The area where Al Akhawayn in located is one of splendid natural beauty, and it really is a shame that I haven’t taken advantage of this more often. Last weekend, I was convinced to come along on a hiking trip to the Rif Mountains, a mountain range in the north of Morocco. After heading out on a thursday afternoon, my colleague and I arrived in Tetouan at around 5am, with very little sleep and mild levels of annoyance. Tetouan is on the meditteranean coast, a fact I could not enjoy that day since we found a cheap hotel and caught roughly a mere 4 hours of shut-eye.
Awaking later that day, it was time to head out to Chefchouen, a city that is famous for notorious th
ings (which you will easily find out by goggling it). The city itself really is beautiful, with Meditteranean white-washed walls and blue paint everywhere. Someday i’ll go back to enjoy a more leisurely stay, but this visit was all about the business of getting out to the mountains. Caught a pricey grande taxi out to a teeny town that links a series of hiking trails that can keep you occupied with days of verdant scenery and dramatic views. Since we only had a weekend, a day-hike was the order of business, and after rapidly scaling the cliffs surrounding a lovely river canyon we sat and enjoyed a hawks-eye view of the countryside.
As the sun started to set we went back down the trail, a tricky task as best, with loose gravel and absolutely no hand rails to save you from falling. After alighting back at the base, we gave some compatriots a call to come and get us (they were chilling in Chouen [nickname for Chefchouen]), and we settled down at a little shack-come-restaurant just down the road. The propriator of this place was a jolly Moroccan that didn’t speak a lick of english or danish, but we managed to communicate our hunger fairly easily. Out of nowhere (seriously, there was no food or cooking utensils in this place) he produced a bubbling chicken tagine after about an hour or so, which we promptly devoured.
Brightly-painted fishing boats pulled up onto the beach
After getting a pickup from our buddies, we headed for the coast! In a little town called Oued Laou, we rented a house on the beach for a mere 300Dh’s a night (50Dh’s each, about 6$), and spent the next 2 days basking a frolicking in the sea. Down a rough rubble and garbage strewn road sat a row of restaurants and cafes, which would dish up fried seafood (caught that day), and mint tea for very low prices. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, needless to say (beach, friends, and seafood!). Something about the ocean, I could never live away from it perminantly; it’s just such a calming force.
Hi Kai,
I’ve been reading your travel blog with great interest — thanks very much! I’m on my way to Morocco in a couple of weeks, and very excited. Out of curiosity: the house you rented in Oued Laou — do you know how you found it and reserved it? I’ve been having a bit of trouble finding somewhere to stay. Any advice you might have would be lovely.
Thanks!
Alexis
Hi there Alexis! We didn’t reserve it, we just showed up and talked to some local kids about renting a place. We were with a moroccan student, and she talked to the locals for us. It was all very unofficial, but almost any bus station with have touts trying to get you to stay at “their” hotel. Hold out for a inexpensive rate, they try to charge twice as much for naive-looking tourists.