It was in order to avoid all these questions that I made the crossing from Tarifa in southern Spain to Tanger in Morocco. You can see the Atlas mountains of Morrocco from Tarifa even on a fairly misty day but on a really clear day you can make out settlements, small clusters of traditional white houses tempting you over the water.

There are various options for travelers wishing to visit Morrocco from the Spanish mainland and Tarifa (like Algeciras which also has ferry departures for Morrocco) teems with travel agencies offering more or less the same deals for more or less the same price. We opted for the two-day tour - that is, an organised tour with one night's accommodation in Tanger. We knew little more than that - we were so excited about the prospect of visiting this strange and exotic country that we didn't think to ask.

"Where is your sticker?" demanded KC, our guide. He was a short, wizened looking man - a bit like a walnut in a hooded robe. He was very cross-looking, in fact you'd never thought there could have been so much venom contained within his tiny frame. I told him it wouldn't stick to my t-shirt, but showed that I had it with me. His snort of derision gave me the impression he did not care either way but was simply demonstrating that on this tour he was the boss.

The next part of the tour took place in town; this was what we all wanted to see. We left the minibus at the top of the hill on which the old town is built and followed KC around the winding streets.
First stop was a stall selling postcards ( KC really is a popular man in Tanger!). This was quickly followed by a cursory explanation of the kasbah before he led us to some more chums of his who wanted to demonstrate their snake-charming skills. It was at the point that my partner and I started to drift off, admiring some tiles in the entrance to a nearby house. We were joined by the Canadian couple who also admired the Moorish designs and colours but we were soon hauled back into line by our guide "Do you want to see the snake charming or not?" he demanded. We did not....

After the meal we waited and waited what seemed an inordinate amount of time for KC to come to collect us for the remainder of the tour. This turned out to be visits to his various friends working in the souks. We sat through not only a fifteen minute demonstration about the variety of carpets and rugs on offer but another quarter of hour devoted to imparting the benefits of assorted natural remedies for snoring to athlete's foot. I don't think KC was very impressed with this particualr group of tight-fisted tourists. He scowled and looked at us disdainfully before granting us fifteeen minutes to explore on our own. We were like puppies let of a leash for the first time! Sadly it took us nearly all that time to haggle for a rather fetching Morroccan gentleman's outfit - our technique consists of walking away if our price is not agreed and letting the stall holder run after us!

The hotel had a bar but since it was so quiet we took a cab back to the old town and did a bit more shopping. Once you get used to haggling, shopping in Tanger is tremendous fun. Having already been to Tunisia we had a little experience and we soon found ourselves getting into the swing of things. There is so much to buy - lovely leather shoes and sandals in colours to go with any outfit (so cheap you could buy a pair to match every outfit!), intricate jewellery, ceramics, leather goods - yes some of it is pretty grim but there are bargains to be had and little treasures to be found.

Everyone in the bazaar speaks English (and just about every other European language) though I preferred to speak French which, along with Arabic is Morrocco's official language. Most people are friendly although the attention from over -enthusiastic traders can be overwhelming at times. Most can be turned away with a polite "Non, merci", some are more persistent. The best approach is to be friendly but firm; we told people that we were going to dinner or that we had run out of money but we would be back the next day - so long as you say it with a smile it should work.

If you do decide to give Tanger a try I would recommend a day trip or an overnight stay if you haven't experienced a country like this before. If you don't mind going with the flow and following the herd, the trips available from mainland Spain are good value - we paid 86 Euro each (this covered a four star hotel, all meals, a guided tour and the ferry crossing - pretty good value). If you're more independent and don't mind looking for soemwhere to stay when you get there you could always travel independently (be warned that to do this you should book your ticket a few days in advance because agencies sometimes manage to book out the entire boat). Hotels and pensions are pretty easy to find: larger and generally more upmarket hotels are found in the new town and pensions are tucked away in the streets around the medina - they're likely to be noisy but you'll be in the middle of the action.