Thursday 19th and Friday 20th September
It was Gav`s turn to drive the 130 or so miles to Fez from Chefchaouen on Thursday morning. We stopped for breakfast along the way. Yesterday we had ordered a special omelet for lunch in Chefchaouen and received a fried egg, a cheese triangle and 2 slices of luncheon meat! We ordered an omelet again, held our breath and actually got an omelet this time.We arrived in Fez mid afternoon, the roads were reasonable and the scenery beautiful.The campsite had about a dozen British motor homes parked up.Their guide, Samir, came to chat with us and told us that there were a number of British couples on a 32 day tour of Morocco, some of whom were in their seventies.They were in Fez for the day so we looked forward to meeting them later.
We watched them return, laden down with stuff from the markets and some of the men had bought fez's and robes. Apparently they are having a Berber night before the end of their trip! They invited us to join them later on, they were really funny, I don`t think they have quite realised they are traveling in a developing country, complaining about the cold showers, the prices (?) etc! But they had great spirits and most of them had never motor homed outside of Europe before, so it was all very different for them.
On Friday we had booked a day tour to Fez. We were due to meet our guide at 10am at the campsite, so we dutifully turned up at 9.55am.The campsite receptionist looked puzzled and asked what we were doing.We reminded him we had booked the tour with him yesterday and were going to Fez.He said we were an hour early and when he showed us the time we realized we had been here for the last 4 days on Spanish time and had not turned the clocks back to Moroccan time! We went for a coffee for our extra hour and then met our guide, Ahmed, at the real 10am.He was a real character! Very philosophical, he kept quoting the philosophers,was not religious, and very critical of the current regime where Morocco is ruled by a King whom he believes is corrupt.He believed that Morocco will go the same way as Egypt, Tunisia etc and there will be an uprising (not in the next 3 weeks though, so don`t worry Mum!). He took us into the old Medina, 9th century and later the 14th Century (new) medina. It was fascinating.A warren of narrow alleyways, selling everything you could imagine.It`s an assault on the senses, a warren of narrow lanes and covered bazaars fit to bursting with aromatic food stands, craft workshops, mosques and endless parades of people.Around every mosque there are 4 other elements:a hammam, a school studying the Koran, a bakery and a fountain. We saw the University and Mosque, the tanneries where leather goods are produced from various animal hides.It smelt so bad we were given sprigs of mint to mask the smell.Major components in processing the hides are pigeon poo and cow urine as well as indigo, saffron and poppy to add colour. It produces some of the world` s finest leather.
After a lunch of chicken and meat tagine, we went to the obligatory scarf /bedspread shop and pharmacy where they showed us how they produced their goods and what stuff they had to sell.The guide knew almost everybody in Fez and we ended up chatting to many people. I had lots of opportunities to practice my Arabic, and impressed and amused many people! Generally, people really appreciate you making an effort, although my pronunciation sometimes left a lot to be desired!
Later we returned to Fez to try and sort out our internet connection, as we had bought a Moroccan sim card in Chefchaouen which we had not been able to get working so far. We went to a Maroc Telecom shop and it took us 2 hours to sort out! We ended up getting locked in the shop by the security guard as it was closing time, who teased us that we were going to have to sleep in the shop! The lovely guy behind the counter eventually sorted us out and here we are, attached to the net!
So our last night in Fez, tomorrow we travel to Azrou, a Berber town in the mid Atlas.Before this we will visit Volubilis,Roman ruins which are a UNESCO world heritage site with beautiful mosaics; and Moulay Idriss, a whitewashed town nestled in the hills named after a great grandson of the prophet Mohammed, the founder of the country's first dynasty.This is Morocco`s most important pilgrimage site. From now on the Sahara desert also looms, which we are very excited about and are practicing our sand dancing.
It was Gav`s turn to drive the 130 or so miles to Fez from Chefchaouen on Thursday morning. We stopped for breakfast along the way. Yesterday we had ordered a special omelet for lunch in Chefchaouen and received a fried egg, a cheese triangle and 2 slices of luncheon meat! We ordered an omelet again, held our breath and actually got an omelet this time.We arrived in Fez mid afternoon, the roads were reasonable and the scenery beautiful.The campsite had about a dozen British motor homes parked up.Their guide, Samir, came to chat with us and told us that there were a number of British couples on a 32 day tour of Morocco, some of whom were in their seventies.They were in Fez for the day so we looked forward to meeting them later.
We watched them return, laden down with stuff from the markets and some of the men had bought fez's and robes. Apparently they are having a Berber night before the end of their trip! They invited us to join them later on, they were really funny, I don`t think they have quite realised they are traveling in a developing country, complaining about the cold showers, the prices (?) etc! But they had great spirits and most of them had never motor homed outside of Europe before, so it was all very different for them.
On Friday we had booked a day tour to Fez. We were due to meet our guide at 10am at the campsite, so we dutifully turned up at 9.55am.The campsite receptionist looked puzzled and asked what we were doing.We reminded him we had booked the tour with him yesterday and were going to Fez.He said we were an hour early and when he showed us the time we realized we had been here for the last 4 days on Spanish time and had not turned the clocks back to Moroccan time! We went for a coffee for our extra hour and then met our guide, Ahmed, at the real 10am.He was a real character! Very philosophical, he kept quoting the philosophers,was not religious, and very critical of the current regime where Morocco is ruled by a King whom he believes is corrupt.He believed that Morocco will go the same way as Egypt, Tunisia etc and there will be an uprising (not in the next 3 weeks though, so don`t worry Mum!). He took us into the old Medina, 9th century and later the 14th Century (new) medina. It was fascinating.A warren of narrow alleyways, selling everything you could imagine.It`s an assault on the senses, a warren of narrow lanes and covered bazaars fit to bursting with aromatic food stands, craft workshops, mosques and endless parades of people.Around every mosque there are 4 other elements:a hammam, a school studying the Koran, a bakery and a fountain. We saw the University and Mosque, the tanneries where leather goods are produced from various animal hides.It smelt so bad we were given sprigs of mint to mask the smell.Major components in processing the hides are pigeon poo and cow urine as well as indigo, saffron and poppy to add colour. It produces some of the world` s finest leather.
After a lunch of chicken and meat tagine, we went to the obligatory scarf /bedspread shop and pharmacy where they showed us how they produced their goods and what stuff they had to sell.The guide knew almost everybody in Fez and we ended up chatting to many people. I had lots of opportunities to practice my Arabic, and impressed and amused many people! Generally, people really appreciate you making an effort, although my pronunciation sometimes left a lot to be desired!
Later we returned to Fez to try and sort out our internet connection, as we had bought a Moroccan sim card in Chefchaouen which we had not been able to get working so far. We went to a Maroc Telecom shop and it took us 2 hours to sort out! We ended up getting locked in the shop by the security guard as it was closing time, who teased us that we were going to have to sleep in the shop! The lovely guy behind the counter eventually sorted us out and here we are, attached to the net!
So our last night in Fez, tomorrow we travel to Azrou, a Berber town in the mid Atlas.Before this we will visit Volubilis,Roman ruins which are a UNESCO world heritage site with beautiful mosaics; and Moulay Idriss, a whitewashed town nestled in the hills named after a great grandson of the prophet Mohammed, the founder of the country's first dynasty.This is Morocco`s most important pilgrimage site. From now on the Sahara desert also looms, which we are very excited about and are practicing our sand dancing.
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