Visa stuff and Tiznit

Breakfast at the main square

The great mosque in Tiznit

Until I got the Mali visa, everything had been going almost suspiciously smooth: a fast ride to Almeria and there only a 1.5 hour wait for the bus to Algeciras, no problems finding cheap hostels in Tanger and Rabat and no difficulties in arranging to meet Houcine there. No stomach problems or any such thing. Also getting the Mauretania visa was easy enough.

In contrast to the Mauretanian embassy, I was the only person applying for a visa at the embassy of Mali. The visa application form was much shorter and easier to understand than the one for the Mauretanian visa. Nevertheless, I made an error and gave 18 January instead of 18 February as the expected date of entry into Mali. And this date is now the one given in my one-month-visa. This means that the visa was valid for three weeks from the date of entry and that I have to be in Mali by 15 February at the latest. Once in Mali, it should be possible to get a one-month extension but having only two and a half weeks for the trip from Rabat in Morocco to Bamako in Mali still means that I have to hurry up a bit now. I thus decided to leave Rabat the following morning and travel directly to Tiznit in the South of Morocco.

Tiznit is the last larger town before entering the Western Sahara. It's nice here and a good place to have a rest between the 12-hour-trip here from Rabat and the 20-hour-trip onwards to Dakhla, the last stop before the Mauretanian border. Tomorrow, I will enter the Sahara and then not see much green until I reach the Senegal River.

Rabat and Salé

Market in Salé

It's cool and rainy outside, perfect weather for writing another entry for this blog. This is my third day in Rabat and I've spent the morning waiting in front of the Mauretanian embassy where I applied for a visa.

The hotel where I'm staying is right near the main market area in the old city. Stepping out into the street, I can turn right where for the next 200 metres, mobile phones and related equipment are being sold (most people would probably not even look at the old mobile phone I used in Germany when there's so many iPhones on sale...). On the other side are a few restaurants and shops selling padlocks, clothes and many other things.

Yesterday, I went to the neighbouring city of Salé and strolled through the wonderful medina. Many of the narrow alleys have dead ends and depending on which colour the walls are painted in, you are walking in yellow, red, orange or blue light.

Salé's golden age was from the 16th to 18th century when pirates brought in lots of money. For an interesting article about the infamous Salé Rovers, click here.

Tanger

In the medina of Tanger

I am writing this first entry of my current trip in Africa sitting in an internet cafe in Tanger. In spite of its rather doubtful reputation, Tanger is one of my favorite cities in Morocco with its labyrith-like medina (old city), great cafes and interesting atmosphere.

The city has long been home to many smugglers and other shady characters and is one of the places from where refugees from various (mostly West)African countries try to enter Europe. Spain is only about 14 kilometres across the Strait of Gibraltar and can usually been seen from here. I just had a glass of very sweet mint tea in the legendary Cafe Hafa where many young people sit on small terrasses drinking tea, smoking and looking at the sea and the Spanish coast. Tomorrow, I will take a bus to Rabat where I hope to meet my friend Houcine who is teaching geography at the university.

The Flood

Click here for a video from Sindh Province

War in the Northwest

For a good article on the difficult situation in this beautiful part of the world click here.

Maria's Blog

Things seem to be moving in Pakistan but somehow, I don't feel like repeating what I've read in newspapers during the last days and weeks. Many things seem so different when one is in the country. Thus, I just want to recommend having a look at Maria's weblog. Maria has spent about half a year living with mentally disabled people and working in a school near the city of Lahore.

Lighting candles

Being out of Pakistan now, it is difficult for me to tell if there has really been a deepening of the crisis in the last weeks as many foreign observers suggest. During my stay in the country, events had been unfolding at a fast speed too. Nevertheless, I had a strong feeling of detachment between what is going on on the political stage and the lives of the vast majority of the Pakistani population (especially in the villages). Having said this, there are a million ways in which the overall political context makes itself felt in sometimes quite subtle ways. One example are the rising candle prices that I read about in an article in the Pakistani newspaper The Post. One reason for this is that power cuts have been getting more frequent and longer forcing many people to use candles for lighting. Another reason is the (new) custom of lighting candles to remember victims of bomb blasts or express solidarity with detained lawyers and judges. Sad and beautiful.