A continuation from the France blog.
In Lyon I reserved a taxi to the airport through Booking.com and it came in at 52€, much better than the one we took here
We flew on Translavia and arrived in Fes in around 3 hours.
A car was arranged with the hotel to pick us up to make things easy. Fes is huge, over two million people. It took a long time through heavy traffic to get to the old town, Medina, where we are staying. Our driver is telling us all sorts of things about the area, but it’s all in a very fast French, so we can understand about a third of it.
We finally arrive at a little parking area where two young men are waiting for us, one with a wheelbarrow type wagon to which he deposits our luggage. There are no cars inside the Medina, so we now walk on foot down narrow high walled alleyways.
We are greeted like family and sat down in the lobby, brought some mint tea and delicious cookies. A young woman speaks perfect English and she shows us the map of where we are and how to , hopefully, get around the Medina. There are 4,000 little streets. Could be a challenge
A riad is a small hotel that used to be a family home. Families would all live under one roof, so if there were four sons each would marry and move into the family home ( always of the boys) and have children as well. There could be 64 people living in one big house. Ours is lovely and comes in at around $120 CDN a night including breakfast
They made us some dinner and Doug had a couscous tagine with chicken
Day one Fes, October 26
It’s a little chilly this morning. The bed and pillows were so comfortable though and we slept right through the night . In the lobby we were served a huge breakfast of all sorts of things, mostly sweets.
I managed to figure out how to install the ESim for Morocco and the GPS worked thankfully as we had an arranged walking tour at 10 this morning.
There are 14 of us from all over the globe once again and our guide is fantastic. He is a retired university professor of linguistics and has not only a great deal of knowledge but a wonderful sense of humour as well
Our three hour tour took us through the Medina, which was all down hill, quite steep at times and very busy. It is Saturday so busier than usual apparently. Here are lots of photos
IMG_2987
Each area specializes in different wares, sweets, produce, clothing, and leather to name a few. Chouara is the largest tannery in the city and one of the oldest, going back as far as the late 8 th century AD. They use the skins from animals that they eat, so goats, cows, sheep and dromedary ( one hump) camels . The hides are first soaked for three days in water and pidgen poop to break down the leather with men stomping on the hides for up to three hours to soften them. .Pidgen poop contains ammonia which softens the hides. Then they get dyed using all plant based dyes. Yellow is the most expensive because it is made from saffron. Other dyes are henna for orange ,poppy flower for red, indigo ( blue) and mint for green. The final process is to put into limestone vats with water. This process has not changed for centuries
We are given a sprig of mint to put under our nose because the smell is quite pungent.
Our tour is over and we now begin the challenging task of finding our way out of the Medina. All uphill now, and very steep in areas.
Walking up one particularly difficult hill we saw a sign for a restaurant, our saving grace. It was a little hole in the wall, actually called ‘Le Cave’ which turned out to be a great find. We enjoyed some mezzes and I had grilled vegetables and Doug had a beef dish. It was all delicious
Only getting lost a couple short times and exploring more of the market by accident we finally made our way home and just flaked out for a couple hours
Tonight they prepared us a wonderful array of vegan vegetables and couscous. We could not begin to eat it all but it was delicious and so many different flavours.
Day 2 Fes
Last night we spontaneously booked a tour to the middle Atlas Mountains for today. We found our way to the blue gate to the Medina and met up with our driver. Turns out that only one other fellow booked for today so we went in a Skoda SUV instead of a van. Mike was from Auckland and had just finished a triathlon in Malaga Spain and now taking a few days holiday at the end. I figure he was maybe early 60s but hard to know. We got along great and had wonderful conversations and similar world views
Our first stop was 40 minutes out of Fes at a historic Berber house. The people of the local Berber tribe lived in caves and a young fellow showed us around his family’s home from years ago.
We were served tea made from various herbs and he explained about the Berber flag and the weaving and rugs in the home.
It was a miserable day. So cold, I did not pack clothes for this, and it’s raining quite hard. The rains came early it seems. Our next stop was the town of Ifrane, an affluent town in the mountains that looks like it should be Switzerland. There is a business university here that a lot of local and international students go to. It looks like a lovely town, beautiful parks, but we just wanted to go int the resterants where it was warm and dry and have a coffee.
Now on to the Cedar forest. Large cedar trees here but they don’t look like our trees and a lot of them were dead. There were a number of men with decorated horses offering rides around the parking lot for a fee. Children are on a school holiday here so there are many kids everywhere
But the main attraction are the monkeys , known as Barbary macaque or ape. They are not an ape, but because they don’t have a tail they have been called apes. They are on the endangered list and only live in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and also Tunisia. I hate monkeys because they are usually aggressive and quite often mean. But these guys were very well behaved and quite passive. They were so fun to watch.
There were some young babies and this big guy who seemed to be the guy watching everyone, he was about 3 feet high
Ismail our driver took us to this tiny hole in the wall family restaurant for our lunch. It was okay but nothing amazing.
We were then given time to walk around the small town, but there really wasn’t much there and we were freezing and wet
Back to Fes. The sceanery was great when the fog lifted, it looks like the Italian countryside in many ways.
After saying our goodbyes we walked back to our Riad to pack up for our trip tomorrow.
CHEFCHEWAN
Our bus left at 8 AM so we arranged to have breakfast early and then take a cab to the bus station, but a bit of drama ensued. The same driver who picked us up from the airport was there waiting and through a miscommunication with the riad fella thought we were going to the airport. He was really pissed when he found out we were only going to the bus station. He said 250 MAD. It’s 300 to the airport. I said no. It’s only 50. He was so mad he took off. I said okay 100. He drove right past, steam coming out of his ears I think. Now what? Sometimes my hissy fits don’t work out well. We had to be at the bus station in half an hour.
I hoofed it up the the main road and thankfully there was a “petit taxi” there. Small older run down little cars. We only had day packs so good enough for us
“ how much?”
30 dirhams. That’s what it should have cost. Yahoo. Let’s go
I gave him 50 when we got to the bus station and we were both very happy.
The CTM bus is modern and comfortable and cost 100 Dirhams ($14) for the four hour trip. I loved the scenery, olive trees for miles and miles and very rich dark chocolate coloured soil. The terrain was quite hilly and really looked a lot like Italy in places.
There was a bathroom break half way thankfully. We stopped in a town to drop off some passengers and saw this small bus with people crammed inside and all the bags tied on to the roof. A very familiar scene in both Africa.and Asia.
Upon arrival we looked for a little blue cab which took us to the gate at the top of the hill ( or mountain) to walk to our Riad. Once again we are in a Medina so no cars inside. It is very steep cobblestones. Really steep from the starting point, then just got average steep. Lots and lots of stairs with no handrails so again we are thankful for our walking sticks.
The GPS is a bit unreliable because many of the little road don’t have names. It also describes this area as mostly flat!
I had arranged a walking tour at 3 PM but decided to cancel and just explore on our own. We don’t want to be holding up all those 20 year olds.
Dar Yakout is the name of our Riad and it is so beautiful it is a major instagram site for photos. We were able to check in and it is lovely. 612 MAD or $86 CDN a night.
But we are hungry so set off to find this restaurant I really wanted to go to “Cafe Clock”
Our eight minute walk took well over half an hour. GPS was very confused, and every time we asked someone for directions we were sent a different way. Sometimes you wonder if they are just messing with you. But everyone is super friendly and nice and certainly not pushy about selling anything.
Getting lost and seeing all these great little alleyways was wonderful
We finally arrived and went up to the terrace for a delicious lunch. The walk home also had us meandering all over the place but every turn seemed to have a beautiful photo op. Most of the day trippers have gone home so it wasn’t very busy
It seems all the restaurants are at the bottom of the hill. I did not relish the thought of taking all those steep uneven stairs in the dark but our lovely hotel guy suggested take out delivery. He chose Bilmos. I ordered a vegan tagline and falafel. It was massive when it came, 6 different containers and a huge wheel of delicious bread. All for $23. This was the best meal I have had since being in Morocco. I wish we could have eaten all of it but there was just so much. What a great find. And very glad we didn’t go out as it started to rain torrentially shortly after I ordered.
Day 2 Chefchewan. Tuesday October 29
It was so freaking cold in here last night. We had the heat on, what little it provided and about four blankets. Who knew Morocco would be so cold? At night anyhow. But a nice bed and pillows.
We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast up on the terrace. The couple beside us kept to themselves and I figured they were speaking Russian. I met some Russians last night walking around as well. I asked them where they were from and he very guardedly said Moscow Russia. As soon as I said that we had been there their whole demeanour changed and big smiles and very happy to chat. They were probably late 30s and have already travelled to 85 countries! Not Canada yet however. It was great to talk for a bit during breakfast and one of my favourite things about travelling is meeting other tourists.
Our Riad Is at the top of the Medina so we spent a few hours making our way down towards the Kasba at the bottom. There is one main small roadway that the motorcycles and carts take, but a lot of the magic is at the top or bottom of the stairs, off of the little pathways
You can find fresh Orange juice on every block, but one fellow ,Said, set his up as a photo point . A very smart and personable young man and the fresh squeezed juice was delicious. And his cat was delightful
Doug found a small shop that had fresh roasted cashews. It looked like a rock tumbler but the cashews got roasted inside and although he had to wait a half hour it was worth . The shop keepers as I say are all very friendly and helpful but of course gently ask you to come look at their shop. We looked in a carpet shop but there was nothing that fit what we wanted and although disappointed the seller was not aggressive or pushy which was nice.
Another shop was selling fabrics and I noticed some gorgeous blue ( my favourite colour) scarves and table cloths. I ended up buying one for the end of the bed. It looks like silk but made from Agave which I had ever heard of before . It’s called Sabra silk and very durable, dyed with plants and blended with wool and cotton. It is quite expensive, for here, but well worth the 800 MAD (112. CDN ) I paid for it . It is hand woven on a loom in the shop. I think you can buy something similar in Mexico.
We reached the bottom, where the Kasba and most of the restaurants are. We ate at Bilmos again. We had a Harira soup ( very much like minestrone) and shared a vegan couscous. One again it was far too much food and we had to dash to catch a cab for our 3PM bus back to Fes.
Many people come here just as a day trip but I am so glad we had an overnight. Much more relaxing.
We had the front two seats on the ride back. The great thing about having the front seats is that you can see everything. The bad thing about having the front seat is that you can see everything! Our driver was great, careful and all but like many countries outside North American they tend to be much more aggressive, coming up fast behind other vehicles and passing on semi blind corners. I had to close my eyes a few times but we arrived in good order. Another consideration is that you don’t have the seat in front to put your feet under, so for a long journey it can be cramped for your legs .
A petit taxi took us to the Batha post office where I found an ATM and we had dinner at Encanto next door. Fantastic food and great conversation with other travellers at tables around us
Riad Amor is our home again for another two nights but this time we have a room up on the terrace and it includes our own living room. The bed and pillows once again are fantastic.
Fes last day
A welcome lazy morning. We never made it down to breakfast until 10. The couple next to us was a Muslim couple from England and we had wonderful conversations and they were very curious about Canadian views on Muslims. It was great to have open and frank conversations about so many things. I personally find the Muslim people in every country I have been to the nicest, friendliest and kindest people.
What is that??? Sunshine and warmth. I spent some time on the terrace enjoying the warmer weather for a couple of hours and just having some down time. I think that the staff figure everyone is gone and playing music in the lobby quite loudly and singing along at times. Various genres but right now I am listening to some beautiful classical piano music.
Wow stayed in the room till 4 just enjoying the terrace and some down time. Went out for dinner to Culture box near the Blue Gate and it was good, but not the best we have had. Popped into the market to get some fruit for our trip tomorrow .
We are packing up now to take the Marrakesh Express tomorrow. Goodbye Fez and hopefully going to warmer weather.