Category: Travel

This anecdote falls squarely under the “Do as I SAY, not as I DO” category.  I can rattle off a litany of Safe Travel tidbits  (and have many times!) and honestly, I mean them all and generally use them.  Like this one, for example, is just common sense:  Don’t walk alone late at night in a quiet part of a strange city.  Clearly a no brainer, and frankly I still stand by that advice.   Except I totally did exactly that tonight…..    

I had the best intentions of arriving in this new city of Chefchaouen in the middle of the afternoon, but I dragged my feet leaving my hostel this morning (more on that later) and missed the first bus I wanted to take.  The bus I was on arrived a couple hours late – of course – meaning that it was after 9pm and very dark when I finally stepped off and collected my bag.  I really don’t know what happened to the other passengers, but they seemed to all vanish away from the bus depot in moments, although I never even saw a single taxi.  I was alone in a deserted lot on a quiet street with small groups of locals clustered on corners a few blocks away.  Great.  I took a second to weigh my options and check in with my “gut feeling” of the place while walking over to a tiny market stall that was still open.  Thankfully I was given a wifi connection long enough to get google map directions to my hotel, thinking that I could have an idea for how much a taxi would cost.  Seeing it was only a 30 minute walk and a seemingly simple route, I took one last look around for a taxi, then said a little prayer and off I marched into the darkness.   I kept my guard up and was über alert the whole way, but I felt safe.  Along the walk I had a few guys ask if I was ok and if I needed a ride, but thankfully I was able to point to my map and politely decline.  I really think they were genuinely trying to help me, though, except maybe for the one that told me to come back and smoke hash with him!   Finally arriving at my hotel was a relief, but a bit embarrassing too: the first time I’m staying in a nice hotel and I show up as a sweaty mess scruffy backpacker…..   All’s well that ends well, right?  But still, don’t do this! 

This photo is NOT my own, but thanks to a Google Images search I can still show you exactly what my walk looked like.

Wow, this is going to be a long post – I still have more stories to tell! 

I mentioned already that I was lingering at my last hostel in the morning so I’ll back track a little now.  I started the day in the city of Fez in a fantastically cozy hostel, and was in a comfortable food coma from my breakfast of bread, cheese, and pastries. As I was starting my second cup of coffee my new little buddy Ethan joined me.   We had spent most of the previous day in a pleasant break from each travelling alone, after meeting earlier at this hostel.    Within moments of introducing himself to me he asked “so, what are you running away from?” (Perceptive little brat! 😉)  I clumsily dodged the question and changed the subject, he graciously allowed me to, and a friendship began right then.    In case you’re wondering about my use of diminutive terms for him, it’s because he’s 8 years younger than my baby brother, but none the less I had fun playing the role of grizzled old sage for a day.       This is what I love about travelling alone – the people I connect with!  I’ve spent time in every place I’ve been so far with some really incredible people and I’m so grateful for these new friendships.

T.I.A.  Have you heard that acronym before?  It means “This Is Africa” and is generally said with a small grin and shrug of the shoulders when something goes wrong.  Power cuts out and the tv blanks during the final tie-breaking penalty kicks on a game everyone is watching with baited breath?? TIA.

Most of my journey so far has been remarkably smooth sailing, but I’ve had a couple of my own TIA moments lately.  And really, what can you do but shrug and  smile anyway?  The more I see it, the more I appreciate that attitude, since getting worked up can’t solve anything and would only add to my frustrations in the end. 

For instance.  I’m on a train trying to get to the city of Fez in the Northern interior of the country from Essaouira along the South coast.  I knew it would be a long trip, but I’m always overly optimistic with these logistics, assuming that all I need is a novel or two and some junk food to keep me happy.  Booking the trip proved a bit difficult as the website would never show the train’s schedule.  (That should have been a warning for me – but I missed it).  I finally gave up and walked around the city until I found a station, bought a seat on the next morning’s departure and was pleased with myself for figuring it out.    4 hours into the journey, the train stops in the middle of nowhere.  Recorded announcements played in Arabic and French apologizing for the delay and asking us to stay patient for twenty minutes every half hour or so. If a reason was stated for the stall, I missed it.  So my easy 11 hour trip is already 14 and counting.   Plus, nibbling on my snacks while I read didn’t work either, as it’s Ramadan and I didn’t feel good about crunching away surround by people fasting.  I’m hungry and grouchy, but when I look around everyone else seems perfectly content…..  Maybe I can absorb that attitude….  TIA.

And last night at dinner, as I was sitting on a terrace near the ocean and just finishing my fish I felt / heard a splattering of drops. I looked up surprised that rain started only to realize I had been marked by a seagull…. 😫  They say it’s good luck, right???    It sure felt like there must have been some luck involved as our was the only occupied table. That bird could have had any other target and yet I ended up the ‘lucky’ one.  Gross.  But, TIA!