Apr 08

Our alarms were set for 5.30am, but we were awoken at 3.30 by the Mosque which was situated right next to our hotel – brilliant! After leaving the hotel at 6.15, we got a taxi to the train station. Somehow all 5 of us crammed into one taxi: Shaun & Jenna in the front and me, Phil and Soph in the back. Very amusing!

We sorted our train out which was very cheap, and then grabbed some food. We were hoping for a McDonalds but it was shut! The meals were only about £2 as well – we were gutted! The train was very comfortable, and the 5 of us had a private cabin to ourselves which was air conditioned – travelling in style! After 6 hours we arrived in Casablanca where we stayed for a few hours. My impressions of the place were not great – it was very boring to look at, and did no feel very Moroccan at all.

We hopped onto another train which was bound for Marrakesh. Most of the scenery was very similar through the whole journey – the only difference being that the more South we headed, the less green it became. On the second train we shared a cabin with a German bloke, who was good company considering the 4 hour journey!

We arrived in Marrakesh and it was instantly clear that it was going to be hectic! The roads were more like racing tracks for mopeds, with no clear understanding of which side of the road to drive on, let alone what the traffic lights meant. We got a taxi to the main square (Djemaa el Fna).

It was very surreal – the pavements were full of mopeds buzzing about, and the locals were very ‘in your face’. After meeting Dan at his hotel, we sorted ourselves out some rooms. Excuse the French, but what a shit-hole! For 70Dh per night we didn’t expect much, but at least a clean floor would have been nice!

We ventured out to get some food with Dan, Aoefa and Hannah. The restaurant was very nice, and we sat on the roof terrace overlooking the square. The only thing the meal was lacking was alcohol which seemed to be impossible to get hold of!

After the meal we wandered about the market a bit. The locals were hectic, and Shaun got assaulted by a monkey… no joke. We returned to the hotel reluctantly and headed off to sleep.

Time to leave Tarifa! First job for the day was to pack everything which was a mission in itself. At midday we handed over the room key an legged it so we could not be collared for the broken shower! We ate at the same Café Central in the old town, which yet again, was a mistake… this time my food never arrived! I think I must have picked up a curse or something…

We were aiming to get to Morocco for 8pm so we could get the overnight train to Marrakesh, which didn’t seem like a problem at all given the fact the time was only 1pm.

The ferry from Tarifa was meant to only take 35 minutes to make the crossing, but we turned up at the ferry port and all ferries had been cancelled to ‘rough sea’ – we could see the sea and it was not rough at all! Very confusing! Not to be outdone, we headed to Algeciras as more ferries departed from there. We arrived in time for a 5pm ferry which was due to arrive in Tangier at 7.30pm – perfect timing for the overnight train.

After a lot of hanging about, 5pm passed. As did 6pm. We were not aboard the ferry until 7pm, and it did not set off until gone 8pm. This delay had put our plan of getting the overnight ferry in doubt, but if the crossing was quick enough we could still make it. In the ferry port we met a quality lad called Sim who was from Singapore – he was travelling alone and was good company for the journey!

The crossing started off okay, and we were still confused as to why the quick crossing from Tarifa was cancelled. It was not until two hours in to the journey that the sea got rough… very rough. I had never seen so many green faces. The ferry took 3 and a half hour to make the crossing, so we had to find accommodation in Tangier for the night and get the train early Wednesday morning.

We met another traveller called Daniel who spoke fluent French which was very handy as that is what they speak in Morocco. We all checked into a hotel which was 100Dh (about £7). We grabbed some food which was really nice and headed back to the hotel as we wanted to catch a train to Marrakesh at 7am.

Woke up in utter darkness thinking it was 4am, when actually it was about 10.30. Opening the blinds we realised it was pissing it down with rain – the day was not off to a good start!

We wandered into rainy Tarifa: around the alleys in the old town searching for some food and shelter from the thunder storm. We went into Café Central – mistake. The food came in stages, and mine took about an hour to arrive. Gutted!

The town was very quiet apart from the thunder, so we braved the rain and headed back to the hostel. After getting thourghly wet through we chilled out/slept until about 7ish and then decided to find a bar somewhere. In the process of getting ready Phil broke the showers – gutted. Hopefully the landlord would not notice! We came across a nice bar and had another good night.

After an early start (11am) we packed our things up and left Carmel and Davids apartment and began our journey to Tarifa. We decided not to get the ferry from Malaga yet, as the South of Spain was treating us very nicely indeed! A short bus journey down the coast and we arrived. The road was awesome: taking us up through the clouds and mountains.

Tarifa reminded me of Newquay a lot, and was home to a lot of kite-surfing. We searched around for a hostel and found one for €12 each per night.The owner was Mr. Personality and his bedroom was in the reception which was interesting. Our room was pretty cramped, and the toilet and shower were in the bedroom and had see-through glass doors!

We went into the old town to get some food and beer down us. We had a good night and managed to stumble home and crash out on our lovely beds in the hostel!

Waking up in a ‘nest’ on the lounge floor feeling like crap is never great, but after a big fry up and a shower the day was picking up. Again, the weather was perfect with temperatures up to 26 degrees. Not much else to write today to be honest… just more of the same really!