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Monday morning. The bus to Chefchauoen left Tangier at 8am. A short bald man took over the aisle. Standing right next to me, he started his speech. He shouted and gesticulated as if preaching the Khoran. I couldn't understand a word, but prefered to pay careful attention to him. After much blah-blah-blah, he fished out of his suitcase a handful of small plastic bags: he was just trying to sell his cough pills!

Destination Chefchauoen

M_falci
2005-12-23 21:29:40

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Monday morning. The bus to Chefchauoen left Tangier at 8am. A short bald man took over the aisle. Standing right next to me, he started his speech. He shouted and gesticulated as if preaching the Khoran. I couldn't understand a word, but prefered to pay careful attention to him. After much blah-blah-blah, he fished out of his suitcase a handful of small plastic bags: he was just trying to sell his cough pills!

An hour and a half later we arrived at Tetouan. Outside, a stranger waived frantically to me. Hesitating, I jumped off the bus. He told me to fetch my backpack and head upstairs to the tourist office. Extremely weird... It took me 5 minutes to realise the guy was nothing but another tout trying to get some money from me, stupid tourist.

Back on the bus I noticed that half of it was empty. I promptly took 2 seats. What for? People began telling me desperately to change places. I complied. Then Said, Youssef and Anouar (from Tangier, teaching and living in Chefchauoen) sat next to me and explained me, in a perfect Spanish, what was going on: those seats were reserved for Tetouan's prisoners due to be trialed in

View from the red Kasbah
Chefchauoen.

Handcuffed in twos, they 'joined' us 10 minutes later.

My chat with the teachers evolved into a pleasant conversation on Brazil, football, Morocco and arabic language.

11am, Chefchaouen. I got a room at nicely decorated Hotel Andaluz, inside the beautiful and clean Medina (old town). Had a shower and went straight to the new town to have lunch with Said , Youssef and Anouar. The rest of the afternoon I spent between reddish Kasbah (Fort) and delightful Plaza Uta el-Hamman drinking mint tea.

Essentially that's what Chefchauoen is about! Relaxing and chilling out in gorgeous surrondings. No wonder why this jewel-like village, overlooking the Rif Mountains, is famous for its kif - traditional moroccan marijuana. Of course you can also trek around or get stunned with the white-washed houses and their cute blue-hued doors...

For me one night was more than enough to recharge my batteries and hit the road again.