The blue city

There are the ones that call it the Blue Ville due to its medina painted with this color, there are the others that refer to its position on top of a hill, and there are those that just call it... the city of pot! Yes, apparently our first destination is more well known among young travellers because of the high levels of consumption of marijuana, either in shishas or... whatever form it might take. The surrounding hills also have multiple plantations of the cannabis plant, for what we've heard... we looked for them (for scientific purposes alone, of course :P) on our way to Fes but couldn't find them.

But the blue, yes, the blue! We included Chefchaouen for the blue and the "artistic pictures" that I wanted to take. The photos are not that artistic, but there's a lot of blue.

They call themselves the "Blueville" :)

An ordinary street

An ordinary corner

An ordinary door

 An ordinary view. Stairs that end up in (blue) doors.

The street/stairs are more than passways, they're also an extension to the existing shops.

Blue, blue and blue.

Even at a distance it is possible to see the shades of blue here and there.

When we were leaving the city we passed by this entrance... all that is left from... someplace that no longer exists

Guess what is the main color?

Even the orange cooling recipient is blue :p

But Chefchaouen is more than the color blue (and marijuana trading). It was the place where we found the most relaxed people and a waterfall where locals and visitors alike went to refresh themselves and even dive. It was here that an Algerian woman living in Tetuan wanted to "fix" me with her still single son. It was here that someone showed us a place (after many misturnings -  they were Moroccans but not locals) where we could eat tasty creps for 4 Dinahrs (around 35cents). It was here that the shopkeepers talked with us for the pleasure of talking with us - they tried to sell their goods, of course, but they were okay when we would say no.
All and all, it was a great starting point to discover the rest of Morocco! :)

The guy with the white t-shirt was the "single" brother that they tried to hook me up with

There were many cats all around the city... and the country

André in disguise. Trying to pass as a local

The 4 Dirahms creps stall

The 4 Dirahms creps

 

At the entrance of the medina

 

Meeting the local fauna

The washing tanks, still in use

This was the area where most locals refreshed themselves

And this one where they dove and had fun

More cats... lots of cats

The colors beyond the blue

Vendors with traditional hats

The young and the old

We've arrived!

I'm writing this from home after the trip have finished as there was no time and as I didn't take a computer with me this time, the logistics were a bit more complicated. I tried to write a post on our first night in Morocco and realized the effort of doing so would be too big. However, I'll use the first paragraph (written that night) and complete it as it was actually the first night! ;)

This morning we woke up in Portugal. Several Kms later, 4 hours of driving, 2 hours of waiting for a delayed ferry, 1 hour waiting for a place in the port and... Morocco, we've arrived :) You gave it a fight, but we were more stubborn!
As we walk out of the port and start driving (our very own - for 7 days - Peugeot 206) the first signs of chaos were everywhere. People crossing the street (and when I say street I mean a semi highway!) wherever they feel like it, people walking on the side of the street, animals walking on the side of the street or even people getting a lift in unusual ways...

When the truck stopped or slowed down he would follow it on foot and then hop on it again!

But I have to confess that, after so many comments that we heard prior to coming here, I thought the Moroccan driving itself would be much worse.
On the drive to Chefchaouen, our first stop, we drove pass a few towns and could see the "street markets". Street markets as in... a carpet layed down on the floor with tons of shoes&sandals/clothes/whatever would be on top of them. Our big question of the day was "How much time does someone take to find the right pair to one shoe?" My guess would be... a lot!! But after all, this is Morocco and actually, I liked the first glimpse of it! :)

Morocco, Here We Go!!

The dates are set, the maps have been studied and all is left is to pack the bags!

Morocco is just around the corner (or just around the strait) and the stories of everyone that have been there are so great that I couldn't delay this trip anymore! So me and 3 others - ALF, and the trans-team (still sounds bad :P), NC and IS - will head South on a road trip that will take us, hopefully, to the heart and soul of this country!

The plan has not been closed, yet, but the trip will look something like this:

May the adventure begin!! :)

The art of eating (Japan)

Along with the fact that I experienced this country alone (I met people along the way but it's always different), I'm writing this post separated from the previous one because Japanese food deserves it!! Yes, chinese food, mongolian food, buryat food, russian food they're different from ours, no doubt about it. But only here I ate things and had no idea what they were, not even after I ate them!! Only here I tasted something I had tasted before I asked myself "What the hell is this??!!". Only here I ordered food by pressing a button and didn't know exactly what to expect!
Yes, Japanese food deserves a dedicated post on its own right!

I didn't have to wait long for my first experience. Right on the first night I asked for a nice restaurant near the hostel. They gave me a map where the restaurant was signaled (although not very accurately), showed me a photo of the entrance, wrote the name of it in Kanji and... I still couldn't find it! Maybe I was too hungry, too tired, too something, but I was not able to it at all :P I ended up entering in another restaurant on the same street. On the first glance I knew that one was not the one I had been pointed to, but decided to go inside anyway. Beyond me there was only a couple that was talking with the owners. I sit and the I'm asked (in Japanese) what I wish to eat! As I have no idea what to answer I'm pointed to a list on the wall... written in Kanji! Again I have no idea what to say. So they bring me outside to a panel with photos, I point to one that looks like a soup and he asks me "Soba? Udon?" The first words I understood (thank you Nood!). I choose soba and now I just have to wait for the meal! When it comes the couple gets ready to leave and on their way out they ask me if I want I photo. So, through the kindness of strangers I have a photo of my first meal in Japan. Which was great, by the way! :)

Soba "soup" was my first meal

A few days later I ended up going to the restaurant that had been advised to me on that first day. Maybe because I went with a few friends and they helped me getting there :P. It was actually a good experience where we had to cook our own food, a kind of omelet. Here are some photos:

For one of the orders we needed a bit of help from the staff

We (starving) waiting for the food to cook

And there was a new story, similar to this one, or more to do with the strange looking food I saw, but a new story, almost every day!
Eating food and had to post a photo of it on facebook to understand what it was (its taste was complete new to me); or when I tried one of those places where you make an order by pressing a bottom in a panel (where you also pay) in front of the restaurant and as everything was in kanji I didn't know exactly what I was ordering; or going up and down a food market and being unable to identify around 80% of the food; or even asking for the flavor of a  box of sweets with no success at all! Yes... a big part of the Japanese experience is the food. And although the flavors are often very strange, from time to time, you are surprised with food that is simply amazing, as I had on my last night in Nagoya when I ordered tempura! And thinking of it now... maybe the food reflects the culture and what I have just said, may also be applied to many other different aspects of Japan and its people! :)
So yes, Japanese food more than deserved its own post! :)

Multi-flavoured mochis. I loved the ones I ate in the US but both that I tried in Japan did not make me a fan

Sushi... it is as good as I hoped it would be in Japan!

This is mitarashi dango, a rice flour cake with sweet soy sauce. But I only found that out two days after I ate it! :P

When I bought this I thought it was a sweet. It was salty!

They cook vegetables in very different way

I asked if it was fish and they said yes, but to be honest I couldn't taste it at all!

The one I choose was the one in the bottom left corner.