Day 211
5 hrs, 10 kms
Day totals: 16 hrs, 38 .8 kms

After my exploration of the Ksar Sghir castle, the day isn't quite over, but I decide to go ahead and head back to Tanger and spend one last evening exploring the city.Tomorrow I can come back to Ksar Sghir and continue my hike where I left off.

I've explored Tanger pretty thoroughly already, but there is one important spot I've missed: the Tomb of Ibn Battuta.

Ibn Battuta was one of the greatest explorers of the Middle Ages, who traveled overland from Morocco, all throughout the Middle East, South Asia, China, West Africa and Spain. A really fascinating story with adventures and misadventures that rival those of any European explorer. He was a native of Tanger, and every Moroccan knows the name--although few know much about him, other than the fact that he was a traveller.

In fact, nobody seems to even know where his tomb is--or even that he has a tomb here in Tanger!

A Moroccan colleague in Casablanca came to visit his tomb, and said that people come all the way from India to pay honors to this great traveller, but the people I ask don't have a clue ...

I just wander around the Old Medina a little while, wondering why Ibn Battuta is so underappreciated, even in his own town. Then I come across another underappreciated structure: right smack in the middle of the crowded Old City of Tanger is a little piece of the United States of America... literally!

The American Legation building was the first piece of real estate acquired by the United States government. It was a gift from Morocco's Sultan in 1821, and housed the US embassy here for 140 years. There's little to distinguish it from the surrounding buildings other than US Seal on its wall... kind of a surreal feeling to see something so American in such an totally traditional Moroccan environment.

And with that, I head to my hotel, to spend my last night in this great city.