Morocco, Day 7: Flat bread, Magic Carpets, and Haggling

The last day of our trip was spent outside of Spain. Our anxiousness to experience curry, camels, and flat bread led us to Tangier, Morocco. We actually almost missed the trip entirely. The bus was scheduled to arrive at the hotel at 6:50 am and Karen and I woke up to a knock on our door at 6:47 am. Our alarm was not turned on correctly--it's a good thing Will and Karen S. decided to join us. The day started with an hour bus ride to the port and another hour on the ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco. We caught a quick shot leaving Spain...

...and another approaching Morocco.

Karen and I were excited to step on the African continent.

Our first stop--the camel ride. Will hopped on first and showed us how it was done.

The girls were giddy.

Me and my noble steed.

Anyone recognize the next two pics? Hint: a popular action show, Matt Damon jumping from rooftops and in/out of windows.

Answer: Bourne Ultimatum. This was one of the locations in Tangier where the movie was filmed.

True to Arabic culture, we found women modestly covered by their kaftans and scarves. The men wore their djellaba with bright yellow sandals.

In Morocco, djellaba colors indicate marital status. Light colors mean they are married.

It was a good thing we had a guide. There are three languages spoken in Morocco and English is not one of them. Primary language is Arabic, followed by Spanish and French.

We made our way through the streets of "old town" Tangier to our highly anticipate lunch cuisine. Ol' Rick from our guidebook states that "most visitors develop some intestinal problems by the end of their visit." This was extremely encouraging. I still don't know the name of the place where we had lunch. We were greeted by some impressive musicians.

Karen and Will S. enjoyed reviewing their pictures with the background music.

Karen and I were getting anxious as to what was going to be served for lunch.

So far so good.

After our meal arrived, I had to go back to the guidebook to see if Rick meant the food actually looks like intestines.

Lunch was an interesting experience. The flat bread and soup tasted fine. The meat (of what type I don't know) was so-so. The main-course was about as good as it looked. Will S. said "When in Morocco..." and downed everything put in front of him. I was worried about his intestines all day.

What made it worse was later that day we were passed by a teenager transporting flat bread just like we ate for lunch. He had loads of flat bread neatly stacked in an open rusty basket on the front of his man-tricycle. Dust, rust, germs--no problem.

The next stop was the famous carpet store. As part of our guided tour we had to all stop and listen to a 15 minute sales pitch about Moroccan carpets and how they will ship anywhere in the world. I imagine shipping to Hawaii would have set them back a little. We didn't buy one after learning they don't sell magic carpets anymore.

Upon exiting the carpet store they were ready. Seriously the most intrusive hagglers I've ever experienced. Aladdin hats, lamps, jewelry, drums, trinkets, watches--they had it all.

I found that if I just started taking pictures of everyone they left me alone. Apparently they don't like to be in pictures.

This kid could not leave Will alone. He was convinced that Will needed a drum. We were followed by these guys for probably 10 minutes. "No" is not acceptable to them and they will keep haggling. One guy even tried to flatter me by commenting how nice my hair looked.

The next stop was the spice and herb shop. Here we learned how to lower our cholesterol, treat sleeping problems, and increase our productivity. My personal favorite was the green lipstick tester that turns red. The doc applied the green stick to the womens' wrists to measure how "hot" they were. Based on the color, he would recommend an all natural aphrodisiac. Dark red means you're hot, light pink means you need an aphrodisiac. Any guesses on color for Karen and Karen S.

All in all, the Morocco day trip was intriguing and slightly educational, but is a one time deal for me. The guided tour we signed up for was a bit of drag. We've heard that the guides get a cut of the sale--no wonder we were in shops for half the time. To my knowledge no one had intestinal problems.