As our bus approached Tangier, we looked at each other and thought oh no, not another Moroccan dump! We got dropped off at the port which is renowned for hustlers and using our newly found knowledge of Moroccan "modus operandi" meant that we jumped straight into a cab (a trusty old Fiat Uno) and got checked into the palatial Marco Polo hotel on the promenade, a beach at last, but alas no sun to be found.

...a room with a view....the bay of Tanger from our hotel window

Now then, let's talk about the MARCO POLO.

Us in a relatively alcohol free country....not too bad so far, but on our arrival at our hotel we soptted THE BAR...our book describes the place as German run, colourful and lively..it was VERY quiet when we dropped off our bags and went for a drink. After dinner in the upstairs restaurant (lovely tagines), we went back down for a beer or two...it was strangely full of single ladies staring at us..maybe a trannie or two also thrown in for good measure...We soon realised that we were staying in an 'upmarket' KNOCKING SHOP.

We were kept awake most of the night by the sounds of banging headboards and squeaky bedsprings... ALL THIS EXCITEMENT FOR 200Dh (£14approx), our most expensive place yet...The other 'guests' obviously paid by the hour..Lemon, you'll love it - and anything you make above the cost of the room, you can keep (she gets her own installment when she comes out this weekend(26 / 10)

At this point (18 / 10), we've not explored Tangier much, as we're waiting for Lemons' arrival, but our feeling was that of complete relaxation, the people are great and very chilled out and the city has a great buzz, resonating the 60s & 70s eras, but the beautiful deco buildings look rather tired and shabby....as we said earlier, the Blackpool of Africa..

GREAT DISCOVERIES:

La Espanola - Salon Du Thé Café au lait..7.5dh(50p) and the breakfast crepes(with salt)at 7dh were fab.

The Restaurant Populaire(wargha, wargha) was bloody brilliant.. a fantastic meal of around 8 courses for roughly a tenner..AND free wicker baskets with amazing wooden spoons & forks..THANKS to the mad guy who owns it!!

There's more to see here and discover, but we eagerly await the presence of our antipodean explorer, to marvel at the marvel that is Tangier.....

Next stop on our tour is the cosmopolitan capital city of RABAT....stay tuned....