Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and even the Rolling Stones hung out in Tangier at some point. It drew these artists for its cosmopolitan vibe. I was expecting a city and Medina grittier than what we discover.
The city has street cleaners and maintenance workers, armed with brooms made of branches or whipper snippers, cleaning the streets and parks. It cares about the city’s presentation. The buildings are bright white and well kept (for the most part). We stop to look at one “condo” building where it is obvious people are living, and there are windows in units that are boarded up, and we ask ourselves Why? It was the exception rather than the rule.
Up and up and up
One of our first stops today is a viewpoint over the ocean. Tangier is the spot where the Atlantic Ocean and Strait of Gibraltar meet. Can you see the water colour change? We can see Spain from this point as it is about 15 km away.
We walk to the Royal Palace and Murray offers a “Bonjour” to one of the guards. We realize we can’t go into the palace grounds, so we turn around and the fellow stops us to chat. We chat about Canada and Morocco and French vs English, how old we are (it’s kinda weird how many times we get asked our age) and travel plans. A very friendly fellow.
It is very hilly in Tangier and we are surprised by the steep ups and downs. We wander the avenues working our way to the Grand Socco, a square with a large fountain. Parking ourselves on a bench, in the shade, allows us to people watch. Tourists, locals, grandpas, children, the first stray dog complete with ear tag, young families and tour groups.
I am now resting at the riad. A riad is small boutique hotel, built in an old house or palace, inside the Medina. They have a central courtyard with a fountain. Our room is two floors up and there is a roof top sitting area above us. These unique accommodations are throughout Morocco so we will be staying in more of them.
Murray writes
I haven’t notice any mosquitoes here but the flies are extremely annoying and are a good insect replacement for human irritation.
As we find our way through the Medina the cruise ship tour groups are passing by us. All groups of 4o or more. One group after another group after another at infinite m. It is so crowded we have to pick our way along the narrow pathways.
While resting in Marchan Park on the way to see the royal palace, Debbie notes the trees that populate the park are gum trees. We look but there is not one Koala.
Debbie also mentioned the hills. After we got back I rested for a short while and went wondering again. I don’t think there is any down here. Think Escher.
We stumbled upon an interesting historic site. High on a cliff above the ocean there is small park with what looked to me like graves chiselled out of the stone. Turns out they are graves from the time the Phoenicians occupied the area in the first millennium BC. So they are pretty damn old. It must have taken a bit of work to chisel out a rectangular prism big enough for a body, in sandstone.
I said the customer service in the Balkans was a little lax and that could be explained because tourists are somewhat new to them. Here in Morocco, I think customer service is even worse. I am standing at the counter in a hotel and the person at the desk is dealing with me. Suddenly something happens and the other desk person says something. My helper drops me like a piece of lead and is off dealing with the other problem. When he comes back I ask the question I had on my mind and he seems annoyed. Friends and workmates take priority over the customer. Yesterday I was buying a train ticket. A person, that all the agents knew, shows up and all work stops. They are all talking to the new young lady and the lineup for tickets waits. When I finally get to an agent I am ½ way through my request and her phone rings. She just picks it up and starts in on a conversation. It may have been work related but still, I was there and part way through a transaction. When she got back to me it was as if nothing happened.
Kasbah of the Oudayas
We have visited 2 cities in Morocco and we have not seen one feral dog. Loads of well-fed feral cats in good shape but sans dogs. I’m guessing they have some sort of program to keep the dog population in check. The cats seem to be well loved. One of the cats we passed several times even had its own dish up against a concrete wall, not in a residential area so I am quite sure the cat is homeless. Since they are cared for, they are really no bother at all.
Kasbah of the Oudayas
We were in the Mohammad VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. A very good gallery if you have the chance to visit. There were some photos of Morocco in the early 1900’s. I realized it is photos from that time, maybe 1850 to 1950, that draw me to countries like Morocco or Singapore or any other country really. Then when I arrive in the country, no matter which one, is full steam ahead into the 21C. I’m just a hundred years too late, I guess.
When travelling in SE Asia and you walk into a public building the AC is cranked to the max. The difference in temperature inside and out is actually uncomfortable. Morocco does not follow suit. In fact they could maybe turn the AC dial down a bit. I am pouring sweat and I walk into a building and the cooling effect is nonexistent, hell on us temperate climate animals.
Kasbah of the Oudayas
Debbie mentioned yesterday how quiet the city of Rabat is. Hardly anybody out and about and the traffic was minimal. That was Sunday. It’s Monday morning and the change is dramatic. There are people everywhere and the roads are congested.
A short taxi ride and we are at the Kasbah of the Oudayas. It is a lived-in fortress and completely reconditioned. Not really touristy but there are a lot of tourists there having a look. On the way back to the hotel we stroll through the Old Medina. It is quite a bit different than Casablanca’s sequel. It has been renovated, not to the same extent as the Kasbah but upgraded for sure. Whereas Casablanca’s Medina was a locals market and crowded, the one in Rabat is oriented towards tourists and easily navigated.
Kasbah of the Oudayas
We picked up our bags at the hotel and head to the train station. A short wait and we are on the train winging our way to Tangier at (the fast) 303 km/hr. It is so smooth you cannot even tell we are moving. Except the movie is flying by very quickly.
We pass so many towns and villages. Real working places, I would love to visit a few but I don’t think the train driver would stop for an hour while I wandered around and try to get the feel of the place.
Casablanca and Rabat are like night and day. Where Casablanca is noisy and dirty and crowded, Rabat is quiet (although it is Sunday), the buildings are clean and cared for and the streets and sidewalks are empty (again, it is Sunday). Rabat is the capital of Morocco, so it has the ministries and government buildings along with the palace of the king.
Hassan Tower
The Mausoleum of Mohammed V was commissioned by Hassan II for his father’s tomb. Hassan II also commissioned the mosque in Casablanca. The mausoleum sits at one end of a square and on the other end is the Hassan Tower, a minaret of an unfinished mosque dating back to the 12 th century. The buildings are majestic and peaceful. There are ceremonial guards at the four doors to the mausoleum and also inside at the four corners. Oh, and there are guards on horses and the entrances to the square. The men could use lessons from the British about standing at attention and not looking so terribly bored.
Inside the Mausoleum of Mohammed VHorses at entrance to square
We take a taxi to the Mausoleum and then walk back, stopping at the Modern Art Gallery, a fancy gate and getting refused entrance to Royal Palace Gardens because we don’t have a guide. It is hot and the humidity is about 90%, so we start to drag about 2/3 of the way back. Lunch and Coca Colas revive us enough to get back to the hotel. Speaking about humidity. I am sitting in bed as we have the AC cranked to dry everything out. The clothes are damp, the bed is damp and the towels are damp. Yuck!
We are taking the El Boraq fast train this afternoon to Rabat, but we have time this morning to visit a couple of places.
The Hassan II Mosque is our first stop. We decide to take the bus there to save some time and Debbie’s feet. Tourists don’t take the bus! But we do! Locals are so helpful. One fellow directs us to the correct bus stop, and almost the whole bus tells us when to get off the bus. It’s rather comical as one lady is saying get off here and a couple of men are saying get off further up the road. The bus stops sorta half way, we wave, thank everyone and hop off.
Hassan II Mosque
Hassan II Mosque was built by King Hassan II between 1986 and 1993. In order to complete the project in six years, it was worked on 24 hours a day. The architect was French and the thousands of workers and artisans were Moroccan. The mosque is 200 meters long, 100 meters wide and 65 meters high. Added together, these dimensions equal the days in a year. The mosque holds 25,000 people inside and the plaza around the mosque holds 80,000. It only fills up on very special occasions, such as Ramadan.
Hassan II Mosque
We don’t normally take tours, but we decide to do the tour of the mosque and we are very glad we did. The inside is filled amazing details, marble floors, handcrafted wooden accents, marble hand and foot washing stations, titanium doors (to resist rusting as the mosque is by the ocean) and a retractable roof.
As we wait for the English tour to begin, we watch large tour group after tour group enter and comment that it will be very crowded in the mosque with all these tourists. But, it is so vast inside that all these groups get swallowed and they are hardly noticed.
After the mosque we wander through the old Medina working our way back to the hotel. I had gotten used to the tourist old towns of the Balkans and am surprised by this one. It is run down, dirty and busy. This is a working class Medina. It is Saturday and the market is going full blast. Tiny old ladies with pull carts are doing their shopping. The popular stalls have a group of shoppers at them. Pretty much all the stalls have at least one customer. I think it is the only market I have ever been to that is busy enough that the vendors can make a living. The human traffic ebbs and flows down the very narrow lane, no one getting worked up about getting around a cart or old woman.
By 3:00 we are sitting on the fast train moving north east towards Rabat, the capital of Morocco.
We enter another portal and a couple of metal tubes and after 12 hours emerge in Casablanca!
Due to the French influence here, there was a huge Art Deco Movement here in the 1920s and 1930s. The buildings have a blend of Deco and Moroccan details. We wander the avenues, getting totally lost at one point, picking out Deco buildings and details. Some building have been restored and are gorgeous but others are falling into disrepair. The area must have looked grand in its prime years.
Walking to the train station, we come across a Friday prayer meeting. There are so many men that they have spread down the steps of the mosque, onto the sidewalk, across the street and into the park. I make Murray walk behind everyone as I did not feel comfortable cutting through on the street as the only other woman in sight was a little old grandma all dressed in black.
Right away we notice people are not as friendly here as in Albania. We also realize that we need to work on our French! Crossing streets is, once again, an art. We attach ourselves to locals and cross when they cross, or wait patiently for a break in the traffic.
Casablanca is a big city, but downtown is walkable and safe. In spots we are the only tourist types on the street. Men are loading trucks, fixing car engines, washing windows and selling housewares and fish and shoes and fabric. The city is noisy, dirty, busy and sometimes smelly. It’s Casablanca!
Dogs. There are stray dogs and cats in all of the cities and towns we have visited. Not over run with them but there are enough. Most people just put up with them. One of our guides told us that they are truly a problem. Her daughter will not go out a night because the dogs roam in packs and are quite scary. I dislike them because they bark randomly at night. Not crazy like in Mexico but still enough to keep one awake. Bark, random pause, bark, bark, bark, random pause. Waiting for the next bark is enough to start one’s mind turning over and no sleep. The cats are just annoying mooches and hang around the restaurants. Their night time mewing is not a bother. A couple of the places had programs to spay and neuter the dogs , leaving a tag in their ear. Good on them.
Breakfast has been included at every hotel we have stayed at. Sometimes it has been a buffet, sometimes it was plated and you got what you got and sometimes it was from a menu. All provided more food that I could eat. The one thing I found weird was the eggs were always cold. Hard boiled, scrambled, fried or an omelet they were cold.
I’m not sure what I expected, I don’t think I had any expectations but the tour here included way too many churches and mosques, and way too much history. Every guide rambled on about 500BC and 500AD and 1000AD and, and, and. About the Byzantines, and the Ottomans and the Germans and the Communists, it is all one big blur, I can’t remember squat. And the churches, there are Byzantine churchs with Muslim interiors and Chistian churches that have both Orthodox and Christian altars so they can serve both. There are churches that serve one religion and oh so many. Every one with a story and except for a couple, most unspectacular. The weird thing is during the communist/socialist/dictator time religion was for the most part illegal and for 40+ years people did not practice so now attendance is very small and the churches are museum pieces.
Pedestrians seem to have the right of way and the crosswalks are strictly adhered to. I noted this about Albania but it seems it is the case in all four of the Balkan countries we have visited.
Earthquakes are a concern in the Balken countries we were in. Being on the coast, Albania and Montenegro are at the worst risk. Albania feels an earthquake every few years. Montenegro has a strong earthquake every few decades. That said, the city of Skopje had a massive earthquake in 1963 that destroyed most of the city and left 200,000 people homeless.
Of the four countries we went to I disliked Montenegro the most. Our introduction consisted of a suspect shake down of our driver for a bribe. He handled it quite well but still had to contact the tour company to pay or the jerk would not give K his papers back. I found the Montenegrins the least trusting of any of the peoples. It was the only place where the hotel sent someone to check to make sure we did not use anything from the mini bar. That was after we were asked by reception and had said we had not consumed anything. It is also the place that was out to take the tourist for every penny. In Kotor, the one place I kind of liked, the hotel had so many rules it was silly. An entire page of don’ts typed in small print. A couple I liked was no food in the hotel room and no laundry in the hotel room. Instead, you can eat at our very expensive restaurant and have your laundry done buy our service. A polo type shirt is only 3 Euro, socks are a mere 1 Euro and a pair of pants would set you back 6 Euro. Neither of these rules suits our way of travel so we completely ignored them. By the by, we did not choose the hotel, it was chosen by the tour company. Food was more expensive but only if you cannot share meals with your travel companion. The proportions were large which halves the cost. Although they are trying to increase tourism, customer service is sadly lacking. Everything costs Euro. We were climbing a very steep set of stairs in the Kotor castle and after about 50 vertical meters we were asked for 15 Euro to climb the remaining 3 or 400 vertical meters left to the mosque half way to the top. Nope. The country just gave me bad vibes.
Kosovo was an unassuming place. The people seemed quite shy to me. The places we visited were neither super impressive or boring. I liked the country but not sure what to say about it.
North Macedonia seemed rough. You know like an uncut diamond. I think it had a lot to offer but the people and places were a bit crude. Nothing offensive just not polished.
Albania was my favorite place. It is the country that came from the darkest place after the drastic political changes of 1992. The country hit the ground running and is still on a roll. The people are extremely nice. The economy seems to be on the up and up. They are trying to figure out how to survive in the 21st century. The places we visited are either well preserved or tastefully restored. It is not expensive and for the most part the tourist is not treated as a mark. The tourism industry has a good handle on customer service. The people are a bit overzealous in their rush to become ‘modern’. There are many, many good idea businesses that have started up and failed, leaving unoccupied crumbling structures on the road side. They soldier on. I felt really comfortable there, no threats, no stress.
Just a heads up. I don’t know if this is always the case and I would imagine it is much worse in the summer but leave a minimum of ½ hour to cross any of the borders between these countries.
What form of money to use is a question that arises every time you cross the border. I did extensive research on the internet and frankly did not get the proper answers. In Albania, cash is king and the best place to get it is at a currency exchange. I found the ILIRIA’98 exchange to be quite fair. The rates for CAD are good. The bank machines charge a big fee and if you use a credit card you get hit with a ‘bank charge’ every transaction. So, use cash. In Macedonia I was told that ATM’s were the best possibility. Nope. The fee was outrageous. I used a credit card everywhere and was not charged a fee. The same is true for both Kosovo and Montenegro. If you have the choice chose to be billed in the local currency. Your bank has a better rate than the one offered in the foreign country.
The town and cities we visited were hit and miss but the country side was fantastic. Changing from plains, to rolling hills to mountains and back again. Spectacular lakes appear over the crest of the mountain range. Olive groves to fruit orchards, farm land to dense forest, deciduous forest to conifers. The thing I did find a bit odd was the amount of unused arable land. There are so many small plots of land cleared by forced labour during the regime that have been left and are not producing. People have left the farms to make their fortune elsewhere.
All through Albania, I am amused by the spelling of names and words. Our guide say that the Albanian language has 10 extra letters. Here are some examples:
XAXIQI – my favorite Greek dish of tzatziki
Librahzd – a town
Trpejca – a town near Ohrid
Interesting occurrence at a toll booth. Our guide paid the toll to the guy, gets a receipt from someone who didn’t take a receipt ( the time stamp was wrong), guy pockets the toll money. Supplemental income for the guy. C, our guide, tells us there is a lot of corruption in Albania. A contractor will get money from the government to build a park, will start, but will pocket the money and never finish the job. I am not sure how he gets away with it, but C, says it happens all the time.
Individual houses don’t seem to have solar panels. When we see solar panels they are in the fields or on a commercial or farm buildings.
Our guide tells us half the people in Albania are Muslim and half are Christian. The Christians are split between Catholics and Greek Orthodox. As Murray mentions, very few folks actually attend church. We see many mosques, both Shia and Sunni, but they sit empty most of the time and are mostly used for funerals.
One of the things I enjoyed the most about Albania was stopping by the side of the road and having our guide pick some fresh fruit and then eating it. Pears, pomegranates, red grapes, green grapes, oranges, figs, apples and plums. They all tasted so fresh compared to what we eat at home. The figs were a favourite. The tomatoes I ate had so much flavour! I also enjoyed the food in Albania more than the other three countries. Stuffed peppers, stuffed eggplants, tzatziki, saganaki (Murray’s fav).
When we were in the soup restaurants, Laura and I were the only women. I asked our guide about women in trades and he said, definitely not. Women are clerks, teachers, shop workers. Women are going to university, taking medicine, law and engineering, but it sounds like they are not yet accepted into the trades.
When we travelled through the mountains, in all of the countries, we drove through many many tunnels. We rue the fact we did not start to count them as the number would be high. We went through one tunnel that had a toll. The driver paid 5Euros and the tunnel was 4.189 km long. That works out to 0.84 Euro/km. Expensive!
L, R, Murray and I had a discussion one day about how much we all have travelled and what excites us now. Riding in a boat on a lake and seeing birds we see in Alberta, not so much. In Berat, the houses built up the side of the hill, cool! The hamam (Turkish bath) in Prizren, cool! The original paintings inside the Church of St Nicholas/Church of Ascension in Kosovo, amazing. Three cruise ships in port in Kotor on the day we left there, hated them but were fascinated by them. The views from high up, wonderful! We decided that, since we have travelled so much, it takes extraordinary things to impress us. But that’s okay, I think. When Murray and I scuba dive in Bonaire, we tell ourselves that if we see one cool fish or behaviour in three hours of diving we are doing great. So travelling is the same way. We see many things and a few really cool things, and that’s okay.
Shkodër Castle sits high on a hill overlooking the city and the surrounding countryside. A steep climb up in the van deposits us outside the gate and then we walk up on a very uneven slippery rock path. Like the rest of the fortresses we have seen, it has Illyrian roots, with Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods. What remains is mostly the outer walls and some parts of buildings. The impressive part about this fortress is the view of the countryside.
Shkoder Castle
I chuckle reading the description of the church ruins. In the 6th century it was this, in the 13th century it was that, in the 15th century it was another thing and then in 1910 it burned down due to a munitions explosion.
Shkoder CastleView from Shkoder Castle
On the way to Tirana, we stop at Krujë to go to the Old Bazaar, a craft market. Don’t know why it didn’t dawn on me that it was a tourist trap. Yup, tons of tourists there, and what looks like a couple of local school groups. I still enjoy strolling down the narrow lane looking at the local crafts, antiques and kitchzy souvenirs.
Old Bazaar
Tonight we are in Tirana. Tomorrow we board a plane and when we deplane we will be in Morocco. See you on the other side.
Budva is a city along the Montenegro coast. It also has an Old Town right on the water’s edge. It went through the usual Illyrian, Roman and Byzantine periods and then the Venetians rebuilt, fortified and then controlled it for about 400 years. It is a smaller scale than Kotor and has the usual shops and restaurants that attract tourists. We wander all the narrow back lanes looking for photo ops.
Budva’s Old TownBudva’s Old Town
Crossing the border back into Albania is painfully slow. The line up of cars creates a 45 minute wait until we get to the kiosk. Then the customs officer takes an extraordinarily long time processing our passports. Fortunately, no issues and we are on the road again.
Shkoder
We end the day in Shkoder. It is a depressing place with Soviet built apartment blocks. Large concrete blocks with no decoration or architectural style. Apparently they have two and three room units, which would be a kitchen and a bedroom or a kitchen and two rooms. The city is filled with these blocks and they are not in good condition, making the city kinda depressing. The upside of Skoder is the few streets built in the 1800s that have been turned into to a vibrant coffee/restaurant area. It is filled with folks socializing and enjoying the sunshine.
Shkoder
Tomorrow we drive back to Tirana to complete our circular route.
Today’s drive takes us up and up and up and some more up above Kotor. It is a fantastic view and a sometimes harrowing drive with switchbacks, narrow roads and the odd full size bus.
Kotor from high up the mountainFollowing a bus
Our destination is the Mausoleum of Petar II, a great poet and prince-bishop, built in 1974. It is a 461 stair climb from the parking lot to the entrance of the mausoleum, which sits at about 1,600 m on top of Mount Lovcen. As I enter the building I get a sense of an Egyptian temple, with columns on either side of a central outer space and two statues guarding the entrance to the inner space. A beautiful onyx statue is inside and above it a gold leaf dome. Definitely worth the climb.
Petar II Onyx StatueView from the top of Mount Lovcen
