Monday, January 8, 2018

Morocco 1

The crossing to Tanger is simplicity itself, let me tell you a story. We got to Algeciras early, because we’d no idea what the system was. We found Carlos’s ticket shop up behind or beside Carrefour, down a little side street. The two girls are so well experienced in their jobs we were in and out in no time. €200 later and clutching our tickets and a cake and a bottle of wine, we descended on Lidl to find some refreshments for our visit to Maroc. Oh, and a bit of food. We chose not to go to Carrefour because we find them a tad more expensive.
Followed the signage to the port, no problem there either, and joined a queue of not too many others. A few kiosks with ticket collectors in them relieved of us all of our tickets and we were on our way. The boat was forty minutes late departing, it all seemed so “Spanish time”.

Up on board we found ourselves on Deck 7 where a small queues had formed to get their passports checked. Seems to me, the truckers went first so they could get their heads down, so really its best to leave it for a while. You have to fill a form in, that you will get from Carlos, it’s a bit like one you would fill in to enter the US of A. This proves to be a total waste of time. We sailed through, pardon the pun, the police check points in Tangier and we thought that was a piece of er, cake. But no. The Customs men had other ideas. Such a cock up, if you’re crossing, this will be the single thing that will baffle you. We were lucky enough I think, the jobs worth we got, was a Liverpool FC fan, but that didn’t stop him from sending me to another booth for another passport inspection, this one done on a computer. Anyway he asked me to open the garage door, he glanced in, for maybe a half seconds then went into the van. He asked me what we had! I told him food, tons of alcohol, and two beds! He asked, almost jokingly, if we had any guns!!! I put my hands up and he bade us farewell. We were stopped slightly further on, just beyond the gates and proffered sim cards. 4 gbs for five euros, we took two and they work. Called in to the bureau d’change and got dirhams for 12.35 to the pound. When we pulled in we were the first ones there, we’ve been joined by 9 other vans and staying the night for an early start down the road in the morning. Thank you for reading, if I can be of any help, just say.

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