Spanish roadtrip, Morocco part 1

(disclaimer: french keyboards lead to frustration and typos)

Guess what? Im in Africa! (with a big f'in grin on my face). Jake and I rented a car a few days ago and did the 7 hour drive from Alicante to Algeciras. Southern Spain is unreal - i think the pics speak for themselves. this process involved me having to learn how to drive stick. in summary, the gears were mislabeled and i was starting in 3rd gear for the first 10 minutes. the white smoke coming from the hood was comical... i have never heard of anyone driving 700 km with 2 engine lights flashing but apparently its not impossible. to complete this adventure i was forced to parallel park on an upslope. yes, i smacked a parked car pretty hard. remarkably no damage but we still decided to get the hell out of there before the engine light inquiries began. regardless, im pretty proud of myself for getting us there alive haha.

So we crossed the strait of gibraltar (we saw the rock of gibraltar by the way) from Algeciras to Tangier, Morocco and spent two nights there. without a doubt it is the most alien place i have ever set foot. we walked to our hotel around midnight (after almost not being let off the ferry), through the medina (old/medieval city). what an experience that was... Miles and miles of winding narrow, claustrophobic alleys. The night watchman, wearing his Jellaba, or hooded robe, thankfully stirred long enough to open the gate for us and sign us in. I cant say how helpful my little bit of French has been already.

We were woken up the next day by some exceedingly bizarre 5, 6 and 7am prayers. Now I have heard many of these in my lifetime, having lived in Malaysia for 2 years, and i have great respect for Islam, but the sound of this particular prayer was very out of the ordinary and terribly disturbing. Jake got a good recording. Our explorations deeper into the medina and kasbah (castle) later in the day ramped our culture shock up to full throttle. We were adopted by an illegal tour guide, Moon, who showed us some very cool spots. but invariable we ended up in his good friend's carpet shop and why were we so stubbornly refusing his efforts to get us a great deal?? When he tried to collect 40 euro from us for his trouble (without having mentioned money until now), of course we refused and he got pissed off with 5 euro. Hey, what can you do?

So now in Fes, the 'cultural capital' of Morocco, after a stunning 6 hour bus ride, Im feeling a lot better. The tour guides are still annoying but the city is far more cosmopolitan than shady Tangier. Im looking forward to exploring this medina tomorrow, which is the largest in the world. Until then, enjoy the pictures (if i can get 'em up) and i'll talk to you in a few days. Peace...