網紅小鎮「舍夫沙萬」與非洲大門「唐吉爾」
Instagram town "Chefchaouen" and gate to Africa "Tangier"
(English version on the bottom)
旅行已經來到尾聲，明天就要飛回波士頓，後天就要回到碼農的日常，老實說是有點不甘願；不過既然還有一天，就把握最後的時間好好看看我在摩洛哥的最後兩個城市吧！
如果在Google以中文搜尋「摩洛哥旅遊」，你會在搜尋結果裡看到許多部落客或博主（大多是女性）的遊記，而他們最大的共通點，就是都去了一個藍色的山城舍夫沙萬（Chefchaouan），並且打扮的漂漂亮亮的，在如夢似幻的藍色階梯上留下Instagram上常見的那種標準網紅照。正是因為這個原因，這個小鎮被我稱為「網紅小鎮」，它在摩洛哥的地位相當於台灣的九份。
在這裡的時間不長，第一天還下著大雨，而且事前一直擔心會不會被中日韓三國的遊客淹沒，幸好這個小鎮給我的經驗超乎預期——第二天艷陽高照，我大清早走到對面山頭上正好可以拍下全景；小鎮裡遊客不少，但幸好還沒多到足以破壞遊興的程度，反而讓我更容易找到人幫我拍照。座落在山上又有獨特風味的小鎮總是有種特別的吸引力，這件事情似乎舉世皆然。在此強烈推薦舍夫沙萬和台灣九份締結姊妹城市XD。
最後一個城市是與歐洲只有一水之隔、距離西班牙南端不到10公里的港都唐吉爾（Tangier）。走了這麼多個摩洛哥城市，現在幾乎已經建立了進入一個城市的SOP：先從車站走到古城，然後試圖在迷宮般的古城裡找到旅店，東西安置好之後輕裝出門散步、吃晚飯然後拍夜景。這也是我對待唐吉爾的方式。
接近日落時分，我來到古城西邊的一處公園，那裡沒有什麼觀光客，只有滿滿的當地人。公園前方就是大海，另一端的伊比利半島在濛瀧中隱約可見。我意識到一件有趣的事情：假設我是站在對岸看過來，非洲大陸的神秘絕對會讓我滿心嚮往；然而從非洲看回去，眼前的歐洲大陸雖然還有許多的地方等著我去探索，那種吸引力和神秘感卻遠遠比不上從歐洲看非洲的感覺。
在此同時，身邊響著當地青少年彈吉他唱歌的聲音。他們唱的照理說應該是摩洛哥當地的音樂，但我卻注意到他們所彈的和弦Am-G-F-E，那正是西班牙南部的代表性音樂佛朗明哥的標準和弦，這再次提醒了我北非和伊比利半島之間無法切斷的文化連結。在他們的歌聲中，我的心思回到了去年一月在西班牙塞維亞（唐吉爾北方150公里）的那個夜晚，我坐在一間微暗的小酒館裡，感受佛朗明哥舞者將內心深處的熱情化為律動的場景……。
It was my last day in Morocco. Tomorrow I'll fly back to Boston and get back to ordinary life tomorrow! But it was not yet the time to feel sad -- still had two more cities to go!
I gave Chefchaouen a nickname "Instagram town", as many bloggers (primarily female) posted their perfect IG photos of this place. In these photos they usually addressed well, and sat on the stairs in this fairy-tale-like blue city. I was worried about its popularity, and it was raining when I arrived; fortunately, my experience was not ruined. Indeed there were many tourists, but the city is still pleasant and tranquil enough to enjoy, and it cleared up in the morning, which gave me a good chance to take the full view of the city.
It's so interesting that mountain cities around the world are extraordinarily attractive to tourists. The most popular counterpart in Taiwan is Jiufeng. I think it'd be a very good idea for Chefchaouen and Jiufeng to become sister cities, haha.
My last city is Tangier. Located in the northern tip of Africa, it's less than 10 km from the southern tip of Spain. I entered this city with my "standard operator process" (SOP): walking from station to the Medina, finding my hostel in the maze-like streets, going out to explore and have dinner, and finally taking night photography, just like I did elsewhere in Morocco.
Around the sunset, I visited a ocean view park outside the Medina. It wasn't very touristy -- most people there were local. Looking out from the park, mountains in Iberian peninsular are vaguely visible. Here I realized one interesting thing: if I was on the European continent looking over here, I wouldn't be able to resist the attraction of the mysterious continent Africa; while looking at Europe from Africa at this park, Europe doesn't seem as attractive, even though there are still many places I want to go there.
Meanwhile, I could hear the sounds of singing and guitar from some local teenagers. They were singing local songs, but the chord progression, Am-G-F-E, is the same as the typical Flamenco chords. This again reminded me of the cultural connection between the Iberia and north Africa. While hearing the sounds, my mind went back to January 2017, at a dimming bistro in Seville (only 150 km north from Tangier), where I watched a Flamenco dancer turned his deepest passion into moves....
