Having read up on Tangier, we knew what we were in for. For the sake of setting foot in the country we figured a day trip was worth it anyway; going with the guided tour offered by our Spanish hotel seemed like the easiest way to deflect the local guides and vendors of cheap crap. It felt like it should be reliable.

What we didn’t expect was that tour guide handing us off to a series of sales pitches of increasing pressure, topped off with a walk through the casbah back to the tour bus being accosted every 3 steps by random guys selling fake watches, cheap tin bracelets, wallets, and other junk.

Okay, so once you come to terms with the fact that the locals feed on tourists, what’s left? A dirty smelly city, but a very different culture and lifestyle. It certainly IS enough to get a taste of how very different Morocco must be from anywhere else in the western world.

The visit left me without desire to return to Tangier, but an increased desire to head inland further and visit Marakech, Fez, and the other likely destinations.