Getting There - Aneel's Travelogue

I took an early bus to Essaouira.

I was annoyed with the hotel in the morning. I discussed the time I'd need to have breakfast (7:15) and when I'd have to catch a cab (7:45) with the guy working the desk in the evening, and there was nobody awake at 7:15, and I had to go outside and ring the bell to get someone at the desk at 7:45. And yet I was still charged the with-breakfast rate, and didn't really have the time or motivation to argue. It amounts to $4, but it irks me out of all proportion to be charged for something I didn't get.

Being up early in the morning was probably also a factor in the irking. I'm glad I arrived early in Essaouira, though. The town is gorgeous, and I'm enjoying seeing it in different lighting conditions.

I wandered around, trying to find a riad from the guidebook, and fending off offers from guys trying to get me to go to their riad instead. Weirdly, they were all touting the same riad, even though I ran into them all across town.

The place I'm in is awesome, though. Essaouira is a seaside town, and the old medina has a high defensive wall around it, with battlements and cannons in some places. The riad where I'm staying is built into the outer wall, so my room has windows that directly overlook the waves crashing on the rocks below. It's a bit more expensive than most of the places I've stayed, but because it's low season, they've given me a mini-suite at the price of a single.

I spent the day wandering around the town. I spent some time hanging around the fishing port, watching a net being loaded onto a trawler. I really had no idea how big those things were. They were winching it aboard for what seemed like at least fifteen minutes and when I gave up they still hadn't made much of a dent in the heap of net.

I tried to take a boat tour out around the Purple Islands (where the shells to make the dye for Roman senators' robes once came from), but the boat wouldn't sail without at least six passengers, and they told me it was too windy anyway. Perhaps tomorrow.

It's too bad Tinny didn't make it here. There are a lot of kittens, and I have a feeling that this is the WGWD capital of Morocco. Also, the dogs here are especially low to the ground.