Tangier, morocco

T h e  c o l o r s .

Souks, olives, fresh vegetables, spices.

 

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T h e  f a c e s .

Mr Chokri, who owns a third-generation bread shop in the ancient medina. He still uses the same wood fire oven like his grandfather did.

This little boy peeped thru his window n gave me a shy smile. When i smiled back & pointed to my camera, he popped out & gave me a big toothy grin.

Curious traveller... & a curious group of young girls who were excited to use the spanish learnt in school with a foreigner aka my sister.

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T h e  p l a c e s .

Outside a mosque.. i felt bad after taking this picture because i meant to do it secretly but realised only later that the little girl had her hand over her face. It is true that when you are down & out, the last thing u want is to be captured in that state. :(

Women going about their business in one of the big plazas while below, a labyrinth of little winding streets make up the old medina.

a traditional bakery selling sweets & diabetes-inducing pastries... & a walk to the ancient high walls of the Kasbah leads to a view over the Mediterranean & neighbouring Spain.

my only souvenir.. a pair of handmade leather shoes from the souk... which i'm wearing to death everyday.

My only impression of Tangier came from the films Inception & The Bourne ultimatum - messy, colorful, dangerous.

Happy to report that it is true. Men would pester us the whole day, wanting to bring us around (for a fee of course). The men were mostly rough in their demeanour, women wary & inconspicuous. Didnt help that being Asian means u stick out like a sore thumb during calltimes to prayer when men would SURGE to the mosques while we tried not to get in their way.

The old town was in ruins, many young men sewing clothes in hole-in-the-wall shops. (If u realise, alot of clothes we wear from high street labels like Zara are made in Morocco.) Despite that, Tangier is a city on the cusp of rapid economic development & modernization; you could feel in the air, a sense of anticipation & optimism among the younger Moroccans. Would love to go to Marrakech next time, who knows, maybe they will shoot a part of The Bourne Legacy there.. xxx