phone call to her friend Susan. She was to go car shopping for her yesterday.
Laurie was all excited. Susan bought Laurie a car and even drove it home. Now we will have new wheels to drive home from Miami.
Last train to Algercias arrived at 6:30. We are now at the most southern tip of Spain. We walked towards the area where the hostels were. We couldn't find the ones listed in the book, so we just picked one.
The whole area seems deserted. It is kind of spooky. I guess we have read so many bad things about Morocco that we think we are there already.
We checked out where the port was where we will be leaving in the morning. We are going to try to take the 7:00 ferry to Tangiers, Morocco. We just wanted to know where it was and to see how long it takes to get there. We are pretty close, so it won't take long. Laurie and I then went looking for a place to get dinner. There were a few places, but it seemed only filled with men. We finally went into a place that sold Kebgba. It was only men except one woman in Arab dress. The people were very nice there and gave us a sample of a dessert that I asked about.
We went back to the room to eat. It is only 8:15. I guess I will just read for the evening.
November 17, 2003
Laurie and I were at the ferry office at 6:10, but they weren't open. We went to a certain one because they give discounts for Eurail tickets. We waited for awhile and then decided to ask someone else for tickets. I don't know why they have at least 10 different ticket offices, all competing for the same business. I don't know how they survive.
We boarded the ferry. It was very large and not crowded. The ferry was late leaving, but finally got going at 7:20. We had to fill out custom forms and they later announced that we needed to bring the form and our passport to the police for approval.
I went down to the line and it was quite long. That isn't the part that bothered me. The part that bothered me was that I only saw one woman in line. It was very intimidating. After awhile a man told me and the other woman to get in a different line. That was nice because I also got through the line quicker. I would say that it was 99.9% men on the ferry and they all seemed to be from Morocco, where they treat woman as second class.
The shops opened but the food bar was not. It is Ramadan time. Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink from morning until night for 30 days. They can eat when the sun goes down. Laurie and I tried to sneak eating our food.
Towards the end of our ferry ride we met a man, Tom, from New Orleans. We enjoyed talking to him. He was just going to Tangier for the day. As we were getting off the ferry we had to have our passports checked to see if they were stamped. Tom got held up because he never did it. I started imagining all kinds of stories like maybe he put something in our pack trying to smuggle it off and that he had no intention of getting off. OK, so I have read too many books and seen too many movies.
Laurie and I thought the train station was close, but found out it was six kilometers. We didn't really want to walk, but then we would have to deal with all of the men trying to take you.
A man with a tourist guide badge said that he was there to help us and keep the riff raff away. I didn't necessarily believe him, they don't help for nothing. We did let him show us where the ATM is and he did get us a taxi. Laurie bargained for the price. It was good to have a book that told us what amounts were reasonable. I told Laurie to make sure they say they can cash her money because they would just tell us they didn't have change. Before we left, the guide asked Laurie for 1 euro for helping us. She said no.
The driver took us to the train station. He was trying to get us to stay in Tangier longer and he would show us around. We told him no.
The train station was pretty new and nice. It was the only thing that looked nice around here. On the train ride I saw a lot of trash and villages that looked like it had cement buildings that were crumbling down. It is a very poor country. The average income is $3,500.
The first train took us to Sidi-Kacem. Luckily the conductor told us, else we wouldn't have gotten off. We had to wait there for about an hour. As we were waiting for the train to come a young Moroccan man started talking to us. He seemed nice, but I had suspicions. Anyways the train came, we got on and he got on further down. Later the next thing we know is that he is in our cabin. Again he seemed nice, but I still kept my guard. He gave us some useful information and said he had a friend that was an official guide and he would call him if we wanted. We said OK. We thought that if we didn't like him we would just get rid of him. The books say it is better to have a guide because it keeps the other people away.
Anyways, Brahim, the man sitting and talking with us started massaging Laurie's hands. This is all kind of funny. I am just waiting for his fee!
We got off the train and Brahim directed us where we wanted to go and then he left. I am sure we will see him again. One thing about him is that he seemed to have a couple of stories. He was asking Laurie and I to be his wives, he said that he could have four! I told him that I was not getting married. So we will see what this guide he has for us tomorrow.
We arrived in Fez about 4:45. At the train there were a lot of people and it seemed very chaotic. Cars were driving everywhere and there weren't any stop lights. I was lucky I didn't get killed crossing the street.
We found our hotel, Hotel Amor. It certainly was not plush by any standards, but it is fine. We settled in and then went out to check out the area. We walked towards a section and it seemed deserted. Places were closed and there weren't any street lights. I think most of the places open later when people can start eating.
