I made the mistake of arriving in Tangier too early for my train to Marrakesh at 11pm tonight. The station doesn't have a locker so I was forced to eithre walk around with my huge pack all day or find a cheap place to leave my bags. Walking around Tangier with a huge pack on was about the worst case scenario I could think of. The faux guides in this city feed off of the weak and believe me I would have been looking pretty pathetic lugging that thing around all afternoon.

The port was suprisingly easy to get through contrary to the nightmares I have heard about dealing with the relentless faux guides and shady taxi drivers . I quickly walked through the port and out to the main street. The hassles began. "My friend, how are you? Fine welcome to Morocco". Well since he answered for me I felt no need to reply and continued.

I went straight to the train station via petite taxi. My 2nd mistake was screwing up the money. The meter reaad 5.64 and since I only had large blils from the ATM I handed the driver 100DH which is about $10. I expected change but he motioned that he didn't have any. I just said keep it tihknin that since the meter said 5.64 that was half of the money I gave him when in actuality it was only 5% of what I gave him. This guy got a huge tip and I learned a valuable lesson. What I like about Morocco and any country that is this cheap is that you can screw up and get ripped off but it really is never for that much money. I sucked it up.

After I purchased my ticket I flagged a taxi down but he had no clue where I was trying to go. I barely had an idea. I checked my guide book for a cheap pension to keep my bags. I was willing to pay $15 for a night just to be able to rest, shower, and have a secure place to get off the streets. I tried another taxi and this one seemed to have an idea. I couldn't have been more wrong. No matter how much you can plan not to get ripped off it is almost inevitable. My first mistake of not having a place before I arrived was working against me.

We started down the main road on the beach front. Tangier is a major port town on the straights of Gibralter. The pension I was looking for was on this road but the driver continued down at a pretty fast pace, next thing you know we're pulling down a side street. The driver pulls a small container out of his pocket and drops some brown powder on his forehead and procedes to snort it. My anxiety meter started to raise. All those things I had read about Tangier being a seedy, dirty, drug invested, prostitute haven, annoying hassle zone, were coming true. The road he pulled down had a pension on the left that he stopped in front of. I thought maybe he was trying to get directions when all he did was offer this extremely creepy looking Moroccan a ride somewhere. I told him this was my taxi and I want out if he doesn't take me there immediatly. After another turn around the block and still no site of the place listed in Lonely Planet, I demanded to be let out. Again, I was short on small bills and change so I had large Moroccan bills. I opted to just hand him 5 Euro just to let me out. I was surrounded by what seemed to be his buddies that came up to the car trying to get me in their hotel so it seemed like the quickest and safest way to get out.

So again, I was stuck walking the streets with no direction. This is exactly what I told myself I wouldn't do. Still holding on to my sense of humor about the situation I walked back towards the port where I saw some pensions earlier.
This was my final mistake of the trip so far that lead me to the hotel i'm in right now. I walked past the ferry station and near the enterance to the medina when the 100th Morrocan asked me how I was. I tried to act like I knew where I was going but he saw right through it. He said he knows a place for students. He was very friendly and asked me where I was from. I said America and he replied "Oh, America! I have a friend in Colorado." As well as he saw through me, it was obviously he doesn't know anyone from Colorado and just uses states when talking to Americans in order to make us feel more comfortable with him. At this point, I realized this guy was working for someone for commission so I let him lead me wherever it was. He said it would cost me 7 Euro so I said ok. The place he took me with disgusting but I through my bags on the bed and had to procede to tell this guy that I dont want him as a guide. After giving him a tip for bringing me here I sent him on his way. After about 5 times of telling him to please leave me alone.

At this point i'm happy to be off the streets and resting for a minute so I can go back out and explore. This room is big but very dirty. I wouldn't have stayed here over night. I took a look at it before s oI knew what I was getting. There is a single window that looks straight out to a wall. I'm in the medina (old part of any Moroccan city) so evreything is narrow and foor is about the only mode of transportation.

There is a terrace right next door with carpets and woven baskets draped ovre just like I had imagined. Seems a family with a few children live there since Ihear the sounds of them coughing and crying. I can't tell what I smell yet but it is either Moroccan food or garbage. I'm really hoping it is garbage because I am looking foward to some good food.