Tanger gives us what we needed

And that's a solid reminder of where we are and the rules to the game! We've had a good day but not without having to be reminded what the rules are. We are tourists in a land used to tourism, we are vulnerable by being so easily led by charming innocent locals who tell us of the dangers that can befall us if we aren't careful.

If we knew what we actually wanted in town, it wouldn't be difficult to get it! Just wandering around and looking lost is a sure way of attracting attention and 57 years old Ahmed spotted us within seconds of us arriving and we fell for the chat up lines straight away. Soon we were being led through the back alleys of the Medina on a fascinating tour of all the bread bakeries, rich foreign houses, alleys and squares, being fed all the trivial information you never knew you wanted to know. Old English gun emplacements! and on a clear day you can see the coast of spain! ( its cloudy today )

Now what I really wanted was a pee, a man of my age has to go more often so to hell with the bakeries Ahmed, where are the loos? and as it happens he knew a good place!

So this loo place also happens to a cafe ( the penny still hadn't dropped ) but hungry we were and lunch we wanted. And what a lunch, fantastic. 3 courses of soup followed by a pastilla ( local pastry pie mmm ) then a chicken tagine with potatoes and cous cous. Swilled down with a litre of finest bottled water! Beautiful food at a handsome price! about 8 pounds each. Seemed pricey at the time as we are in a very back street cafe but it was excellent nosh.

Ahmed had waited in the wings while we ate and then whisked us off to a carpet shop. 3 stories of bloody carpets and a smooth talking geezer who new all there is to know about.. well everything really. The penny had well and truly dropped. We were being taken from shop to shop. a common faux guides tactic to get a fee from each one. Next up was the house of a million spices!!! Now we're getting tired of this but the white coated expert was very entertaining and we did buy some spices ( no carpets ) but had to confront our best mate Ahmed with enough of this, we want to go home! ( well to the campsite ) So he leads us through the oldest part of town and takes us to where we want to go.

How much Ahmed? 'What you like' he says. 'Like some people give me 50 euros' !!!!!!!!!!! Thats 50 quid we cry. You must be joking, ' no I'm not ' he says!

Well I'll give you 15 quid( 200 dirhams ), 'no, I have a family to feed' etc etc , long faces pulled, another 100 dihrams please.

So what would you do?

He's been a nice guy, giving us tourists just what we think we need. Great food! Haven't been mugged, got us home safely.

Yep, we gave him another 100 dihrams.

Got exactly what we deserved. Thank you Ahmed. A valuable lesson on our first full day in Morocco.