INTO THE HUES OF BLUE

THERE'S MONEY IN THEM THAR HILLS 

 SUNDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 2013

CHEFCHAOUEN or Chaouen as the locals call it, is about 100kms inland of Tangiers. After the hemmed in hustle of Tangiers, it's refreshingly laid back. The taxis don't even bother to meet the bus, you have to go wrangle one. The smell of hashish passes the nostrils more frequently than in Tangiers and lots of people have a toke where and when it suits them. Possession is not illegal although I think production and distribution may be a different matter. Nevertheless it's pretty much the prolific centre of Moroccan dope growing. The harvest was well in when we were there but it abounds in the local hills to meet global demand with hashish a specialty.

Our airbnb host met us at the taxi stop and walked us up to his house with magnificent views over the distinctive blue rinsed houses and buildings of Chefchaouen. Sometimes you really get lucky with airbnb, like the time we were in Germany back in July with Bea and Jan. In Chaouen, Ricardo and Nieves, our hosts were gems, very hospitable, giving of their time and informative on the local history, customs and people. Nieves served up delicious breakfasts and took us on a guided market shopping tour including a pit stop for snails. Nothing like a local to show you around.

We spent two nights enjoying the laid back change to Tangiers before heading down to Fez on the bus to meet up with an old work colleague who has lived in Fes for the last six years.

 

ONE FOR THE ROAD IN TANGIERS PETIT SOCCO, LIKE BURROUGHS, HEMMINGWAY, RIMBAUD, VERLAINE, KEROUAC AND THE ROLLING STONES BEFORE US TO NAME BUT A FEW.

SKIPPING TO CHAOUEN

SHORT ON HEADROOM, OUR BLUE DOOR OF THE BLUE TOWN IN THE HILLS

ON OUR WAY UP FOR THE VIEW

IT LOOKS LIKE MY MUM'S BEACH HAT FROM THE 60'S BUT IT'S TRADITIONAL GARB.

TIME FOR A SELFIE

AND THE LIGHT JUST GOT BETTER

SUNSET RED GOAT TRACK

POMEGRANATE AND YOGHURT PART OF NIEVES' YUMMY BREAKFAST

CHAOUEN BLUE

BUNNIES AT THE FOOD MARKET NOT THE PET STORE

WELL GUARDED ROOF

ANNE HAMMERS OUT A DEAL ON LATE SEASON FIGS

DIY PAINT TINTING SERVICE

ON THE WAY UP TO OUR PLACE

SNAILS WITH NIEVES, DELISH!

NICE STOCK TOO

ANNE AND NIEVES HEAD HOME LADEN WITH PRODUCE

THE VIEW FROM OUR TERRACE

ON THE TERRACE RESEARCHING OUR NEXT MOVE

OUR CHARMING HOST RICARDO BIDS US FAREWELL ON THE WAY TO FEZ

ANNE SECURES THE NEXT LEG

THE SHOOTER GETS SHOT

IN THE FADED FOOTSTEPS OF SPIES, ARTISTS, WRITERS AND HIPPIES

TANGIERS, MOROCCO

Hello readers, far flung fond few. Sorry for the long radio silence. I hereby present the first post in a series from Morocco.

It's been a grand experience across many landscapes starting with our landfall on Tangiers on 6th November. The fast ferry which isn't very, got us from Tarifa, Spain across the Straits of Gibralter to Tangiers, Morocco. Goodbye alcohol, hello to the perfume of hashish in the streets.

Tangiers is undergoing a makeover of it's waterfront. A squillion dollar project is underway, building breakwaters and a glossy marina complex. They obviously want a slice of the Med sailing traffic. Acres of waterfront buildings are being raised which made our map a little redundant when we first arrived looking for where the streets were on the way to our accommodation.

We read about some of the street scammers in the guidebook but when they actually used the very lines we read about, I found it fascinating and was happy to hear more of their patter for the sport. Anne wasn't so keen so we'd do a 180 on the unshakeable ones. We were often told “you can't go that way, it is blocked, I will show you”. They even said that to our host, and she lives there.

We had some tips from our airbnb host on where to eat which was great for quickly orienting ourselves. Ok, maybe one restaurant tip was an overpriced dead loss in a worn out soulless tourist weary Fawlty Towers with mean unloved food to match but the others were good. We dined at one place that only the locals know about. A women's refuge where the women learn skills and put on a different set menu every day in a leafy courtyard. A nice little find for us and an important income stream for them.

Tangiers is an ancient town with a rich history. Famous writers and famous gays have hung out here in it's heyday. The call to prayer belts out over the densely packed Medina where one night a young kid held a toy gun to my head, another first. An interesting, gritty place, three nights in Tangiers was good but maybe one night too long, we were glad to be on the road again when we headed out to Chefchaouen.

LAST COFFEE IN ALGECIRAS

ANNE CHECKS FERRY TIMETABLES

PART OF THE NEW MARINA/PORT DEVELPMENT

THE OLD MEDINA WALLS WITH A LEAN

THE LAND OF MINT TEA (SANS SUCRE)

HIGH CEILINGS IN THE MEDINA

OUR ROOFTOP VIEW

COUS COUS AT THE WOMEN'S SHELTER

MEUSLI ON THE ROOF

ANOTHER VIEW FROM THE ROOF

LOTS OF KIDS HAVE TOY GUNS. THIS ONE HOLDS COVER WHILE THE GANG GETS AWAY.

TIMBER CEILING OF THE KASBAH

TARIFA, SPAIN, WHERE WE CAME FROM ON THE HORIZON

A FISHMONGER'S MOTORBIKE WITH EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE KITCHEN SINK

ANCIENT GRAVE HEWN IN TO ROCK RUBBISH PIT

SUNGLASSES! OUCH!

LOVE A GOOD STREETSIDE FOUNDRY

WAITING FOR HIS ORDER

THEY'LL NEVER FALTER ON GIBRALTA

I GOT THE MONKEY OFF MY BACK BUT SPAIN HASN'T

BARBARY MACAQUE

5th NOVEMBER 2013

All good things must come to an end. We drove the 40kms to Algeciras near Gibralter to hand the hire car back after one week that seemed to pack in a lot of fun, miles and experiences.

About the time that Australia stopped to watch the Melbourne Cup, we were waking up and thought seeing the Rock was so handy, it seemed like a good idea to visit for the day. Getting in through passport control was a breeze. Getting out was very, very different.

We climbed up on an English double decker bus only to wait at the lights for a jet to land before we crossed the runway. At the end of the ride we stepped off into an English Theme Park. It was more English than England. A very quirky time warp on a little tiny bit of 2.6 square miles of disputed territory at the end of a peninsular. English accents abounded and the menus were in English. It was a culture shock because all of Spain was a stone's throw away. Something the Spanish have noticed too.

We walked up the mountain. Most take a bus or a cable car but this way we got to see a lot more and stop whenever, plus we got some exercise plus we're cheap. The Rock is home to Barbary Macaque monkeys and has been for an awful long time. We explored the rock and then came back down to a lower part where the younger monkeys were playing. One monkey eyed me off for a climb, I stepped back but that didn't stop him, in two leaps he sprung onto a fence and onto my hat. Not quite sure what to do with a monkey on my head, I spun him around for the ride. He jumped off but enjoyed it so much he jumped back on. I took some photos over my back of an out of focus monkey riding on my backpack until he decided the game was over and leapt elsewhere. I'm just glad he didn't bite me.

While I managed to get one particular monkey off my back, it's not so easy for Spain. Gibralter is a  hotly disputed territory which explains the "We shall never surrender" Churchill slogans one sees about. Gibralter is an exquisite problem for Spain. It's a low tax territory making it a haven for online gambling and finance companies. All the passing shipping can buy cheaper lower taxed diesel from Gibralter, residents get free education and airfares to Britain twice a year, cigarettes and booze is cheaper etc. etc. This makes Spain very cranky and it is a matter of national pride that Spain gives Gibralter as hard a time as it can.

 Five days ago there was in 'international incident' when a Spanish Guardia Civil patrol boat gave a Gibralter Defence Police boat a nudge. Because Spanish people earn a shitload of low tax money in Gibralter they then buy expensive houses in wealthy enclaves in Spain and the government gets annoyed. They continue to squeeze and niggle Gibralter as they can. Recent plans in August 2013 are to introduce a 50 euro border crossing fee for people going to and from Gibraltar. Many people commute across the border for work. Plans to close Spanish airspace to Gibraltar bound flights are also reported, as are plans for an investigation by Spanish tax authorities into property owned by around 6,000 Gibraltarians in neighbouring parts of Spain. The Spanish Foreign Minister also mooted plans to changes in the law meaning British online gaming companies based in Gibraltar would have to base servers in Spain, meaning that they would come under Madrid's tax regime.

You get the picture. It was against this backdrop that we saw first hand the squeeze Spain is maintaining. At the end of the day when tourists and commuters all head for the border gates to Spain, there is only one person checking passports for the pedestrians meaning a 35 minute queue in our case or a one and half to two hour wait for cars as they do thorough searches. They now have limits on grog and cigarettes and are looking to bust people.

Tensions in our line of people were palpable and the entire line of about 200 cars would periodically burst into mad horn honking complaint. In the last pic, look for the guy with blood on his forehead with the bobby and the guy in the green T shirt who just punched him being arrested by plain clothes. After that queue jumping rage incident, later, when another bloke nonchalantly did it immediately behind us, the crowd was right on to him and shamed him back in to line.

A top day out in Gibralter followed by DIY dinner and tipple on the roof of our 'hospedaje' back in Algeciras.

WAITING AT THE PLANE CROSSING

TOPLESS TOP DECK

WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER

ALGECIRAS WHERE WE STAYED IS TOP LEFT ON OTHER SIDE OF BAY

WINDY BUT SUNNY

TOP BIT OF ROCK

ON THE LOOKOUT FOR AUSTRALIAN YACHTS OVERSTAYING SCHENGEN

INSERT CAPTION HERE

ZEN MONKEY

THE YOUNGSTERS PLAYGROUND

THEY DO FALL IN SOMETIMES

A JUMPING MACHINE STOPS FOR A SIP

HE EYES OFF A ROUTE UP WHILE I STEP BACK

NO PROBLEM, TWO LEAPS AND HE IS.....

..... ON MY BACKPACK FOR THE RIDE

ONLY PART OF THE QUEUE AT BORDER CONTROL OR ''LA LINEA'

QUEUE JUMPER RAGE

BACK IN ESPANA