In December 2003 decided to visit Morocco. It was an amazing trip and the first time I would visit an Arabic speaking country. We reached Morocco by way of Spain via a ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar.

Our primary mode of transport for this entire trip was trains, with the exception of one bus ride between Malaga and Ronda and the ferry from Algeciras to Tangier.

The itinerary was as follows:

• Malaga - Our plane arrived in Malaga on Spain's Costa del Sol. We went straight from the airport to the bus station to catch a bus to Rhonda.
• Ronda - An amazing Andalucian town with a massive deep gorge right through the center of the village. The two sides are connected by a gorgeous bridge.. pretty much the most pictouresque town I have ever seen. The highlight was just looking out at the fields from the park at the edge of the cliffs.
• Ferry by way of Algeciras, Spain. You don't really want to spend much time in this city, we went straight from the train station to the ferry terminal and caught the express ferry about an hour later. The ferry was mostly empty, but the passport control going into Morocco was chaotic. The trip took about 3 hours.
• Tangier - This city has seen better days. Essentially it feels like it was once a happening spot for the worlds playboys, but now its just run down and sad. The hotels haven't upgraded or changed their decor since the 1970's. We didn't really plan to stay here long and 1/2 day was enough for us. We left for the train station at 7am the next morning.
• Mekness - A great city famous for its well preserved medina. This was a great place to stop first as it provided us with an excellent glimpse into Moroccan culture before we treaded into the tourist destinations of Fez and Marrakech.
• Fez - Home to the biggest medina in Morrocco and it didn't disappoint. This was the only place where we sprung for a guide because it is very easy to get lost in the winding streets. Outside of the city walls is empty space.. amazing!
• Marrakech (مراكش)- I wanted to visit Marrakech ever since I read Elizabeth Fernea's book, A Street in Marrakech. The city is based around tourism, so it is not as romantic as the book was. Lots and lots of French tourists looking way too overdressed for the location. We looked like dirty backpackers, which suited us very nicely.
• We left Marrakech around 8pm on a night train which took us all the way back to Tunis. When we arrived in Tunis we went straight to the ferry terminal, caught a ferry to Algeciras, once in Algeciras we caught a train to Granada. We arrived in Granada around 8pm and took a cab to our hotel. whew! that was hectic.
• Granada - What reasons are there to go to Granada other than to see the Alhambra? Well, probably a few good reasons, but we didn't really know of them. The Alhambra was amazing as expected, but the weather was a tad chilly for our liking.
• Malaga - We arrived back in Malaga with one day for sightseeing before our flight back to the states.
• Adios Espana!