On Monday I went south by train for about an hour to Azemmour as I had heard that it was unaffected by tourists, and just a small Moroccan town near the mouth of a river. Reports were happily correct.

For those of you surprised at the detail in my first post, please note that this website is the only written record of my travels. I make no other notes, though I do have more photos. So if you continue to follow, you will get a lot of information on things that interest me.

The train line terminates at El Jadida a few miles further south, so is only a minor route, but the trains were well used, and better rolling stock than the Trans-Pennine uses. The track made the ride a bit bumpy though.

As the train came towards Azemmour the farms became smaller and more like crofts or market gardens. There were a lot of polytunnels, nowhere near as many as in the south of Spain, but still a significant investment for small farmers. Couldn’t tell what was inside, but probably strawberries, tomatoes and salad crops, as there are lots of them for sale on the streets of Casablanca.

The station was at the edge of town, and I chose to walk in the wrong direction (everyone else took a taxi), the road soon ran out and I was on a footpath.

Looks not bad, but was absolutely littered with rubbish.

Soon at the centre of town, and entering the Medina. Every type of stall / shop that you could want in everyday life, but no tourist items at all.

Few people spoke much French, and I think they get very few tourists. Probably get some Moroccans in the summer, as 2 km away on the coast is Houzia, a surfing / beach holiday enclave.

Here are some of the more interesting bits of the Medina.

Lentils, pasta, dried beans etc

How to show the illiterate that you sell honey

and they need to recognise a pharmacy

This butcher was actually outside the Medina – put me in mind of the photos of the butchers shops in old West Kirby

I then walked to Houzia (by accident as I took the wrong road out of town)

The cow and sheep were actually not far from the centre of town.

After a long pleasant country walk along the coast and back up the river bank, I found myself back in town at the ancient Kasbah. Azemmour is very old indeed. Note the cannons poking out of the top of the wall.

Inside the Kasbah there were lots of houses, a couple of small gardens with seats and lots of different levels. On the river side, there is a promenade with a cafe and small rowing boats.

Some years ago they held an art festival in Azemmour, and there are still some of the murals to be found.

This was just under the Kasbah wall by the river promenade

and this near the end of the promenade

From the next photo you can get some idea as to why the Portuguese decided to build a fort here. The rowing boats looked very heavy to row across the river!

There are many horse and donkey carts, but motorbikes like this are ubiquitous; the equivalent of a pick-up for the locals, used for moving anything and everything. This is a very new one, most are very old. You see them in Casblanca as well, but not very many.

All in all a very enjoyable day, though I actually walked much further that I do on A DMRC ‘A’ walk.