Morocco Day 4 - Tangier

Even with slight hangovers from the Moroccan wine night, we managed to get up before dawn to catch a train to Tangier.

A five-hour train ride to Tangier...

MUCH BETTER than a 12-hour bus ride!!!

We arrived in Tangier around noon, ready to explore and eat! Darby and I only had until 8:00pm that night before heading back to Marrakech to catch our flight back to Dublin.

Figured this was a good sign - my shoes match the taxi!!

We found the beach!!! And had some yummy lunch at a beach cafe. I mean, I think it was yummy; we ate our meals in about 3 minutes. Trains make us hungry!!

So, here's Jess, THE traveler - packed with a sleeping bag, boots, two back packs, and jacket. She looks like a old pro, right?

Now, compare that to me - flip-flops, dress over jeans, shoes on my belt...looking like "a bag lady" to quote Darby!

How weird is this! We stopped at a Shell station to ask directions and were struck by the wildlife! There were two huge peacocks just chillin' about!

And what can only be described as a duck and goose sanctuary. Bizarre!

Well, we found the hostel and then set off to tackle Tangier in 5 hours.

First, to the beach!!! No waves, as it was near a marina. But, there were some shells!

Next, the camels! Also on the beach!!! There were 3 pairs of camels, presumably mama camel with her baby. Needless to say, I was thrilled! I went RUNNING to them!!

AND I got to ride one!!! For one minute anyway! TOTALLY WORTH the $3!!! These guys are tall, and not very well-mannered. When this camel stood up, she began, uh, farting! That's nice. Then when the "ride" was over, her baby decided it was a good time to, uh, relieve itself. No shame!!

At the beach!!

A Catholic church in the Muslim country!

We spent our last few hours in Tangier in the Petit Savoy, little market. I did some last minute shopping - had to spend all my dirhams! - and...

...had the BEST SOUP OF MY LIFE!!! Here I am polishing off Darby's soup, two spoonfuls at a time, after I finish mine. It was TASTY!!!

The final picture of the trip! After this, Darby and I headed back to the train station to begin 24 hours of travel to get back to Swansea. This included an 11-hour overnight train to Marrakech, 3 hours wait at the airport, a 3.5-hour flight to London Gatwick, a 4.5-hour train to Swansea, and, finally, a 25-minute bus ride back to our flats. It was a very, very long night and day. We left Tangier at 9:05pm and arrived back home at 9:15pm the following day. Worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!!!