Morocco I guess

So it has been a little while since I last updated the blog, and I still haven't even gotten done with my trip in Europe so I'll try to finish that up over the next day or so, so that I can keep on keeping on with my crazy adventures that I keep making for myself.

After finally catching a ferry to Tanger, and a rough ride at that, we arrived in Tanger. Shortly after walking out of the ferry station, I guess you would call it, we immediately had people asking us if we needed a ride money exchanged, help and pretty much anything else you could think of. We found a taxi that I'm almost sure someone had told them to come pick us up, and through my bag on top and Jessie's in the trunk and headed to the train station. We had a few hours before our train was scheduled to leave so we had something to eat and set off to find some Internet. Tanger wasn't that bad of a place once you went out and walked around for a little bit. As I had found out for myself earlier on it is even better if you are not carrying a 80 liter back pack around with you. We found Internet and check hotels for when we arrived into Marrakech.

After waiting a little while in the train station for our now late train to arrive, we left the smoky station and headed to our car to find our cabin for the over night ride to Marrakech. Maybe a half hour of looking out the window after the train had left the station we made our beds and went to sleep.

The next morning we woke up to the Moroccan country side whizzing by as our late arriving train be came even more late to arrive in Marrakech. For some reason the train had stopped and several people had gotten out to look at something under the train. The train would go a few feet one direction and then a few more the other and after an hour or so we started back up and continued on our was. Arriving maybe 2 hours late into Marrakech Jessie and I found our taxi we had arranged to take us to our hotel, or at least as close as it could take us. When you read tour books and it tells you about all the schemes people do you would think that those same people would eventually come up with new ways of shaming people, but it is as if EVERYONE reads the same book and does the same thing that it tells you to look out for. After trying to negotiate the taxi ride back down to what we were told it would have been and not seceding we headed off in the direction of our hotel, or Riad or what ever it is they call them. maybe 50 yards of getting into the Medina a young kid came up to use and asked if we needed help finding our place, we told him no and kept walking but he was very persistent and asked to the see the address of the place. Once he found that out he kind of just walked around with use until we came to the street and pointed out the name and said to follow him. As we wound around into narrowing ally ways I started to think that he was for sure leading us into a dead end where he would have friends waiting to mug us and I had almost turned around when he lead us into a almost pitch black alley way when we came to a door and he pointed to the name. He rang the door bell and the riad host answered. We walked and and the kid asked for money, I told him we didn't have anything small enough and that we greatly appreciated his help but he was persistent and told us that they would be able to make change for us. I gave him what change I did have in my pocket and he insisted I give him more for the 10 durum I have him was nothing and he needed more. After convincing him that I was not going to give him any more he left with his head hung as if he wasn't going to eat that night. It is those people that made the perfect example out of what the guide books said to look out for.

We set our bags in our room and took a 10 minute breather to kind of get over the culture shock we had just experienced. We then started to formulate our next plan. We had gone out a couple time increasing our distance each time, coming back to the Riad each time. On our second or third trip out that day we made our way to the main square were we had a glass of the famous orange juice and let me tell you that was the best orange juice I had ever had, it even made a believer out of a non orange juice drinker, Jessie. We then walked to the other side of the square where there were some snake charmers. we had stopped and looked from a distance as Jessie made it clear she was not getting any closer. As we walked by a guy came up and put a snake right around my neck and told me to come with him. He told me to sit down in front of some drums that were laying on the ground and when I knelled down he removed them and uncovered a viper and cobra. Jessie standing about 50 feet away had been approached by another guy with a snake but I guess she had made it much more clear that she was not going to have a snake around her neck and the guy left her alone. After they took the snake off me he asked for 200 durum, which is about 20 Euros or 30ish US dollars. I was out raged and gave him 15 which was actually all I had left on me, and he gave me the exact store the kid earlier gave me almost word for word about it being nothing and that I should give him more.

That day had seemed to go on forever as we went back to the riad and took a nap showered and went back out to find dinner, so much had happened that day that I couldn't even remember where we ate dinner that night. I think we had found a restaurant that was 3 floors high and had dinner at the top over looking the main square.

The next day we just wondered around a while longer checked the bus for tickets to make a side trip to Essaouira . Found some internet to check e-mails, and found dinner at another Moroccan place, this one a little more fancy, but just as good and very traditional.

The next day we got our breakfast served to us on the roof and packed our bags to head to the Atlantic coast of Africa. Walking to the bus station seemed like a cake walk after experiencing the tourist trap of Marrakech's Medina.

Since so much happened in every day while we were in Morocco I will write the Essaouira side trip next another day. So if you haven't already go ahead and look through the photo album, or find something else to do until I post the next story of my great adventure.