After spending a few nights in Tangier, I started to get comfortable with finding my way around. I was going to get to bed early and make my way to Spain in the morning but my friend suggested I go to Cafe Hafa. A supposedly famous hash cafe. After my experience with Cafe Baba, I wasn't exactly keen on sitting in a dirty room to smoke hash when I could be at the beach. My friend really wanted me to go, and I was only a 20 minutes walk away. I decided to make a night of it, with a micro-dose (~20mcg) of LSD shortly before leaving the hostel. I brought two hash joints and listened to Tove Lo on the walk there.
Just like Marrakesh, Tangier roars to life at night. The streets are packed with humanity. The whole thing heaving and cacophonous. There is no room for timidity when pressing your way through narrow the walkways. Push or be pushed. I approach the weavers section of the market and I'm surrounded by a kaleidoscope of fabrics. The smell of the spice markets wafting in on the night breeze mixes with the odor of people and jasmine flowers. I found a small corner to tuck myself into so I could stop jostling and absorb the details. As Tove Lo's "Moments" chorus hits, the LSD kicks off and I'm overwhelmed by the strange beauty of the scene in front of me.
After being one with the universe for the length of that song, I was ready to take up residence in the pulsating throng. Once I was beyond the markets, the streets opened up and I could step to the beat of the music. Another 10 minutes and I was there. Cafe Hafa is THE fucking place to go at night. A far cry from Cafe Baba. It's built into the side of a cliff with stadium seating facing the open water. I was lucky to find an open table near the back. I took out a joint and smoked while watching the sunset. The people here were mostly in their 20s, with a few families and small groups of older men. Every table had one or more joints being passed around. I finished mine and started moving around the cafe. Several of the children recognized my Batman logo t-shirt and pointed with excitement, "Batu-Manu!" I greeted them in Arabic and knelt down to shake their hands. This seemed to win me points with the locals, they stopped giving me the side-eye and began smiling at me. I found a new spot near the prayer room and lit my second joint.
Cafe Hafa from my perch near the prayer room.
The hash accentuated the LSD and I found myself wandering out of the cafe and toward a large park where people were gathered for live music. I was trancing out while looking at the trees. I deemed myself too fucked up to get back in the crowds toward the market, so I lay in the grass and watched the trees sway to the drumbeat. I was back in the market without remembering how I got there. When the shock of my teleportation wore off, I realized why I had stopped here. A fruit stand wreathed in a golden haze pulled me in. I bought a kilo of nectarines and shuffled back to the hostel.
I met a German guy who was also traveling alone and we began trading the usual stories of places we had come from and hoped to see. I could tell he was a bit naive to drug culture when he began talking about being excited to try magic mushrooms. I pulled him off to the side of the group conversation and asked him if he would like to try LSD. He looked at the ground with hands on hips and shook his several times before looking up and saying, "Yes, I think I might like to try that."
He asked me what it was going to be like, how much a normal dose was, and if he could take a smaller dose. I gave him the rundown and produced my nasal spray bottle. I took another 20mcg and he took 10. In 5 minutes he began shaking. I asked him if he was cold, he said it was his nerves. I told him it would take 40 minutes before it came on. He kept asking the time and pacing. He was terrified. I kept reassuring him and agreed to not let him out of my sight. He said he was worried he might think he would be able to fly and jump off the terrace. 40 minutes later he said he could feel it and wasn't scared anymore. He started looking up information about LSD on his phone and was shocked by the number of well known scientists and celebrities who had taken it before. He talked on and on about how much he loved the feeling and the oddness. "I don't know how to explain it other than to say, it's very odd and silly feeling. I quite like feeling odd!" He was peaking around 2 hours and 20 minutes into the trip. He kept running his hands through his hair and smiling widely. "I can't believe I was afraid of this! I've never felt more connected to my surroundings!" He walked slowly around the terrace touching plants and staring at the tiled floor with befuddled amusement. After 4 hours he announced he was ready for bed. He thanked me a few more times and went to sleep.
Dinner plates.
I enjoyed the peace of the terrace on my own for a few minutes then wandered downstairs to see if anyone else was awake. The only other soul awake was the old man at the front desk. He was smoking a hash joint and invited me to join him. I was tripping for about 7 hours at this point and the peak of the second dose had just begun to fade. The old man talked without much input from me. He mostly complained about how this current generation was lazy and insane. Pretty standard observation of the old about the young that cuts across time and geography. He then begins to tell me about Jew magic that's ruining his country. I couldn't resist asking what he meant by "Jew magic." He told me that you can pay certain Jews to cast spells for you. Spells to drive a business competitor crazy, or make someone fall in love with you. I was too fucked up to entertain the idea of Jew magic. I bid him goodnight and went to bed, dreaming of the Hogwarts sorting hat turned yamaka.