Paradise at A Price

Beautiful.

Breakfast of coffee, croissant, fresh bread, jam and fresh OJ, overlooking the Atlantic, from the rooftop terrace. I could certainly get used to a life like this.

The place I chose to stay is perfect. Ate dinner there last night with the other holidaymakers, around a squat table, candlelit. 2 Aussies, a Dutch girl, a Canadian and a British couple from Cornwall.

Katinka (the dutch girl) and I may be headed to a surfer village further down (I say village, but it's not much more than a stretch of sand an a few b and b's) tomorrow - it's a few hours walk, but should be peaceful and have a good atmosphere. This morning we all chilled out on the terrace, chatting, before I came here to check email. I stopped by a shop to chat to a Moroccan guy who'd helped me out when I was lost yesterday - today he tried to sell me carpets, and also a tour, but then invited me to drink mint tea with him and his friends this afternoon. It is pretty easy to tell who are the genuinely cool people here.

Last night one of the aussies and I decided to explore, and checked out a couple of bars (although i had planned on an early night, so was just dressed in a jumped, trousers and flipflops). The first was a hall with blaring music, predominantely male, with them dancing seductively up to one another. I honestly think it was innocent and they don't realise how gay they appear.

On to the next bar, we met a guy who they aussies knew from a previous night - he was sound, and offered to by us drinks, but we left shortly after, as I recognised a guy from Marrakech who'd been hassling me. We got in a bit of an altercation with this guy on leaving the bar, but nothing to be worried about, ma. It's all ok. I think I'll be staying in in the evenings from now on. I did choke down a snigger as he called the aussie guy a 'fag' (he's the only wimpy aussie I've ever met), especially as he was wimpering to me that we were lost. He must be in his late 20s and tall. Dang! Where have all the men gone?

Right, well, now I think I'll grab some lunch and maybe an ice-cream. I want to buy an instrument here to play when I get home, but realistically it'll be a struggle taking it back, so I'll probably have to just stick to the Jellaba.

It's nice to finally have some good conversation - I'm getting into 'travelling mode' now, and wish I was out here longer, as I hear stories of other people's travels and their plans for their Morocco trip.

Oh well... i'm glad i've broken the ice with this country anyway...