Meknes & Volubilis

Volubilis
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Today we drove towards Meknes along some roads that Ray (our tour leader) had described as being equal to or better than European roads. Hmmm. I don’t remember teenage boys playing chicken with the truck or being pelted with rocks last time I was in Europe…

The first stop showed a nasty dent on the living area door – not happy!!! That said, for every rock thrower and person ready to be squashed there were 20 people waving and smiling as the convoy went past which was very nice.

Hmmm. I don’t remember teenage boys playing chicken with the truck or being pelted with rocks last time I was in Europe…

This is how you use a Roman jacuzzi...
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It would seem that Moroccans believe they are invincible from getting hit by vehicles so they simply walk down the edge (or sometimes middle) of the road. Even if our truck takes up ALL the road. After a few kilometres you get used to swerving around people, bicycles, donkeys etc and give everything a wide berth. Not everything gives you a wide berth however and we have several fingerprint tracks along the side of the truck in the mud where kids have touched us as we went past.

In the afternoon we stopped at Volubilis, an ancient Roman ruin on the outskirts of Meknes. The site is fantastic and we were given a one-hour tour by a very amusing Berber guide. An hour is not really enough to see it all, but it’s a good length of time with kids…

Stork Nests
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There are some quite big structures still partially standing as well as some beautiful mosaics on the floors of the old houses. The sewerage and heating systems can also be clearly seen – a clever bunch the Romans.

After Volubilis we continue on to Meknes and our campsite for the night. Our first taste of Moroccan camping is interesting. Ray mentioned this site had a problem with its Electricity – given most of the electric poles were ripped out of the ground and lying on the floor, I would say that constitutes a problem!

Mosque Minaret (in) Meknes
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Facilities are at best extremely basic, but we can fill up with water (which we are not drinking) and dump our wastewater (anywhere!). We chose to shower in the van!!

We had a quiet night and next day we walked into the town. I was expecting a lot of ‘hassle’ but was pleasantly surprised when we were left pretty much alone. We found the main square, Bab Mansour gate, and had a look around the Moroccan arts museum, which was small, but worth a look for 20 Dirhams (2 Euros). We also looked around the Islamic school, which was not worth a look (also 20 Dirhams), and it was there we picked up a ‘faux guide’. He kindly showed us through the souks (markets) to the various ‘sites’ of the medina (old town) via all his mates shops!

We saw a traditional oven where they cook bread (round and yummy), a long souk with clothes and shoes and a souk with lots of woodwork. We saw lots of entrances to Mosques but as non-Muslims we were not allowed inside. We finally convinced our guide to take us back to the main square “take us NOW or no money” after 45 minutes of walking and by this time Jay was knackered :-(

After lunch on the square we headed back to the camping car for a quiet afternoon and evening.

Dave.