Fez (Morocco): 2N/2D

November 2018                                                                                                 Itinerary Link

 

Chefchaouen to Fez:

 

After our one night in Chechaouen, we headed to Fez.  As before the six of us had a hired car, and Bill, once again, set out to find a shared taxi to Fez.  This time he was not so fortunate. There seemed to be no one else headed to Fez and Bill wound up taking several buses, arriving much later than we did.

The drive to Fez was similar to the prior day’s drive, but longer(3.5 hours).  We asked the driver to make a lunch and bathroom stop and he pulled into a service station with what we took to be a restaurant behind it.  We entered a large room with scattered plastic chairs and tables and a small room off to one side. In the small room was a counter dispensing coffee drinks and a cooler with assorted cold drinks.  In the main room there was a stall that appeared to be a butcher’s shop. No sign or waiters or menus.

We pulled some tables together and sat down to see what would happen.  Nothing happened. When it became evident that there were no servers or menus, I approached the man behind the butcher’s stall.  It became evident that my French would not be helpful either. I pointed to a pile of lamb chops and held up six fingers. With nothing else to point to and conversation apparently not possible, I returned to the table.  

Sometime later, a man approached and asked if we wanted the lamb chops in a tajine. Not knowing what else to say I said yes. The next visitor was our driver who informed me that a tajine would take 45 minutes and he didn’t want to wait that long.  Neither did we. We switched to grilled. They were small but delicious. I still have no idea what else might have been available. We ended up paying about $6 for this meal. If we had time, we could have ordered more to eat to our heart’s content.

Fez:

We arrived in Fez (population: 1.4 million) late afternoon. We stayed at a modern Airbnb apartment outside of the old town section.  Our host showed us around the apartment, arranged a tour guide for the next day and recommended a Turkish bath or hammam.  The previous two nights our apartments were cold and no one had felt like showering.  The idea of luxuriating in hot water was very appealing.

As it turned out, that’s not what a Turkish bath (about $10) is.  We started in a sauna to work up a sweat, then went to a massage table where we were washed with soap and water and then scrubbed down with an abrasive glove, think sandpaper.  A layer of dead skin and, I think, several layers of live skin were removed.  Certainly felt clean afterwards.

The next morning we had arranged for a tour (about $150 for a full day of driver and a guide) of Fez and the medina (old quarter).  Before entering the medina, we visited the outside of the old palace and took in an overview of the city.  We also noticed the many storks on the rooftops of the city.

Our guide told us about the meaning of their flag: red means blood, green means peace and love etc. The official explanation for the color of red seems more tamed (strength, valor), but he said their independence in 1956 was earned after shedding lots of blood, and the flag reminds them not to forget that.

There used to be a sizable Jewish community in Fez, and this is the area where they lived.

The medina is a warren of streets and alleys, some quite narrow.  It is very easy to get lost, and we were glad to have a guide leading us. It is believed that over a million people and 10,000+ businesses occupy the medina. 

 

We did go to the world famous tannery, but nothing much was going on because it was not the right season.

And, of course, our guide made the obligatory stops at various high end shops. Ceramics, textiles, and carpets. 

We basically had one full day plus an evening in Fez, and we did get to taste the highlights of the city. Maybe we will try going to the medina on our own next time, get lost, and fight our way back through the aggressive shopkeepers. Will that make us feel a little more than pure tourists? Somehow I doubt it.

Our journey: Tangier –> Chefchaouen –> Fez –> Sahara Desert