CUBA | Monday, 9 Oct 2017 | Views [377]
I was talked into sharing a taxi to Havana with two Russians. The drive, from the beach town of Varadero, took two hours; the Afro-Cuban driver never spoke, except to sing softly along with the booming reggaeton on the stereo, or to exchange a shouted ... Read more >
Tags: cuba, graham greene, havana
CUBA | Sunday, 9 Apr 2017 | Photo Gallery
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CUBA | Sunday, 9 Apr 2017 | Views [643]
Departures from airports are almost always inauspicious. In my case, the trip I had been longing to make began with a bad-tempered New Zealander at the check-in desk at Gatwick, who asked gruffly for my passport and visa; an unpleasant cup of stryrofoam ... Read more >
Tags: communist countries, cuba, straits of florida, varadero
MOROCCO | Monday, 20 Feb 2017 | Views [804]
It was still raining the next morning. The blue and white town piled into the fog-blackened mountains, and reminded me of a Himalayan hill station. I walked to the square and ordered breakfast from a hilariously inaccurate menu that offered, ... Read more >
Tags: atlas, islamic world, maghreb, meknes, morocco, rabat
MOROCCO | Wednesday, 15 Feb 2017 | Views [686]
I was woken at dawn, by the eerie sound of discordant muezzins calling to prayer.
When I left it was pouring with rain. The alleys of Tangier were rivers, waterfalls. I managed to find my way out of the labyrinthine Medina to the 'ville ... Read more >
Tags: chaouen, chefhaouen, maghreb, morocco, rif, walter harris
MOROCCO | Tuesday, 14 Feb 2017 | Views [402]
I sat crammed in the back of an ancient Mercedes, listening to the guttural radio and the rain drumming heavily on the roof. How often, on childhood holidays, had I stood on Andaluz beaches and gazed at the lights just visible across the sea, wondering ... Read more >
Tags: ibn battuta, madiq jab al-tariq, morocco, old american legation, strait of gibraltar, tanger, tangier
