A relaxing final morning in Tanger. I had considered leaving much earlier, but my new friends kept me longer. We ate bissara, went to the market, and drank lots of tea in a quiet courtyard. A helped R with Arabic writing, and they both added something to a postcard to my Mum.
I finally boarded the ferry back to Spain. It departed quite late.
Leaving Tanger, Morocco at 12:00pm (+01:00) on Tuesday the 19th of September 2023 and arriving in Tarifa, Spain at 2:00pm (+02:00) on Tuesday the 19th of September 2023
I went to the beach to catch the sunrise, but apparently this is a weird thing to do as lots of people were asking where I was going and I got weird looks when I sat down.
I returned to the hostel for breakfast, and there I met two lovely people who became my friends and travel companions that day. We wandered in the old town, then caught the tour bus to Cap Spartel. This time we went into the grounds and museum which had lots of interesting lighthouse and historical information (albeit all in French). There were lovely gardens, and extremely expensive juice.
We walked to the beach and the rock of Hercules, before hopping on the tour bus back.
Back in town, we went straight to Abou Tayssir and ordered everything vegan on the menu between us and had a fantastic time.
Socialised some more in the hostel with lots of Germans, before the three of us headed out again for tea in the old town, and watched the world go by.
Meeting these two made a huge difference to my trip, and helped me to find a new perspective on Tanger!
For a nice change of pace, it rained pretty heavily all day in Tanger. I visited the castle museum (mostly outside, so wet, and very small), wandered around Place 9 Avril between showers.
Stopped for bissara at a place called bissara which only serves bissara after walking round the block several times to work up to it. It was a tiny very local place, so I observed for a while to see what the sitting/ordered etiquette seemed to be, and had to wait for a table to free up as well. Despite initial anxiety, I managed to eat bissara (white bean breakfast soup) and bread and Moroccan tea and that all filled me up for the entire day afterwards. For about £1.
I enjoyed the American Legation Museum, and learnt a lot of history I didn't know. I was very inspired by the Ibn Battouta museum, which is well worth the visit.
I got on the tour bus when I spotted it with the ticket I already had, and rode it for most of the route despite wet seats. Jumped off at Cafe Hafa for coffee and managed not to get rained on too much. Wandered until I found the Roman ruins, which was mostly just a really good viewpoint where lots of people were taking selfies. Managed to catch the bus back into town.
Rain was tapering off by the evening, so I went for a wander in the old town, and decided to have dinner based on where I happened to pop out. This took me to a Syrian place called Abou Tayssir which was incredible, especially the kibbeh. And lovely vibes.
Arrived in Tanger at lunchtime. Got lost for an hour looking for my hostel in the old town. This got decreasingly fun as it was very hot and I was carrying my backpack, GPS wasn't working and I went around in many circles. Eventually I discovered the hostel was at the end of a street that was in the process of being dug up and I'd walked past it several times already.
Feeling a bit claustrophobic in the old town, I had lunch (tagine) on the promenade, then wandered along to the beach, and into the main part of the city. Tanger is a lot bigger than I expected.
I caught a tour bus outside the train station, and stayed on it for a ride out along the coast in the evening. I saw the sunset near Cap Spartel lighthouse, and stuck my head in Hercules' cave, which was packed full of tourists and junk.
Dinner was couscous at a nice local-feeling-but-actually-had-lots-of-tourists-in restaurant (Ahlan) near the Grande Mosque.
Leaving Tarifa, Spain at 1:00pm (+02:00) on Saturday the 16th of September 2023 and arriving in Tanger, Morocco at 1:00pm (+01:00) on Saturday the 16th of September 2023
