Below are some funny lines we heard as we were wandering around Morocco:

“Abu Sayyaf, good man, good man!” - by Mohammed the Taxi Driver after he learned where we were from.

“It’s made of leather, not plastic.” – by an annoyed leather seller in Fes after Mench bargained 1/3 of the price.

“You won’t see anything there, it’s closed.” – by a persistent boy who wanted to guide us. We resisted so he just told us that there is nothing to see where we were headed since it was closed. Huh, the souks closed?

“Konichiwa!” – by too many Moroccans who couldn’t figure out where we were from. Bad for us since the Japanese are top on their list of big spenders and we did not fit that profile at all.

“It’s impossible” – by a few shopkeepers after Mench tried to bargain with them.

“Are you students?” - by a shopkeeper after we did some hard bargaining. Maybe he thought that we were on allowance that’s why we had so little budget.

For the past days, we have been fulfilling the dream honeymoon that was but an idea early part this year. It started as a random idea that served as the motif of our wedding and has now transformed into the adventure that is Manila to Morocco. We are still in awe on how it was possible for us to have pulled this off despite having limited resources and hectic schedules. It was mostly due to the generosity of people- friends, families, colleagues and even strangers who shared not just pledges but also their time (they know that without us around, they would have to assume the responsibilities that we normally take on) and more importantly, shared the enthusiasm that further fuelled our passion for this trip. I feel so much blessed because of this and will forever be thankful.

As we go through the trip, we have written about our day to day stories and posted photos as well. You have been witness to every experience that we’ve had so far. But what we have not written is how this trip has shaped us and continues to shape us.

First it has made us realize what is truly important to both of us. We discovered that we were not into collecting stuff but collecting experiences. It was okay not to have the branded clothes, the high tech stuff nor the expensive dinners as long as we worked on making an experience happen. And this is true not just for this trip but in the way we have led our life for the past years. We enjoy meeting new people, trying out new things and hobbies, opening ourselves to spontaneity. We are particularly drawn to people who have diverse lifestyles, connectors who link us up with new acquaintances, places that have a unique vibe and experiences that enable us to meet more interesting folks. Because of this mindset, we have come to meet individuals who have made this “collection” more interesting and colorful.

We have also come to discover how we wanted to lead life for the rest of our time – to just let it flow. When people ask us if we are all set with our trip, we just say “Hmmm, more or less.” This basically means that we have fixed some parts and others are left to be uncovered along the way. And this is how we have also been, just constantly being open to opportunities, ready and agile when lightning strikes. It is different from just letting things happen to you without effort. It is an active kind of flow where you make known to the world what you are about, what drives you, what you are passionate about. It is a kind of living that is deliberate in the sense that you seek things and experiences that you love, those that make your heart sing. It is a life that is not fully planned but has a general compass of where you want it to head. Yes it is important to prepare and plan ahead but coupled with the unexpected, it gives a nuance and color to life like no other. Just like in our trip, we know we are headed to Morocco, we planned certain parts but others are made up as we go along. Things did not turn out as planned but these little bumps have made the trip more memorable.

Thirdly, we have come to the decision that we want to do this kind of trip every year of our lives, as much as we can. Now we are dreaming of South East Asia backpacking with friends next year, Central Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy), South America, Eastern Europe, South Africa, nearby countries around Israel or China-Nepal in the coming years. There is so much more to see out there and we plan to see these as we build our family. Now we are imagining traveling with kids in kangaroo packs, backpacks now filled with baby stuff and training kids to live on the road. We are also dreaming of growing old and just traveling the world all over again when the kids have lives of their own and are traveling on their own as well.

Lastly, it has highlighted that when both of us work together towards something, great things can happen. And this trip is a testament of that – a unified goal for both of us that seemed audacious at the start but is finally coming to fruition. Along the way, we have petty misunderstandings, get cranky (that’s me; Gabby just gets hungry J), get irritated with each other but we both know what we are working towards so all’s well still. We have also come to accept our differences and still working on it since this is a lifelong challenge. Whenever I feel slighted over something that Gabby does, I still am vocal about it (sometimes so much so) but I know that it happens because that’s just the way he is. And I guess he feels the same way too.

So it may just be 25 days of our lives but this trip has taught us life lessons that will continue to shape how we lead our lives in the years to come. It has fuelled yet more dreams and opened up more possibilities. It will be the experience that we will look back to as we work towards the other trips of our lifetime.

We got up early and took a grand taxi to the Menara airport, Marrakesh’s international airport. It was fairly modern and impressive-looking – although distinctly Moroccan, unlike the generic airports you come across around the world. We boarded the RyanAir flight that we booked 6 months before – finally, all of these things that we were dreaming of, we finally fulfilled them and now our trip is almost done.

Going home from North Africa to the Philippines is a 2-day process. First, we have to fly back to London, where our return tickets to Manila are booked. Then, we have to take a 17-hour Qatar Airways flight, with a 6-hour layover at the Doha International airport. So although our trip is officially done by Sunday, we don’t actually get home until Tuesday – with Philippine time 8 hours ahead of London and Morocco.

It felt really great flying back to London – our first stop in the trip. Apart from going back to the metropolitan city we enjoyed best, our good friends Nicky and Vane were there to welcome us back, and after some last minute pasalubong shopping, we had dinner at a proper Chinese restaurant – the closest thing Pinoys can get to familiar food in the Western world! After dinner and a last drink at the pub, we went back to their apartment to figure out how to carry all of our luggage home. Fortunately, Mench is really an expert at packing our stuff – I don’t even try. With some difficulty, we got everything together and managed to get on the Tube train to London Heathrow Airport – as usual, the last one approaching midnight, managing to catch it by barely a few minutes.

Now, we were around 8 hours early at London Heathrow for our flight back to Manila. We figured that booking another night at the hotel and the transportation to the airport in the middle of the night would be a lot of unnecessary expenses, so we just decided to use the rail pass we already had for the day and take the last train to Heathrow. As a result, we were there in the middle of the night – with everything closed, and nowhere to go except some aluminum seats where we would spend the next few hours while waiting for our flight. We do not recommend this experience – it’s a cold and miserable one, not being able to sleep in the terminal while sitting on not very comfy seats! But at this point we did not want to take on additional costs, and even though Mench was getting very cranky at our less than ideal situation, we stuck with it (there was no other choice anyway) until the check in counters opened at around 4:30AM.

Now we’re really on our way home. It’s time to get back to our daily lives while at the same time savor the experiences that this trip has afforded us – and share about it with others as well, to inspire people to fulfill their own dreams of travel around the world. Our Manila to Morocco trip is done!

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As we were nearing the end of our wonderful journey, we decided to take the last day in Marrakesh in stride.

We started off with nearby Koutobia, the majestic minaret towering over the medina. This minaret was very much similar to the Giralda Tower we saw in Sevilla. Since we also wanted to go back and see Jardin Majorelle in the Ville Nouvelle, we took a taxi to the modern city. The drive dropped us off first at the Artisan Center which he recommended for souvenirs. We did not find anything we liked though so we walked around the Gueliz area to find a nice place to eat.

We chanced upon Café du Poste, a nice restaurant serving modern fusion cuisine. We were greeted by a suave maitre’d who we though was more French than Moorish. By this time, we were tajine-ed out and tired of having kebabs that we wanted to have a different fare. Gabs ordered eggs and bacon and I got a fish millefeuille. It was definitely something different from what we’ve been eating for the past days and we were so happy.

We took a look at the more modern parts of the city where there was Zara and other fashion brands. Then we set-off for Jardin Majorelle. On our way there, we were approached by an old man telling us that the Jardin was closed on weekends and we should just go to the mosque since this was open to the public. We followed his advice and set out for the mosque inside the medina but later asked ourselves whether the man was just pulling a prank on us because it was kinda weird that a major sight is closed on weekends when more tourists are in town. Oh well, that’s Morocco for you.

We ended up just getting lost yet again and walking aimlessly around the medina, not finding the mosque. It was okay since by this time, we really were not up for hard core sight seeing anyway. While going around, we even got to see the actual spot where the Morocco photo that we used for our Manila to Morocco Backpacking presentation was actually shot. We just took an easy time exploring the souks and the interior medina then had ice cream while people watching.

At dusk, we headed to the terrace of the Café Argana, overlooking the Djemaa as it started to come to life. Here, we had a great vantage point from where we were able to view the amazing square without being hassled by persistent shopkeepers and wily artists who charged an arm and a leg for a photo. As we watched the scene unfold, we just felt happy to have had this experience of a lifetime. It has been a wonderful ride. But it’s time to go home. We already feel it in the constant cravings for home cooked food and a familiar bed. The trip has put a permanent stamp on us and has cemented that sense of wanderlust that has always been in both of us. But after almost a month of being away, we feel that for now, it is time to go home to family, to friends, to work, to the familiarity of our daily lives. It is time to go back to a life that we will now see with a fresher set of eyes, a perspective now enriched by what we have seen in our Manila to Morocco adventure.

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We had trouble sleeping because of the cold night, sparse accommodations (of course, we were in a Berber tent in the middle of the desert)! But we eventually woke up at 6am for a great treat – sunrise over the desert.

We got out of the tent and walked along the sand dunes. Mench and I were feeling very happy, as this was exactly what we had in mind when we envisioned our Saharan trip. We enjoyed walking along the dunes for as long as we can, taking pictures to record the highlight of our Moroccan trip. We watched the sun rise over the desert and bathed the countryside with warmth. This was the culmination of over three weeks of traveling over Europe and North Africa, the ultimate adventure of the trip we entitled “Manila to Morocco.” Finally, we felt ready to come home.

We eventually came back to our tent for a spartan breakfast of jam and bread – then it was back to the camels for our ride back to Zagora.

Riding a camel sounds like a very exciting, even romantic thing. In truth, it’s a very bumpy ride, and really hurts down there! For a short camel trek of one hour over sunset and another hour over sunrise the day after, we’ve got several body aches that would last us a lot longer than that. Our respect for the Berber way of life increased after a small taste of what their lives were like.

Our driver eventually showed up and after a short break in Zagora, we proceeded to drive back through the same picturesque landscape back to Marrakesh. We stopped for lunch at Ouarzazate, a town 4 hours from Marrakesh which was being used by film companies worldwide for its desert sets. There was yet another kasbah a museum we could check out, but we were already tired at this point – not just from the overnight journey, but we were feeling all kasbah’d out and ready to go home. So we ate our lunch and just stayed at the restaurant, waiting to go back and finally go home.

We finally got back to Marrakesh at around 6pm. We said goodbye to our newfound friends and checked out the scene at Djemaa el Fna during dusk – always a great spectacle.

We had a quick dinner and retired early for the night, to prepare for our final day around Marrakesh tomorrow – and finally, back home!

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We woke up early for our 7am meetup at Imagine Le Voyage’s office near our hotel. As it turns out, we would be traveling with 3 other couples – an Australian couple living in London, an Australian and German married couple also living in London, and a Polish couple residing in Dublin, Ireland. The company provided a minibus, along with a Moroccan guide-cum driver who would be taking us to our destination and back.

The drive from Marrakesh to Zagora, our jumpoff point for our Saharan trek was long at eight hours – but it is possibly the most scenic trip we’ve ever taken in our lives. Taking the journey was almost as exciting as the destination itself, as we were treated to the full spectacle of the Moroccan landscape. Our first stop at around an hour into the trip was overlooking the Ourika Valley, at the base of the High Atlas Mountains. There we could see the mountainside melting into the valley with shrubs and mud-colored Berber huts dotting the landscape. Then the road took us up into the High Atlas mountains. Our elevation was at around 2000 meters – and at the highest point in the Atlas, at Jebel Toubkal it stands at some 4100 meters, the highest point in North Africa. It was so amazing that we could see an arid landscape before us, but look up and you could see snow capping the mountains at its highest points. We drove through the High Atlas and down on the other side, where we could see the Draa Valley, which was once a flowing river but now nothing but an expanse of red rock. We then stopped at Ait Benhaddou, a well preserved kasbah (ancient fort) 32 kilometers from the town of Ourzazate. The kasbah had been part of the sets of movies such as Gladiator and Jesus of Nazareth, and we could see a village with ruins of the old fort and a granary. Trekking up to the top of the kasbah and back took us around an hour, and going back took us some time to find the right restaurant that we started out in, though all the restaurants beside it were also filled with tour groups. I guess getting so lost needn’t be so scary if you can still see other tourists around you!

We finally reached the small town of Zagora at around 5pm. Zagora is a town created by the French authorities in the 1930s right in the middle of an oasis, and we could see rows and rows of palm trees lined up around the area. Zagora may have been in the middle of nowhere as the jumping point to the Sahara, but it was an orderly town with wide streets and shops advertising camel and 4×4 treks into the desert at every turn. Desolate it was not. We loaded up with drinking water and took our bathroom breaks and set off for the desert.

The driver took us a few kilometers from the town limits and set us off beside the road, where our camels along with the Berber guides were waiting for us. Leaving our bus behind, we were guided to our camels (who were tied to one another caravan-style) and rode up their backs. Then the guides got the camels to stand up, and off we were for our sunset trek into our Berber camp in the middle of the desert.

The camel ride was an extremely bumpy one, but it was also very exciting as we were taking what would be the highlight experience of our Moroccan journey. We finally got off the road and were taken to some well-worn paths which seemed to be used by Berber locals. We converged with a few other camel-riding tourists, and after an hour of riding the sun was already receding. Finally, we saw dunes of sand and a few large tents propped up. This was our desert camp!

Our Berber host (whose name, not surprisingly was Mohammed) gave us some Berber whisky (actually tea), and told us more about Berber culture. They have no schools, but each Berber comes to know about four or five languages, maybe more as they interact with tourists from around the world who want a taste of the Sahara desert. A Berber guide starts out knowing Berber, but eventually picks up Arabic, French, a bit of Spanish, halting English, and who knows what else! All without no formal schooling. Then Mohammed invited us outside the tent for some prime time Berber entertainment – Berber telly, a.k.a. watching the stars.

Now, stargazing may seem campy or boring to some – but in the Sahara not only is this your only form of entertainment, it’s actually quite an exhilarating experience. We were treated to a cloudless sky with no moon as the entire sky was lit up with stars that you could never fully see when under a city. All of us were lying down in the cold Saharan night, just looking out for shooting stars (which were fairly easy to find) and admiring the beautiful night sky that you don’t see or appreciate for most nights in a year. It was very beautiful, and for such a static experience, could be the highlight of our entire trip.

After a while, dinner came – chicken tajines cooked into a bowl large enough for our group of eight. We had our dinner, and there was nothing else to do but admire the Saharan night sky one more time and then we tucked into our own little corner of our Berber tent, pulling the blanket over our heads to fight off the cold as we slept for the night.

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Since there was not much to do in Casablanca, we opted to take the earliest train at 6:50am. It was raining when we stepped out of the hotel and we just had a few minutes before the train’s departure so it was a bit of a frenzy again for us. We got to the train station in the nick of time and was able to get tickets to Marrakesh. It felt (yet again) like a scene from the Amazing Race and we were just relieved to have made it again.

The train to Marrakesh took 3 hours. When we got to the train station, we were welcomed by a very interesting and well-designs station, a fitting start for our Marrakesh experience. Before heading to the medina to look for hotels, Gabby suggested we fix our Sahara trip first at the Ville Nouvelle (modern part of the city). He found a company organizing Sahara expeditions and told me it was near the Jardin Majorelle, one of the famous sights of the city. So off we went to look for this office.

At Jardin Majorelle, I learned that Gabs knew which street it was located but did not really know hot to get there from Jardin Majorelle. He just suggested we go around the area and look for the place. By this time, I was already getting a bit irritated because I was lugging around a big bag on my back and was asked to go around and look for the expedition office, without any idea where exactly to start. What was more annoying was that Gabs did not want to ask for directions! When I insisted on asking directions, no one knew where the damn street was! So fuming mad and tired, I told Gabs that I will just stay put where I was (beside a not so nice gas station) while he goes around looking for the office. It was a residential area and I told Gabs that I don’t think the office is even located in the area – word I ate after he came back and told me he had found the place.

No wonder we could not find it as easily, the office was located in a house with a small sign that you would surely miss if you weren’t looking that hard. (This was our first and only argument throughout this trip so I wanted to share just so you can also see that it’s not all rosy J).

At the office, we were told that we could fully appreciate the experience if we spent at least 3 days which will cost us at least 350euros each. We did not have both, time and money, so we just thanked her and decided that we will just do the Sahara trip from scratch and then we’ll figure it out along the way.

So we headed then to the medina to look for a hotel. Just like in the previous cities we have not booked accommodations in, we had a list of places to check out. We first checked out Hotel Foucauld. The hotel is near the bustling Djemaa El Fna, where all he craziness that is Marrakesh happens. The room was okay and had hot shower. The price including breakfast was at 350dirhams, within our budget so we took it since we could not wait to explore the sights.

We went straight to Djemaa just to have a feel of what the place is like. There was not much going on since the square usually came alive at dusk. So after a yummy orange juice, we set off to explore the inner parts of the medina.

We noticed that unlike Fes, which had an older, rawer marketplace/souq, Marrakesh had a more tourist- friendly, organized one. Goods are zoned just like in Fes but here, it is more distinct and differentiated. There was an area for carpets, babouches, leather, spices, pastries, nuts and dried fruits, ceramics, colorful shawls, woven cloths, antiques and a whole lot more! There also is a smattering of food stalls serving steaming soup, mint tea, grilled meat and fresh bread. Just like what guidebook says, Marrakesh is really a feast to the senses and that is just a little whiff of what is in store.

After checking out the souks, we decided to just get lost. In getting lost, we found one of the sights that we wanted to see, Musee de Marrakesh. Here we saw Moroccan architecture at its finest. Beautiful tiles and arches, detailed woodwork, fancy fountains and even hammams were up on display in this quaint museum. We also saw artists’paintings, rich fabrics, traditional Moorish garb and other artisan works.

After the museum, Gabs decided to search for the bus station to check on time skeds for trips to the Sahara. Since he did not want to constantly ask for directions, he decided to just trust a young boy to guide him. Apparently the boy did not even know where to take him so we just walked and walked into the inner parts of the medina until I got tired and a bit anxious. So I told Gabs I was heading back and didn’t want to follow the boy anymore because who knows where he will lead us. Spat number two for us, hay. Moral of the story is to just ask information offices or if not available, police or shopkeepers.

After this episode, we went back to the square in time for dusk. The crowd was not as thick as we expected, maybe because of the slight drizzle. But the show was still a sight to behold. There were snake charmers who tried to charm you to give them some dirhams, Gnaoua musicians who charged so high for a photo, story tellers, lunatics stealing the scene, bands playing and fortune tellers. But what was really interesting were the food stalls that were set-up in the square laden with steaming bowls of snail soup, smoke from grills, big pots filled with broth and what have you. What was most striking though was how the “chefs” and waiters outdid each other to give onlookers a show as they tried to entice people to choose their stall over another. Our waiter even told us that he was the guy in the Lonely Planet photo. Be careful though as they charge so much extras by giving a lot of appetizers and serving more than what you ordered. Be prepared to be a bit stern even if they sway you with their antics. This we learned the hard way when we got our bill amounting to 205dirhams, expecting to pay only 100dirhams tops. Oh well, it was quite a show but a bit expensive at that.

Stuffed with all that we ate, we took a short stroll before heading to our hotel. As we were passing through a busy street, we saw a sign for the Sahara expedition group that Gabby had been contacting for the past months (they never replied though). The group is called Imagine Le Voyage. As we were looking at the sign, we were immediately approached by a man who directed us towards their office. We booked our trip for a 2days 1 night trip to the Sahara that was scheduled to leave 7am the next day. We were so happy we chanced upon the signage before calling it a day because otherwise, we would’ve done it on our own. Very serendipitous indeed, just like much of what has been happening to us for the past years. So we happily went back to the hotel, excited for the desert trip the next day.

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We wanted to take the earliest train from Fes to Casablanca (8:50am) but decided that we didn’t want to skip the breakfast at the riad so we opted for a later one.

The train ride to Casablanca lasted four hours. We got to chat with a Moroccan on board the same cabin. Just like any average Moroccan, he was very adept in languages. He spoke to us in good English but told us that he also spoke French, Spanish, Arabic and Berber.

Upon reaching Casablanca, we immediately took a cab to the first hotel on our list. Since we did not have any hotels booked yet, we just listed three options and decided to book on the spot. The first hotel we went to was Hotel Du Centre, priced at 239dirham. Although it was a bit rundown, it fit our budget. But we wanted to check other hotHoteels too to compare. The next one was at 1,500dirhams, definitely beyond budget so we just decided to take the first one. The hotel kinda looked like a hospital plus the attendants were dressed in white. It had an ancient elevator too. We half expected to see a Frankenstein-looking man lurking in the shadows. On a more positive note, it was very near the center, close to the bigger hotel chains like Sheraton and Hyatt and is very accessible.

After getting settled in, we looked for a place to eat. From around 2pm-5pm, restaurants only serve drinks so we had a bit of a difficulty looking for a place that served food. Finally we found a small resto behind one of the big hotels. It was funny eating at Miramar Restaurant because everything that they served us was color yellow- from drinks to dessert.

After late lunch, we wanted to check out the Hassan Mosque but it was already too late so we just walked around the city. For some reason, I felt very wary in this city. I felt much safer in Fes. Maybe it is the fact that people here are more pushy or because there is a general atmosphere of people trying to survive a hard city life. There is also not much to see or do in Casablanca. As we were walking around, we were hoping to see some interesting places but we got a bit disappointed. So we gave the city one last shot and decided to go to its happening place, Boulevard de la Corniche.

It was rush hour so we had a bit of a difficulty getting a cab. Some people hitched with people on board the taxi cabs just to get home. After thirty minutes of no cab, a taxi stopped in front of us to drop off a passenger. But one of the passengers did not get off so we just decided to do what everyone else was doing and hitched with someone. Good thing we did since the other passenger, a young French guy working in Casablanca was headed in the direction of Corniche. He told us that it may be a bit early to go there since people usually arrive at 8:30. It was a little before 7pm. He also told us to be careful while walking around. Before getting off, he was kind enough to instruct the driver where to drop us off.

True enough, when we got to Corniche, the place was still quiet, with some store signs not yet turned on. So we just walked the stretch to while away time. Corniche is a seaside boulevard overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It has a row of clubs, restos, a smattering of hotels and some fastfood chains. It also is a place where people exercised (running or biking). It is Casablanca’s version of our Roxas Boulevard Baywalk.

We had dinner and a few drinks at Mystic Garden, a modern and hip resto that transforms into a club later at night. I had salmon and Gabby had a beef pattie that had a weird taste. Their mojito and beer were yummy though. We were the only ones there and a few others arrived when we were about to leave. Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for an early train ride to Marrakesh. So Casablanca for us was really just a transition city, just a stop to break a supposedly long train ride.

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Breakfast began at the terrace of our riad overlooking the entire medina. We had a great view over the medina and much of Fes, and an equally great breakfast was served with bread, pancakes, cake like bread (torta), butter, cheese, olives, orange juice, coffee, milk and mint tea. Whew! No wonder we took our time finishing our food. Afterwards, we finally got out of the riad straight in the middle of the action, ready to take on the medina with all five senses.

Going through the medina is a very interesting experience. On one hand, it feels like going through the flea markets back home, especially in Baguio where Mench has very good command of the ukay-ukay shops. Add to that centuries-old buildings, magnificent Moorish architecture, an explosion of color from carpets, ceramics and leather, and the smells of the leather tanneries, donkey dung and all the different food being sold and you start to get idea of what being in a medina is like. It really is an assault on the senses, and it’s such a rewarding experiences to take it all in – good and bad, great smells and foul, and the greetings (mostly “Konichiwa” to us, although we did try to teach them a bit of “Mabuhay”) of every Abdul and Mohammed that you meet on the street, inviting you to visit their shops.

And the people! Moroccans are mostly of Berber (North African) origin, with light brown skin and facial features that are all their own – not quite Arab, not quite African, and not quite European. Every hundred meters you walk through the medina results in someone calling you out – it could be “Welcome”, “Konichiwa”, or a simple “Would you like to visit my shop?” Some people might get easily overwhelmed or downright annoyed by this, but coming from the Philippines, we were a bit used to it and took everything in stride. We just had to get rid of their notion that we were Japanese (which we couldn’t understand – no way do we look anything remotely like Japanese!) because the Japanese were tops on their list of spenders, according to Lonely Planet – and with our limited budget, we were definitely in the bottom!

We spent the next few hours just getting lost in the medina, taking a look (and smell) at everything it had to offer. We saw the Medersa Bouinania, a 14^th century mosque and medersa (theological college) with its beautiful mosaic patterns and classic Moorish architecture. We saw a lot of the different souks – a souk is roughly defined as a cluster of shops from the same industry. So we went through the leather souks, which shops had terrace views of the (really smelly) tanneries which they used to induce you to go into their shops; the henna souk, now mostly overrun by ceramics sellers; and many many more stores, selling everything from Moorish-style crafts, musical instruments, clothes, jewelry, carpets of course, but also cell phones, fake branded clothing, washing machines and other household appliances, and Moorish paintings.

We also saw the Palais Jamais, once a palace by a vizier to the sultan, and now no less grand as part of the Sofitel high-end hotel chain; the Nejjarine complex, comprising of an 18^th century Fondouk (building), a drinking fountain and a souk. Fountains in Fes by the way are attractions in themselves; it would be little more than freely available tap water that residents can get from a faucet, except that they are all decorated nicely in mosaics, and showed the importance of public water in a city located in the desert where this act was not easy to accomplish. Paid for by royalty and wealthy merchants in preceding centuries, most of these fountains are still working and still look just as nice.

We ended the day with a small haul from the day’s shopping – Mench was able to buy a leather bag, a Moorish-styled mirror, and earrings all for a decent price. I think Moroccans weren’t used to being the ones pressured on price – Mench really brought her bargaining “A” game sharpened from the ukay-ukay shops of Baguio, and the usually wily merchants were the ones having a hard time with her! When bargaining for the leather bag, she asked for a price so low that the merchant retorted, “It is made of leather, not plastic!” We really laughed out loud at that one.

We retreated to our riad’s terrace to get a view of the medina during sunset. Afterwards, it was a light dinner of pastilla and steak at a decently-priced restaurant nearby. We’re pretty happy with our experience with Fes, and now we’re ready to move on to see Casablanca and Marrakesh!

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We wanted to leave La Linea as early as possible so we took the 8:45am bus to Algeciras since we are to take the ferry to Tangier from there. La Linea is just 30 minutes away from Algeciras.

Upon arriving at Algeciras, we headed for the port area, after getting lost a bit since we did not like to take the cab. We finally found the way to the port but as we walked towards the ticket station, we were approached by a couple of old men. They pointed out that the ticket office was closed and asked if we needed tickets. We were a bit reluctant to go with them but Gabs was already talking to one of them so off we went to the ticket shop they were leading us to. We got our tickets for a fast ferry at 48euros each. The ferry was about to leave in ten minutes so we had to run all the way to the station. As we were rushing closer to the station, we saw that there was a central ticket station near the main entrance. So we just laughed about getting talked into a ticket seller and just carried on with our mad dash.

We made it to the check in counter just in time and passed through immigration. We were the last people to enter the boat-whew! Before settling down, we saw people lining up so we followed suit. They were already lining up for disembarkation stamping with the Moroccan Police. So we filled up the necessary documents before heading to our seats. The ferry was quite nice with café, a duty free store and good seats. It was a brief ride so people were just lounging by the café, checking out the shop and not really getting too comfy. We were getting more excited because we no longer could understand anything that was spoken around us so that meant we were in the midst of Moroccans/Berbers already!

Finally we arrive in Tangier (they are two hours back from Spain time). We were greeted by a few official guides as we entered the station but we headed for the information office to check where we could change our euros to dirham and where we could get a train to Fes. We were told that banks were located just down the station and that a petit taxi can take us to the station. So we changed our money and set-off to look for a cab.

We finally found a taxi bay. Just like in Manila where we have taxis waiting by the station and charging a fixed price, no longer flagging down the meter, so it is too with Tangier. We were approached by a man speaking in halting English and told us that he could take us to the station for 30 dirhams. We should’ve bargained lower but we were itching to leave the port so we agreed. We knew we were getting ripped off but at least the driver did it in style - he pointed out sights, gave some little tidbits of trivia and asked about us and where we came from. He even tried to impress us with his knowledge of the Philippines. When we told him where we were from, he exclaimed, “Abu Sayyaf! Good men, good men!” We just nodded our heads and put up half a smile. We got to the train station in ten minutes.

At the train station, we were told that the next train passing by Fes was leaving in ten minutes. So we immediately got our tickets. We chose to travel first class since there was not much difference in price anyway and we have been traveling all day so we wanted to have a little treat. For first class seats, we had to share a cabin with four other people but for the greater part of the trip, only four of us occupied the cabin. There was one girl who could speak a bit of English and looked a bit grunge and a guy who Gabby thought was weird because he was rummaging through the girl’s stuff when she went to the washroom (although he was pretty decent looking and didn’t seem like the type).

During the trip, we got to see changing landscapes of Morocco- barren mountain slopes, hectares of olive farms, vineyards, orange groves and grazing land for sheeps and cows. Along the way, we also saw whitewashed buildings on hills as we approached the more populated areas.

Finally we arrive in Fes after a four-hour train ride. Learning from our mistake of just taking the nearest taxi, we headed past the throng of people who just got off the train and proceeded straight to the main road. We finally got a petit taxi and told the driver to take us to Bab Bou Jeloud, the gates to the medina (Old Fes).

We chose to stay in the medina so that we did not have to worry about going back to hotel late at night after a day of sightseeing. We planned to go around the area anyway so we decided to stay within the medina. We already had a few options ready and just had to figure out how to find these riads (old houses converted into quaint hotels). Just a little past the gates, we were immediately befriended by a young boy who spoke a bit of good English. He told us that he could lead us to Dar Bounania, exactly the hotel that we were looking for. So we followed him. As we were nearing the hotel, he told us that it might be full but we persisted to see it. On the way though, we met someone who worked at Dar Bounania and told us that indeed they were full. We asked if she knew of any alternatives similar to their hotel. She mentioned Riad Hala and our eager young boy told us that he could take us there.

So we get to Riad Hala and immediately fell in love with the place. We were showed a room at the ground level but it was a bit expensive so we asked to see a cheaper one. We were showed a room at the top most level and decided to take it. It was a nice big room with bath. As we were settling down we could hear the young boy bargaining with the innkeeper for his commission. So that was how it worked here.

Excited to see the amazing medina, we drank our complimentary mint tea then headed straight for the souks just to soak everything in. My heart was soaring with joy because I love markets so much and the medina is one huge market. In Gabby’s words, it is like one big ukay