after a little looking actually does find an 'interesting cooking/kitchen' implement for her brother, which was pretty much the precis that her brother Jason had provided before leaving Sydney. A short negotiation commences and in the end the theory of the 'democratic price' works out, good for the buyer, good for the seller, everyone leaves happy and the art of destiny remains intact.
Chefchaouen - Morocco
Chefchaouen - Morocco
Walking back to the falls we spend the later part of the afternoon with our feet freezing in the cold mountain water and the rest of our body getting burnt by the violent African sun. As the day closes out we wander back in to town and chow down on plates of fries...that's it, just fries. It's strange ,but no matter how good Moroccan food is, and it really is, sometimes you just need to get back to basics for a night.
Chechaouen - Morocco
23 JUL
Chefchaouen in some areas, and from some angles looks like more of a movie set than a town. It's just one of those place where the looks are specific and picture perfect. You could easily imagine a spaghetti western being shot on it's streets, shady Moroccan characters strolling into the main plaza on their horses, holding up at a a cafe or bar for a few hours and then perhaps setting on a tourist for a dual at high noon. In reality however the gun totting Moroccan cowboys are the restaurant staff that try to pull you into their establishment at every opportunity. Your part in this dual, as a tourist, lies in the ammunition you have your disposal and the ability you have to shoot down these requests with amusing retorts or anecdotes. If you fail, well you could very well be eating a helping of kefta or lamb tagine that really wasn't on your agenda.
Shades of blue - Chefchaouen - Morocco
Shades of blue - Chefchaouen - Morocco
Successfully dodging the touts, JJ and I take a stroll through the kasbah and then walk through most of the town, appreciating what it has to offer. As today is Friday, the Saturday equivalent in the Islamic faith, the streets are more quiet then usual, people are even more relaxed than the 'busier' days of the week. We walk the streets of blue, appreciating the diversity, the scenery and the sense of calm that this town has to offer.
Finishing out the day we head back up the mountain to the Atlas in order to catch the sunset and to get that alcohol fix that dependants like us so dearly need - it ain't all bad here in Morocco, but damn, they make the infedels work for their drinks!
Sunset in Chefchaouen - Morocco
24 JUL
This was our last day in Chefchaouen, kind of a shame because it was such a great place, but that's the game of travel. We were out and at the bus station by 3pm, ready to jump another ride for 2hr stint north to the port town of Tangier. It was at the bus station that 'destiny' played a little bit of a trick on me and went up in its ongoing 'proof of concept' match with me 2-0. So I'm sitting there with JJ, having myself a coffee, waiting for the bus from Fes to show up. I turn around and there stands Abdul, the shady little bugger that took me on a guided tour of Fes for a full day two years ago, please see the 2008 link of (Abdul the shady bastard). I walk a few steps and stand right in front of him, he immediately recognises me but can't quite place where it was - it takes a few seconds but then he connects. He gives me half a hug and then we chat for a little while, something akin to 'how the f*** did this happen?'. I was only telling JJ a few days ago in Fes about Abdul and how he had guided me around and how I thought he may have been dodgy. Now, in a totally different foreign Moroccan town on pretty much my last day in Morocco the 16 yr old kid of two years ago is now an 18 yr old man wearing strange happy pants. He tells me that he's travelling with his German girlfriend, heading north or something like that...strange thing is that I don't see a girlfriend anywhere or any luggage for that manner...but hey, isn't that the Moroccan way, kind of dodgy, kind of shady but always good fun. He takes down my e-mail address and adds that he might be visiting Australia and New Zealand sometime in the future, 'we'll see Abdul, ...we'll see'. It was kind of a bizarre occurrence , a coincidence perhaps....or maybe destiny just out bluffing me once again.
