Absolut Chaos

Moroccan Leather Work
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Nacho drove the two hundred or so kilometres between Chauen and Fez while Agustin and I quietly looked from the window trying to memorise everything that happened the first day. When we finally arrived at Fez, we found our hotel Hotel Amor, after asking several people for directions with Agustin's best french: l´Hotel Amour?. Morocco has two official languages, Arabic and French, however Spanish and English are widely spoken due to the increase in tourism.

Founded in the 8th century, Fez has been eclipsed by the big cities from the west: the official capital Rabat, and Casablanca and Marrakesh, tourist capitals. However no visit to the country is complete without seeing Fez. The medina is perhaps the most difficult to navigate due to the almost nine thousand streets and half a million residents. It makes sense to hire an official guide to show you the inside. Everything we expected from this trip when we were planning it in Dublin we found right there in Fez.

"Everything we expected from Morocco we found it right here in Fez..."

It was absolute chaos, from the sensation of being touched all the time by hurried pedestrians, to the traffic mules carrying heavy loads on their back struggling not to lose equilibrium while climbing steep streets, street sellers offering spices in big baskets over the floor, tourist groups trying to stay together, bazaar souqs selling huge varieties of meat. The medina itself is divided into quarters, in every quarter you find a mosque, a water fountain and a mud oven for bread. Sweet smells coming from these bakeries and for only ten dirham (one euro) you can eat a very tasty crepe. Our unofficial guide, Ahmed, led us to the main sights of the medina. He showed us a beautiful Koranic school in the Andaluz quarter, a couple of hammanes or baths, where women shower in the morning and men shower in the afternoons. We had lunch in a really cosy restaurant, gathering strength for the last part of the day. Shopping, is sometimes a great and sometimes an annoying experience in Morocco. Bargaining is an accepted was of life. The initial price will be extraordinary high, so you'll have to counter-offer with a really low price. The salesman will be angry and even try to make you feel bad, saying things such as 'I have to feed my family, this is excellent quality, hand made stuff, etc., etc'... But it's all part of the game, so don't fall for that and stick to your offer. He'll ask you if your offer is the final one, say yes until he gets tired and sees that you are not changing the offer. It could help if you pretend to leave the shop and enter in another one, but he may grab you and throw you inside to finish the deal.

We were now nearly at the end of our trip to Fez, so we made our deals and thanked Ahmed for the wonderful tour and went to the hotel to sleep. A long journey on the road waited for us.