Moroccan Moments

Which chicken Sir?
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Breakfast at the Hotel; settle the bill then we are off to Estacion Nord to catch the bus to Gerona Airport where the dreaded Ryanair awaits to fly us to Fes. In reality we are flying to Seville via Fez with Ryanair as the cheapest way of getting to Seville, but hey why not see some of Morocco as well courtesy of Ryanair! The Metro is the quickest and cheapest way of getting to the bus station and we are soon there. We have to buy our tickets upstairs at the station and then go back to ground level to catch the bus. We appear to have the grumpiest bus driver in the world no smiles, just a grunt and flick of his hand as we board, I think he considers tourists the scum of the earth. We wait until the bus is full, about 10 minutes after the scheduled departure and our driver takes great delight in slamming the door on a passenger trying to get on and just waves him away. The trip is about an hour along the three lane highway to Gerona.

Get your camel here!
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Welcome to the world of Ryanair is what faces us when we get to the airport. So much for Ryanairs’ one piece of hand luggage which must fit their measuring device, I reckon that at least 10% are oversize and a good one in every four people have two or more pieces of hand luggage, 4 was the maximum we saw. Getting on board was a farce, all those "privileged" paying to get on first were taken to the front whilst we el cheapo's quietly wandered up the rear stairs and were seated before they even got on board! The planes are cattle class to the ultimate, straight up and down seats, plastic backs, no pockets, emergency directions stuck on the back of each seat and advertising on the overhead locker doors. Once in the air the hard sell began, expensive food and drinks, "smokeless" cigarettes you could use on the plane, scratchies, perfume, toys, souvenirs and so on.

the central courtyard a dazzling display of decoration and tiles,

Fes alleyway
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Landing with a thud at Fes airport we got off the plane with our wallets intact! After quickly getting through Immigration and Customs we were met by our driver Mafid for the journey into the Medina of Fes. Fes is actually the second largest city in Morocco and the Medina constitutes only a small part of the city but is the oldest and most traditional part. Adjustment number one is to ditch all that Spanish we have been learning and dredge our memories for that French we learnt at school, not si but oui. Adjustment number two is another time change; add on two hours and suddenly we are almost at evening time. Reaching the car park just outside the Medina we are met by Christophe from Riad Boujloud and are plunged straight into the Medina, valiantly striving to understand his French. Traipsing through the narrow alleyways we eventually end up in front of an unmarked steel door, Christophe lets us in then another steel door and we are inside. Wow. The interior of the Riad is spectacular, the central courtyard a dazzling display of decoration and tiles, birds calling and absolute peace after the bustle of the Medina. The courtyard stretches up 3 stories to the roof top balconies. We meet Vincent who speaks reasonable English and he gives us a briefing on the do's and don'ts, where to eat and how to get around. It's nearing the end of Ramadan and as such you need to be careful with your behaviour and eating. Much to Carol's relief we are given the ground floor room, less stairs to navigate, and after dropping off our bags we head for the rooftop for a mint tea with Christophe and Vincent. They suggest that because much of the Medina will be closed tomorrow we take a day trip with Mafid to the Atlas Mountains, cost 800 Dirham, sounds like a good idea to us so we agree, it will give us a chance to see a bit more of Morocco.

Waiting for the bus
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There’s still time for an initial look at the Medina so we head out with our trusty map into the alleyways and manage to navigate ourselves with out getting lost. Lots of little shops, selling everything from hardware to food to tourist souvenirs. The hard sell is there but not as great as we have experienced in S.E. Asia. Highlights are the fresh chicken shop, pick your chicken then wait will it id despatched, plucked and cut up to order and nearby the butcher selling camel meat, advertised with a camels head hanging outside his stall! We find Cafe Clock, one of the recommended places to eat and have a Mes platter and glazed fresh figs washed down with coffee. Cafe Clock is run by a somewhat eccentric Englishman, Mike, and you are made to feel most welcome and the food and service are excellent.

Entrance to Riad Boujloud
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The next morning we are woken by all the birds singing, the day starts with breakfast on the rooftop, served by Fatima, Christophe and Vincent, assorted breads, jams and honey, fruit, fresh juice and hot tea or coffee. Unfortunately it's not so appealing to Carol as she has been stricken with the dreaded stomach bug and is decidedly queasy. After breakfast we're off to the car park to meet Mafrid and his taxi. There are two types of taxi in Fez, the big ones like ours which are generally ageing Series 200 diesel Mercedes of a slightly decrepit nature but still roadworthy and a fleet 0f Petit Taxis, small vehicles always red in colour which buzz around the city and are cheap to hire for short trips.

Inside Riad Boujloud
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Ushered into our taxi by Mafrid we head for Soufre, our first port of call where we are to visit "La Cascade", a local waterfall that fortunately is flowing because of the recent rain. On the way we travel through a multitude of olive groves, olives being the dominant crop in this part of the countryside and the smell of olives pervades the air as we pass by. The waterfall is a short walk from the car park and nestles in a small ravine with houses at the top of the cliffs on both side. Back to the car and we head off travelling through Imouzzer Kandar and Ifrane. Along the way there is some quite bleak countryside with snow barriers at the edge of the road and the occasional flock of sheep. Eventually we turn off and head up into the mountains to visit the Forest of Cedars. Large cedars dominate the landscape when we arrive in a clearing with the usual souvenir shops dotted about, mainly selling fossils, geological curiosities and some pottery. Carol is a bit desperate to find the loo and on asking is told "dans la foret", the penny finally drops, they literally mean in the forest! Far enough away not to be seen, her main concern is not to mugged by one of the local monkeys, which are all through the area. Back to the car and are school French is good enough for communicating with Mafrid and my "arête" gets him to stop the car when we want to take a photo.

Swiss village in Morocco?
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Onwards to Azrou where we take in the local scenery and Mosque before we back track to Ifrane. On the way we detour to a small lake in the hills, which we drove around. Vincent told us later that it had been dry for the last five years because of over use in irrigating the apple orchards which were nearby, the recent rains had filled it up and we were lucky to see it full. Out to the main road and onwards to Ifrane. Ifrane would have to one of the most bizarre places in Morocco. A university town, it looks like a Swiss village with its steep pitched rooves, it does snow there in winter, manicured European style parks and gardens and stork nests on the roof tops. We have a wander around and take a few pictures. Imouzzer Kandar is our next stop where we buy a few things for a late lunch. While we are there, nature calls for Carol again and she is directed to the local toilet, she tells me afterwards that it was probably the worst toilet she has ever been in and that includes the shockers we have come across in S.E. Asia.

Royal Tombs of Fez
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Being Ramadan there is absolutely no cafes or restaurants open during the day in this part of the world and Mafrid takes us to his Village, Ain Cheffar, which is a truly local village, no tourists here, and walks us up to "La Source" which is a series of springs which gush from the hillside and provide the village with all its water needs. It’s a very peaceful and lovely spot and we have something to eat while Mafrid waits to one side. We had offered to wait until we got back to Fes but he insisted we eat as we were not Muslim and not bound by Ramadan, we both felt this was a very tolerant attitude to take. Mafrid is a very proud Berber man, his village was Berber and he made no bones about the fact that he was Berber and continually pointed out the Berber villages and people. Finishing our meal it was back into the car and time to go back to Fes. By the time we got back to the Medina we had travelled about 250 kilometres and seen a little more of Morocco. At times the scenery had been almost Australia, but without the gum trees there is that noticeable difference in the green tones.

Tannery action
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It's late evening by the time we get back and I head for the rooftop hoping to get a picture of the Royal Tombs with the evening glow of the sun on them, although it is fairly cloudy, for about two minutes the sun comes out and I get a pretty good shot within the constraints of the time and light. The Medina closes at 5pm for prayers and some of it including the restaurants open again about 7pm when we head out for tea. Carol has a tagine of chicken and vegetables and I have kofta meatballs in tomato sauce. Both dishes are delicious, although that "fresh" chicken is a little tough.

La Cascade, Soufre
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Day 3 in Fes again starts with breakfast on the rooftop and on Vincent’s advice we head out into The Medina before 10am to visit the tanneries. At that hour of the day the shops are just starting to open, there are virtually no tourists about and we really feel like we have the place to ourselves. We have discovered that there are series of tourist trails running through the Medina which are marked by overhead coloured stars and at various points there are information boards and maps showing where you and what direction to take. This makes it almost impossible to get lost and directs you to all the interesting points. There is a green, blue, magenta and yellow trail each of which has a different theme such as historic places, food and shops. We follow the trail directly to the tannery at the bottom of the hill.

Carol with Mafrid
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As we near the tanneries, we are accosted by a gentleman who says he is not a guide, but security, and would we like to look at the tanneries, yes of course. He leads us through a door into a dingy shop up a set of stairs in pitch black darkness and we emerge onto a roof in the middle of the tannery. By sheer luck we have met a member of the Tannery Co Operative and are in the best location to see all the tannery operations from the one vantage point. Unlike the view that the majority of tourists see from the other side which is controlled by a series of shops that overlook the tannery vats. Where we are we can see the initial curing process, the big waterwheel, the wool treatment and drying and of course the dyeing vats. No fences or restrictions here as we wander about, the odours from the dyeing process are strong and Carol is pretty keen to hightail it, but our "security" man is keen for us to see everything before we leave, on leaving there is an obligatory "donation" which we are happy to pay and we clamber back down the stairs and out into the relatively fresh air of the Medina. We would definitely recommend this as the best way to see the tannery up close and at its most interesting despite the "odours" emanating from the tanneries.