Chefchouen & Tangiers: July 6th-7th

We woke up bright and early Friday the 6th and after breakfast at Qalam, we were on the road.  After a four hour car ride we arrived in the beautiful town of Chefchouen. Chouen, as the locals call it,  is nestled in the Atlas mountains.  Its streets are almost exclusively pedestrian because of how narrow and sloped they are (not to mention the occasional stairs).  The houses themselves are also beautiful- they are all bright blue and white and are reprinted every year during the month of Ramadan.  

After lunch, we went to a youth center where we played chess and drew pictures with a group of young kids.  Afterwards we met up with a tour guide who showed us around Chefchouen.  Our tour began with a walk up to what we were told was the oldest mosque in Morocco.  It sits on a hill overlooking the town.  We then headed back into the town and explored on foot.  We visited the old Kasbah (fort) and its surrounding gardens within the city.  There are not a lot of specific attractions or things to do in Chefchouen - the city itself is the attraction.   

The next morning, exhausted from all of Saturdays walking, we had a very sleepy 3 hour ride to the coastal city of Tangiers.   Tangiers lies on the strait of Gibraltar with views of both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.  The city itself is not particularly exciting, but the beach is nice.  We spent the morning on the beach, relaxing and swimming.  The water was actually surprisingly cold.  We were driven into a cafe by high wind after a few hours.  By the time lunch rolled around everybody was a bit miserable- we had one throwing up, three others with colds, and everybody else just generally exhausted.  After lunch we took a walking tour of the city - highlights include Tennessee Williams' house, the Kasbah (theres one in pretty much every city), and views of Spain.   We were all happy to get back on the bus and sleep, although only for a short time- 30 minutes outside of Tangiers is the cave of Hercules. Apparently Hercules spent a night there before one of his twelve impossible tasks.  The cave is actually more of a tunnel leading down to the ocean.  The big highlight was watching the locals dive off the cliffs and into the ocean (I'll try to get a picture of this up soon).  

It was then time to head back to Rabat- everybody was quite exhausted and ready to sleep.  

The view of Chefchouen from or hotel room balcony.

Looking out at Chefchouen from the old mosque.