Rewind

Let me take you back to the beginning when I first started the journey into Morocco...

I am quite the lucky girl. I wouldn't really recommend a woman to travel on her own in Morocco especially if she didn't know French or Arabic. But I did. Yes, I did. Let me remind you. I traveled on my own throughout South America, Eastern Europe, and New Zealand. In an Islamic country, a female on her own is slightly different. I didn't join some grand tour, but I took all local buses, trains, taxis, and walked a long ways. And if you do travel on your own, plan it out! PLAN!

It just is a bit different being the only female in a bus. Or wearing pants and a long sleeved shirt and feeling that I still wasn't clothed enough. When I traveled in Egypt with my fellow female friend, there were so many other tourists there that I never felt like I what I was wearing was inappropriate or that I was out of place. (Well, except for maybe on instance, but that is a whole other story on its own).

I traveled from Algeciras, Spain to Ceuta (Spanish territory that borders Morocco) to then catch a bus to Tangier which takes about 45 min to an hour. If you travel from Algeciras to Morocco, make sure the ferry actually goes to the port in Tangier and not to Ceuta. Even though the bus is free to get to Tangier, it is just annoying and confusing. The bus drops you off in a roundabout. I was disoriented and did not know where anything was. The bus station is only on the other side of one of the roundabout streets. It literally is a 20 second taxi ride. Walk it! And try to ask the locals for directions. Or just check every street (there are only 4) and it should not be too far from the roundabout. It is small and a yellow building. I was tricked that it was further and I ended up taking a taxi. Lame.

Anyways, I was headed to Chefchaouen which I hear is a beautiful city with only white and blue buildings nestled in the Rif Mountains. I had my ticket ready to go, but the bus did not leave until about an hour and a half later. I got to the bus station around 4pm. I took the 2pm ferry and Morocco is an hour behind Spain. So, the whole journey from Algeciras to Tangier took about 3 hours. A lot longer than expected!

Back to the story...So, I met this 45-50 year old and 28 year old Moroccan men who were heading to Asilah. I wouldn't arrive in Chefchaouen until about 9:30-10:00 which is well into the night. I didn't have a place booked and I didn't have a map so I was even unsure about my game plan. I was convinced and worth the risk so I decided to go along.