(this seems ridiculous wrapping a place where I was essentially for a few days)
Despite my bad mood I had when I was there, I would like to go back if the opportunity presents itself. Mostly to be able to experience some music and culture. Although with some more research, some of the other countries in North Africa may have a similar experience with more positives, and less tourist trampled, than Morocco. My stay was so short I don’t have much commentary to offer.
Costs: seem very reasonable, but be prepared to bargain hard, as everyone is prepared and well practiced at price gauging white people. There’s no shortage of rooms, transport, or places to buy crap, so don’t get taken advantage of.
Travel: be prepared for craziness, don’t be in a hurry
People: this was up and down. I’d say more than any other country i visited, you’d have to get WAY WAY away from tourist areas to try to meet or interact with genuine people. i didn’t and i didn’t.
If you’re in a hurry, I’d say don’t even bother with Tangier and just head out to other parts of the country right away. I gathered that kind of after the fact from others’ consensus. It’s just not as interesting as it was back in the heyday.
Well I wish this had gone better, but I can’t say it did. I love the food and music of North Africa. I originally was trying to put some part of Africa into my trip, but it upped the ticket price significantly. So I put Morocco in the plans.
The ferry rides (I had to take the slow ones, not the fast ones) both to and from Tangier ended up being big pains in the ass and wasted time. I was pretty upset by the whole experience.
I got in late and told the taxi to take me to a hotel recommended by Lonely Planet. (mistake number two…) The taxi driver says 5 euros, which I knew was ridiculous for a 5 minute ride, and there were 20 more taxis sitting there, so I said 4 euros. He pretended to ignore me for a while and then agreed to 4. After we arrived at the hotel he says “5 euros” and I said no way you agreed to 4. He knew I was right cause he left.
The hotel was kind of jive, and charged me more than Lonely Planet had said they cost. But what are you going to do in Tangier at 11 pm? walk around? hell no. So I stayed and checked out in the morning.
In the morning the nice helpful guys at an internet cafe pointed me to another hotel, right on the main street, which was much nicer and about $5 less than the night before, so the stay improved.
I went to check out the famous hotel William Burroughs used to stay, take all kinds of drugs, and wrote The Naked Lunch. I really wanted to stay there and ask for his room, but the neighborhood was sketchy at 10 am, I didn’t want to see what it was like at 10 pm.
The Morocco hustlers:
I got repeatedly lost in the Medina and trying to navigate to the kasbah. It wouldn’t have been so bad, if not for the fact that you can’t stand still, much less pull out a map for 30 seconds, without having a man (or boy even) come up and start chatting you up, “help” you, show you around, take you to shops, sell you hash, take you to restaurants, ask for money, etc. etc. If you engage them then you’re stuck, and if you tell them to go away then they get upset and bitchy.
Now I’m not stupid, I knew this is what went on here. And it happens in other countries to some degree, but not at all like it was here. I just realized I was at the end of my rope with this stuff. And I heard Fes is worse, (even Moroccans I talked to didn’t recommend Fes!) so there was no way I was going there!
Supposedly the tourist police had cracked down on these “fake guides,” but that’s not what I saw. This has gone on for decades and is ingrained in the culture. So congratulations Morocco, you have sent another tourist packing with your crappy behavior.
I did finally get to some good lunch overlooking the grand socco. But then I’d run out of stuff to see in Tangier, and just the vibe of the place was not working for me at this point in my trip.
That evening I was at the internet cafe and heard the unmistakable sound of drums. So I quickly packed up the laptop, paid, and caught the latter half of a small parade. 
Now the streets were packed with happy people on a Friday night, and the vibe was a lot better. I eventually was able to snag a good seat at a cafe, where all the men sit and drink tea and watch everyone walk by. What a place for people watching! Just having Moroccan tea in Morocco felt special. That part was fun.
But this is a Muslim country, and after about 10 o’clock most of the women and children are gone, leaving only surly men wandering around, kind of looking guilty of something or another. probably drinking.
Should I stay or should I go?
The next morning I couldn’t decide what to do. There was no way I was taking another all day or night train to Marrakesh, even though that’s the amazing city to see. Fes was out. Casablanca just doesn’t have a lot to see except the mosque from what I read.
So I literally was standing with money in hand at the bus station to go to Chefchaouen. When the chaos of the station, the ferry ride the day before, thinking about how cold it could be in the mountains… I changed my mind.
With my lack of good Morocco information, being short on time, low on energy, and a lack of patience for more of the cheap, but stressful, unreliable developing-country traveling. That and the hustlers.
Was the $80 in ferry hassles worth it to see Tangier? I don’t know. Another of several mistakes I have made. On another trip I could totally handle it, and I’m sure it could be a fun place, but it wasn’t meant to be this time.
…the highlight of your week is finding the last clean item of laundry (socks) in your bag.
With the exception of Cordoba, I have not been enjoying my trip for the better part of the last two weeks. I think a strategy change is in order. So I’ll spare you my negativity and details for now and just keep uploading pictures…
(ok I have to rant a little.. The f*@king third world Spainards have no laundrymats, laundrettes, laventerias, whatever the hell you want to call them. I’ve wasted hours trying to find one in two cities. A detail like that should be in travel guides.)
Followup: On my last bus ride I combed through my Rough Guide, and sure enough… Page 64: “You’ll find a few self-service laundries in big cities, but they’re rare.” Ah the joys of travel. I got my problem solved by the way.