Fes was an interesting town and our accommodation there some of the best we have had. We stayed in a "Riad" in the old town which had once been a house for well moneyed people. As families, fathers and sons, all married, tend to live in one house, they lend themselves well to accommodation places when the family decide it is time to move on. They had a picture of Bono and his band set up in the central courtyard, having a jam but unfortunately didn't seem to understand when we explained that his audiences were usualy in the 100's of thousands. Acoustics would have been interesting. The Riad was 3 stories high with a deck on the roof, wall to wall tiles for cooling, heaps of trinkets and vases around and a fountain in the centre of the whole house on the ground floor, which opens right through to the sky. The fountain evidently is what distinguishes them as a Riad.
Leaving Fes we headed towards Meknes an old town founded by Berbers in the 8th century. It is known as the city of 1000 minarets, presumably because of the number of mosques. (In the Fes medina, the old walled city, there is a population of 350,000 and 140 mosques) These people certainly don't wish to walk too far to pray. Unfortunately Ramadan had taken the heart out of the city the day we visited with most shops closed and only a couple of street vendors in the city square pedalling their wares. Beautiful gates on the Royal Palace were worth a photo, Diana hesitated for a moment. (Actually it took 14 photos before I got one without a car, truck, bus or horse and cart in front of her!)
Our next stop was at Volubilis, an amazing Roman city in the middle of the Arabic Kingdom of Morocco. It was strange to find stone paths and stone columns looking like somewhere in Greece or Italy, here in Maroc. Volubilis was founded by Romans in the 3rd century BC and thrived in a fertile area on olives. In the year 238 it was overrun by the Berbers and the Romans gave it up...it was at the limits of the Roman Empire and practically indefensible. The town was inhabited until the 11 th century and then abandoned as Fes became the dominant city. It wasn't until 1908 that the French, who were governing Morocco at the time, began excavations and restoration. There is still a large area of the 40 hectare site un-restored although the current government see the value in the site and have recently opened a museum there.
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| Getting high in Chefchaoeun |
By late afternoon we had arrived in Chefchoeun, a small picturesque town just south of Tangier. The town is notable for its architecture and colour. Most all of the houses in the medina are white washed with blue round the bottom. A bit different in this dusty country. Originally settled by the Spanish, hence the white wash, it was inhabited by fleeing Jews in the 1930's who added the blue, blue as the sky is. The major industry in this town is the cultivation of marijuana. Drug growing and use is illegal in this country however the government aren't too strict here as a complete clampdown would force considerable hardship on the community. The general trend is to encourage tourism and associated services to get away from the illegal stuff. I presume their tactics are working however it seemed that there were a number of young tourists here trying out the hooch as part of their travels. I think our grey hair told the touts where we stood but walking through the narrow streets it was easy to smell the wafts of smokers in a dark alley, of which there were many. Diana and I did get "high" but it was only to take a photo from a distance.
Our last day with Mohammed and Mustafa was a quick run into the northern port city of Tangier. We arrived at 11.00am and had hurried goodbyes as the boys turned their mechanical camel "Mercedes" around and headed back to their homelands near the desert. They had been great company for nine days, kept us safe and delivered us to our accommodation and to all the sights without incident.
We settled in to Tangier thinking we may stay 3 nights. Unfortunately a dodgy chicken sandwich on the first night has forced a lay day and we are planning to head to Spain on the 9th and if we can, to Ronda, a small town just north of Malaga, for 3 nights. My personal health advisor has me back on track in a few minutes over 24 hours so a lucky break I reckon.
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